How many games in the finals???

I see 5 games ahead....

5 sounds about right. It won't even be competetive, IMO.

I disagree. I think both the Pistons and Pacers could be very competitive in the NBA Finals.

cbfranchise3 Wrote:I disagree. I think both the Pistons and Pacers could be very competitive in the NBA Finals.

yea the finals are definetely going to be a great, tight series. the lakers might not even win

I would still pick the Lakers, but the gap between the elite in the East and the West is not as big as one would think.

the main problem is that there are more elite teams in the west than in the east

tysramm1 Wrote:the main problem is that there are more elite teams in the west than in the east

OK. Does that mean Detroit and Indiana will bow down to LA? No. And the east is making a comeback. An eastern conference team will win an NBA Championship in the next 5 years.

cbfranchise3 Wrote:

tysramm1 Wrote:the main problem is that there are more elite teams in the west than in the east

OK. Does that mean Detroit and Indiana will bow down to LA? No. And the east is making a comeback. An eastern conference team will win an NBA Championship in the next 5 years.

wow, that's soo encouraging.

Detroit or Indiana should be able to compete with the Lakers and could very well even win. The Lakers have not seen the kind of defense that both Detroit and Indiana play.....at least not in a playoff series.

That kind of defense can cause fits and frustrate LA.

so much emphasis in the playoffs are placed on matchups, so which of the eastern conference teams matchup better with the lakers?
I think Indiana, when healthy, matchup better. But as it is they are not even close to being healthy, so I guess Detroit would have a bit of the edge there.
However, as long as the Lakers can keep themselves motivated, and that's probably their biggest battle, there won't be much of a contest. Sure the eastern teams play much great defense, but their offenses have to keep up with the Lakers if they want to have a shot at a tight series... JMO.

I think the Pistons are capable of winning because its going to be the D that wins it for them, if they get into the Finals. The Pacers wouldn't be a good competition because..... their not healthy it would be very diffucult for them to pull of a win vs LA. I predict the Pistons playing against LA in the Finals and winning the series. I was really hoping KG and the Wolf pack could get to the Finals.

cbfranchise3 Wrote:

tysramm1 Wrote:the main problem is that there are more elite teams in the west than in the east

OK. Does that mean Detroit and Indiana will bow down to LA? No. And the east is making a comeback. An eastern conference team will win an NBA Championship in the next 5 years.

by more elite teams i mean
EAST: Nets, pistons, pacers
WEST: kings, mavs, lakers, twloves, spurs, with others emerging: grizzlies, nuggets and even rockets

If you call the Nuggets emerging, then you have to include the Heat as emerging, and maybe three other east teams.

yipg Wrote:so much emphasis in the playoffs are placed on matchups, so which of the eastern conference teams matchup better with the lakers?
I think Indiana, when healthy, matchup better. But as it is they are not even close to being healthy, so I guess Detroit would have a bit of the edge there.

I'd have to say Detroit, because Indiana does not have enough of an inside presence to stop Shaq. Detroit has a couple of 7 footers and can play tougher defense inside.

Who guards Kobe? Rip? No. Prince? Good luck with that. Rasheed? That won't work.

Who guards Shaq? Ben? Fro flattened. Rasheed? Are you serious? Okur/Campbell. Again, good luck with that - at least they have 12 fouls to use.

Lakers in no more than 5. And Rip gets shut down because the Lakers will get physical with him, whereas the Pacers waited until 285 minutes had passed in the series to get physical.

Lakers in five! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

HuskieDan Wrote:Who guards Kobe? Rip? No. Prince? Good luck with that. Rasheed? That won't work.

Who guards Shaq? Ben? Fro flattened. Rasheed? Are you serious? Okur/Campbell. Again, good luck with that - at least they have 12 fouls to use.

Lakers in no more than 5. And Rip gets shut down because the Lakers will get physical with him, whereas the Pacers waited until 285 minutes had passed in the series to get physical.

If you call getting a flagrant foul for forearming Rip in the face physical, then I guess you could say Indiana got physical with Rip with 4:00 left. Otherwise they didn't get physical with him at all and here is why......he keeps moving all the time. Do you know how hard it is to get physical with someone that doesn't stop moving without getting called for a foul? It's pretty hard.


As for who will guard Kobe and Shaq.......it will be the same for Detroit. Detroit plays team defense with great weakside help. The Lakers will score much more than Indiana did, but Detroit will score more in this series too. The Lakers don't have near the defense that Indiana did.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Lakers win, but it will be in 6 or 7 and a much closer series than most think.

Wow, I can't believe people think Detroit has a shot. I'll be pulling for them, but there's no way they win this series...

Detriot is going to win the finals, thats my prediction, whos going to guard prince, hamilton, wallaces and billups, plus they have depth, and they play much better defense

tysramm1 Wrote:whos going to guard prince, hamilton, wallaces and billups

What are you talking about? The Lakers are a very good defensive team and can guard anyone the Pistons throw at them.