Preview: Western Conference Semifinals Game 2 Lakers @ Spurs 5/5/04 (TNT)

Discussion in 'Los Angeles Lakers' started by Emo, May 3, 2004.

  1. Emo

    Emo Active Member

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    <div align="center"><font color="Purple"><font size="5">WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS GAME 2</font></font></div>

    <font color="Gray"><font size="4"><div align="center">San Antonio Spurs </div> </font> </font> <font size="4"><div align="center">lead the series 1-0</div></font>
    <div align="center">[​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]</div>
    <div align="center"><font color="Purple">Los Angeles Lakers </font> @ <font color="Gray"> San Antonio Spurs </font> </div>
    <div align="center">Time: 6:00 p.m. PT
    Location: SBC Center
    TV: TNT</div>


    Head Coaches:
    [​IMG] [​IMG] Phil Jackson/Gregg Popovich

    <u>Probable Game 2 Starting Lineups:</u>

    [​IMG] [​IMG] Gary Payton/Tony Parker
    [​IMG] [​IMG] Kobe Bryant/Bruce Bowen
    [​IMG] [​IMG] Devean George/Hedo Turkoglu
    [​IMG] [​IMG] Karl Malone/Tim Duncan
    [​IMG] [​IMG] Shaquille O'Neal/Rasho Nesterovic

    Sixth Men
    [​IMG] [​IMG] Derek Fisher/Emanuel Ginobili

    Injury Report

    [​IMG]
    No injuries to report

    [​IMG]
    No injuries to report

    <u>Laker_Fever's Game 2 Prediction Matchups:</u>

    <u>Point Guards</u>
    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Tony Parker yesterday afternoon in Game 1 had his way with Gary all afternoon long. He embarrassed, humilated, trashed, outplayed, and just absolutely made Gary look like a has-been player. Tony has to set the tempo, and I mean be very vocal with his teammates directing them where to go and how to set up their offense on every possession. He did an excellent job in Game 1 putting the Laker defense on their toes all afternoon. Another key advantage for Tony Parker is speed and quickness. Tony understands and realizes that Gary has lost huge steps in his legs and that he really can't stay with him. So at the top of the key, he can simply just breeze past him, penetrate on him all evening, and soon enough it'll come to the point when Gary will just ticky-tac foul and trashtalk him to death. As for Gary Payton, he'll really have to get going. Us Laker fans haven't seen him contribute much or anything in this 2004 playoffs. In order for him to establish confidence in himself, teammates, and coaches he's going to have to start hitting shots. And I'm not talking about shots where he penetrates from the top of the key, and attempts those ridiculous looking turnaround jumpshots, I'm talking about getting himself isolated with Parker in the low post, and spinning to his left and attempting layups. It's his only option he has since his jumpshots aren't falling for him. If Gary Pyton fails for 24 minutes in a single half, expect Phil to bench him and have Fisher take all his minutes in the second half.
    Advantage Wednesday: Spurs

    <u>Shooting Guards</u>
    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    As I look at the boxscore for Bruce Bowen, it says he only took seven field goal attempts and only made two. I'm sure Popovich doesn't mind about that because he knows that Bowen is one of, or if not the best, defender in the NBA. To me, he's one of the guys that can really frustrate, disrupt, and harass Kobe Bryant on any given night. If Bowen gets his defense going consistently, and really gets under Kobe's skin which he tends to do a lot, then he'll really put a hold on the Laker offense and give tremendous confidence for his team throughout the game. About his two of seven performance in Game 1, he's not sweating it. Because he knows when he's open he can really light it up from the perimeter. He's one of the best perimeter shooters in the league, and if there's nobody home to put a hand in his face to disrupt his shot, then there will absolutely be no hope for LA in this one. As for Kobe Bryant, he really looks forward to the challenges of facing Bowen, as you can clearly tell by his Game 1 performance. Scoring 31 points on 10/26 shooting. But at times he can be very selfish when they go toe to toe. He always wants to show him who's boss, and he allows his ego to take over himself. There's nothing wrong with trying to keep your team in the game by getting hot and scoring a significant number of points, but when Bowen is playing an aggressive style of defense, you have to give up the rock sometimes and distribute to your teammates. Also, Kobe would have to do a better job by penetrating to the basket. If he can somehow find a way to drive past Bowen and create tons of contact and get to the free throw line, it would really help the Lakers out in a tremendous way.
    Advantage Wednesday: Lakers

