Celtics Lakers matchups

[JoeSixPat]

This was a helpful article for me but I have an issue with their assessment at Center.

I'm not so ready to say that Gasol has an edge over Perkins... Perkins is peaking and his confidence is going through the roof right now - just when we need him. His scoring percentage is better than Gasol and Perkins plays best when we need him too.

Gasol might have more experience overall but I give a slight edge to Perk

Garnet over Odom is a given - though I'll always be a big Odom fan

Pierce certainly has the edgoe over Radmanovic. After some off games earlier in the playoffs Pierce turned the corner and is playing the way a team captain should in the playoffs. It's really great to see all his years and patience pay off for him.

Kobe over Ray Allen is a given as well - even if Allen was playing the way he was capable throughout the playoffs and the way he did in the last 2 games.

I'll concede point guard to the Lakers - though I'm glad to see Rondo taking some shots and keeping teams honest, freeing up other players from doubleteams and giving them shots. Rondo can definately surprise you and play big when he's needed.

So overall in the starting lineup I give the Celts the advantage in 3 out of the 5 positions.

I'd call the benches even - maybe there's a slight Laker advantage but this is the NBA championships. How deep does the bench need to be? And I'm pretty happy with how some of our reserves have stepped up when needed as well. The benches aren't competing with each other - just filling in gaps with the starters on both teams.

Coaching goes to the Lakers - I don't think Rivers has been especially great or especially bad but I'm hoping the players dictate this series - not the coaches.


So giving the starting lineups extra weight, I have to give the Celtics the edge, especially given the home advantage (though I think the 2-3-2 schedule nullifies that somewhat), will call the benches even and give coaching to the Lakers.

Position-by-position matchups for the NBA Finals


By Brian Mahoney, AP Basketball Writer

A position-by-position look at the matchups in the NBA finals between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers.

CENTER: Kendrick Perkins vs. Pau Gasol. The Lakers wouldn't be here without their midseason acquisition of Gasol from Memphis. He's a good passer for a big man, making him an excellent fit for the triangle offense, and is shooting 53 percent in the postseason while averaging 17.7 points. Perkins made 61.5 percent of his shots in the regular season and had some strong games in the Eastern Conference finals, including an 18-point, 16-rebound performance in Game 5. Edge: Lakers.

POWER FORWARD: Kevin Garnett vs. Lamar Odom. The Defensive Player of the Year, Garnett increased his offensive production in the conference finals, averaging 22.8 points in Boston's victory over Detroit. His intensity on both ends of the floor is what makes the Celtics go. The versatile Odom was inconsistent against San Antonio in the Western Conference finals, but rebounded from a poor Game 3 with strong performances in the last two games. Edge: Celtics.

SMALL FORWARD: Paul Pierce vs. Vladimir Radmanovic. Finally in the NBA finals in his 10th year with Boston, Pierce is set to face his hometown team. He has shown in the playoffs he can still be a potent scorer, notably in his 41-point effort to beat Cleveland in Game 7 of the second round, and has become an underrated defender. Radmanovic is a good perimeter shooter who doesn't do much else, and the Lakers need his jumper to be on to soften a Boston defense that held opponents to the lowest field goal percentage in the league. Edge: Celtics.

SHOOTING GUARD: Ray Allen vs. Kobe Bryant. Allen seemed to break out of his shooting slump in the final two games of the conference finals, averaging 23 points and going 8-of-14 from 3-point range. Bryant, a tenacious defender, will certainly welcome the challenge of trying to get that slump started again. And the league MVP has been at his best in the playoffs, averaging 31.9 points to lead all players in the postseason and shooting 52 percent. Edge: Lakers.

POINT GUARD: Rajon Rondo vs. Derek Fisher. Fisher had a fairly quiet series in the conference finals, but his postseason experience, solid defense and courage to take big shots remain a comfort to the Lakers even when his shot isn't falling. Rondo's poor jumper was especially off late in the last round, when he shot 10-of-35 in the final three games. The Lakers will make him beat them from the outside. Edge: Lakers.

