Touches in the halfcourt (within 15 feet of basket for Shaq, inside 3 point line for Kobe):
Shaq: 40 touches, 36 doubles (90%), 2 triples (2 assists on them), 7 assists/hockey assists, 12 fouls drawn (2 offball)
Kobe had 36 touches, 14 double teams, 2 triples, 5 assists/hockey assists, 6 fouls drawn (1 in backcourt, 1 garbage time intentional foul)
Sabonis guarded Shaq on 29 touches (3-6 FGA), Grant on 7 (1-1 FG), and Jermaine O'neal on 5 (0-0 FG)
Damon Stoudamire guarded Kobe on 12 of his touches (1-4 FG), Pippen guarded him on 15 touches (5-11 FG), wells guarded him on 7 touches (2-2 FG),
-All 6 of Sabonis fouls came against Shaq including 4 in the 4th quarter.
Man to Man defense:
Shaq's man: 4-14 FG: Sabonis went 2-5 FG, Pippen/Smith went 1-6 FG, Sheed 1-2 FG
Kobe's man 6-16 FG: Damon went 2-4 FG vs Kobe, Pippen 1-4 FG, Smith 2-6 FG, Wells 1-2: 1-5 FGA in iso or postup situations
Help situations:
Shaq allowed 2-7 FG (1 of them goaltend) in the paint when he went down to help.
Pick and Roll:
In general, Shaq played the Pick and Roll the same way that Roy Hibbert did. He either sagged back to the paint or switched onto the PnR ball handler. Overall, when he switched on the PnR, Smith/Pippen went 1-5 FG (1 3P made) against Shaq with 1 other 3 pt made where both Shaq and his teammate left the PnR Ballhandler. None of the ballhandlers blew by Shaq, preferring to take the open long jumper since Shaq was standing near the FT line. Only once did Shaq try to trap the PnR ballhandler, but 2 passes later, the Blazers scored a layup. His PnR D wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. I would gladly give Steve Smith a 22 foot open long jumper if I was the Lakers.
How the Blazers Defended Shaq:
As you can tell by the numbers above, the Blazers literally doubled Shaq everytime he touched it. The only times he didn't get doubled was when he made a quick move on Sabonis that didn't allow the Blazers the time to double him. Once the pass went in, the Blazers immediately went to double Shaq. They clearly made their priority to stop Shaq at all costs. Most of the doubles either came from Smith, Sheed or Pippen. The Blazers even doubled from the Lakers 3 point shooters and sometimes Kobe. One possession, Pippen doubled down off of Kobe, and Shaq hit Kobe for the open 3. I've never seen a defense give a man this much attention before. I've watched MJ, Kareem, Hakeem play, but none of them ever faced a comparable amount of defenders that Shaq did. In the 1st quarter, Shaq drew 2 quick fouls on Sabonis, then Grant came in and drew 2 fouls. So the Blazers were forced to use young Jermaine O'Neal to guard Shaq some.
How the Blazers Defended Kobe:
In the first half of the 1st and 3rd quarter, the Blazers used Damon Stoudamire to guard Kobe. Stoudamire is listed at 5' 10, 170 lbs.
A man that is 8 inches shorter, and 30-40 lbs lighter was guarding Kobe for ~1 whole quarter. No offense, but the Raptors would have never dared to have Damon Stoudamire guarding MJ for a quarter. Kobe made a few plays on him and had a few assists from the doubles, but the lack of respect shows what the Blazers thought of Kobe. For the other 3 quarters of time, Smith/Wells guarded Kobe some, but Pippen guarded Kobe for around ~2 quarters worth of basketball. Pippen did a decent job but Kobe more than held his own. When Stoudamire guarded Kobe, they sent doubles on postup situations. When Pippen/Smith guarded him, they doubled when he drove to the basket.Shaq's defense:
You can clearly tell that the Blazers had a strategy to minimize Shaq's amazing defensive impact. It was simple: Illega defense and 3 point line. They camped their big men at the 3 point line. Shaq would sag down a bit but due to the archaic NBA rules, Shaq wasn't allowed to go past the FT line. This allowed the Blazers free reign to the paint. That's why Shaq only contested 7 shots in the game. The Blazers would post up iso on the weakside and Shaq wouldn't be allowed to help on time due to the rues. The strategy worked somewhat with Sabonis because Sabonis could shoot the ball. But when Grant/Jermaine O'Neal came in the game, the Blazers played the same strategy despite the fact that both of them couldn't shoot. Shaq still had to respect them due to the rules. The Blazers centers stuck in the perimeter rarely posting up or challenging Shaq on the dribble.
