Do the Kings pose the worst matchup problems of the playoffs?

[Uwe Blab]

Looking ahead, (which as a fan I can so no "let's just get past the Kings" posts here), do the Kings pose the most difficult matchups compared to the other teams the Spurs might face? The only matchup problem I see in Dallas is Josh Howard, but I don't see him pulling a Bonzi. Lakers and Clippers I don't see any problems, now that TD is healthy enough to guard Brand. Detroit is just difficult, but no real matchup problems there either, except for Prince, but the Spurs held him in check last year. Am I off base in my thinking? Anyone I forgot? I'm not saying the Kings will be the most difficult team they will face, but man they sure are tough.

[mg78666]

the main problem is the size of artest and wells, the only other player i can think of with that size would be corey magette. thats strictly in size comparison. magette is an offensive player rather than defensive and has been injury prone. im not to sure how good he has been doing in the playoffs, but the clippers are playing good ball. i agree with josh howard being a problem, he has long arms and can drop 20 pts on any given night and i remember some stat where dallas was undefeated if he scored 20+pts. other than those 2 i dont see to much of a matchup problem for teams the spurs might face. kobe is kobe but bruce can take him :-)

[bo spur]

The spurs allways have difficulty with tall, big, strong perimeter players who can out muscle the Spurs guards and SF on the block. The Kings have two of these type of players that play almost the whole game.

This won't be the best team we will face if we get by them, but as far as match-ups and only match-ups go, this will be the toughest for the Spurs.

The only thing that really sticks out is the rebounding that Bonzi has been able to hurt the Spurs with, and if were having trouble with him on the boards, imagine what the Pistons could do to us with the rebounders they have!!!!

And if the Spurs go get by the Kings, Manu won't have as tough a time as he has had with Artest, no other team has a really great defensive player, and Manu should have a field day the rest of the western playoffs.

[Jason R]

The matchup problems are because of Wells, look at a guy like Carmello who can muscle Bruce around. The combined size of Wells and Artest also are problematic.

Rebounding we've helped ourselves by making our guys stay back after a shot to get a rebound, instead of having them run back to the offensive end, thus limiting offensive rebounds and increasing our own which may be what we have to do against the Pistons.

[ScolaOnTheWay]

Apart from the size, don't discount the fact that the Kings have three decent low post options. I'm of the opinion that a low post game translates into success in the playoffs. Off the top of my head I can come up with Rasheed, Jermaine, Brand and Shaq as better low post players left in the playoffs. I'm sure bypassed a few, but my point is that you rarely have more than one player per team that can play well with his back to the basket, much less three. The Kings should be good for a few more years, if they can keep from imploding.

[Buzzsaw]

What's funny as you watch this series is that we lost two guys in the last few years that could really help us against Bonzi. SJax and Devin Brown.

Not trying to start a thread about either of them. I'm just saying, we have no size and strength at the swing positions.

Bring back Lynton Johnson III.

[bo spur]

look at a guy like Carmello who can muscle Bruce around.

Melo, are you serious, Bowen has usually won that match up. Bonzi has been giving the Spurs problems since he was with the Blazers.

[Jason R]

When Melo decides to put it in the post and not float the outside he can give Bruce a lot of trouble.

[abmccray]

Prince isn't hurt (yet) this year, so you'd probably have matchup problems with him and Billups, unless you move Bowen onto Billups again, which could work if Rip's ankle still slows him down at that point in time. other than that, I can't see any big problems at all. The Spurs match up well against Dallas/Lakers/Clippers/Suns in every aspect except maybe Kobe (but the rest of the team cancels him out).

[gwscpa]

EVery team has matchup advantages against each other. That is why matchups are so important. That is why Utah took both games from DEE Tw*t. The team that uses their advantage best will win the series. But the playoffs are a different bird. A team that swept the regular season series could lose in the sweep in the playoffs. Let hope the spurs use their advantages better than other teams.

[cd98]

Detroit will always be tough b/c of their size and strength upfront. Outside of their frontline, I don't think their guards are any better than ours. They are different, but not better.

I will say this: the biggest match up problem we will have in the playoffs is Dirk if he is hitting his jumper w/ confidence. If he plays well like he did the last time in SA, he will be impossible to guard. He's too tall for Bruce and too quick for our other big guys. We don't want to put Tim on him and pull Tim out of the lane and we don't want Tim to get any cheap fouls either. If we do play Dallas, this could be the worst match up in the playoffs. Hopefully having Horry back will give us more versatility to guard the guy.

[austin_spurs_fan]

I think we match up well with Dallas and our playoff mentality will get us past them, plus i think pop will get in avery's head. The Clippers will be tough for us because Sam Cassell gives us problems. In 7 games we should be able to beat any team in the west. detroit will be a war.

[Uwe Blab]

Originally Posted by ScolaOnTheWay

Apart from the size, don't discount the fact that the Kings have three decent low post options. I'm of the opinion that a low post game translates into success in the playoffs. Off the top of my head I can come up with Rasheed, Jermaine, Brand and Shaq as better low post players left in the playoffs. I'm sure bypassed a few, but my point is that you rarely have more than one player per team that can play well with his back to the basket, much less three. The Kings should be good for a few more years, if they can keep from imploding.

