Post#14 » by RocketPower23 » Fri May 18, 2012 4:19 am
Okay ignore that tool.
A few thoughts.
Sessions: Brown and the coaching staff have to do something to get this guy involved. Sometimes a player needs a jump start; run some plays for him, have him run multiple PnR with Pau and Drew, make an effort to get him into transition. He has to have some imprint on the game and since he isn't coming off the bench, we need him to fit in with the unit he's playing with. And he has to be a factor for the whole game; we don't want a situation where he does a few things to start the game and then disappears for the rest of the game. He's a talented player, use him like one.
Kobe: Make more of an effort to get him closer to the paint where he can properly attack. The Thunder defense is forcing him to catch the ball beyond the three point arc and that's putting an extra load on him to create something. Putting him in the high pitch area he likes and let's get some proper spacing on the court. If the Thunder try doubling or crowding him, hope Kobe makes the correct play and guys have to nail shots. We can't expect Kobe to create something out of nothing all the time; like Sessions give him something to work with.
Bench: Blake, Barnes and Hill. It's your turn to come through. We're on our homecourt, this is the time when role players have to come through. Blake, forget about the last few moments of last game, for the most part you played well defensively, if you have a shot take it with confidence. Barnes bring the activity you're known for. We need you to cut to the basket more, especially when our offense stalls. Please try to find your shot; you a hot/cold player, you've been cold for quite some time, I think your due for a good game. Hill you've been solid, keep up the work and give us good minutes.
Defense: Know your personal. If it's between letting Harden get to the rim or letting Ibaka get an open 15 footer, choose the latter every time and tip your hat if he scores. One play last game that pissed me off was when Perkins was wide open from 15 feet and we decided to rotate onto him and leave Ibaka wide open. Who is more of a threat between the two, again know your personal. I've said enough about Harden and his ability to only do two things on the court; his impact can be controlled. Everything else though was good; keep Durant off the line like last time, close out on Westbrook and force him out of the paint and control the interior. I liked our activity from our perimeter players last game, Artest and Kobe were all over the place getting in the way of passes that saved multiple scores that the Thunder would have for sure had.
Offense: The last quarter was terrible for us, but it was honestly a problem the whole game. Get into whatever we're doing faster. I mentioned it last time but we got into our offense so late into the shot clock, of course we were going to get a crap shot off. Some shooting from the perimeter should open things up and will hopefully create some much needed fluidity. Keep control of the ball; our offense in a lot of ways is our best defense, just run it nice and smooth and force OKC to play in the halfcourt.
Last game was tough, but it let us know we can battle with OKC. We just have to do what they did; hold homecourt. A series doesn't start until a team wins on the road, we're not dead in the water yet. We can control OKC and our offense should get a boost playing in front of the home crowd. The effort level has to be there the whole game, no knockout punch is going to beat these guys. We need a good clean decisive win that we can build off of. I'm pumped though; this is our season, we'll know if we're in this series one way or another by the end of the night, so no need to fret. The Lakers have sensed the need to play with urgency in the past, this game should be no different. Give 'em hell Lakers!
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Kobe
Durant
