West Conference Finals game one: Devestating loss for Spurs

Posted by: SPQR on May 22, 2008 - 03:46 PM
lakers-blog

Overcoming rust, nerves, tissue paper defense in the first half and subpar performances by two usually reliable starters, the Lakers claw back from a 20 point deficit to pin a huge loss on the defending champions and enhance their own playoff aspirations.

Basketball is usually divided into four quarters, but this time it was a game of two and half quarters vs a game of one and half quarters. The Lakers were so dominant in the one and half quarters they still won. The first game featured total domination by the Spurs. Tony Parker and Tim Duncan did whatever then wanted and did it whenever they wanted. The tone was set by a non existent Laker defense and Lamar Odom shooting layups like they were from 60 feet away. Tony Parker tortured Derek fisher and the Laker defense looked like a bystander as Bowen and company were shoot three point shots.

The game turned when Phil moved Kobe to the small forward and used Jordan and Sasha in the back court. This lineup, along with Pau and Vlad was just too quick and had too much energy for a Spurs team that could not match the high gear the Lakers shifted into. From this point on the champs looked like a team of aging veterans coming off a very hard seven game series.

Some of the bright spots in the win. Kobe in the third and fourth just manhandling the Spurs. Once he shifted into attack mode the Spurs had no answer for it. Expect this to be the case throughout the series. It is so very apparent that no team, no coach, no player has an answer to the Great Man.

Vlad came out on fire again. This time driving to the basket several times with energy and force like it was old news for him. You really wish he would do this more often. Three good games in row for Vlad. A huge plus for us.

Sasha and Pau again having their usual steady games, scoring when given the chance and keeping the Spur defense honest and under pressure.

Ronny did nice work in a short minutes. A great block on Duncan and three rebounds along with drawing a foul on Duncan going for another. This is the kind of effort on the boards Ronny needs to do all the time to maximize his effectiveness for this team.

JORDAN FARMAR!! Nice game for Jordan. He took another step up from his last effort against the Jazz. If he can provide us with this much help for the rest of the game in this series, it's going to hurt San Antonio alot. Its good that Parker is a small gaurd. You have the feeling Jordan was bothered terribly by the height and strength of Deron Williams and playing a smaller man is bringing back some confidence in his game and what he feels he can do.

The defense; from the moment Phil made the lineup change to the end of the game. The Lakers seemed like they had 6 or seven guys out there. They were all over the floor, contesting everything and crashing the boards. Given their effectivness and the energy this lineup brings, along with the Spurs age, this may be the lineup that ultimately takes this series for us.

Lowlights:

Lamar having one of those games he used to show a couple years ago. He seemed completely out of sorts, missing one layup after another. I don't expect that to happen again.

Derek getting totally abused by Parker. I don't blame Fish. He's 33 years old trying to stay with an all star, NBA finals MVP at the height of his powers. Players in their prime are getting abused by Parker. If he can get his offense back for the rest of the series he will give this team plenty of help even if Parker wins the duel over the series.

Luke. When he comes in the game against these type of teams, I literally cringe. At that point we are playing four against five. The Spurs don't care where he is, don't care if he's open, because they know he's scared to shoot, and if he does, he will likely miss. I'm sure there will be plenty of talk about Luke in the offseason so I will leave it at that.

I am so glad we won this game for more than the obvious reasons. If we hadn't, the sports pages and ESPN and every internet site and paper would have been filled with psychological evaluations and guesses as to why Kobe was so completly unwilling to take a stronger hand until we fell behind by such a huge margin. I'm so glad this torturous subject was obviated by the win and we don't have to dwell on that unbelievably tiresome speculation. It would have just murder listening to all that after a loss of that magnitude. Talking basketball is so much more fun.

This loss was especially hard on the Spurs. To have a game won, and home field taken back to San Antonio, only to lose it after such a determined mental and physical effort is just so devastating. You only win so many games on a good teams home court and it's like the Spurs did it; only they have a loss to show for it. If any team can over come this type of mental distress it's the Spurs. But in the post game interview Coach Pops said the nature of the loss, "hurts like hell." The last time I heard him use that exact term was when Derek made the miracle shot against them in 2004. The Spurs did not recover from that "hurt".

Even worse, the first three and half quarters were the worst ones this Laker team has played in the playoff this year...and the Spurs played great. For us to turn it on for just a quarter and a half and obliterate all that went before it does not bode well for the champs. It really is hard to imagine the Lakers playing that bad again in this series. The fact that we won this game despite miminal contributions from Derek and Lamar is also ominmous. If I was a Spurs fan I would not be very encouraged by the implications of what I saw in this game.

One other large chunk of good news: Drew's surgery went very well and he is expected to be totally healthy and back to pre injury form by training camp next year. Lots of championships anyone? All in all not a bad day was it?