The Official Redszone NBA Playoff Thread, now with more accuracy!

[Homer Bailey]

Its not like Perkins scores 20 ppg, they need Bynum for Defense. Fisher always guards Allen, he's very good at fighting the screens. And bynum is going to play like 20 minutes, and Odom is still going to get 30 minutes, like in the regular season, so i don't see your point. Gasol can't play Center the whole game. If you start Odom theat makes the bench very weak. Didn"t you see what Artest did to Durant?? Ariza wouldnt have played that defense on Durant, Melo always kills Ariza because of his size, Ariza struggels with bigger players, and they didn't offer Ariza anything, they made their offer to Artest. And its not guarding Perkins thats the problem, its the rebounding, GASOL gets pushed around by Perkins because of his size, Garnett pushes around Odom because of his size, so having Bynum helps the Lakers wih the rebounding

I saw Kevin Durant look like the 21 year old (22?) that he is. I'll bet that Paul Pierce is going to use Artest's physicallness agaisnt him, and flop his way into a few fouls (I'm no Pierce fan, but he's a wily veteran).

I never said anything about Odom starting. It doesn't matter who starts. It matters who gets more minutes. Sure Bynum can help on defense/rebounding, but he isn't physically ready for big minutes at this point. So, like I said, he can't really be relied upon.

[reds44]

I saw Kevin Durant look like the 21 year old (22?) that he is. I'll bet that Paul Pierce is going to use Artest's physicallness agaisnt him, and flop his way into a few fouls (I'm no Pierce fan, but he's a wily veteran).

I never said anything about Odom starting. It doesn't matter who starts. It matters who gets more minutes. Sure Bynum can help on defense/rebounding, but he isn't physically ready for big minutes at this point. So, like I said, he can't really be relied upon.

Yeah, because lord knows Ron Artest has never guarded a superstar before.

Ron Artest is a much, much better and smarter player than you're giving him credit for.

The Lakers matchup with the Celtics much better than they did last time around.

Kobe/Rondo
Fisher/Allen
Artest/Pierce
Gasol/KG
Bynum/Perkins

Odom/Wallace

[RedLakerFan24]

I saw Kevin Durant look like the 21 year old (22?) that he is. I'll bet that Paul Pierce is going to use Artest's physicallness agaisnt him, and flop his way into a few fouls (I'm no Pierce fan, but he's a wily veteran).

I never said anything about Odom starting. It doesn't matter who starts. It matters who gets more minutes. Sure Bynum can help on defense/rebounding, but he isn't physically ready for big minutes at this point. So, like I said, he can't really be relied upon.

Im not saying Artest is going to stop Pierce, but he's going to do a way better job then what Walton/Rad did. Bynum has been playing pretty solid, not bad, in the Zone defense i kida ruin his numbers, just like they did with Gasols, so dont look at his ppg

[Homer Bailey]

Yeah, because lord knows Ron Artest has never guarded a superstar before.

Ron Artest is a much, much better and smarter player than you're giving him credit for.

The Lakers matchup with the Celtics much better than they did last time around.

Kobe/Rondo
Fisher/Allen
Artest/Pierce
Gasol/KG
Bynum/Perkins

Odom/Wallace

I never said Artest hasn't guarded a superstar before. I just don't think he's nearly the defender he used to be. Add in the fact that he can't shoot, and you have a player that isn't very valuable (in the first year of a 5 year deal).

I have very legit doubts about 3 of the 5 starters on the Lakers. Granted, Kobe is the best player in this series, and Gasol is certainly one of the top 4 players of the series.

[reds44]

I never said Artest hasn't guarded a superstar before. I just don't think he's nearly the defender he used to be. Add in the fact that he can't shoot, and you have a player that isn't very valuable (in the first year of a 5 year deal).

I have very legit doubts about 3 of the 5 starters on the Lakers. Granted, Kobe is the best player in this series, and Gasol is certainly one of the top 4 players of the series.

I think he proved in the first round he is a damn good defender.

And jesus, Ron Artest is 30, not 55.

