WC Playoffs Round 3: (1) Los Angeles Vs. (3) Phoenix

The winner?

  • Total voters
    30
Emma

Emma

Starter
#1
#1
The Phoenix Suns boast the NBA's best record since January. There will be no rest for the wicked Lakers as they seek to replicate the perfect storm for the 1700th time and push to the top of the NBA heap.

Steve Nash presents the definitive foil to L.A.'s semi-perfect team makeup. The only type of player the Lakers have no answer for. Do the Lakers have what it takes to cool the blazing Suns?



Suns in 6 if that eye heals. If Steve Nash has a year, this is it.


Public poll
 
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Emma

Emma

Starter
#2
#2
Robin Lopez is healthy and expected to play Monday. The only angry, defensive minded big the Suns have. Great timing.
 
VF21

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#3
#3
I truly believe this is the year the Lakers get smacked in the playoffs, losing a heartbreaking game 7 to send the Suns to face the Celtics.

:)
 
Aenadin

Aenadin

Starter
#4
#4
the suns love to play uptempo and this will wear down fisher.... and i dont think the laker bigs are fast enough to keep up...

rain some threes on them SUNS

Artest is due for a meltdown its only a matter of time ;)
 
J

JayBird

Bench
#5
#5
Once again, everything falls into perfect place for the GD lakers. 3 teams in the west that had the best chance to beat LA were Denver, Dallas, and San Antonio. Phoenix has the advantage at point guard, and that's about where it ends. Amare v. the two 7-footers of the Lakers is going to be sad to watch. And even if Lopez comes back, I think Jameer Nelson (last year) and Shaquille O'neal (this year) have shown that it doesn't really work when you try to plug in someone who has missed a considerable amount of time, right in time for a playoff series. It just throws everything off. I don't see the Suns winning more than one game this series, but I'll be rooting for them every step of the way.
 
Big Cuz 15

Big Cuz 15

All-Star
#8
#8
love nash's response



PHOENIX (AP) -- The Phoenix Suns have reacted with a collective smirk to Phil Jackson's suggestion that Steve Nash travels with the basketball.
Nash even had a subtle retort worthy of Jackson himself.
"It's news to me. I'm fortunate. I don't know if I've been called for a carry yet," he said after the Suns practiced Saturday, then he added straight-faced: "I've never heard anyone accuse me of carrying it. I mean, the best coach in the league Gregg Popovich (of San Antonio) didn't have a problem with it last week."
Get it? Popovich the best coach in the league?
"We have the best officials in the world," Nash continued. "I'll just leave it up to them."
 
Geoff

Geoff

Bench
#10
#10
KMart23 said:
love nash's response



PHOENIX (AP) -- The Phoenix Suns have reacted with a collective smirk to Phil Jackson's suggestion that Steve Nash travels with the basketball.
Nash even had a subtle retort worthy of Jackson himself.
"It's news to me. I'm fortunate. I don't know if I've been called for a carry yet," he said after the Suns practiced Saturday, then he added straight-faced: "I've never heard anyone accuse me of carrying it. I mean, the best coach in the league Gregg Popovich (of San Antonio) didn't have a problem with it last week."
Get it? Popovich the best coach in the league?
"We have the best officials in the world," Nash continued. "I'll just leave it up to them."
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Hope the Suns stay cool and don't let Phil mess with their minds...they can do this...
 
Aenadin

Aenadin

Starter
#15
#15
The suns live by the 3 and will die by the three..... if their shots were falling it would have been a different game.

what they need here is a good inside play.. the lakers have been playing the pick and roll well they need to slash and draw more fouls and keep the game to a fast tempo.... take advantage of bynums "sore knee" and kobe's drained one....

the lakers are BIG... but that also means the bigs would exert more energy running up and down on an uptempo game.

sad but the only team that i see matching up well against them would be boston
 
rexb_kings

rexb_kings

Bench
#18
#18
JayBird said:
I don't see the Suns winning more than one game this series, but I'll be rooting for them every step of the way.
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Yep me too! But the things that worried me came true. Suns 3 won't be falling a lot, they'll be out rebounded with Lakers getting numerous 2nd chance points, Lakers will be too long, Odom exploding and then no one to stop Kobe.

