Gasol on Garnett and Odom on Perkins

[kgcelts5]

I just heard on ESPN that Phil Jackson plans on starting Gasol on Garnett and guarding perkins with odom. I was expecting odom to be on garnett and gasol to be on perkins.

Perkins has a good 50 pounds on odom and has been a beast recently, if he plays the same way he did against the pistons he can use his size to dominate odom on the block.

How do you think the celts will match up? I think they have to go with garnett on odom and perkins on gasol. Odom's outside shooting will give perkins trouble. Granted gasol has a nice midrange touch which also will give perkins trouble, but not nearly to the extent that odom will.

what are your thoughts on these match ups?

[shobe_81]

Ummm Odom cannot shoot from the outside even if he's wide open, the only reason Perkins would have a hard time is because Odom is very good off the dribble at breaking down his man for a lay-up. That's why KG is a good fit for Odom because KG can guard at the top and in paint.

And Perkins is a good fit for Gasol because Gasol doesn't play well against physical players which Perkins is.

[Joselo16]

I think Doc realizes that Perk will get beaten of the dribble if put on Odom, so Perk will guard Gasol while he's out there and when Posey replaces him Garnett will get his chance on Gasol with Posey on Odom. At least thats what I hope happens.

As for Jackson saying his match up's, its gotta be bull, there is not way he would say that publicly right now and it would also hurt Odom because he will be getting pounded in the paint. If he's doing that its because he is hoping to use Odom's quickness in some form, maybe doubling Garnett with both Gasol and Odom, Odom can double and recover quickly enough if Garnett passes out. There has to be some method to the madness because if not Perk will wear him out by pounding him in the paint.

[g3celts]

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I just heard on ESPN that Phil Jackson plans on starting Gasol on Garnett and guarding perkins with odom. I was expecting odom to be on garnett and gasol to be on perkins.

Perkins has a good 50 pounds on odom and has been a beast recently, if he plays the same way he did against the pistons he can use his size to dominate odom on the block.

How do you think the celts will match up? I think they have to go with garnett on odom and perkins on gasol. Odom's outside shooting will give perkins trouble. Granted gasol has a nice midrange touch which also will give perkins trouble, but not nearly to the extent that odom will.

what are your thoughts on these match ups?


If thats the case Perkins will crush Odom downlow........my question now is who will guard Paul Pierce? (Radmanovic) Pierce will kill him too.....i think theres a lot of mismatch problem that we can give to the Fakers i mean Lakers

[Heir]

I think Doc realizes that Perk will get beaten of the dribble if put on Odom, so Perk will guard Gasol while he's out there and when Posey replaces him Garnett will get his chance on Gasol with Posey on Odom. At least thats what I hope happens.

As for Jackson saying his match up's, its gotta be bull, there is not way he would say that publicly right now and it would also hurt Odom because he will be getting pounded in the paint. If he's doing that its because he is hoping to use Odom's quickness in some form, maybe doubling Garnett with both Gasol and Odom, Odom can double and recover quickly enough if Garnett passes out. There has to be some method to the madness because if not Perk will wear him out by pounding him in the paint.

It's not bull. We're talking about Phil Jackson here. He's been public with his gameplan even in the playoffs for YEARS. He's done it every series even this year.

Anyway, I'm just hoping if Perkins attacks Lamar in the post that Lamar goes back at him the next time down. Hopefully, Pierce ballhoging his way to 25 plus shots, Allen's taking 15 threes, and Rondo's inexperience stops Perkins from getting the ball too much.

[eatyourchildren]

Isn't that the whole plan? Make Rondo and Perkins think that they're the 2nd coming of Payton and Kemp?

The whole gimmick is premised on the fact that the PGA Tour and their Ubunu is so selfless and so diehard intent on "playing the right way" that they'll see two things that they cannot ignore, like a kitten chasing a silver bell:

1. Fisher sagging so far off Rondo that Rondo has the most open shot of the 5
and
2. Perkins having so much size over Odom that he has the biggest mismatch.

What does that do? Now Pierce, Allen, and KG (who loves to defer) are all deferring to these 2 guys and their can't-ignore "advantages". God I love Phil. So tricky.

[Heir]

^Gets it

[BillessuR6]

Isn't that the whole plan? Make Rondo and Perkins think that they're the 2nd coming of Payton and Kemp?