Sheed dominated AC Green/Horry in that game. He was so talented that he had his way with them in the post. Its startling to see Rasheed playing in the post, not the 3 point line. In the 2nd half the Lakers starting sending some doubles to him. Shaq doubled him a few times. One time Sabonis cut to the basket, but Sheed missed the pass. Another time Sheed hit Sabonis who made the long 2 point jumper. Shaq didn't guard Sheed until the end of the 4th quarter when Grant was in the game for a fouled out Sabonis. Sheed missed one shot, and drew a foul vs Shaq
Kobe's defense:
Crazy to see a version of Kobe that is playing good D and focused on that side of the ball. You can see a huge difference between 00 and 13 Kobe. 00 Kobe didn't help out much, but he also didn't play 1 man zone either. Kobe's man D was really good. He was adept at applying pressure to the ballhandler when he crossed halfcourt. He had 3 deflections in the 1st half of the game. The Blazers strategy was to post up him up. 2000 Kobe was smaller and weaker compared to older Kobe. Bonzi Wells had like 2 postups where he manhandled Kobe so the Lakers didn't Kobe on him again. Steve Smith focused mostly on posting up Kobe. Kobe did a job of shutting down those postups.
Overall Impression:
Shaq: You could tell that Blazers came into game 7 with the mindset that Shaq wasn't going to beat them. Shaq wasn't aggressive though its hard to be when you got 2 guys up in your face when you get the ball. Shaq's passing was solid and he found a few cutters and open jumpshots. Shaq's defense got so much respect that the Blazers gameplanned to minimize his defensive impact. The Blazers were scared to even postup or attack Shaq with the ball. Some would say that Shaq had a bad game 7, but I disagree. His impact was evident all game. No center in history could have done what 00 Shaq was doing
Craziest stat: The Blazers only tried to postup Shaq 1 time all game.
Kobe: Kobe was still green but he did have a positive impact. His athleticism allowed him to play better Defense and drive to the basket more than old Kobe. 2000 Kobe couldn't carry a team, but he was a great robin. I didn't see much selfishness or jacking up contested fadeaways from Kobe either.
Lakers supporting cast: The Lakers cast was awful. It was an amazing carry job by Shaq (and lesser extent Kobe and Phil) to lead that team to 67 wins. Both Harper and AC Green were too old to contribute. Horry couldn't play defense. Glen Rice didn't have much an impact in the game. Shaq was carrying a cast similar to 09 LeBron's in terms of talent.
In the next few paragraphs, I'll explain a few plays that show off Shaq and Kobe's impact in the game.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8loTCIiCiXE[/youtube]
Shaq:
5:40- A play that shows Shaqs impact. Shaq is in the post. AC Green's man sags down to the post even before Green has a shot at throwing it into Shaq. As a result, Green gets a wide open jumper (which he missed) courtesy of the attention Shaq received.
14:06- Shaq gets the ball in the post, Stoudamire and Pippen come down to triple team Shaq. He recognizes it quickly and immediately passes to an open Fisher who makes an easy 15 foot jumper
14:25- An example of a typical PnR vs Shaq. Shaq sags to the FT line allowing Smith to take the jumper. Because of Shaq's length, he is able to contest the shot
15:05- Shaq recognizes the double and hits Horry on a cut to the basket. Horry dunks it.
24:05- An example of the offense the Blazers played. Notice how Jermaine O'Neal is far beyond his shooting range. Due to illegal defense, Shaq has to respect that. The Blazers have the ball at the top of the key, but Shaq cant double Sheed on the other side of the court due to the rules. Once Sheed gets the ball, its too late for Shaq to come and make an impact on Sheed's easy layup
26:19- Kobe throws it to Shaq in the post. Pippen leaves Kobe to double Shaq, Shaq passes it to Kobe who hits the 3 pointer
Kobe:
3:10- Kobe drives on the smaller Stoudamire and draws a double team. Kobe hits Harper in the baseline for the easy jumper
31:00- Kobe's active D bothers Wells. Kobe pocks the ball out of Wells hands when he tries to post Kobe.
1:13:45- Kobe shows off his athleticism. The Blazers player drives to the basket but Kobe comes from the weakside and has a monster block.