RESERVES: James Posey, P.J. Brown, Sam Cassell, Eddie House, Leon Powe, Glen Davis and Tony Allen vs. Sasha Vujacic, Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar, Ronny Turiaf, DJ Mbenga and Trevor Ariza. Posey won a title with Miami two years ago and is a key contributor who will help defend Bryant, but tough to figure out what else to expect from Celtics' reserves. Minutes greatly fluctuated along with their production for most of them during the postseason. The Lakers counter with a much younger bench that tries to increase the tempo and energy when Bryant is resting. Edge: Lakers.

COACHES: Doc Rivers vs. Phil Jackson. Rivers did a great job molding all the Celtics' new pieces into a 66-win team. But he's appeared to lose confidence in some of his role players during the postseason, creating some inconsistent rotations. Jackson, the career leader in postseason victories, did one of his best coaching jobs this season on a team that started with the turmoil surrounding a possible Bryant trade and was never expected to be here. He seeks a 10th title, which would break Red Auerbach's record. Edge: Lakers.

 

[BradyManny]

Good article, though I STRONGLY disagree re: Rondo v Fisher. I think that may be one of our biggest advantages. Fisher doesn't have the speed to hang with Rondo, if Doc lets Rondo loose - and Doc seems to have confidence in Rondo, now its just up to Rondo to keep his own confidence level up - then Rondo will wreak complete havoc, particularly considering the Lakers big men are a little soft, and once Rondo gets by Fisher, he will be able to score or pass at will. And on the defensive end, I can see Rondo creating some turnovers.

 

[otis p. driftwood]

Bill Simmons says there's no way the C's beat the Lakers.

 

[Pats Fanatic]

The Celts has the best defense in the league. That in itself makes up for a lot of deficiencies plus we know what wins championships.

 

[scout]

Bill Simmons says there's no way the C's beat the Lakers.

How the hell did he come up with that one. Kobe is a great ball player. How many games is he going to win on his own? How much better is Kobe then James? Different players - different strengths. The Celtics will come up with a good defense to slow L.A. down. The Lakers can slow down the Celtics, but not consistently. What are their answers for the big three. I also do not see an advantage on Fisher over Rhondo. Rajon just finished trying to cover one of the best in Billups, his play was up and down. What exactly does Derrick Fisher have on offense or defense which gives him the nod?
The Celtics have a very good chance of taking the first two game at home. They then have three road games to win one game. The Lakers are not taking six and seven at Boston. Oh yea, the Lakers are grrrreat! The other day, an article on how Kupchuck (sp) should have been exec. of the year (LMAO), and then today, 'could this be Phil Jackson's best coaching year'. Gee maybe, no Michael, no Shaq and Kobe together, I'm sure there's a guy in the sky smoking a stogie having a good laugh on that one.

 

[otis p. driftwood]

It's in his latest article, written just before the C's won last night. One of his premises is that Phil Jackson is a great coach, while Doc is just...there.

 

[IcyPatriot]

Looking at the game on matchups make it appear to be closer than it really is. The Lakers don't play man defense and after facing the best defenses the NBA has to offer Boston will finally be unrestricted on the offensive end.

As long as the Celtics can contain Kobe to say 20's a game they will beat the Lakers handily.

The Lakers have nobody to handle Garnett and/or Ray Allen ...

This is going to look the Red Sox vs Cardinals
This is going to look like the Patriots vs Eagles

:singing: :singing:CELTICS IN 5 ... :singing: :singing:

 

[JoeSixPat]

Good article, though I STRONGLY disagree re: Rondo v Fisher. I think that may be one of our biggest advantages. Fisher doesn't have the speed to hang with Rondo, if Doc lets Rondo loose - and Doc seems to have confidence in Rondo, now its just up to Rondo to keep his own confidence level up - then Rondo will wreak complete havoc, particularly considering the Lakers big men are a little soft, and once Rondo gets by Fisher, he will be able to score or pass at will. And on the defensive end, I can see Rondo creating some turnovers.

Rondo, IMO, simply needs to take enough shots and make enough to keep them honest when it comes to defending him, and easing up the defense on the Pierce and Garnett.

