I told you, I told you, I told you (aka Gm 5 strategy)

You forget the most influential factor, the refs!

 

The Lakers will have fisher be physical with brooks, bump him but not get fouls called. When he does nto ahve the ball, bump grab and deny.

 

I am quite sure we won´t win game 5 from the 3pt line, but adelman showed he can adapt and predict other team´s adjustments.
I really trust him now.

I think we will need a superb game from both Scola and Landry to win there, and Artest will need to go inside as much as he can.

Doubling Kobe on the beginning might be a good idea also, just to keep him in check as he will most likely try to do it all by himself.

 

Two things I'm worried about: refs and rebounds.

Great assessment.

 

I think the Lowry/ Brooks back court will make the Trap
a little less effective

I look for Landry to play better

Rocket River

 

Don't forget about freethrows. They must make their freethrows in order to keep it close.

 

Brooks will be played physical not only by Fisher but as well as Pau, Bynum, and Walton when he gets into the lane. He'll be fouled hard...they wont give him a lane to zip past. Brooks needs to play through that and draw the contact when he drives the lane. Get them in foul trouble.

 

Help defense could work wonders on Kobe, however thats easier said than done especially with Gasol waiting to catch alleys. Guys like Battier, Scola, Lowry and Hayes do a good job of crowding the ball and forcing bad decisions. Like Van Gundy pointed out, they do this without committing a lot of fouls. They basically have to create chaos on defense and make the Lakers scramble.

 

Make sure you find out if the Joey Crawford effect will be on for the Lakers on Tuesday. I still believe the Rockets will win game 5 by 6.

 

Hey, I have told you all along before the series even started, that the only way the Rockets can win was for Brooks to play at top of his game, so far that has been exactly what has happened.

On offense, I think LA will pound the ball inside from here out, their size/height gives them the biggest advantage over the Rockets, a guy as smart as Jackson will not pass by that advantage, you can expect a lot of FT for the Lakers, and foul troubles for Scola/Landry/Chuck.

On defense, they will meet Brooks full court, shadow him once enters the front court. In the past, Brooks often became hesitating with physical plays, which he cannot afford to with the Lakers. If he can stay aggressive, attacks them from the get to, that can cause big problem with LA's defense, change their game plan. If Brooks does play aggressively, then the only thing I worry about is his stamina & energy level, it's going to be touch to sustain the level for the entire game, which is what needed to beat the Lakers.

 

That will be easier said than done. Coming into this series, the Lakers were already longer and more athletic than us before we lost both of our centers. The only chance we have to win the battle of the boards is to have Lakers put up another lackadaisical effort, which I don't expect to happen again in Game 5.

But we can do other things like keep the TOs down, keep them out of the paint, and remain aggressive/decisive on the offensive end.

I thought we got the benefit of the whistles in Game 4, which allowed us to play our physical style. It will be very interesting to see what the referees will/won't allow in game 5. If the zebras continue to swallow the whistles on both ends, I wouldn't be surprised if we come home up 3-2

 

Another great post jopatmc. I am surprised that many began to think we should trade Yao now due to his injury, yet nobody brought up the idea that maybe our coach overused Yao. Particularly Hayes played so well all the time, but RA never really used him, until he had no choice. It would surely make a difference if he could spare Yao for some much needed rest. We saw a heavily used Yao went down for bone fracture last year, we saw a healthy Yao with decrease minutes in most of the regular season and now we see again that Yao went down with an injury----his 40-mins game log, not a coincidence right? Many would argue that Hayes had no offense, but he shut down a lot of opponents' offense too. Not trying to rain on the parade, but man, we could have been a lot better... This might be a year that Houston could hang a third banner, but sigh ... And our coach---as smart as he is, should take some blame with all the praise he deserves.

 

Joey reffed in Orlando tonight, so it's possible

 

To me their most efficient play is Gasol at the post. Kobe doesn't even have to sweat for them to win that way.

If Kobe takes 25 to 30 shots and Gasol+ odom have only 15. We have a fighting chance to win it next game.

They are going to rough AB up, chase him. Time to tell whether it was one time thing for AB this game.

Luis and Landry need more touches.

 

Great assessment Jopatmc, I think all the Lakers are going to be driving to the basket; they took too many jumpers today. I am still waiting for the majority of the Rockets players to have their "A" game at the same time. So far they are taking turns. If this happens before this series is over, my "Perfect Storm" thesis, then the Rockets can shock the world and destroy the Lakers season and the NBA's marketing strategy. Denver might be a problem without Yao, and Cleveland would definitely be a problem without Yao, but whatever.

What do you think of a Scola, Landry, Artest, Brooks, Battier starting lineup?