ClubLakers vs. ClubKnicks - The Inaugural Match-Up

HERE WE GO.

Who would of thought? After Larry Brown and his Pistons routed to an NBA championship against a hall-of-fame coach by the name of Phil Jackson and his hall-of-fame team…who would of that that they’d meet just two years later once again? Well, wether you saw it comming or not, its here. But believe me, this is certainly NOT the NBA Finals. More like the Desperation Finals.

Tonight, the “New Look” New York Knicks play the “Showtime Revived” Los Angelas Lakers. And on each bench, there is Larry Brown and Phil Jackson. Last time these two went at it was when LB was coach of one of the top teams in the East and Phil was coach of the most stacked team in the league. Larry Brown won that series, and ended up winning the NBA championship and sending Phil Jackson into a “short” retirement. But now that we’re back, you can feel it again. Two of the greatest coaches in the NBA, who also have two of the greatest challenges that they have ever faced in their coaching careers.

Phil Jackson has to bring a Lakers team that didn’t make the playoffs last year back to LA’s expectations, and Larry Brown has to try to run an almost un-runable show under the bright lights of New York, relied on to bring back the playoffs to the Garden. And . . . wait are we forgetting something here? Oh yeah . . . the PLAYERS.

The Knicks are coming off a 2-game winning streak after starting the season 0-5, and the Lakers have lost 3 straight, all on the road against Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Memphis. But this game is at Staples, the Lakers home floor, so this game might rocket the Lakers into immediate success if they can win. But coming off their best defensive performance ever (held Jazz to 62 points, Franchise record), the Knicks wont look to blow it. If they lose it, they’ll do it the Larry Brown way. And that’s going all out until the final buzzer.

If you look at the starting lineups, you see that the Knicks are at a disadvantage. Of course we start with Kobe, who will be guarded by Q. Richardson. Richardson is coming off a great offensive output when he started 4/4 from the 3-point line, and ended up being a key guy when the Jazz were trying to come back. But his defense is still a question mark, and he’s certainly going to have his hands full with guarding Kobe. If he does bad early, dont be suprised if he is pulled and someone else, like Penny Hardaway or Trevor Ariza is put on. Still, Kobe is almost un-guardable. So look for Kobe to go hot tonight.

The other key matchups will be Kwame Brown and Antonio Davis. Now you glance at this and think Kwame will put up maybe the greatest numbers of this season so far, youth and strength against age. But Davis has played great D basically every game of this season and has done a brilliant job on the boards, that is why he is still in the starting lineup. He doesnt score much, but he does the dirty work, and thats why Larry Brown keeps him in.

Other match-ups are Matt Barnes on Lamar Odom. Lamar has yet to play that great this season, but he can break out tonight. Matt Barnes is a good player, offensively especially, but Odom is just straight-up stronger and is taller, so unless Barnes is playing his best, and Odom gets the ball frequently, then we might a star tonight, who is NOT Kobe.

The two match-ups the Knicks will win in my opinion, is Marbury against Smush Parker and Eddy Curry on Chris Mihm. Now Parker has done more than what management and the fans thought he would do, and thats great for the Lakers. But to play against a guy like Marbury is very hard for the league’s top PGs, so for Parker . . . yeah you get my drift. Sorry Smush. And last but not least, Curry against Mihm. Now even if Curry is very foul-prone, he is just flat out more athletic and better talent-wise than Mihm. But with the amount of fouls Curry picks up in the 1st quarter, which is a lot of the time a few, Mihm might catch a break, but that means he’ll have to possibly play Frye. And Frye has done better than what the NY Media and national media thought.

But the main key, in my mind, will be the bench. The Knicks have a very good bench, who have on a few times provided up to or around 50 points, so that is a huge back-up if the starting lineup cannot get it done. Look for that to play a major role in this game.

So all in all, tonight should be a great match-up. It can also be an ugly one. This wont be a Knicks Lakers match-up from the early 70s, but it cetainly has the potential to be so in my mind.

Prediction: Lakers come out strong, but Knicks rally with their young guns in the game and hold on for the win.
Knicks 85
Lakers 78

by keyindabox

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As the Lakers come into this game with the New York Knicks, they hope to bounce back from three tough defeats to end a four-game road trip. They were barely edged out by the 76ers despite Bryant’s poor shooting performance. They collapsed in the second half of a very winnable game against the Timberwolves. They were manhandled on Monday night by the Memphis Grizzlies.

Dropping below the .500 mark for the first time this season, they now hope to steer back onto the right track with a victory over New York at STAPLES Center.

While each of the seasons’ two games featuring the teams of America’s largest media markets are usually highly anticipated, the air has a bit more of a buzz this time around.

This meeting will mark the first time that Phil Jackson and Larry Brown will face off since the Detroit Pistons upset the Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals.

While the sight of Jackson against Brown is all too familiar, the scenario is entirely different. Both are at the helm of struggling teams. Both are fighting for playoff spots. Both hope to save their respective cities from another year of NBA embarassment.

In addition, both are mentoring two of the league’s superstar backcourt players. Stephon Marbury has experienced sub-par numbers for his own standards thus far, yet Brown hopes to mold him into the true leader of the new system he has implemented. The Coney Island star’s name has been mentioned as of late in various trade rumors. If Marbury wants to stay in New York, the coming weeks may serve as an audition period. What a better way to kick off this process by starting in Tinseltown?

Meanwhile, Jackson hopes to elevate Kobe Bryant to a level of superstardom unseen since . . . you know who. Bryant has moved to the wing spot in the triangle, playing a whole new role as an attacker. No longer initiating the offense, Kobe has been freed of that burden and has been allowed to concentrate on being the Lakers’ focal point on offense.

So far it’s paid off.

Bryant opened the season averaging 36.3 ppg, garnering Player of the Week honors from the NBA. However, his shooting percentages have taken a dive in his last two games, hitting just 31% of his attempts. This includes a horrendous game at Philadelphia where he shot just 7 of 27.

Some say it’s because Kobe’s forcing shots and not playing within the triangle offense. Others say he’s not getting enough help from his teammates; it’s easy to defend one scoring option on the floor.

Whatever the case, Kobe hopes to snap out of this rut. Fast. Here’s an interesting stat: the Lakers are 4-1 when Bryant scores over 30 this season. While defense was the team’s problem last season, the Lakers have been in desperate need of a fluid, functional offense in their previous three games.

The Knicks dropped their first five games to open the 2005-2006 season; however, Brown hopes to reverse their fate. New York is flying high off of two feel-good wins against the Kings and Jazz, hungry for a third consecutive win.

While the momentum may be in the Knicks’ pocket, the Lakers will do all they can to avoid a fourth straight loss.

The Lakers should take this game by 8 points or so at home. They do not have a formidable defender to lock down on Kobe Bryant. The Knicks will throw some double teams at Kobe, but he should learn from his recent mistakes find his teammates, who will be comfortable enough to knock down their open looks now at home. Bryant will get the help he needs on offense and the Lakers will snap out of their losing streak, handing the Knicks their 6th loss.

by BryantDunkGiant

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