Breaking Down The 2nd Round: Lakers vs Houston Rockets

[TylersLakers]

With the Houston Rockets advancing over the Portland Trailblazers, it presents a new round, a new match-up, and a new battle.

Looking at the Rockets, you would think they would be a tough match-up for us. They have two strengths - to our two biggest weaknesses. It starts with the point guard match-up.

Derek Fisher vs Aaron Brooks

The Lakers have a severe problem defending small, quick, point guards. Derek Fisher is in his mid-30's, and has clearly lost a step when it comes to his man defense. Now, he'll look to pick up as many charges as any one in the league, but he gets torched by just about every quick guard in the league. Aaron Brooks' game is all about speed. For someone of his small frame, he'll look to attack the cracks in a defense, he'll look to get out in transition and he'll look to shoot the outside shot. However, get him in the half-court and force him to make decisions, he'll struggle. He's more of a combo guard, rather than a pure point guard. Now, Brooks will see a lot of Shannon Brown and possibly Jordan Farmar (I hope not) but Fish will get the start on him and we have to look to get quick starts on this team.

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Our other weakness; defending strong small forwards. While Ron Artest may start off as a shooting guard, he is definitely more of a small forward and for Kobe to check him all game, it won't happen. Kobe may get him down the stretch, but it will be the lanky Trevor Ariza taking a shot at Artest.

Trevor Ariza vs Ron Artest

With Ariza healthy, strong SF's haven't hurt us as much this season. However, until we win the Championship, critics will always look towards Paul Pierce in last year's NBA Finals, and they'll look towards a possible Finals match-up against LeBron James. However, we're not there yet, Ron Artest is not James or Pierce, and he's our main focus. On the low block, there probably isn't a better offensive small forward in the game. Just looking at him, he's thick and he's got power and strength. Will Ariza's skinny frame be able to handle Artest, should Houston try to hurt us in this way? We'll have to rely on help a lot and hopefully outside shooters like Wafer, Battier, Scola, and Lowry don't kill us.

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Kobe Bryant vs Shane Battier

Now, this is one match-up that scares me. Shane Battier and Artest will split defensive duties against Kobe Bryant. But, it's not that area of the floor that scares me. Kobe has done a pretty good job against Houston's combination of defenders this season. Kobe defending Battier, however, is a cause for concern. Kobe's going to be looking to sag off him and help on Yao and Artest.. leaving Battier wide open for threes. I have a feeling that this is going to get Houston a win or two. Bryant has to stick to Battier and our other defenders has to do their own job. Houston has shooters, capable of knocking down shots. It's important we stick to them.

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Pau Gasol vs Louis Scola

Now, this is one advantage we have with Andrew being re-inserted into the starting lineup. Bynum can handle Yao in the paint, allowing Gasol to venture on the court wherever Scola wants to go. Scola's a good 15-18 foot jump shooter, and a solid rebounder. Pau has to keep a body on him and contest Scola's jumper and crafty post moves. He has to make Scola shoot over the top of him, and I`ll take Pau Gasol in that situation every time.

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Andrew Bynum vs Yao Ming

I feel pretty comfortable with this match-up. Andrew plays much better against big, tall C`s. He has more athleticism than Yao and can beat him down the court in transition. We have to look to push the basketball and pick and roll with Bynum, exposing the weaknesses in Yao`s game. Easier said than done, of course. Gasol will also see a lot of time on Yao, and he`s defended him extremely well this season. He uses smart post defense, gets a lot of steals and tips off gambling. Pau also likes to pull the chair against Yao Ming and he usually falls for it. We need Drew to play with confidence and look to attack Yao on both ends.

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The Bench Mob (Lamar Odom, Shannon Brown, Sasha Vujacic, Luke Walton) vs (Von Wafer, Carl Landry, Kyle Lowry)

Now, this is one situation, where we have an advantage. Houston only really runs an 8 man rotation and I think our bench (even capable of going deeper) can have a big impact on this game.. especially when Yao is on the sidelines getting a breather. Carl Landry is an undersized power forward and with Dikembe Mutumbo out, he`s their tallest front court player off the bench. We need to attack this with Bynum, Odom, or Gasol. Sometime in the playoffs, we need Vujacic to find his touch from the outside and hopefully he can do it in this series. We`re going to need him to chase around Von Wafer. Luke Walton`s ankle is progressing and he could actually be someone we turn to on the defensive end to guard Artest. He`s probably our strongest option to guard Artest on the box, next to Kobe or Lamar. I think Lamar could get some time at the 3 in this series, especially on the defensive end. Maybe we`ll see the three big lineup of Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.. just maybe.

