SAN ANTONIO VS. LOS ANGELES PHILADELPHIA VS. MILWAUKEE

Wednesday, May 30 Both teams are better in Wild, Wild West By David Aldridge Special to ESPN.com You gonna stop me? That's the task David Robinson has this series. This was a month ago, at the end of the regular season, when no one knew who would come out of the Wild, Wild West. I asked David Robinson if he really didn't, in his heart of hearts, want to play the Lakers in the Western Conference finals. Not the Blazers, who the Spurs had spanked two years ago on their way to the NBA title; not the Kings, talented but owners of nothing important; not the Jazz, proud warriors. Lakers. Because of what Shaquille O'Neal wrote and because of what Phil Jackson said. "I know (Jackson) said something about an asterisk," Robinson recalled. "Well, I know we beat that team." Indeed. Know this about the San Antonio Spurs. They have respect for the Los Angeles Lakers. They have no fear of them. Every time that Tim Duncan and Robinson have lined up against the Lakers in the Shaq Era in the playoffs, the Spurs have smoked them. This isn't Chris Webber trying to prove something or Rasheed Wallace trying to salvage something. This is the Clash of the Titans. The two best teams in the league. Neither of whom thinks it possible it can lose. The Lakers have a massive one-two punch in Shaq and Kobe, but they also have a squad filled with tough, championship-tested veterans. The Spurs have a massive one-two punch in Duncan and Robinson, and a squad filled with tough, championship-tested veterans. The Lakers have become an outstanding defensive team. The Spurs have always been an outstanding defensive team. The Lakers are 7-0 in the postseason. The Spurs are 7-2. The Zen Master, who is a lot more regimented than people believe, and the ex-Air Force guy, who is a lot more animated than people believe. Nobody can stop Shaq. Nobody can stop Duncan. Just like last season, the true Finals are being played out West. The Lakers are better than they were last season. So are the Spurs. "They're the reigning champions," Robinson said. "You've got to dethrone the reigning champions. They're going to be the team to beat until somebody goes through them. Period. I don't care how well we've played. Yeah, we're back. But they're the champions. You've gotta go through L.A." True that. True that. Let's toss it up. The Matchups Porter Fisher Point Guard: Derek Fisher vs. Terry Porter It's simplistic to say the Lakers' turnaround is solely the result of Fisher's reappearance from a season on the injured list. But Fish's presence does calm the troops. He's shooting 43 percent from three-point range in the playoffs, hitting big shots when Shaq passes out of the doubles, and since he's been back the Lakers haven't had any trouble from small, quick points like Damon Stoudamire and Jason Williams. This will not be a problem against the Spurs and Porter, who amicably parted with quickness many years ago. But Porter still has plenty of smarts and plenty of offensive ability. He remains a specialist at the killer three. Defensively he's adept at funneling shooters to the Death Zone; i.e., in the paint, where Duncan and Robinson feast on drives and floaters. Whichever man hits the open shot more will probably make the difference in at least one game. Maybe more. EDGE: Even. Shooting Guard: Kobe Bryant vs. Antonio Daniels Daniels Bryant On paper it looks like a mismatch. Bryant has smoked the Spurs to the tune of 37 a game this season and that was against Derek Anderson. Since his return from a sprained ankle he's played his best basketball and the Lakers haven't lost since April Fool's Day. Now, Bryant's coming off of a 48-point closer against Sacramento and facing Daniels, four inches shorter. Daniels can't stop Bryant from shooting over him, but he has to try and keep Bryant from driving. If he doesn't, Kobe will get Duncan and Robinson in foul trouble by himself. But Daniels isn't totally outmatched. He's shooting 54 percent from the floor himself in the postseason (45 percent on threes) and he's become quite good at finding the soft spots in opposition defenses. No one expects him to match Kobe basket for basket and if he even thinks about doing it, he'll get destroyed. But Daniels can keep Bryant from being a complete center fielder and dropping down on Duncan by hitting a couple of shots. He only has to hit a couple to keep Bryant honest. Remember, Daniels came off the bench against the Knicks in the '99 Finals and hit some monster shots in Madison Square Garden. He may get beat, but he shouldn't get punked. EDGE: Lakers. Ferry Fox Small Forward: Danny Ferry vs. Rick Fox Fox should get an extra playoff share for his outstanding defense on Predrag Stojakovic in the second round. Against Ferry, he won't have to worry about drives or step-back shots. Danny is pure spot-up, but he led the league in three-point