up by three. foul their worst free throw shooter before they can shoot. really, who saw that coming? that was pure genius. as much as you hate JVG, you have to admit that was a great move. it didn't work out in the end b/c of the long rebound and Kobe made shot, but that wasn't JVG's fault.
I was cheering louder after that play than at any other point in this game. But, I don't know if he would have ever done that had Kobe not been going nuts. I'm sure that the players were told only to foul Kwame, though. Basically, I think it was purely situational and it goes to show that Van Gundy is always on his toes.
No JVG is a PURE idiot. JVG should have known that Kwame was such a bad FT shooter that he didn't even bother to put a rebounder on the 3point line. FIRE GUNDY!
Not sure I would call that pure genius. If the ESPN announcer wasn't Tolbert, that play would have been called. Hell even Bill Walton would have predicted that "pure genius" play call. This isn't unique and happens more often than not in those types of situations.
It wasn't pure genius, just a very good move. I don't hate JVG. Having Kwame in the game and receiving the ball was just another bad move by PJ but the Lakers were bailed out by Kobe's heroics. If it was Shaq, everyone would have said it was an obvious move. I don't think many of us realized Kwame was only 43% from the line, which is worse than Shaq.
It's the correct call. I don't know how you can say it was pure genius though. Every coach would do the same thing under the situation. And this post is funny.
You could tell it was a set play, since they spaced Kwane out then jumped on him. Great JVG thought. You have to give JVG the fact that he's very basketball smart. Unlike other coaches, we've seen him foul when up 3 quite a bit. Its just that sometimes, he even outsmarts himself. "Hmm, let me rotate my defenders so I have fresh legs on Kobe all the time." :/
Didn't we do that in the last couple of Lakers games too? I remember one game we fouled Kwame a couple times at the end because he was a sucky FT shooter.
hmm, i know it's the thing to do. but, how many times have you asked, "why didn't the coach have the players foul?" when you see someone hit a late second 3? also, JVG didn't wait til the last second. he had them foul kwame immediately with 14 seconds left.
but I thought Phil Jackson was the end all, be all of coaches? at least, that what a lot of people here seem to think.
Actually, asking Yao to go way out and double team Kobe was a better one then this, and it worked perfectly.
It was a play the Rockets should have made against the Clippers and in several other games this year. When you are up three with a few seconds left you foul, even if its a good free throw shooter. I'm surprised JVG hasnt decided to do this in other games.
Actually, I have seen over the last couple of years coaches making this move many more times than not making this move. Most of the last second, non-lucky 3 pointers (like Rasheed and Morris Peterson) have been for the win not the tie.
The reason it was so smart was because they fouled him with 15 seconds left. Yes, most coaches will foul if the guy is about to take a last second three like in the clippers game. But this surprised the Lakers who probably thought they could just toss it to Kwame and he get it to Kobe and still have 12 seconds to go. Brilliant strategy, just bad luck with the bounce and Kobe hitting that great shot.
I don't think you understand the situation here. We were up by 3 with 16 seconds left. That's not a situation, ordinarily, that you foul right away. Tolbert was correct when he said you wait until there's 5 seconds or so on the clock before fouling. Actually, a lot of teams down three will go for a quick two when there's 15 seconds on the clock, so obviously just putting them on the line at that point is typically not smart. HOWEVER, if they're going to inbound to Kwame, it makes perfect sense to foul right away. Jackson, as great a coach as he is, made a dumb coaching decision there. He didn't expect us to foul right away, because ordinarily you wouldn't. But if Kwame has the ball, of course you foul there. Jackson was a step behind strategically on that possession.
When I read the Chronicle article, I couldn't help but think that JVG was stressing the point that they fouled Kwame just to rub it in for PJ that such a bad foul shooter was even on the court at that point in the game.
I had the same thought. JVG usually isn't usually that direct in pointing out an opposing player's weakness.