The whole gimmick is premised on the fact that the PGA Tour and their Ubunu is so selfless and so diehard intent on "playing the right way" that they'll see two things that they cannot ignore, like a kitten chasing a silver bell:

1. Fisher sagging so far off Rondo that Rondo has the most open shot of the 5
and
2. Perkins having so much size over Odom that he has the biggest mismatch.

What does that do? Now Pierce, Allen, and KG (who loves to defer) are all deferring to these 2 guys and their can't-ignore "advantages". God I love Phil. So tricky.

There is nothing tricky here. All the teams we have played thus far have defended us this way. The only difference here is that Odom is the smallest guy to be put on Perk.

[Joselo16]

So the Laker's master plan is to allow Odom to get pounded in the paint??? Like thebirdman said every team we have played has sagged and obviously it has not worked out. I don't think Fisher sagging is going to happen a lot in this series due to Rondo's speed and ability to penetrate. I know many Laker fans believe Fisher to be a good defensive point guard and he has been, but I saw Tony Parker penetrating at will on him, and Rondo is just as quick as Parker. If Rondo is able to penetrate (which he wasn't able to in the Detroit series) that makes our offense a lot better. Can't wait till Thursday dammit!!!

[hiphop1]

-= original quote snipped =-


It's not bull. We're talking about Phil Jackson here. He's been public with his gameplan even in the playoffs for YEARS. He's done it every series even this year.

Anyway, I'm just hoping if Perkins attacks Lamar in the post that Lamar goes back at him the next time down. Hopefully, Pierce ballhoging his way to 25 plus shots, Allen's taking 15 threes, and Rondo's inexperience stops Perkins from getting the ball too much.

Perkins will not be guarding Odom he will guard Gasol.

[Tricky Ricky]

Isn't that the whole plan? Make Rondo and Perkins think that they're the 2nd coming of Payton and Kemp?

The whole gimmick is premised on the fact that the PGA Tour and their Ubunu is so selfless and so diehard intent on "playing the right way" that they'll see two things that they cannot ignore, like a kitten chasing a silver bell:

1. Fisher sagging so far off Rondo that Rondo has the most open shot of the 5
and
2. Perkins having so much size over Odom that he has the biggest mismatch.

What does that do? Now Pierce, Allen, and KG (who loves to defer) are all deferring to these 2 guys and their can't-ignore "advantages". God I love Phil. So tricky.

He sounds like an idiot to me, hopefully Perks new found confidence makes him look stupid

[canman1971]

We are in the final series of the NBA series. Does anyone (Laker fans) really believe the Cs will see something they haven't seen already?

[cisco]

I just heard on ESPN that Phil Jackson plans on starting Gasol on Garnett and guarding perkins with odom. I was expecting odom to be on garnett and gasol to be on perkins.

Perkins has a good 50 pounds on odom and has been a beast recently, if he plays the same way he did against the pistons he can use his size to dominate odom on the block.

How do you think the celts will match up? I think they have to go with garnett on odom and perkins on gasol. Odom's outside shooting will give perkins trouble. Granted gasol has a nice midrange touch which also will give perkins trouble, but not nearly to the extent that odom will.

what are your thoughts on these match ups?

Those matchups are only when the Celtics are playing offense. On defense, Perk will guard Gasol and KG will guard Odom.

[Ortho Stice]

No wonder why Pierce has been smiling ear to ear all week long. With Vlad guarding him he'll be able to go to the hoop at will. And who will be the lone player defending the paint? Lamar Odom. HA!

As for Perk, he'll be able to get position on Odom easily for layups. Even if he doesn't try to score, there's still the huge mismatch on the rebounding side. Expect a lot of offensive boards and second shot opportunities for us. How dare ye throw such a meek player on The Beast!

Also, I love Lakers fans who think Phil is being tricky having Fish sag off Rondo, daring him to shoot. This has been happening to Rondo the entire season!

I'm excited, we're going to have the easiest time scoring on them, easier than any team we've faced so far in the playoffs. Lakers on the other hand have to face the best defense.

[Gomes3PC]

Vlad Radmanovic trying to cover Pierce will be Pavlovich and Wally trying to guard him all over again- EASY BUCKETS!

The only guys who have given Pierce trouble this playoffs were Lebron (extremely long, athletic, AND physical player) and Josh Childress (extremely long and athletic player). Even Tayshaun Prince was not much of an obstacle for Pierce. If PP can blow by Prince, he will not only blow by Vlad Rad, but send him a postcard in the next zip code thanking him for hand-wrapping a 30-point outburst to him.