The good thing about the post players you named is that the Spurs have Nazr, Rasho, Oberto and Horry to throw at them because they are not neccesarily quick. Well maybe Brand, so he may go crazy on them, but if you limit the other guys it doesn't matter. Dirk is a concern, but Horry can be effective on him, and since he is mostly a jump shooter, TD shouldn't get into too much foul trouble if he has to guard him. But I think they will still try Bowen on him, just to see if that will work again.

[ScolaOnTheWay]

Ben Wallace and Prince do not have great post games.

[Duncanforthree]

Originally Posted by cd98

I will say this: the biggest match up problem we will have in the playoffs is Dirk if he is hitting his jumper w/ confidence. If he plays well like he did the last time in SA, he will be impossible to guard. He's too tall for Bruce and too quick for our other big guys. We don't want to put Tim on him and pull Tim out of the lane and we don't want Tim to get any cheap fouls either. If we do play Dallas, this could be the worst match up in the playoffs. Hopefully having Horry back will give us more versatility to guard the guy.

I'm sorry but I just don't see how it is possible for Dirk to be a more difficult matchup for the Spurs than Bonzi Wells has been.

Let's say Dirk average 30 points a game for the series,shooting a ridiculously high FG%.Thats about equivalent to what Bonzi is doing to us right now.

Say Josh Howard goes off and average about 18 a game.That puts him about the same as Artest and while Howard is a powerful defender and decent rebounder he isn't quite up to the caliber of Artest just yet in terms of ability.

Bibby/Abdur Rahim/Martin/Miller >>>>> Terry/Stackhouse/Diop/Dampier

If the Spurs survive this series they can handle the Mavericks.Trust me.

[Twilite Kid]

Originally Posted by Duncanforthree

Bibby/Abdur Rahim/Martin/Miller >>>>> Terry/Stackhouse/Diop/Dampier

If the Spurs survive this series they can handle the Mavericks.Trust me.

After Bonzi and Artest, it should be a cakewalk for our perimeter guys. The thought of matching up with Nowitzki and Howard is like a sigh of relief.

[George]

Originally Posted by Jason R

The matchup problems are because of Wells, look at a guy like Carmello who can muscle Bruce around. The combined size of Wells and Artest also are problematic.

Rebounding we've helped ourselves by making our guys stay back after a shot to get a rebound, instead of having them run back to the offensive end, thus limiting offensive rebounds and increasing our own which may be what we have to do against the Pistons.

yeah bruce should be fine with a 7 footer named Dirk

[Uwe Blab]

Originally Posted by pessimist

Ben Wallace, McDyess, Prince, and Billups are going to cause the same amount of problems.

Mcdyess does not pose matchup problems, the Spurs have guys who can guard him, he just benefits from other players being double teamed. Prince was held in check last year. Ben Wallace poses problems only in rebounding, but rebounding can be fixed. Billups poses a problem for Tony, but as we saw last year, Pop is not afraid to put Bowen on him and let TP guard Rip. All this doesn't mean it will be easy. There will be games where they are hot, or the Spurs just don't have the effort. But I don't see any true matchup problems, not like with the Bonzi and Artest.

[TheLogo]

Wells has always been more of a follower than a leader and now with the arrival of Artest he is following his lead.

Wells has become the physically imposing player on offense and the boards that everyone has always known that he could be. Artest is just being himself.

This team would pose a challenge to ANYONE in the league right now. Besides Detroit, they probably are our most difficult matchup.

-J.W.

[cd98]

Originally Posted by Duncanforthree

I'm sorry but I just don't see how it is possible for Dirk to be a more difficult matchup for the Spurs than Bonzi Wells has been.

Let's say Dirk average 30 points a game for the series,shooting a ridiculously high FG%.Thats about equivalent to what Bonzi is doing to us right now.

Say Josh Howard goes off and average about 18 a game.That puts him about the same as Artest and while Howard is a powerful defender and decent rebounder he isn't quite up to the caliber of Artest just yet in terms of ability.

Bibby/Abdur Rahim/Martin/Miller >>>>> Terry/Stackhouse/Diop/Dampier

If the Spurs survive this series they can handle the Mavericks.Trust me.

I'm not saying we can't beat Dallas and I'm also not saying that Dirk will be a difficult match up by doing exactly what Bonzi is doing, I'm just saying that at his size and with his touch, he poses a difficult match up for all defenders. Even Pop admitted this. That doesn't mean that he will score 50 points on us, just that it will create match up problems. Just like Tony Parker creates match up problems for everyone b/c of his speed. However, that doesn't mean that he will dominate a series b/c teams may focus on stopping his penetration, the counter is that he can pass out to 3 point shooters and if they make their shots, he may not have gaudy numbers, but will still be effective.

[Bound4TheNBA]

Make sure the spurs get past the kings first before you start talking about a series with dallas. The kings are not done yet thats for sure

[George]

gotta remember Dirk is a perimeter player and Bruce is a perimeter defender (the best).
ron and bonzi gave bowen fits because they are post players with a lot of size....artest weights almost as much as TD and he is all strenght.

expect bowen to play well in round 2. and for TD to have monster games