Mo Williams vs. Derek Fisher: This matchup easily goes to Mo Williams. Not only was Mo an all star this past season, but he also helped guide the Cavaliers to the playoffs. Mo’s 18 PPG and 4 APG easily beat Fisher’s 10 PPG and 3 APG. Also, Williams is a much better shooter, shooting at 47%, whereas Derek only shot at 42%. This strong outside shooting will help spread the defense and keep the paint clear for Shaq and Dirk to control.
John Salmons vs. Kobe Bryant: This matchup is the only one we think favors the Lakers. However, although Kobe is indeed a superstar, we have John Salmons, our best perimeter defender, guarding him. Kobe likely will not get any uncontested shots, and he will also have trouble driving to the hoop with Shaq controlling the post. On the offensive end, Salmons provides us with even more clutch shooting to spread the defense. He is a very underrated player in the league, but actually put up 18 PPG, 4 RPG, and 3 APG this season, while shooting over 47% from the field. We’ll take that any day from our 5th scoring option, and utilize his team leading defense against Kobe.
Danny Granger vs. Trevor Ariza: This matchup really isn’t close. Granger is by far and away better than Trevor Ariza. This past season, during which Granger was an all star, he put up 26 PPG, 6 RPG, and 3 APG, as opposed to Ariza who only put up 9 PPG, 4 RPG, and 2 APG. We feel we easily win this matchup.
Dirk Nowitzki vs. Pau Gasol: This matchup also clearly favors us. While Pau is a good player in his own right, he has never been able to carry a team to the playoffs like Dirk has multiple times. Dirk is among the league’s top 10 players, and is close to superstar status. After averaging 26 PPG and 8 RPG in this season, with yet another all star appearance, Dirk is poised to help lead us to a title. Comparing those stats to Pau’s 19 PPG and 10 RPG isn’t really close. Plus height won’t be a factor , as both are 7-feet tall, so Dirk will have a field day on Pau.
Shaq vs. Andrew Bynum: This matchup also favors us. Shaq is still an elite center, one of the top 3 or 4, who made yet another appearance in the all star game this past season. Since this is most likely his final season, he is hungrier than ever to go out on top. After being well rested throughout the season with help from our 6th man Zach Randolph, he is ready for the playoffs. He has the size advantage (7-1 325 lbs as opposed to Bynum at 7-0 285 lbs) and is coming off a much better season (18 PPG and 8.4 RPG as opposed to Bynum’s 14 PPG and 8 RPG), so this matchup should clearly go to him.
Zach Randolph vs. Shelden Williams: This matchup is another lopsided one, our sixth man vs. their sixth man. Let’s just compare stats for this past season: Randolph averaged 21 PPG and 10 RPG whereas Williams averaged 4 PPG and 3 RPG. Both are still fairly young, are the same height, and weigh about the same, so size doesn’t matter in this case. Overall, we strongly feel Randolph easily takes this matchup.
CJ Watson vs. Shannon Brown: This matchup is closer than the previous ones, but still strongly favors Watson. Not only did Watson put up 10 PPG and 3 APG this past season (compared to Brown’s 4 PPG and 1 APG), he did it while shooting 46% from the field and 40% from the 3-point line. Watson is also much quicker than Brown, so he should easily be able to run our offense flawlessly when Williams needs a break.
Please take a look at our clubhouse (Warriors Clubhouse (http://www.prosportsdaily.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9977155&postcount=7)) as well as their lineup (Lakers Clubhouse (http://www.prosportsdaily.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9992022&postcount=19)) and consider both when voting. Take you very much for your time, and GO WARRIORS!!!
LA Lakers didnt send in a writeup.
I like the John Salmons on Kobe matchup. Salmons is a very underrated defender and actually sticks Kobe better than most guys. I remember when Salmons and Artest were both on the Kings, Salmons always did a better job than Artest guarding Kobe.
Lakers. More athletic, they'd make Shaq look old.
i think mo williams will be to much for fisher, and i think shaq is gonna bully bynum down in the post. Also i think granger is way better than ariza, kobe is of course 2 much for salmons, but i think dirk will out play gasol, i go with DA WARRIORS!!!!!
Lakers didn't even make a change.
I know they are still good but they have 4 all stars on the other team and 2 other who are capalbe of scoring 20 PPG.
Bynum is nothing to contain. Offensively, he's less consistant than Lamar Odom.
The offense firepower from Dirk and Granger will neutralize that of Kobe and Gasol's. While neither defense is great, I think the Warriors defense is better. They're deep as well so I think this match-up clearly favors them. I'll give the Lakers the benefit of the doubt though.
Maybe, but what about the other matchups? The only one they win is Kobe, and Salmons is still a good defender. Shaq is better than Bynum regardless and would post him up all series.