[Zeus]

Originally Posted by TheDarkKnight_23

Backcourt: Lakers
Lee will have his hands full guarding Bryant at the start; Pietrus will help off bench. Alston was great in East finals and Lakers have struggled to defend opposing PGs.

Watch for pietris to be a starter. Lee/pietris will work on wearing down Kobe like they did lebron reducing his effectiveness late in the game. Kobe will wind up covering these players, and they will be running the court on both ends looking to tire the 12 year veteran out. Id say the backcourt goes to the lakers for the sole reason they have Kobe. But its not as landslidish as you'd think. Alston has played better than fischer as of yet.


Frontcourt: Magic
Howard is still too quick and too strong for Bynum, but the Lakers will challenge Howard more on the other end of the floor than the Cavs did. With Ariza and Odom, Lakers are versatile defensively, but Turkoglu and Lewis are tough matchups.


To me this is why the Magic win the series. The overwhelming victory at this position. Howard will beat anyone they put on him, Turk will beat Odom, and Lewis will beat the smaller Ariza. No good matchup for the Lakers.


Bench: Lakers
Pietrus has played great in playoffs and was big in beating Cavs. Magic also could be getting Nelson back. Lakers' bench has been inconsistent, but gained traction at end of West finals. They'll need Brown, Vujacic, Farmar to shoot.

I dont take stock in going against the team with the momentum. The magic bench has accounted for much more in these playoffs than the lakers. Vujacic, farmar and brown have done nothing great since the regular season, vujacic is clearly in a slump. While you have pietris accounting for over 100pts in the Cavs series. I dont see how you could possibly pick the lakers here. Magic are the hot team, this is the Magic's win.

Coaching: Lakers
Phil Jackson has won nine titles while Stan Van Gundy is making his first trip to the Finals.

True. id give this one to Phil. But then again last year was doc river's first year... and Mike brown was coach of the year but was clearly outcoached by Stan... Close one.

Verdict: Lakers
The Lakers will be challenged to contend with Howard, but they at least have the length to make a go of it. It's also just too hard to imagine Kobe letting another title shot pass him by. Lakers in 6.

I say magic. Not just the hotter team, but the team that is (imo) better put together for the task. If the laker bench comes to play, and the lakers can stop the big 3 from Orlando they win. If Orlando puts on a shooting clinic again for the 3rd straight series, they win.