Finals Analysis Part III

Part I, II, IV, V


After today's section, I have officially convinced myself that this will be a very tightly contested finals and one of the best series we've seen since Utah/Chicago '98.

Small Forward


Lakers: Vladimir Radmonovic

6’10, nearly 40% career three point accuracy. That pretty much sums him up. He won’t be accused of being a great defender, but as a 6’10 small forward, he has the size to bother his often-smaller counterparts. He has a great “Basketball IQ”, which is something that’s often just thrown around a lot (I’ll later use it to describe Luke Walton) but it really does explain a why some players with superior physical gifts make it in the NBA and others don’t (think Isaiah Rider Vs. John Stockton). I wouldn’t have said this about him just a year ago, but he really does understand what’s supposed to be going on in the game and he makes an effort to make it happen. His offensive basketball IQ is much higher than his defensive basketball IQ, which is one reason that he gets an abnormally large amount (almost 30%)of his rebounds on the offensive end.

He’s not very quick, but he is a capable ball handler when open or when someone is rushing at him to stop his deadly outside shot. Vlade’s best quality on the floor is his interior passing/post entry passing skills. These are under rated, but important factors to consider when doing a scouting report for him.


Celtics: Paul Pierce

OK, this is another one where the comparison is just not fair. At about 6’7, Paul Pierce is more of a big guard than a small forward. The Celtic’s best all-around Player, Paul Pierce is a greatly under-rated defender (though that perception is starting to change as people get an extended post-season view of him), an above average ball-handler, passer and shooter (he once was second in the league in 3 pointers made) a deceptive rebounder and knows how to take over the game offensively when he needs to. He can create a shot for himself or for anybody else on the team, and really play the point-forward role.

The thing that really strikes me here is that he’s an L.A. guy. Pierce Graduated from Inglewood High School and every time he comes back home, he puts on a show! He loves to play well against the team he grew up rooting for and when the Celtics play on the road in Los Angeles, it’s almost like a home game for him – you know, away from the court. He can get home cooking when he wants it, has plenty of friends around if he needs them; he knows the area and doesn’t have to stay in a hotel. This can make his game flow much nicer than being on the road in an unfamiliar setting and can spell trouble for the Lakers. What’s worse, there is no earthly way that Vladimir Radmonovic should be able to even dream about guarding him. Vladimir should be having nightmares right now just imagining what Pierce is going to do to him. Like I said before, this will be one of many cross match ups in this series. Pierce creates problems for the Lakers that are very similar to the ones Kobe Creates for the Celtics. Kobe, though, should do a much better job on Pierce when they are matched against each other. Of course, then the Lakers will have to worry about Ray Allen Running Rough Shod around Vlade for 6 games. The Lakers might be better served to forgo Radmonovic’s positives on Offense and use a lineup of Kobe and Trevor Ariza to slow down the Celtic’s Wing Duo. If The “3”s stay on each other, expect to hear Pierce’s name a lot when Marv Albert starts talking about “One of the ALL time GREAT Finals Performances, we’ve EVER SEEN!!!”

Advantage: Celtics

Part I, II, IV, V