If he can do that - and we know he can - that's all the Celts need from him on offense. With Pierce on the court his deficiencies as a true ball handling point guard aren't as pronounced.

If Allen's found his touch now so be it but I'm not going into the series counting on him.

 

[Real World]

I'd give the edge to the Lakers in this series. They're playing excellent basketball, and really impressed me with their 20 point, game 1 comeback against San Antonio. They didn't fold, and clearly gave them great confidence as a unit. The series itself is tough to break down. There are interesting match ups on both sides of the ball. How do the C's match up with Kobe, Gasol, and a plethora of capable 3 point shooters? that will be interesting. Kobe is a far better shooter than James was, and his supporting cast is much better as well. So that will be interesting to watch. However, the flip side that few people are talking about, is how the Lakers match up with the Celtics. To be quite honest, I don't think they do. Who guards Pierce? Kobe? If so, that will take away from his offensive ability, since Pierce plays a physical game, and is playing well. If not, Radmanovic/Sasha V can't cover him. Odom might try believe it or not, but the C's would just iso his side, and Pierce would murder him off the dribble. Who guard Allen & Garnett? I think they're going to try Odom on Garnett, cuz while Gasol has length, he lacks the strength to go toe to toe with KG. I'm having a hard time figuring out who's match ups are more difficult. Everyone seems to be looking at the Lakers & asking how the C's stop them, but maybe they should be wondering how the Lakers are going to stop the Celtics. I hope it's a great series either way.

BTW, I absolutely hate the 2-3-2 set up. That's just gross, and an embarassment. How's that home court advantage? No team should ever have 3 straight games at home, in a 4 win series.

 

[BradyManny]

Everyone seems to be looking at the Lakers & asking how the C's stop them, but maybe they should be wondering how the Lakers are going to stop the Celtics. I hope it's a great series either way.

I agree, the Lakers really don't match up well against the C's. The C's dominated the west this season for a reason, and its b/c they can play pretty much any style of play, and their team was troublesome for the softer finesse teams out west. Gasol and Odom are both a little soft, and even Kobe, who'd like to think he has Jordan's mental and physical toughness, can get flustered by physical play. The best guy suited for that is Posey. You want a guy out there that can flat-out annoy Kobe. I think we'll see a fair amount of a Rondo-Allen-Pierce-Posey-KG lineup out there.

 

[IcyPatriot]

I agree, the Lakers really don't match up well against the C's. The C's dominated the west this season for a reason, and its b/c they can play pretty much any style of play, and their team was troublesome for the softer finesse teams out west. Gasol and Odom are both a little soft, and even Kobe, who'd like to think he has Jordan's mental and physical toughness, can get flustered by physical play. The best guy suited for that is Posey. You want a guy out there that can flat-out annoy Kobe. I think we'll see a fair amount of a Rondo-Allen-Pierce-Posey-KG lineup out there.

That also causes huge problems for Gasol who might prefer
Perkins ... over the athletic defensive team player of the year Garnett.

 

[Real World]

I agree, the Lakers really don't match up well against the C's. The C's dominated the west this season for a reason, and its b/c they can play pretty much any style of play, and their team was troublesome for the softer finesse teams out west. Gasol and Odom are both a little soft, and even Kobe, who'd like to think he has Jordan's mental and physical toughness, can get flustered by physical play. The best guy suited for that is Posey. You want a guy out there that can flat-out annoy Kobe. I think we'll see a fair amount of a Rondo-Allen-Pierce-Posey-KG lineup out there.

Well, that's why this series is so hard for me to predict. Who will that unit hurt more, the Celtics, or the Lakers? The C's would have a tough time around the rim against Gasol & Odom who are athletic for their size, but at the same time, those two would struggle keeping up with them on the opposite end. It's a very intriguing series. I'm having a hard time figuring how it'll play out. Should be fun.

 

[scout]

Almost had heart failure. Read a by-line which stated the Celtic player guarding Kobe may be out. Then when I clicked on the article the heading stated: Allen out. Of course it was Tony Allen who is having trouble with his foot. I guess he's done a good job defensively on Kobe, but whenever I see him play he's making really dumb plays (Billups pump fake foul to win the reg. season game, and one recently in a playoff game that was really bad).

