A seven game series in the NBA is all about match ups. Every team in the league is capable of beating any one on their day but to progress to the next round you have to beat a team 4 times. This means having a person or people you can consistently rely on to get the better of their matchup.
Going into the Play-off semi-finals I fancied the Mavericks to cause the Lakers some problems due to the experience in their roster and the influence of one man, Dirk Nowitzki.
Nowitzki is a match up nightmare, there has never been a player like him in the NBA. Playing as a power-forward he’s the size of a centre, Shoots like a two-guard and dribbles like a point guard, making him near impossible to guard.
It’s uncomfortable for Pau Gasol to have to chase Dirk around the floor and they won’t even consider putting Andrew Bynum on him. Nowitzki is capable of taking his game to the 3-point line where the Lakers’ starting big men will struggle, compromising their whole defence.
For this reason the Lakers can not continue to play Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum at the same time in this series. If they do there is no doubt Nowitzki will kill them in transition.
In my opinion the answer for the Lakers lies in Lamar Odom. Their talented sixth man who blends size and speed with the ability to put the ball on the floor, making him an unusual match up himself. Not only will he find it easier to guard the Dallas foward it will also cause Nowitzki to use some of his energy guarding Odom. Is Dirk comfortable guarding a 6’ 10” forward who can put the ball on the floor?
A bigger role for Odom will also ease another issue for the Lakers in this series, the depth of the Maverick's bench.
As it stands Odom’s great numbers can be negated in this series by the production of the Mav's second string. In game 1 Stojokovic and Terry scored 10 and 15 respectively which takes away the Lakers advantage having a guy like Odom coming off the bench. They are used to having the best player coming off the bench in games, but they don’t have that this series and so Odom needs to play starters minutes to up his production and give the Lakers a boost.
Nowitzki is capable of giving the Lakers major problems in this series and at the moment his numbers are overshadowing Odom’s. If the Lakers are to be successful then Odom needs to see enough minutes to cause the Mavericks some problems of their own and give Kobe some space to go to work.
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