    <u>Small Forwards</u>
    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Looks like a key problem for the Spurs in this position. Hedo Turkoglu, coming from Sacramento, a lot of people said since he's from there he wouldn't be that much of a defender, were very mistaken. This guy can lock down on anybody on any given night. Although, I'm sure Popovich is worried about his offensive production Sunday afternoon in which he went 0-6 from the field. Devean George loves playing in the shadow of the Big Four, and he did shoot the ball well in Game 1, going 2/2 from the field, but the big question is can he continue to maintain this offensive consistency? The Lakers besides Kobe in Game 1 have been shooting terribly from the field, so if Devean can get it going once again from the outside, the Lakers will be in good shape.
    Advantage Wednesday: Lakers

    <u>Power Forwards</u>
    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Their ultimate weapon. This two time MVP can kill you with his inside game, and with his outside game in which he simply shoots that jumper off the glass. Karl Malone had huge difficulty finding a way to disrupt his offensive tactics, and he didn't stand a chance. Tim Duncan loves the isolation with Karl because he knows he can simply dominate over him at any given time when he has the ball in his hands. He has excellent athletic ability, and if the Lakers don't think about double teaming this man, then the Lakers can definitely go home with a 2-0 deficit heading home to Los Angeles. For Karl Malone, it's pretty simple. He has to get into the gym early and practice those 18 footers because they were not falling yesterday afternoon. Just a bunch of clanks off the rim when normally 75% of the time, he'd hit those trademark shots. And if his attempts continue to decline, he'd just have to use his excellent passing ability to his advantage and look for cutting teammates that are slipping under the Spurs' defense to the basket. It wouldn't hurt if he'd distribute assists rather than forcing up tough shots that he committed in Game 1.
    Advantage Wednesday: Spurs

    <u>Centers</u>
    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    I know when you look at this matchup, you may think that Rasho Nesterovic doesn't stand a chance against Shaq, but he clearly has some weapons that very few know about. He's a decent medium mid-range shooter, a decent shot blocker, and solid defender. Rasho may have a chance against Shaq because Shaq hasn't been his dominant self that we thought he still is. He's not hitting his free throws, and if Rasho wants to foul him intentionally, and Shaq goes to the line and bricks two free throws, then immediately all the confidence goes directly to Rasho. Shaquille O'Neal has to live up to his Diesel nickname and use his strength and agility to get to the basket. It's very frustrating when he stands around like a stick, and receives the ball in the low post, and doesn't back Rasho down in the post. When you look at weight differences, Shaq should easily be able to have his way with Rasho all night. Secondly, Shaq must hit his free throws. It's becoming very much of a big liability for him. He must bend those big knees of his and put some ball rotation on that basketball rather than just flinging it to the basket. As his horrendous free throw shooting suffers, the team suffers because without points from him being the #1 priority that teams love to foul, and with the Spurs scoring points on their end of the court, how will the Lakers stay in this ballgame?
    Advantage Wednesday: Lakers

    <div align="center">Players To Watch Game 2
    [​IMG] [​IMG]</div>

    <div align="center">Kobe Bryant & Tony Parker</div>

    <div align="center">Bryant: 25.5 pts, 5.50 rebs, 5.8 assists, 1.72 steals
    Parker: 20.8 pts, 3.20 rebounds, 8.6 assists, 0.81 steals</div>


    Laker Fever's Prediction

    The Spurs are the world champions, and they would love to put the Lakers in a 2-0 hole heading to Los Angeles for a Game 3. However, the Lakers understand and realize that if they are focused and hungry to win a title (especially Gary Payton and Karl Malone) this game Wednesday evening is a must win if they want to compete in this series. Pretty much I have this game as a do or die for the Los Angeles Lakers. This game will be very close coming down to the wire, but I'm going with the Lakers by 2.
     
  2. ICED T

    ICED T JBB JustBBall Member

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    I'm going to say total domination by the lakers, Kobe will score another 30 something points and the lakers will win by 10-15 points.
     