 

[BradyManny]

Well, that's why this series is so hard for me to predict. Who will that unit hurt more, the Celtics, or the Lakers? The C's would have a tough time around the rim against Gasol & Odom who are athletic for their size, but at the same time, those two would struggle keeping up with them on the opposite end. It's a very intriguing series. I'm having a hard time figuring how it'll play out. Should be fun.

What makes it more complicated is that it's always hard to say, in reference to the C's, player X is guarding opponent X and player Y is guarding opponent Y. This defense truly is a team defense system, and they are going up against the triangle offense system, making it even harder to simply say "Pierce on Kobe" or whatnot.

So I have to look at it a little bit more distant. So if Gasol and Odom are on the floor at the same time as the C's go small, I don't think it'll be a problem. Would Gasol/Odom pose a problem for KG/Pierce (I think that's who you'd end up putting on them, as you'd want Posey on Kobe)? Yeah, sure, in a game of one on one, but it never works like that for the C's. On the whole, IMO, a Rondo-Allen-Pierce-Posey-KG lineup would do fine defensively despite the size mismatch down low, and on the other end, our offense would have quite an advantage.

 

[BradyManny]

That also causes huge problems for Gasol who might prefer
Perkins ... over the athletic defensive team player of the year Garnett.

I believe KG has had some noted offensive success against Gasol, I was reading the numbers on the celtics blog forum, I'll see if I can find them.

 

[BadMoFo]

Let's see, hottest team in the playoffs or the best team in the regular season. Hmmm ...

 

[BadMoFo]

This was a helpful article for me but I have an issue with their assessment at Center.

I'm not so ready to say that Gasol has an edge over Perkins... Perkins is peaking and his confidence is going through the roof right now - just when we need him. His scoring percentage is better than Gasol and Perkins plays best when we need him too.

Gasol might have more experience overall but I give a slight edge to Perk

Garnet over Odom is a given - though I'll always be a big Odom fan

Pierce certainly has the edgoe over Radmanovic. After some off games earlier in the playoffs Pierce turned the corner and is playing the way a team captain should in the playoffs. It's really great to see all his years and patience pay off for him.

Kobe over Ray Allen is a given as well - even if Allen was playing the way he was capable throughout the playoffs and the way he did in the last 2 games.

I'll concede point guard to the Lakers - though I'm glad to see Rondo taking some shots and keeping teams honest, freeing up other players from doubleteams and giving them shots. Rondo can definately surprise you and play big when he's needed.

So overall in the starting lineup I give the Celts the advantage in 3 out of the 5 positions.

I'd call the benches even - maybe there's a slight Laker advantage but this is the NBA championships. How deep does the bench need to be? And I'm pretty happy with how some of our reserves have stepped up when needed as well. The benches aren't competing with each other - just filling in gaps with the starters on both teams.

Coaching goes to the Lakers - I don't think Rivers has been especially great or especially bad but I'm hoping the players dictate this series - not the coaches.


So giving the starting lineups extra weight, I have to give the Celtics the edge, especially given the home advantage (though I think the 2-3-2 schedule nullifies that somewhat), will call the benches even and give coaching to the Lakers.

I agree with most of your assesments, but:


I'd call Rondo even with Fisher/Farmar.

I'd definitely give the nod to Gasol in the center category. I don't think Perkins having a good series changes that.

No way the benches are even, we're not talking about the 12th spot, just the contributors. Walton, Farmar, Vujacic are much better than Brown, Cassell and Posey.

 

[Real World]

No way the benches are even, we're not talking about the 12th spot, just the contributors. Walton, Farmar, Vujacic are much better than Brown, Cassell and Posey.

Walton sucks, Farmer sucks, and Vujacic is a pretty good shooter. I'd say it's even since we have the best players of the bunch in Posey, and Brown is better at what he does than any big on the Laker bench. The Laker players are more capable of having a big game, but they lack in the consistency department. niether bench scares you.