Hopefully Suns bounce back and get 1 game in LA.
 
VF21

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#20
#20
And Phoenix is rising from the ashes. Could anything be more prophetic? Dare I hope that this is the explosion of the Death Star and the beginning of the end for the empire????

;)

Phoenix fans, I salute you. Your "Beat LA" chants are heartwarming.

GO SUNS!!!!!
 
Variant

Variant

Starter
#21
#21
Different Suns and different Lakers in Phoenix...

Can the Suns bench play like this in LA??

Nice to see a competitive series for a change though. :)
 
PurpleHaze

PurpleHaze

All-Star
#22
#22
I picked Lakers in 7 and I'm sticking with it - even though I'd love Suns (and hard nose Nash) to do 'em in. The biggest surprise is how Phoenix zone frustrates Lakers so much and how dominate Suns bench has been. Dragic more than solid sub for Nash plus just as tough - and that's saying a lot.
 
Sparky6string

Sparky6string

Bench
#23
#23
VF21 said:
And Phoenix is rising from the ashes. Could anything be more prophetic? Dare I hope that this is the explosion of the Death Star and the beginning of the end for the empire????

;)

Phoenix fans, I salute you. Your "Beat LA" chants are heartwarming.

GO SUNS!!!!!
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Nice. :D

This is result of Phoenix discovering defense I think. Great to see Grant Hill out there contributing like he is.
 
S

Superman

All-Star
#28
#28
It's surprising to me that a team full of veterans, coached by "the best coach of all time" can't figure out how to beat the Suns zone. Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems pretty easy to me: post Gasol on the weak side with Kobe in the corner, reverse the ball that way, and make Phoenix pick their poison. Either you have Gasol pretty deep on the block where he has moves to spare, or you have Kobe with an open shot or lane to drive, and if he drives, you have Odom or Artest or whoever cut from the top of the key so he can drop it off to them for a layup. It takes deliberate and decisive ball movement, but these guys have been running the triangle offense for ten years now. They can't bust a zone???

If the Suns are able to beat them in LA using that same defense, then Alvin Gentry deserves a pay raise. Or maybe Phil deserves a pay cut (which is rumored to be coming anyway, if he continues coaching).
 
S

swisshh

Starter
#29
#29
Phil's success as a coach comes from cherry picking his jobs, having a talent majority and working the media and refs to his advantage. He is not a game coach. Never could defend a pick n roll team, can not figure out the zone.

Laker's problem with the zone has a lot to do with their team makeup though. It is not a lack of shooters, but a lack of guys with an effective drive game to cut seams into the zone. Fisher is slow, Artest is slow, Odom is mobile for a four but not overly quick in the grand scheme of things. Shannon Brown can drive, but still not great off the dribble. The Lakers should be pump faking and driving, but they are not. I can only guess its from lack of speed and lack of coaching.
 
S

Superman

All-Star
#30
#30
swisshh said:
Phil's success as a coach comes from cherry picking his jobs, having a talent majority and working the media and refs to his advantage. He is not a game coach. Never could defend a pick n roll team, can not figure out the zone.
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The Lakers couldn't defend the pick and roll mostly because of Shaq's lack of mobility. The Bulls were always a top notch defensive team, although it's questionable how much Phil had to do with that. I'm not claiming that he's the best coach, but he's certainly good at taking a talented and somewhat underachieving team and getting them to play championship basketball.

Laker's problem with the zone has a lot to do with their team makeup though. It is not a lack of shooters, but a lack of guys with an effective drive game to cut seams into the zone. Fisher is slow, Artest is slow, Odom is mobile for a four but not overly quick in the grand scheme of things. Shannon Brown can drive, but still not great off the dribble. The Lakers should be pump faking and driving, but they are not. I can only guess its from lack of speed and lack of coaching.
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You don't have to dribble into a zone in order to beat it. That's one way, but it's not the only way. Seeing as how the Lakers' strength is their size, especially against the Suns, it would make sense to use their size to beat the Suns zone. They are not a good defensive team, they don't have any good defensive players, and it's purely a scheme issue. The Lakers just refuse to attack the zone in any way other than passing the ball around the three point line or giving it to Kobe.
 
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