[RBA]

Bynum had his knee drained yesterday and he's expected to have better mobility. He still won't be 100 percent healthy, but he will likely be playing better than he has done in the playoff thus far.

[reds44]

Bynum had his knee drained yesterday and he's expected to have better mobility. He still won't be 100 percent healthy, but he will likely be playing better than he has done in the playoff thus far.

See also: Kobe's numbers pre and post getting his knee drained.

[RBA]

See also: Kobe's numbers pre and post getting his knee drained.

Yup, Bynum is going to start putting in threes while two Boston defenders are in his face.

[reds44]

Yup, Bynum is going to start putting in threes while two Boston defenders are in his face.

YouTube - Andrew Bynum Shoots A 3 Pointer

[improbus]

Lakers v. Celtics:

Perkins > Bynum
Garnett < Gasol
Pierce > Artest
Allen < Bryant
Rondo > Fisher

6th Man
Davis < Odom

Bench
Celtics > Lakers

I like what you're doing here, but I think you could take it a degree further
Perkins = Bynum - Bynum is better but hurt and Perk has not lived up to his play of two years ago and is a threat to be suspended.
Garnett << Gasol - Garnett has flashes, but can't be consistent. Gasol should eat him up.
Pierce > Artest - Pierce is better than Artest, but I do think that Artest matches up well with Pierce. Pierce relies on old-man-moves and muscle which Artest can still defend very well. That said, if Artest takes over 4 threes a game, the Celtics would be thrilled.
Allen <<< Bryant - Kobe can sense Jordan's 6 championships. But, don't forget that he just about quit in the 2008 Finals.
Rondo >>>> Fisher - Four arrows may not be enough. Fish will make one or two veteran clever plays a game but Rondo will make twenty great athletic plays.

6th Man
Davis << Odom - Odom's length is devastating and Davis is very inconsistent.

Bench
Celtics > Lakers - The Lakers Bench has played one good game (even the Machine hit some shots), but I would expect Boston's bench (with the rejuvenated Nate Robinson) to outperform them.

[RedLakerFan24]

In the previous post, we discussed the Paul Pierce vs. Ron Artest matchup that is sure to be a focal point of the 2010 NBA Finals due to the fact that Artest is one of the few changes to the starting lineup since these teams last met in the 2008 championship round.

So how exactly has Pierce fared against Artest? The wizards at ESPN Stats & Information crunched the numbers and Artest has enjoyed more success than you might think as Pierce is averaging a mere 0.58 points per play against Artest over the past three regular seasons.

To quantify that, let's first explain how that metric is determined: A play is defined as any field goal attempt, trip to the foul line, or turnover. The only plays registered are when Artest is the initial defender, and does not include points scored off switches, offensive rebounds, cuts, and transition plays.

In a nutshell, this is 1-on-1 basketball. Ball-handler vs. defender.

Under that scenario, Pierce ran 38 plays and scored 22 points on 6-of-26 shooting (23.1 percent) with eight turnovers and four trips to the foul line. The mere fact that Pierce generated more turnovers than field goals suggests Artest has dominated the matchup.

Given the way Pierce struggled offensively against Cleveland's LeBron James, it's worth watching if he's able to keep up his offensive exploits from the Eastern Confernce finals against the Magic. After all, Pierce will likely draw the already daunting task of guarding Kobe Bryant, much like he checked James in the second round, and used up much of his energy at that end of the floor.

Here's one more set of numbers for you to chomp on: The last time Pierce and Artest met in the postseason was the opening round of the 2004 playoffs. Not only did the Pacers sweep, Pierce averaged 20.8 points per game on 34.2 percent shooting (just 29.4 percent from beyond the arc, while committing 6.3 turnovers per game.

[reds44]

Good stuff right there.

[Joseph]

Boston in 6.

Random prediction as I don't watch much if any NBA ball.

[reds44]

I'll go Lakers in 6.

I can't handle another finals loss to Boston.

[The Voice of IH]

Celtics in 6 for ME!