Walton rapped his fingers heavily against the table, producing a steady knock-knock sound.
"Tim Duncan and David Robinson are the interior pairing with the greatest defensive coverage and the highest basketball IQ in history. David may be old, but he is still an outstanding Meat Shield and help defender; Tim, meanwhile, is the perfect cornerstone, the anchor of the defense. In an interior battle between the Twin Towers and O'Neal, the San Antonio Spurs would not be at a disadvantage—they would even hold a slight edge."
"Do you really think they can defend Shaq?" Kevin Harlan raised the question at just the right moment.
"No one can completely stop Shaq."
Walton answered without hesitation.
"But the San Antonio Spurs don't need to shut him down completely. They only need to wear him out. David bodies him up front, while Tim stays on the weak side, ready to help and block shots at any moment. They'll force Shaq out of his comfort zone, making every catch and every turn cost him twice as much energy. Once Shaq's stamina declines in the fourth quarter, the Lakers' interior threat will be greatly diminished."
Marv Albert smiled and shook his head, swiping across the screen to pull up Kobe's stats.
"Bill, you're overlooking the perimeter. Even if the Twin Towers can contain O'Neal, what about Kobe? Whether it's Mario Elie or Sean Elliott, the San Antonio Spurs' perimeter defenders no longer have the foot speed to keep up with Kobe. Kobe will tear the San Antonio Spurs' defense apart from the outside. The San Antonio Spurs have the edge inside, Kobe has the edge outside—doesn't that cancel out?"
"Cancel out? Basketball isn't simple addition and subtraction," Walton countered.
"Don't forget the gap between the role players. The Lakers brought in Glen Rice this season,