shooting for much of the season and he's expert at the head fake to create space for himself. Defensively, Ferry's no stopper, but he's one of those guys Jackson was talking about who has a rather liberal interpretation of zone defense rules, and does it quite effectively. At 6-10, he has the length to help out down low with O'Neal, but the Spurs have also used Ferry against shooting guards (he guarded Bonzi Wells during the regular season) as well as small forwards. It's hard to imagine Ferry taking Bryant, but stranger matchups have happened in the playoffs. Fox will have to give the Lakers some scoring in this series but he won't have to expend as much energy at the defensive end as he did against the Kings. EDGE: Lakers. Duncan Grant Power Forward: Tim Duncan vs. Horace Grant Grant looked enormous, slow and old in the preseason. Turns out he was saving himself for the playoffs, during which he's looked like his old self guarding Rasheed Wallace and Chris Webber. Neither was able to do much of anything inside against the Ho and neither was a fourth-quarter factor. He has been a significant defensive upgrade, but his toughest test will come now. Duncan has been deadly since the first of March, scoring with either hand, hitting the perimeter jumper and going glass with brutal efficiency. Postseason numbers: 25 points, 14 rebounds, 49 percent shooting. And he's been a weakside wall to anybody who's managed to get free of Robinson inside. On offense, Grant has been hitting the face-up jumper for 10 years now, but the Spurs will live with him hitting five or six shots from the perimeter if that's five or six less touches Shaq gets in the paint. No team rotates out to open shooters better than the Spurs, so when Duncan drops, Grant won't always have open looks. Not that Horace will have much energy in his legs to hit jumpers with all the gas he'll have to burn at the other end. EDGE: Spurs. Robinson O'Neal Center: Shaquille O'Neal vs. David Robinson Shaq certainly seems angry. Angry that Robinson's Spurs won a title first. Angry that Duncan and Allen Iverson outpointed him in the MVP voting. One wonders how much better he can be, P.O.ed or not. He dismembered Arvydas Sabonis and Vlade Divac, but the Admiral is a different animal. Robinson has his legs this late for the first time in a long time. He's active, blocking shots and intimidating cutters. But he won't be able to handle Shaq alone, or for very long. The Diesel has been engaged during this entire Lakers run and he's too big and quick even for Robinson. The difference is that the Spurs can drop enough size from the baseline and top to make O'Neal's passes out of the double team more difficult than they've been in the first two rounds. Like last season, when Portland used Wallace and Pippen to great effect, San Antonio can bring Duncan, Ferry, Malik Rose and Sean Elliott and still rotate out to the Lakers' perimeter guys. At the other end, Robinson likes to shoot the foul-line jumper and will fire from either elbow on screen and rolls, especially when Avery Johnson is on the floor. Trouble is, Shaq is quick enough to contest those jumpers. So the Admiral will have to put the ball on the floor and drive, or beat O'Neal down the floor for transition baskets. (Robinson is still the best running big man in the game.) Spurs run the high-low offensive set with Duncan and Robinson better than any team in the league as well. But will Robinson be on the floor long enough to create trouble for Shaq, or will O'Neal get him in foul trouble? That will be the key to the whole series. EDGE: Lakers. Bench: Sean Elliott, Avery Johnson, Steve Kerr, Malik Rose, Samaki Walker vs. Ron Harper, Robert Horry, Tyronn Lue, Brian Shaw Everyone underestimates the Lakers' bench. And it's a mistake. How many times do Horry and Shaw have to knock down threes and make big steals and blocks before they get some postseason respect? I suspect that Horry will get a turn or two with Duncan before all is said and done, and the Lakers have been saving the rapidly aging Harper for one series -- this one. But the Spurs may have the best bench in the league. Elliott is not yet 100 percent after suffering several injuries early in the season (he's talking retirement again), but he was productive against the Mavericks. With Anderson iffy (at least for the first few games), Elliott will have to score more. But can he? Johnson has been amazingly selfless in giving up his starting job without much of a fuss, and even though his game has suffered some, he's still capable of hitting off-foot jumpers and runners. When Kerr is on the floor, the Spurs are awfully small in the backcourt. Rose could give Los Angeles trouble inside if he doesn't wind up having to guard Shaq out of necessity. The Spurs count on their reserves for energy and points and it says here they'll be able to get that against the