A question about Jameer and the Lakers' gameplan...

[J the Drafter]

How come your team has never put Kobe on him and had Fisher guard Orlando's weakest perimeter offensive threat? (Actually, I know the Lakers put Ariza on Nelson a bit in one of the 2009 regular season games.) I know it's never been an issue in a series, but the Lakers prefer to have Kobe guard Rondo when playing the Celtics, and they had him guard Westbrook against the Thunder. Is it because Kobe prefers to help off his man, and neither Rondo nor Westbrook can shoot well enough to punish the Lakers for that strategy?

[chefy]

I don't remember nelson getting that much playing time back in 09 finals.

[Pablo Escobar]

People need to remember Kobe is 32 yes he can score whenever he wants but if he plays elite on both ends he will be to tired to score and it's not like we have another perimeter threat to play alongside him, when he was younger he could shutdown anybody playing the 1, 2 or 3 it's just age is catching up with him.

[TruSkool]

and because rondo is a much better player than jameer.

[crazyeights]

I think he's talking about the regular season in 09 when Nelson was torching us. In 2 games he averaged 27.5/6.5/5 on 58.8% shooting...

OP, pretty sure you answered your own question. Kobe guards Rondo and Westbrook because they're not great shooters, so he can lay off, dare them to shoot and sometimes roam free, playing a center field kind of thing.

Though largely that center field stuff is, IMO, just to let him take some possessions off on defense so he can focus on scoring. Kobe can be a lockdown defender when he wants to be, but as often as he plays that kind of D, he also plays super star D. Late to rotations, then blames his teammates.

Also if Kobe has any weakness in his game, he can't take a charge to save his life. He only tries about once every 10 games, but when he does he usually skirts away from contact and it makes him look like he flops. For a guy who is so technically proficient, I find it interesting he's awful at even making it appear like he's absorbed contact.

But as KB24 said, it's all about keeping him deadly on offense, so it makes sense that he wouldn't lay it out there like Fish. Say what you want about Fisher, but he's damned good at what he does. The best in the business.

[Slava]

I'm pretty sure if nelson was 100% in the finals Kobe or Ariza would have guarded him. Phil rarely cross matches during the regular season. A loss doesn't even mean much to him at that time, he's more concerned about building confidence than anything else.

[stunnar0b]

At this point of his career kobe needs to guard the player with the least amount of offensive plays run for him. he just cant be going through screens left and right, exerting all his energy on the defensive end(especially when that player is a shooter and cant be given any space).

But when fisher isn't getting it done he'll take it upon himself to stop that player and show fisher how its done Ala Westbrook in the Oklahoma series. It just depends how much damage that player is doing to the lakers

[Wavy Q]

in 09' wasn't Nelson just coming off an injury? D-Fish might be able to keep up with a somewhat crippled Nelson

[The Skyhook]

Alston got major burn in those Finals. Fisher guarded him all series long and at times he did some damage to us but nothing major. Like others have said it before if a player just gives Fisher too much to handle then he will take it upon himself to guard that player.

[DEEP3CL]

How come your team has never put Kobe on him and had Fisher guard Orlando's weakest perimeter offensive threat? (Actually, I know the Lakers put Ariza on Nelson a bit in one of the 2009 regular season games.) I know it's never been an issue in a series, but the Lakers prefer to have Kobe guard Rondo when playing the Celtics, and they had him guard Westbrook against the Thunder. Is it because Kobe prefers to help off his man, and neither Rondo nor Westbrook can shoot well enough to punish the Lakers for that strategy?

Nelson is a more pure lead guard than Westbrook and Rondo, Russell is more of an A.I. type while Rondo's game is based off pure penetration. Having Fish on either for extended stretches will not bode well for the Lakers.

The Lakers main key to defense is not allowing penetration, Nelson doesn't go as much to the basket as much as those two nor does he do as well as them.

Part of your theory is right, they don't have the jumper in their arsenal to make Kobe respect them from distance. But the main reason is to discourage them from penetration, allowing Kobe to sag to help more on defense.

Going back to the Thunder series, Fish did guard Westbrook starting out. But most of us knew before the series was over Kobe would take him. Phil loves to make a team think they have an advantage for a minute in a series then he'll switch suddenly when they don't think about it.

But in regards to Westbrook, Kobe actually asked Phil if he could take him. The Lakers had gotten into some troubling issues with Russell and his confidence was growing. Fish moved onto Sefalosha who wasn't a scoring threat from distance and he doesn't see the ball that much in their offense anyway.

Kobe will probably never take Nelson in a series, we have enough decent guard depth now to just put bodies on him for stretches. Blake, Brown, Sasha and even Barnes is more than enough to contain him for a few minutes.

[Mamba Venom]

In Jan of 2009 Jameer killed us. Went to that game and he won it single handedly!

[laduane1]

Good players will step up againt the better teams. He might have had a good game vs. the Lakers. That is a who cares things. We are the champs and they are not.

[Patterns]

Nelson would own Kobe too. Come on ya'll. Kobe is a great defender but he's 32 and Nelson is 5'11. He's way too quick for Kobe. Rondo and Westbrook are quick too but they're not 5'11 quick.

Plus, like others have said, Rondo and Westbrook don't have reliable jumpers. Nelson has range up to the 3pt line. Nelson would tire the crap out of Kobe. Kobe just stands and spreads his arms against Rondo but he actually has to go up to Nelson to prevent his jumpshot but also recover to prevent his penetration.

[ock]

Nelson would own Kobe too.

ok, buddy.