Strategy for Kobe? & Pierce Hurt = Opportunity

[shobe_81]

Kobe didn't have a good game 1, his shooting was off (although some of them he usually makes), and he wasn't getting to the basket.

Since in my eyes, he's the only one who can actually CREATE a shot, how should Kobe play/attack the Celtics. We know they're going to cover him 1 on 1 Unless he attacks the paint or unless he receives a pick.

I say put him in the Post-up and let him work from there, I'm sure it'll open more opportunities than having to start out 25 feet from the basket. He'll draw the defense more and the players will be open. I hardly saw him post up in game 1.

Kobe better not take those stupid Pump-fake-fake-fake and then fade-away, Ray doesn't bite so Kobe needs to just jump and shoot, it goes in a couple of times, the defense will start biting. He needs to make some before the defense starts biting.

The pick=n=roll, although it was working in the 1st half, the 2nd half PJ Brown (who did a good job) defended Kobe after he received the pick until the SG recovered on Kobe. Phil has to find a way to exploit this. If PJ is on Kobe, Kobe needs to get the ball out early creating a mismatch down low, if not, then Kobe needs to attack PJ Brown right away to keep him on Kobe and then find a mismatch. Or Make PJ come out after a pick and iso from there but don't let the guard recover. Am I talking jibrish? I hope you get what I mean.

And lastly, attack the basket, too many times I felt that Kobe took contested unwarranted shots, he has to attack even if there is defensive help, that's the only way the Celtics will leave their man to help on Kobe.


Pierce's Injury:

Since I been hearing that Pierce is badly hurt, that he was limping after the game was over and on his way out of the arena. I'd guess he won't be as mobile for game 2 then (even though there is a 2 day rest).

Lakers have to attack Pierce if he's not healthy for game 2. I say, bring Sasha early off the bench, move Kobe to the 3 spot and have Kobe attack Pierce. I don't think Vald will be able to do that. And even if they switch Pierce to Sasha, Sasha is good enough to move around a lot.

I guess what I'm saying/hoping for is Kobe to move to 3 spot and having Pierce cover him.

[hermes]

pierce probably won't be 100% so that is a spot that can be exploited, kobe does need to attack the lane more

the ball movement needs to be picked up as well, the lakers are a great passing team now we need to show it, get the defense out of position

[DEEP3CL]

The only adjustment the Lakers must make is to put Kobe in the pinch post and work the triangle from there.

Second from what I saw was that they showed Kobe single coverage then as he made his move help from Ray when Paul was on him.

The Celtics plan of having Ray on him back fired because he got early fouls, then Paul had to cover him and he got fouls too. Posey wasn't that effective either.

Now the self adjustment that Kobe must make is reading when that quick helper is going to come. From looking at the game over again I saw the helper not that far from him. It was almost like they played a box and 1 zone on the Lakers but stayed legal enough to make the refs think they in man coverage.

Once he know exactly when he's going to come he must kick to the shooters and they have to make them pay. And the shot doesn't always have to be a jumper, driving off the pass will really throw their defense a loop. The rotation will be too slow but it all depends on how fast Kobe reacts and how fast the next shooter responds.

If it's Fish it's a J, if it's any of the bigs it should be a dunk.

The whole key is to keep the ball moving.

[shobe_81]

pierce probably won't be 100% so that is a spot that can be exploited, kobe does need to attack the lane more

the ball movement needs to be picked up as well, the lakers are a great passing team now we need to show it, get the defense out of position

I felt like this was a huge problem, not only ball movement, but player movement! I just felt I had a flash-back to the LA v Suns series where Kobe goes iso and everyone stand and watch rather than move around.

I hope it was just a lay-off thing, Lakers looked sluggish against Spurs in game 1 so hopefully we'll see much better play.

[Danny Darko]

Paul is fine, don't bet on him limping around games.

[Trifecta7]

C'mon, Pierce is fine. After all, an angel from heaven came down to heal him.

[Italianhanger]

seriously that looked like an overblown bum knee incident

[Minhee]

BS...Pierce is not hurt whatsoever, he may have witness some pain initially but the guy is as healthy as an OX. Don't buy into their evil lies, Kobe is 20 times more banged up than Paul is.

I think this series will only get harder, I see Kobe repeating a 2004 performance. It is true that our bigs are too soft, we have to bring an A+ game and shoot the lights out to have a chance in game 2.

[IEcelticfan]

volume shots please *prays* lol

damn not 1 faker fan attributes it to the celts defense. it was actually him missing 17 bunnies ha? all 17. well, i'll be damn....