Lakers, too. EDGE: Spurs. Intangibles Will Anderson return during this series? And if he does, how effective can he possibly be? If DA can get back on the floor, San Antonio's edge off the bench becomes greater. Jackson's mind games work wonders against mental midget teams, but the Spurs are a sober bunch, led by Popovich. Still, no matter what they say publicly, the "asterisk" barbs have to get under San Antonio's skin. This is the chance the Spurs have been waiting two years for. But to beat the Lakers, they'll likely have to win on the road, as they did during the regular season. Los Angeles hasn't really been challenged yet and one wonders what the Lakers would do if they fell behind early in the series. My guess -- and it is always a guess -- is that this series will be a lot like last season's conference final. A great seven-game series. This time, though, the home team won't win. The Pick Lakers in seven. Around The League: The Adolescent Business Amazing to hear the Commish wringing his hands in agony at the prospect of still-more teenagers coming into his precious league next season. Um, who do those scouts at all those high school all-star games work for again? Bender A couple of years ago, the Commish and I were on the exact opposite sides. I thought it crazy that kids would be encouraged to not go to college and try their hand at a one in a million shot. I thought you'd see dozens of high schoolers declaring themselves for the NBA and that gas stations all across the country would be filled with lapsed dreamers and tales of woe. While the Commish upbraided anyone who brought up the subject, haughtily mentioning that no one complained when tennis players and golfers -- mostly white, he didn't need to add -- turned pro during their teenage years. Now we've both done 180s. I see 11 high school kids having applied for the draft since 1995, with nine of them having perfectly legitimate pro careers, ranging from the mundane (the Pacers' Jonathan Bender) to the superb (Kobe, KG, T Mac). While the Commish says he wants a 20-year-old age minimum. If only, he goes on, the players' union and the NCAA would see reason! If only Billy Hunter would protect his older players (the Commish suddenly has a soft spot for the old vets) from the clutches of the kinder. Which is, um, a crock. The quality of play in the NBA has been pretty bad while young players who get the majority of playing time are on the floor. No argument here. Many of the teens and 20-somethings coming into the league are alarmingly deficient at the simplest things. And I'm sure it's difficult to market players that almost no one knows. Who outside of the insulated world of high school recruiting knew about Darius Miles at this time last year? For that matter, who knows about Eddy Curry, or Tyson Chandler, or Kwame Brown -- all of whom will be taken in the first six picks of the draft? I think that's the real dilemma here. Not dropping ratings -- everybody's ratings are down to some degree. This is about marketing. For 20 years, the NCAA did it for the NBA. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan and darn near everybody else came to the NBA prepackaged. You'd seen them a dozen times or so on TV before they set foot in the pros. You knew them, you liked them. Not so this new bunch, that nobody outside of the Dapper Dan Classic has set eyes on. If this is such a problem, if Western Civilization is at stake here, why can't the Commish tell his teams that they are no longer in the adolescent business? That he doesn't want to see or hear about any NBA personnel people at any high schools, subject to fines? That if they want to draft high school talent sight unseen, they can, but that the NBA will no longer be in the business of raising expectations by sending armies of its scouts to watch these kids play? That he is willing to set a unilateral age limit -- and is willing to lose in court if need be? (I know all about the Haywood decision. But if this is a dearly-held principle, why not fight it out again?) The Commish claims he was "just venting." Of course he just happened to vent to some of the biggest newspapers in the country, and will vent on NBC this weekend. The MO is very familiar. Last time around, it was marijuana. If only the union would help us get marijuana on the banned list! What reason could they possibly have not to work with us on this? Because the Commish knows that no owner would dare speak out against him publicly, while Billy Hunter has no such hammer. He knows that veteran complaints are inevitable and that public sentiment will no doubt go the league's way -- who is going to speak for making teenagers millionaires, after all? None of this is all that important in the grand scheme of things. Just interesting to watch. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories

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