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We beat Houston every time this season and a couple times it was without Andrew. This series definitely won`t be a sweep, however, I predict the Lakers will take it in 6 games. We need to develop a killer instinct this series as well, we cannot let the Rockets back in the game if we have big leads. If we don`t develop it, sooner or later, it will catch up to us.

Game 1 is on Monday at Staples.. 12 more to go until our final goal. We cannot overlook this team.

[DEEP3CL]

Brooks is the one I'm concerned about, his speed will probably keep Fish in foul trouble. As much as we all here hate to admit it but we're going to need Jordan, this could be the series where he regains some confidence. But I'm sure Shannon and Sasha will check him some too.

Von has had some big numbers on us too, we must contain him tightly in this series. I like Shannon on him.

[Norm2953]

I'm a Blazer's fan who occasionally visits your board but I'd like to add that Yao
had to play over 40 MPG and seemed really gassed going into tonight's game.
That being said, I think Yao is going to get Andrew in foul trouble and a guy
that was not mentioned (Mbenga) might be a player to watch as far as giving
the Lakers enough minutes going up against Yao.

I don't know if Brooks will hurt you guys much for he was played fairly well by of
all people Steve Blake who is maligned on the Blazers board. Artest seems to
mostly stand out on the perimeter, chucking jump shots but it seems to me
that Luke Walton and Ariza should do a decent job on him.

I really think the Lakers will take out the Rockets in no more than six games
for offensively, they have to keep all of the games in the 80's to have a chance
to win. I hope you guys take out the Nuggets in 5 games for unlike most
Blazer fans, I don't despise the Lakers while I really despise the Nuggets.

[DEEP3CL]

Your a good dude Norm2953 and always classy , it's cool that your come in a chat with us Laker fans. I knew from the day you started posting here you wasn't the childish type that usually infest the board.

[KObe Bryant]

Good Post, Tyler. This would be a very physical series. I hope Luke comes back and help our bench. If that doesn't happen, I see Lamar going SF and Powell given more playing time. The other bench players besides Lamar should really play much better than the series against Utah. They would really help us a lot. I think the real only concern in this series is Derek Fisher at the defensive end. Farmar will get his minutes again and hope that he'll play his game again. For Bynum, I hope he gets his rhythm , not rush his shot and just be patient. Lakers in 6.

[Jaykoolzboy]

Rox fan here, to be honest I would be surprised if this is going to be a 7 game series or even a 6 game series. Lakers in 5 or 6. We just dun have the offensive power to match up with you guys.

[dunleavyjr]

don't front yao;
don't double yao;
just play behind yao;
just let yao catch the entry pass.

[Speedlot]

Erm.. I'm sorry to simplify things.. But the rockets does not have an answer to... PAU, ODOM, and Bynum.


Fisher will handle brooks easily.
Kobe might be distracted, but he won' be needed really. Kobe's "average" play of 40%ish 5/5 is enough.

ODOM will be unstoppable. Yao can't guard Gasol.

[YiYaoYue]

I'm a Blazer's fan who occasionally visits your board but I'd like to add that Yao
had to play over 40 MPG and seemed really gassed going into tonight's game.
That being said, I think Yao is going to get Andrew in foul trouble and a guy
that was not mentioned (Mbenga) might be a player to watch as far as giving
the Lakers enough minutes going up against Yao.

I don't know if Brooks will hurt you guys much for he was played fairly well by of
all people Steve Blake who is maligned on the Blazers board. Artest seems to
mostly stand out on the perimeter, chucking jump shots but it seems to me
that Luke Walton and Ariza should do a decent job on him.

I really think the Lakers will take out the Rockets in no more than six games
for offensively, they have to keep all of the games in the 80's to have a chance
to win. I hope you guys take out the Nuggets in 5 games for unlike most
Blazer fans, I don't despise the Lakers while I really despise the Nuggets.

I agree with you. Aaron Brooks isn't playing Fisher one on one. If he uses his speed to blow by fisher, he isn't skilled enough to create a layup against the interior defense of lamar, gasol, or bynum that all can block shots. Brooks also isn't a true scorer in the sense that he can create his own shots with fadeaways and fakes so I think fisher will do just fine against him. Brooks also isn't like rondo, dwill, paul who can use their passing skills, vision, and speed to breakdown the defense, so outside of the fastbreak opportunities, blowing by fisher will only end in him handing the ball to Yao instead of passing it to him... apples and oranges. Brooks won't be shut down nor will he go off on fisher, so my prediction is he'll be around his average of 11 pts or so.