You're walking a thin line, my friend. Take that isht out of here.

E11.

[milesfides]

Yeah, I agree with many of the points made here.

Really, the Celtics won this game with their rebounding and defense, namely the soft zone on Kobe and the successful single coverage on Pau in the post.

While I think Kobe missed shots that he's made for most of the playoffs, that's just not a good game plan, to rely on Kobe hitting most of his jumpshots - what happened against the Spurs was one of Kobe's best shooting stretches in his career, definitely in the playoffs.

We need a more sensible game plan, and if Kobe gets hot, let's ride it, but otherwise, when Ray Allen is on him, we need to move Pau out of the post and put Kobe down low.

The game plan of establishing Gasol in the post was a failure. Pau wasn't able to exploit one-on-one opportunities, nor did he draw double teams to create plays, which isn't a surprise because KG or Perkins was guarding him. They make it tough for him to be a real post presence in this series.

We don't see meaningful ball movement with Pau in the post, because the Celtics stay home when Pau Gasol has the ball. Cutters are covered, Ray Allen face-guards Kobe. Odom was covered fairly well, and Fish and Radmanovic aren't cutters.

That caused Pau to start kicking the ball back out. The bigger failure than that game plan was that there was no counter. Eventually the ball just ended up in Kobe's hands. And he's on the perimeter. And like DEEP3L said, the Celts play something very close to a box and one against Kobe, which isn't a surprise because they did it to him in the regular season and against Lebron in the playoffs. That makes it tough for Kobe to get to the basket for higher percentage shots, since KG and Perkins are waiting. Thus, a lot of perimeter jump shots against a single perimeter defender.

We need to figure out a better way to run our offense. Pau isn't getting the high percentage post opportunities. But at the same time, we can't force penetration, by either Kobe or Odom. The Celts are too good defensively, and they get too much respect from the refs.

What did work well for us was the pick and roll, slip screens with Kobe and Pau. When Kobe is on the perimeter, the Lakers should continue to look for that 2 man game. The slip screens work especially well since when Kobe has the ball, the Celtics are all soft-zoning him.

Otherwise, post up Kobe instead and punish Ray Allen until the double-teams come, which will generate the ball-movement we're looking for. It is very surprising how the Lakers didn't have this as part of the game plan. And like DEEP3L said, the reactions and reads need to be quick. When the Celtics begin their movement to double Kobe, the Lakers need to be in motion for a counterplay.

Still, it was a winnable game, and credit Boston for having two veteran guys come off the bench and make a significant contribution, Cassell and PJ Brown. Our bench wasn't too great.

If Turiaf isn't playing well, I don't see any reason why we shouldn't give Mbenga or even Mihm a crack at rebounding and setting screens.

Ariza might help too, moving without the ball to create some passing lanes and convert high percentage shots. Because when the Cets are zoning up on Kobe, they can get away with it because guys like Sasha, Fish, Radmanovic, Walton, and Odom aren't cutting hard to the basket.

Ariza might catch a few defenders sleeping.

All in all, it was almost dead even in terms of shots made and attempted by both teams. The margin was determined by 3 more threes by the Celtics, and 7 more free throw attempts and makes, and the Celts' superior rebounding gave them the extra possessions.

So while there's all this talk about what we need to do about our offense, all valid, we need to take care of defense and the details in the game. Kobe needs to do a better job of outrebounding his counterpart Ray Allen (3 to , and Odom needs to live up to his rebounding numbers (only 6), and the Lakers overall need to do a better job of defending without giving up so many free throws to the Celtics.

Hopefully the Lakers can put together a game plan that doesn't require heroics from Kobe. And hopefully the team pays attention to the details in the game.

[f0gman]

The C's adjusted to the PnR in the 2nd half by sending weakside help more quickly. The help defender would often stay in the passing lane to prevent an easy kickout. That left Odom or Walton in no-man's land as they didn't cut hard and if they got the ball they were at the 10-foot spot. Neither has a midrange game to fear.

Against previous opponents PnR was really effective when Odom cut hard to the hoop to receive a quick interior pass from Gasol. Odom needs to do that again. The harder the cut, the more likely that help defender will be off balance and at the very least foul.

One thing I would've liked to have seen used earlier in the season is a LO-Pau PnR. It would be a massively different look and very difficult to defend. LO's one of the only 4's who can pull it off due to his handle.