As for Lamar covering Perkins, it's really the only option the Lakers have. Gasol would get eaten alive on the boards against Perkins and likely get into foul trouble given how much contact Perk likes to initiate. Covering KG on the perimeter allows Gasol to breathe a bit because KG hovers in the high post.

However, the problem is that despite Odom's superior strength and rebounding prowess, Perkins is still way too strong and adept and grabbing boards for him. Coming off a series where he HAD to have built confidence by dominating McDyess and Wallace for long chunks of time, Perk should be poised to put together a nice series. If Perkins can consistently pull down 10-12 rebounds and 8+ points a night, the Lakers will be in some serious trouble; any scoring from Perk is a boost and if he is grabbing boards that means extra possessions for the Celtics.

On our defense, Perk will most certainly guard Gasol. That means he will have to face a lot of pick and rolls, but he will also get help by rotations. Gasol is very fleet of foot and a smart passer, but KG will most certainly slough off of Odom to seal off any drives to the basket for Gasol or Kobe. If Odom wants to take kickouts and try to hit jumpers, more power to him. He will be our 'Rondo', in that we will let him fire away as a jumpshooter. If he is foolish enough to pass up the jumper and try to drive into an already-packed in defense, he will likely end up getting a few charges.

All in all, the frontcourt battles clearly favor the Celtics, as IMO this is just a terrible matchup on D for the Lakers. Odom is the best matchup for Perk and can't hang with him and Gasol the best for KG but can't hang with him. Switch them and Gasol gets in foul trouble and Odom is not enough of an upgrade to slow KG on D. On O, so long as Boston defends the pick and roll well and forces Odom to beat them with jumpers, they should contain the frontcourt.

The big men are not a concern of mine. It is the backcourt and guys like Vlad Radmanovic and Sasha Vujacic getting too many open looks because Pierce likes to gamble and slide down into the paint for charges, leaving his man in the corner wide open.

GUYS YOU LET SHOOT JUMPERS:
(eFG% on jumpshots shown below)
Odom- 40%
Turiaf- 34.6% (vs. 62% in the paint)
Walton- 39%
Ariza- 33%
Bryant- 45.7% (compared with 64% in the paint!)
Gasol- 45.3% (compared with 66% paint!)

Guys where you must stick your hand in their face when they shoot:
Farmar- 52.4%
Vujacic- 57.3%
Radmanovic- 54.2%
Fisher- 52.8% (vs. 40.9% in the paint)

[spf211]

A lot more PT for James Posey -- which could very well benefit the Celtics in this series.

[davidse]

you guys are seriously off about the radman on pierce match up.

pierce is exactly the type of sf that radmanovic can defend well.
just ask carmelo.

no, he won't stop him, but he will give him a much harder time than any of you expect.

[canman1971]

you guys are seriously off about the radman on pierce match up.

pierce is exactly the type of sf that radmanovic can defend well.
just ask carmelo.

no, he won't stop him, but he will give him a much harder time than any of you expect.

The difference is Pierce is a much more complete/smarter player than Melo. And it is not even close. I'll take this matchup all day.

[drza]

I don't think Odom is as much of a mismatch on Perkins as many here do. Odom is ridiculously long (a slightly shorter KG) and is an excellent rebounder (much better than any rebounder the Celtics have seen thus far this postseason). I think Perk has the strength mismatch, but Odom has length/quickness that could pick up a few loose-ball fouls on Perk if he gets too aggressive.

I don't think Phil will be able to stay with this plan, because Gasol can't guard KG on the perimeter (Gasol's success against Duncan, when it happened, came in the post where Gasol could body him and use his length to make it hard for Duncan to shoot over him). In the past, when KG has faced up on Gasol from the elbow, he has been able to either get wide-open jumpers because Gasol plays a step off of him or else KG has been able to up-fake and dribble-drive right past him. Odom is a much better match against KG on the perimeter, and if Phil doesn't realize that now (I'm not convinced he's really gonna put Odom on Perk, he may have just put that out there) I don't think it'll be long before he does.

[eatyourchildren]

We are in the final series of the NBA series. Does anyone (Laker fans) really believe the Cs will see something they haven't seen already?

Hm. Considering you're coaching opponents so far have been the philosophical triumvirate of Mike Woodson, Mike Brown, and Flip Saunders, I'll take Yes for $300 Alex.