  3. Kobe=DaMAN

    Kobe=DaMAN JBB JustBBall Member

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    great review as usual. I think that shaq freethrow shooting is holding the Lakers back if he can't pound Rasho into the paint for two then y feed him the ball? He cries about the ref's but he isn't playin anything like the shaq if the past years. hell he isn't playin like the shaq of last year. Kobe is tryin hard to keep his team in games but hes finidng out he can't do it by his self.

    Lakers by 5
     
  4. ICED T

    ICED T JBB JustBBall Member

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    I agree with that, the whole team needs to step up!
     
  5. Rudeezy

    Rudeezy JBB Senior *********

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    I see the Lakers playing a better game than they did in Game one but the Spurs will pul ahead in the end with their stellar defense. Spurs by 8.
     
  6. 30 standing ver

    30 standing ver JBB JustBBall Member

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    Hopefully Malone and Payton have that urge to finally win a championship and give them that drive to play to the best of their abilities for the rest of this series and hopefully the rest of the way. If they both show up and Shaq dominates Rasho like should be doing a 100% of the time. Then the Lakers should topple the Spurs. It still should be a close game and I don't expect the Spurs to just roll over.

    Lakers by 4
     
  7. Henacy

    Henacy JBB The Man like Sam

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    If the Lakers lose game 2, its hard to believe this series will go past 6 games. It isnt all GP's problem, Shaq doesnt know what to when the man he guarding steps up to set the pick for Parker. He gets caught in the middle, not doing anything. He doesnt stepup to help stop penetration.Nor does he stay with the man he is guarding, so Parker has every option you can ask for when running the pick & roll.

    Parker always has the option of a wide open mid-range upper for himelf off the pick. Or he can dribble to the free throw line area & hit Shaq's man for a wide open mid-range shot. And he has the option of getting all the way to the basket himelf.

    Shaq & the rest of the Laker "bigs" need to decide how they are going to help defend the pick & roll. They need to decide if they are going to committ to helping stop Parkers penetration. Or are they going to stay with their man to take away Parker's passing options. They cant keep getting caught not doing nothing on D against the Pick & Roll because they are hanging GP out to dry imo.

    Also Kobe attacking Brue Bowen one on one, wont win the Lakers games imo. It works in short periods of time. But not for a entire game. Shaq going against Rasho is the only way the Lakers are going to win this series.
     
  8. philsmith75

    philsmith75 JBB JustBBall Member

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    How to defend the pick and roll; the Lakers need to go pick up a tape of the Nuggets/Wolves games, though they lost, the Nuggets played the best pick and roll defense I have seen; the "big" would jump out and double the dribbler, then the off "big" would float/rotate over to cover the picker. Beautiful. However, the first "big" needs to rotate down; I'm not sure Shaq is into doing all this running.
     
  9. ICED T

    ICED T JBB JustBBall Member

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    the whole team seems to be tired except kobe, but I agree with the top statements.
     
  10. Mamba

    Mamba The King is Back Staff Member Global Moderator

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    Nice preview as always, I think L.A. needs to come out with urgency. THey need to want to win this, because if they Lose it will be all over for them. I think Shaq needs to demand the ball, and Payton needs to keep his head in the game. Kobe will do his thing and Malone will too. I think we need to see some more production from the bench. Kareem Rush had a key turnover that sparked the Spurs in game 1. We cant have that, the young ones should not be handling the ball when the Spurs are making a run. I like L.A. to win this game by 2
     
  11. cArMeLo15

    cArMeLo15 JBB JustBBall Member

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    Spurs by 9.
     
  12. Trip

    Trip 2000000000000000000000000

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    The Spurs can end the series here with a win, and I'm sure they'll come out breathing fire. The Lakers will have to hold their cold and come back from a sure-fire deficit in the first quarter. If they can do that, Lakers by 3. If not, Spurs by 8.
     
  13. kobebryant89

    kobebryant89 JBB JustBBall Member

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    I think the Lakers could've killed the Spurs if they would've made some damn shots. So this game I think Phil has gotten them ready to play and I predict the Lakers by 9.
     
  14. mike18946

    mike18946 JBB

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    <div class="quote_poster">Quoting kobebryant89:</div><div class="quote_post">I think the Lakers could've killed the Spurs if they would've made some damn shots.</div>

    Well thats normally the way basketball works but the reason Lakers looked so bad to many Laker fans......