[islander009]

Guys I thought the Lakers started off real well. Playing with intensity, but it started to simmer down. It wasnt as smooth as we all know they can play. I think the Lakers need to use their ball movement to create the open shots. This is going to be a physical matchup somewhat like the jazz series except their bigs can really defend.

Kobe can create his own shots and i think he needs to attack the basket more, enough of the fadeaways, allen doesnt fall for his pump fakes, and allen cannot rise up when Kobe elevates for his shot.

As far as pierce goes expect him to play normally. I dont think his knee is as severe as he makes it, maybe strained but nothing that adrenaline or pain killers wont kick out. Vlad just hasnt played to his abilities. I mean he is a shooter that needs to get his shots off in order for him to get it going. But he just isnt holding pierce when he plays, he doesnt present a threat to pierce so the defense is slacking on him. Vlad attack pierce, because we know you can score. If you start attacking him more, get physical with him.

Gasol should play the high post and let Kobe play in the low post. kobe vs allen says allen fouls out or boston switches defenses on kobe, probably posey. Gasol needs to consistently hit that open 15-18 footer. He can hit it and if he does then Garnett cannot leave him by himself. Leaving perkins trying to guard LO. which we all know LO will manage to attack him from any angle. If they switch it up to garnett on Lo and perkins on gasol, continue the play and see how far down perkins sags. perkins sags off of gasol then play the pick n roll with lo. only garnett can keep up with LO. if it doesnt work bring it back for Gasol to attack one on one against perkins.

Rondo is a weak link in their offense because he doesnt have a consistent jumper, but there isnt any pressure on him bringing the ball up court. throw sasha at him to force him to rush passes. no one else brings the ball up except pierce and if we have someone playing up tight and physical with him then he isnt going to get anywhere as quickly and their sets cannot be played out. it turns out to be a one on one game, and you know pierce is going to go at his defender if he has no room. The way i see it Pierce will take this on himself if he is given no room. If anyone thinks this is a bad idea but why not have Ariza out there to defend against pierce for a couple mins, then switch it up with Kobe. I think Ariza will front pierce because pierce is stronger but ariza has quick feet and good hands. But say he switches on Rondo, rondo will surely be a non factor. I dont see rondo breaking away from Ariza as he has against farmar and fisher.

Okay it didnt seem like the machine wasnt able to hold up with allen but that is because he was trying to play the passing lanes rather then play the player. He is not going to stop allen that way, allen like Rip runs and runs and runs. So play allen, allen wont be able to post him up and that is not his game. So turn the machine out and reprogram him with the scouting report on Allen. We know he can because he played Manu just as the scouting report stated, guard his left.

LO i dont know what to say about this game. I mean at times he played with a lot of heart and passion then he regressed. One point in the first quarter the offensive rebound was coming in his direction away from the defenders and he barely jumped to snatch it instead he just reached out, and tapped it to himself, not realizing that rondo was there behind him. Luckily rondo missed the ball and odom was able to hold onto it. But in truth LO needs to grab it with emphasis. Just snatch that rebound and tell everyone to back the #$@* up! This is my ball and not even KG can take this. KG elevates for boards because he knows that he can get them, but you know what so can LO, he just needs to know that. I am one to say that i am concerned about LO's jumper but he hit several of them which is a good sign. I still think if he has KG a great defender on him, he sure can really make KG work. There isnt a reason for him to shy away from the hoop. Let KG make those great plays that make him DPOY, but the more he attacks KG then there isnt a reason for KG to help anybody else in the lane. LO and KG speed wise are about the same and I will still give it up to KG. But LO shouldnt let it stop him from doing what he does best which is use his length against defenders.

You are talking box in one strategy for Boston, and it works against the best scorer. Which means that people on the perimeter needs to hit their shots. But to really attack this defense you have to bigs like LO and Gasol attack the middle of it. But once you are there then you have to deal with their trees of Garnett and Perkins. Both are physical so what do you do? Attack it from one side and bring a player from the weak side to cut to the basket. It happened when Kobe attacked the middle and Pau slid behind garnett and got the easy dunk. switch it up run LO on the back cut or kobe and finish it with a dunk not a layup. Garnett also has length and may try to swat any fingeroll but if you went up and dunked it then the only way to stop it is by fouling.

