Celtics say they won't double Kobe

[jfs1000d]

I almost don't want to write this but why the hell didn't Kobe go to the rim?

I wonder if all the yellow and purple genius will come back and lecture us on the mysterious triangle offense. Because I am not all that impressed.

I don't think they can win unless they score 100 and I know for damn sure they can't win if they don't score 90.

Kobe couldn't get to the rim. Great defense. They shut off the panit and forced him back to the 3 point line. That is the key.

[Gomes3PC]

The Celtics are as good as any team I have ever seen in preventing wings from getting to the hoop. It's like a delayed double team. If the guard/wing gets by their man, a big is standing right there to seal them, and the opposition must make 2-3 good passes quickly to beat the rotation and make them pay for sealing with their big men.

The second half defense was suffocating on both Kobe and the jumpshooters on LA's squad. Bryant took at least a dozen contested shots, which is all you can ask for. Ray IMO played him to a standstill- 19 points, 8 boards, 5 assists vs. 24-3-6 from Kobe.

If Ray does that consistently, the Lakers have NO shot.

[Joselo16]

-= original quote snipped =-



Kobe couldn't get to the rim. Great defense. They shut off the panit and forced him back to the 3 point line. That is the key.

Exactly our defense prevented him from driving into the lane. He will make shots (tough ones too) but as long as they are making him work for them, we will be ok.

[Fencer reregistered]

The Celtics are as good as any team I have ever seen in preventing wings from getting to the hoop. It's like a delayed double team. If the guard/wing gets by their man, a big is standing right there to seal them, and the opposition must make 2-3 good passes quickly to beat the rotation and make them pay for sealing with their big men.

The second half defense was suffocating on both Kobe and the jumpshooters on LA's squad. Bryant took at least a dozen contested shots, which is all you can ask for. Ray IMO played him to a standstill- 19 points, 8 boards, 5 assists vs. 24-3-6 from Kobe.

If Ray does that consistently, the Lakers have NO shot.

In fairness, Kobe was guarding all three wing positions at various times, so it wasn't quite mano a mano. Nor did Ray always guard Kobe.

But yeah -- if Ray can come close to Kobe in effectiveness, the Lakers lose, unless perhaps all three of Gasol, Odom, and Fisher hit their best-case scenarios.

[GuyClinch]

I dunno - but Odom looks like a JAG to me.. Healthy PP I still think we win. Gasol is very good but I think if we smack him around enough we can wear him out..

Pete

[Gomes3PC]

Garnett can make a lot of guys look like JAGs. He covered Odom most of the first half until Gasol started getting too many easy buckets. But by that time, KG had taken Lamar out of his rhythm and even when KG left him, Odom never regained it.

[Datruth345]

Perk cannot guard Odom, that was a huge mismatch that messed the defense up and threw off the rotations if you get a chance to watch it again pay attention to perk on Odom and take note of the problems it caused, the Lakers got a lot of easy buckets off that mismatch and confusion, once we switched that thats when the defense clicked in imo

[coldfish]

Sorry to pipe into a Boston thread.

I'm a fan of neither team, but I have been watching Boston through the playoffs. I love the X's and O's of basketball and what Boston has been doing is a sight to behold.

There was this one sequence against Detroit where Pierce and Allen were running this weird man - zone hybrid thing that had Billups and Prince totally taken out of their normal offense and visibly confused. It was truly impressive.

[GreenGrizz]

Kobe needs his teammates. We could see that last night. I am gald he is not Lebron.