    Spurs great defense

    infact I think It's safe to say every fan of every NBA team thinks they are just sucking it up against the Spurs when quite frankly the intense D from the Spurs is the real reason they look so bad.

    Unless GP goes back in time by 10 years I don't see why Parker won't dominate again.
     
  15. notmuchgame

    notmuchgame JBB JustBBall Member

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    Another great preview man....call me pessimistic (or realistic) but I have a feeling the Spurs take this by 5
     
  16. Shapecity

    Shapecity S2/JBB Teamster Staff Member Administrator

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    <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Trip:</div><div class="quote_post">The Spurs can end the series here with a win, and I'm sure they'll come out breathing fire. The Lakers will have to hold their cold and come back from a sure-fire deficit in the first quarter. If they can do that, Lakers by 3. If not, Spurs by 8.</div>

    [​IMG]

    Being down 2-0 is not the end for the Lakers, however it puts tremendous pressure on them to win both games at home, and then steal one in San Antonio. The Lakers are capable of winning back to back against the Spurs, so I wouldn't count them out if they do in fact fall 0-2 in the series.

    What the Lakers need is Shaq to show up. He was terrible on both ends of the court and everthing collapsed around his lack of energy. On offense Shaq was miserable from the free throw line once again (3-13). For a player who claims he makes them when it counts, he better define "when it counts" means again. Shaq has a history of being a pathetic free throw shooter, but the problem I saw in Game 1 was allowing Rasho to front him in the post. When was the last time Shaq allowed anyone to front him? Instead of trying to re-post Shaq was content on trying to catch lob passes from his teammates, which lead to at least 5 turnovers in the game. When he did catch a difficult pass, the help defense, namely Duncan was right there to contest the shot. In the second half of the game, Shaq became even less assertive on offense and only managed 14 shots when all was said and done.

    On defense, he absolutely killed the Lakers with his laziness. He got lost in the pick and roll and was always late on the rotations. He even allowed Rasho to get easy looks and score 10 points on him. It's tough enough with Duncan, Parker, and Gino scoring double digits, and when you let a scrub center like Rasho be another player in double digits, the Lakers have no chance. He managed 13 rebounds, but that number is deceiving considering half of them came off rebounding his own missed shots in the paint.

    Shaq better put the team on his shoulders in Game 2 and play consistent in both halves. He needs to put the fear back into the Spurs and Duncan, and re-establish his dominance in the post-season. He's been dormant since last year's playoffs, the sleeping bear inside of the Big Fella needs to wake up.
     
  17. 30 standing ver

    30 standing ver JBB JustBBall Member

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    Another big key for the Lakers would have to be Fox. But I guess it's not really realistic to believe that he just get outta that funk. But if by some miracle he could get his confidence back and hit those 3's like he use to. The Lakers would be in really good shape. Shaq which has been stated so many times, it's mandatory for him to dominate Rasho and hit at least a 50 to 60% clip at the line would help the Lakers a ton.

    Back to reality, Shaq case should be a reality and so by that alone, I got the Lakers by 4. I mean everyone else needs to play well to just for that to happen. Especially GP, at least put some pressure on Tony on the offensive end.
     
  18. DonJuan

    DonJuan JBB JustBBall Member

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    Free throws should be a wash. Duncan's almost as bad at the line as Shaq so I don't see it being a big factor. Definitely a big bonus if Shaq makes'em. Same with Duncan. The Lakers didn't really play that bad in Game 1. They just got caught up in a big Spurs run, something they'll be anticipating in Game 2 and hopefully put a stop to.
     
  19. Rudeezy

    Rudeezy JBB Senior *********

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    <div class="quote_poster">Quoting DonJuan:</div><div class="quote_post">Free throws should be a wash. Duncan's almost as bad at the line as Shaq so I don't see it being a big factor. </div>Tim Duncan shot horribly from the line in game one but he doesn't even compare to Shaq at the free throw line.
     
  20. Kobe Krazy

    Kobe Krazy JBB JustBBall Member

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    Go ahead, call me crazy..

    I think the Lakers would prolly play better without Shaq with the way he played in game 1.

    Shaq just isn't dominant anymore, to me.
     

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