1. Lakers (57-25) vs 4. Jazz (54-28)
Regular Season Series: LAL 3-1
Point Differencial: LAL +2.7
Two very different teams coming from tow different series. The Lakers coming from the only swept of the first round where they found very little resistent. They had to run but their half court execution gave them the series. In the other side, Utah is coming from a physical, tough 6 game series against T-Mac and the Rockets.Deron Williams was key for the Jazz in that series as he has been all season long.
The Lakers was the most impressive team in the first round, not only becuase of the swept but for their team defense, their ball movement, their bench play and the play of their two best players. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol were brilliant all series long. They executed the triangle offense as crispy as I have seen since 2002. They made the extra pass and always found their spots where they could be effective at getting their offense going. The Lakers are going to need every bit of that execution to defeat a very ordened and disciplined Jazz team.
Utah plays a far more direct and effective offense (Only Okur shot less than 40% against Houston). They base the¡r offense on pick and rolls and screens to get their shooters open. Most of their players have the ability of creating their own shots so they can collapse the defense without breaking their offensive scheme. This is a very well coached team. They have a tought time getting rid of the Rockets because defensively they gave a lot of opportunities for easy shots. They need to improve that. They need to control both ends of the floor. It won't be easy against a team like the Lakers as they can generate offense from both outside and inside.
The defense of Kobe Bryant on Deron Williams is going to be one of the most important bullet points of this series. Deron Williams can shred any defense with his size and court vision. He can dominate either in transition basketball or in half court sets. Kobe defense have to deny him the open shot and the Lakers team defense need to try deny him the pick and roll. Not an easy task. Kirilenko will defend Kobe. His main reason to live and breath fron now on is avoid to Kobe take control in the fourth quater. Utah has the firepower to sustain and 40 or 50 point explosion of Kobe - as long as Gasol and the other Lakers are held in check - but no team in this league can survive a 20 point fourth quater from Kobe
The production matchup of Boozer and Gasol is also key (they are not going to defend themselves directly) as both teams need inside production to free up their outside players. Defense must respect them both.
X Factor: Utah shooters. If they are hitting their shots Deron Williams can easily dominate the entire series. He would have too many option to generate offense.
Basketball Gods' Prediction: LAL 4-2
The Lakers was the most impressive team in the first round, not only becuase of the swept but for their team defense, their ball movement, their bench play and the play of their two best players. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol were brilliant all series long. They executed the triangle offense as crispy as I have seen since 2002. They made the extra pass and always found their spots where they could be effective at getting their offense going. The Lakers are going to need every bit of that execution to defeat a very ordened and disciplined Jazz team.
Utah plays a far more direct and effective offense (Only Okur shot less than 40% against Houston). They base the¡r offense on pick and rolls and screens to get their shooters open. Most of their players have the ability of creating their own shots so they can collapse the defense without breaking their offensive scheme. This is a very well coached team. They have a tought time getting rid of the Rockets because defensively they gave a lot of opportunities for easy shots. They need to improve that. They need to control both ends of the floor. It won't be easy against a team like the Lakers as they can generate offense from both outside and inside.
The defense of Kobe Bryant on Deron Williams is going to be one of the most important bullet points of this series. Deron Williams can shred any defense with his size and court vision. He can dominate either in transition basketball or in half court sets. Kobe defense have to deny him the open shot and the Lakers team defense need to try deny him the pick and roll. Not an easy task. Kirilenko will defend Kobe. His main reason to live and breath fron now on is avoid to Kobe take control in the fourth quater. Utah has the firepower to sustain and 40 or 50 point explosion of Kobe - as long as Gasol and the other Lakers are held in check - but no team in this league can survive a 20 point fourth quater from Kobe
The production matchup of Boozer and Gasol is also key (they are not going to defend themselves directly) as both teams need inside production to free up their outside players. Defense must respect them both.
X Factor: Utah shooters. If they are hitting their shots Deron Williams can easily dominate the entire series. He would have too many option to generate offense.
Basketball Gods' Prediction: LAL 4-2
1 comment:
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