As far as Garnett and his ability on the offensive side, i am fine with the jumpers but not the open lanes for dunks or put backs. Who ever is guarding him needs to be sure not to get caught up and leaving him alone. I do see them playing a pick in roll with KG and that is deadly because of the fact that Kg can hit that open shot or hit the crease for a thunderous dunk. But to defend that we should really pack it in, so that there arent any easy shots. the thunderous dunk isnt just two points its emotion which is able to catapult his teams passion for the game. They start to play harder and stronger and more confident. Just like how we play when we get things going. it goes for everybody but throwing multiple defensive schemes against the C's causes fewer set plays. The fewer set plays means that they really have to rely on their ball handlers to set somethings up, and guess what???? who is their PG? rondo, 2nd year and not ball handler like Parker, Deron, and hell not Iverson as far as a scoring threat. He can score and he showed he wont shy away from the jumper but just imagine if you have someone really pressuring him when he has the ball all i see is him giving the ball up as much as possible so that it becomes a one on one game with their three stars.

Guys their defense is exactly what they put up against Lebron and the cavs. they are waiting for kobe to get the ball so that he can just settle for jumpers, we need to attack the basket. Yes there is congestion in there but if you have a finisher like Kobe and a Gasol or LO in the post or weak, then there are easy opportunites for them, either with a pick and roll or with back cuts or slashes for a quick floater in the middle. With our three guys out there we have many opportunities. The other thing is that we will force them to play aggressive and that leads to them fouling us. So why not get some free points in the process. Then when they are in foul trouble dont let up keep attacking, put them in defense and up against the wall. Put the pressure on their backs. REMEMBER WE HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE AND EVERYTHING TO GAIN. When they got the trade for Kg and allen they were destined for a title, no one was going to stop them. Our team was headed for major drama and destruction. Look how that has changed, and look where we are at. We have the best closer in the game and the best coach. Attack them because they are the ones with the pressure and we cannot lose in anyway. Lets show them as a team that they arent the best just because of who they got and that they are not going to just walk through. They have experienced that in the past series and havent shown they can close out a quick series, so what more from a team that just managed to trade for an all star and is now on a roll we just only begun. Next year will be a great year for us, and this year has been amazing. Lets take it to them and continue this battle. WE CAN FORCE THIS DOWN THE C's THROAT. WE CAN PLAY WITH THE BEST AND BEAT THE BEST. GOOO LAKERS!!!!!

[milesfides]

That's the thing, whenever Gasol has the ball, the weak defender is hedging to stop the drop pass. That weak defender is Kendrick Perkins or Kevin Garnett, and the key is that these guys don't double because they're challenging Gasol to beat them one-on-one, and it's not happening.

So we need to go away from that.

If we post up Kobe, Kobe WILL destroy Ray Allen one-on-one, and help defenders will commit to the double team. That will generate ball movement.

1. Post Kobe on the weakside
2. Weakside guard needs to position himself for the kick out
3. Open post man must make himself available when Kobe gets double-teamed (e.g., overhead alley-oop to Gasol right at the rim)
4. Other open Lakers must capitalize on the defensive rotations if the play doesn't immediately yield an open shot

Personnel wise, I think we have to decide very quickly what we want to do with Radmanovic. Is his lack of movement and defense on Pierce worth his potential as a spot-up shooter?

We need to go with Ariza for better off-the-ball movement and defense, or Sasha.

I mean, the question we need to ask is, can we beat the Celtics at their own game? If not, we need to speed up the tempo, score before they set up their defenses, and to do that, we need to play Jordan Farmar more - who's had some success against the Celtics in the regular season.

[hermes]

why don't they go into a fast break tempo more, the hawks had some success with it, are the lakers not much of a fast break team or what

[milesfides]

^But Jerry West said...

[milesfides]

Hey, if we get down 0-3, I say we put this lineup on the floor:

Odom, Ariza, Walton, Kobe and Farmar

and try to run them off the court. Odom is matchup against Perkins anyways, and hasn't Ariza supposedly defended KG well some time ago?

[hermes]

sounds like fun, you can put the machine in there for walton at times too

[islander009]

why don't they go into a fast break tempo more, the hawks had some success with it, are the lakers not much of a fast break team or what

^I agree with you, why havent we pushed the tempo a little more. It prevents the defense from sagging into the middle. We can always set up our offense but we need to push that ball. They cannot keep up with us. Gasol runs the court, LO runs the court, Kobe runs the court, everybody on our team runs the break real well. but to my knowledge the C's may not keep up with us. Gasol followed by KG, but what about LO, you think Perkins can follow and get a stop without fouling? I dont think so, we can push it and they cannot stop it.

[hermes]

thats why farmar should play more, he can increase the tempo in our favor