Yao is the biggest problem and no way lakers are going to not double team him at times (and that isn't because I'm some Yao lover despite my name I'm not a big Yao fan but I recognize his skill). Of course they shouldn't just always double Yao, but pick and choose when to as well as making sure to keep the ball off Yao's hands when possible. Bynum will have to learn to control himself and not foul so much. Lakers will need Bynum to log enough minutes so they can maintain a rotation of Bynum/Gasol/Odom in the frontline against Yao/Scola/Landry. Powell is okay against Scola and Landry, but he won't be effective against Yao on help defense. Given that, Yao probably won't have any perfect games against the length and size of the lakers frontcourt like he did against the blazers. Lakers will give him more trouble than the blazers in my opinion, but Yao won't be stopped by any means. Yao will still get lots of shots against the lakers and will be up there. The flip also is how will Gasol do against Yao? Yao may give Gasol some trouble on the lakers' offensive end (much more than boozer or okur) and Gasol's offensive production is very important to Lakers' success. That is why I consider Yao to be the biggest issue for Lakers. Scola probably will be on Bynum and I don't think bynum is in a good enough groove after coming back to score lots of points against Scola. Hopefully Bynum can start getting into double digits in points if Gasol production drops.

Artest will be on Kobe and it seems like with Wafer's injury problems Battier will be out there against Ariza/Odom. This is just one of those matchups where neither can really guard each other all that effectively. Artest is too strong for kobe in the post and Kobe will still produce against Artest. However, kobe is defnitely going to have more problems than against the Jazz which really didn't have anyone who could gaurd him. Kobe will probably get a few more TOs and a lot of his production will be based on how calls are made by the referees. If they allow Artest to be aggressive and not call as many fouls due to being the playoffs, than Kobe will have a lot more problems. Otherwise Artest in foul trouble will have to back off and Kobe will keep scoring against him.

Odom will have to play well and I feel he'll be against Scola a lot more than Battier. I wonder if Odom will be able to bring the ball down court against Houston like he did against Utah to breakdown the defense a bit more. Odom is no Aldridge, but considering Aldridge did okay, I think Odom should do just fine against the Rockets.

Battier will probably be against Ariza. Both are sort of similar players in that they hustle for loose balls and are a bit more defensive minded than offensive minded but can still knock down those threes. Battier is much more polished than Ariza, but if Ariza is making threes... Battier can not leave Ariza. Don't really need Ariza to have a great offensive game and probably won't against Battier's defense, but make sure to hit those open shots if Battier starts sagging off to help against odom, gasol, or kobe.

Now all this looks a bit bleak with the defense of Houston... luckily it isn't just the starters against each other playing 5 on 5. I agree completely with OP that the bench will be the X factor. I don't see the need for farmar or DJ Mbenga unless there are major foul troubles. Brown will still take most if not all of farmars minutes (i don't see PJ changing things up unless he is forced to). Brown has been playing well and his hustle on both sides will be important in going against Houston. Sasha should see some more minutes as well and might see lots of Sasha on the floor with Kobe when they play Artest/Battier as SF and Wafer as SG since Artest/Battier will switch on defense giving Sasha a matchup with a SG. Having Walton gives Kobe some freedom so he doesn't have to gaurd Artest or Battier and rest a bit more on defense. So if Walton can play that will be helpful, but needs to be healthy. Sasha might even be able to bug Artest enough although Artest will still push him around. Lakers can throw many different defenders at Houston players just like Houston can against Lakers. Lakers just need to keep at it on defense.

Lakers have so many offensive options. If things are clicking for lakers, they will be able to score near or over 100 points and Houston doesn't have the offense especially against a well played Lakers' defense to catch up in points. And obviously whoever scores the most points wins. So with everything considered, Lakers should be okay matchup wise. The big issue is that Lakers give up leads and against Houston that just can't happen. Against Jazz they may be able to turn it on again and regain the lead, but against a good defensive team that only leads to more frustrations and TOs and possibly losing the game. This is an issue that really needs to be dealt with and hopefully Lakers will deal with that problem against Houston. You can't blow leads against Houston because a good defensive team will not allow you to regain momentum.

