Random Thoughts on Game 1.
1. The Spurs were very successful in their pick and roll offense early on. They went away from it in the 2nd half, relying mainly on Duncan's post isolation.
2. Odom tried early early on to assert his speed advantage over the Spurs big men, but was unsuccessful. Oberto and Horry did a good job putting up a brick wall, resulting in numerous missed lay-ups by Odom.
3. Vujacic is an underrated defender. He was mainly responsible for limiting Manu Ginobili to 3-13 shooting.
4. The Laker bench outplayed the Spurs bench, not much in numbers, but in energizing the tempo. Farmar and Vujacic were the primary contributors. The Spurs bench was non-existent, save for Uduoka. Finley was 0-5 overall, all of them on 3point attempts. Overall, the Laker bench was +30 for the game (Vujacic was +25), while the Spurs bench was -25 (Finley was -21).
5. Kobe Bryant must be aggressive early on. He doesnt have to dominate in scoring, but he cant do a passive 2 point first half against the Spurs again. They are too smart and disciplined to let a 20 point lead vanish again.