[Slava]

Key to the series:

Kobe - Pau Pick n' Roll. The Rockets don't have an answer to this. We can run this play to the ground and win the series quite comfortably. Lakers in 5, may be 4 if everything clicks well.

[That Nicka]

Odom and Gasol will have a big series. Kobe will probably have a few good games and a couple bad games with Battier/Artest on him. Bynum will be in constant foul trouble. Artest/Brooks/Wafer will score but very inefficiently.

I'll say Lakers in 6 just to be on the safe side

[BlacKOEIsle]

Lakers in 5 or 7,I do belive rockets can win game 6 in Houston if the serie reach there.

[tiredandhungry67]

Erm.. I'm sorry to simplify things.. But the rockets does not have an answer to... PAU, ODOM, and Bynum.


Fisher will handle brooks easily.
Kobe might be distracted, but he won' be needed really. Kobe's "average" play of 40%ish 5/5 is enough.

ODOM will be unstoppable. Yao can't guard Gasol.

kobe gets his, especially against the rockets this season
28.3 ppg avg vs. rockets 2008-2009
i'll be the optimistic one and say, break out the brooms, because we want a damn sweep already

[hermes]

hopefully bynum can get on track against yao, that will be a nice battle to watch
trevor, lamar and shannon need to have big series, and it wouldn't hurt to get some threes from the machine either

[Snip]

Erm.. I'm sorry to simplify things.. But the rockets does not have an answer to... PAU, ODOM, and Bynum.

Yao, Scola, Landry, Hayes are your answers......i guess you are lucky deke is hurt too..I would mention Cook, but he is just a waste of space on the bench...still unsure why he made our playoff roster!!

[magic1fan]

i wouldn't be suprised if we swept the rockets. kobe will get his,he has basically torched shane ever since that article came out about shane doing such a great job on him. with brown playing the way he is playing i don't see it going past five games. the rox are a good team but to me we played our toughest matchup in the west in the first round.

[tayzer]

I think Gasol does the best job on Yao. His quickness allows him to knock the ball away from Yao. He did such a good job in the regular season, that the Rockets stop throwing the ball into Yao because it would result in a turn over.

[LAKESHOW]

i feel comfortable with everything. except for yao. ive watched some of the last series, and this is not the same 'ol yao. he is looked to much much more without tmac. he is growing into his own. he is taking over in key situations. he is hustling. now we have bynum, but really, bynum should have a whole years experience under his belt. but in actuality, he just got back. playoff situations? bynum hasnt been there before. a penchant for fouling out and fouling alot and fouling tons and taking him out of games? bynum has that. but back to yao, this dude seems to have UPed his game. we must battle him strong on the inside and get up in his face. he is their key. guys were wide open because the blazers could not contain him, and when they did double, they made him pay. so bynum has got to play strong, but he just cant hack away. close the space between him and yao and contest everything.

[Dexmor]

This was the series that scared me before the first game of the season. As a matter of fact the only thing that made me less nervous about it was Artest's comments. Kobe is not gonna be messing around.

Most important things

1.Shannon Brown and Jordan Farmar will have to step up defensivey because Fisher is gonna look 50 out there with Brooks. Iverson said he is to fast. Iverson. Think about it.
Brown is strong and fast and needs to use it on D. Farmar also has to wake up and break out this series.

2.Bynum must stay healthy. With Bynum healthy Ming can't be super dominant. He underachives anyway because he could be a top 5 player if he had a killer instinct but Bynum could really make him have some bad games.

3.Im an not afraid of Artest's defense because Kobe being told he is not the best which Ron did will make him more angry then 99% of the people realize. Look up Narrcasist and there trates and what happens when you insult them and you will know what Im talking about. Kobe will be at his best every singlle second. (by the way just because I think Kobe is a narrcasist doesn't mean hes not my favorite because he is by leaps and bounds). The only thing I am worried about is Artest taking a cheap shot and hurting him. He broke MJ's ribs and that is what scares me. I am hoping Kobe doesn't trash talk to the point where Artest's snaps because he is very unbalanced.

We should win this but this is a terrible matchup for us because our strength is our inside depth plus Kobe and our weakness is pg.
They have Ming to counter with the 2 best wing defenders in the league literally on the same team with a lighting quick pg. They even have a coach who knows us better then any other coach.

I say Lakers in 7.

[Kreuk]

lol maybe the rockets will be the second coming of the kings. and in that case, i feel bad for adelman.