I agree with you...Shane has to move to make Kobe use a lot of energy on defense. Shane also has to get and take at least 2 open threes in the first quarter, hopefully early, so that Kobe can't play the passing lanes and come up with turnovers. But more than anything..I think we NEED to get Artest going in a post up against Ariza or whoever switches on him, instead of him trying to dribble through the Lakers defense or take contested threes. Don't doubt that in such a big game, with Yao and Tmac out, Artest WILL try to be the man for the Rockets and carry them on his back. THIS IS A CONTRACT YEAR FOR ARTEST...let's not forget that. So I think Rick needs to realize this and use it to our advantage..and not let Artest shoot us out of the game early. The best way to do that is to post him and use his strength to get to the basket or pass out hopefully without a turnover for some open threes. The Lakers will double Ron down low with Hayes' defender, so Chuch has to be ready to catch the ball and hopefully try to dunk it a couple of times at point blank range from passes by Artest to him down low.
Yes, Scola is going to kick it out to Artest. Or he is going to be throwing it to Hayes who is going to be cheated off of, all night long. Sure, I want Artest in the block. Artest is a tremdous back to the basket player. Block his shot? Maybe a time or two. But he will up and under then to death. Their post defenders are not quick enough to deal with Artest.
I like that idea over stretches of the game. Ron cutting to post up on the low block,Scola in the high post,Battier in the corner along with Brooks at the 3 point line.
Umm...just a...thought. If someone is warranting a double team...why in the flying **** would you bench him? Like..think about that for a second. I have absolutely no idea where you're coming from. Dwight Howard should just be benched...I mean he's going to be doubled every time anyways....
We'll suffer too much on rebounding. Von is a basket case at times who has Sasha in his nightmares. Plus it won't be us trying to force the ball into Scola that might be a potential problem tomorrow, it will be good ole Ron overdribbling in circles and into traffic.
Wafer's defense is minimized by playing Ariza. Ariza spots up and shoots the 3 or cut to the basket to receive and dunk. That's about all he's got. Wafer has the speed and quickness to make it difficult on Ariza. Plus besides that, if the Lakers are going to Ariza for primary offense, how can that be bad? You are taking shots away from Kobe, Gasol, and Odom and giving them to Ariza. I'll do that all day long.
And Sasha is exactly the matchup we don't want on Von. When Sasha comes in, Von sits and we bring in Lowry. Now, Sasha has the matchup problem, not the Rox.
I would also consider putting Battier in the low post for a couple of plays(for his hook shot) or running him off a screen occasionally. For one thing, the Lakers wouldn't expect it, and for another thing it makes Kobe work on defense, which will have its effect on his offense.
Are you a previous NBA coach? If not, coaching anything else doesn't count right now....sorry. I agree that we need to adjust if they start Farmer, but I would do that by playing Landry or Lowry before Wafer. Wafer does not stack up well against the Lakers starting lineup. He can't beat Kobe or Ariza off the dribble, and he won't be able to get his shots off in the lane against both Bynum and Gasol. What do you expect Wafer to give us on defense? I like Wafer a lot, but in this series he is better coming off the bench. I think we will need to play Lowry and Brooks together a lot in this game to keep our turnovers down and defend against the Lakers traps. We will have to keep them honest and attack the basket. With both Brooks and Lowry in, the Lakers get off balance on defense because it is too much quickness and Brooks can still bury them fromt he outside. I think our best lineup against the Lakers are Brooks, Lowry, Battier or Artest and Scolandry....and that's not negating the job that Chuck does on defense, but in the end will will have to score above 95 to beat them at home in game 7. So I think we will need more firepower in the end to win this game. The Lakers WILL score over 90 points in this game...no matter what.
jopatmc: there is a tinge of truth in what your saying! Yet I wouldnt try and second guess Caoch A ,at this point of the series. But you are correct Von Wafer needs to step and get more playing time in this game. If LA is effective in upsetting AB and our game plan others are going to have to step up . PS Didn't Wafer score over 20pts in a game against LA in the regular season?
Oh hell. Put Shane in the block against Kobe. That doesn't make a lick of sense. Kobe will have 4 blocks and 3 steals and Shane will be 1 for 5 with 3 turnovers by halftime.
LOL...anyone in the NBA that can't dunk needs to retire. I'm 5'9 and could slam the ball on the rim...almost a dunk... in high school. Chuck is 6'4-6'6...he better be able to dunk! I mean, how far does he have to jump once his hands are extended in the air with the ball?
Look, Brooks is going to be the fastest/quickest player out there. And he won't be able to beat the swarming D of the Lakers to get to the interior, at least not early. So, what do you do? We gotta be ready to jack some 3's and score from the perimeter. And we gotta be even quicker on the interior.
Calm down. First off all, it wasn't suggested as a primary option, but as a change-up look that could catch LA off guard. It wouldn't be more than once or twice the entire game, designed only to make Kobe actually work on the other end making it easier for Shane on defense. Letting Kobe roam on defense makes his life on offense way too easy. Of course it would be incredibly stupid to run that for an extended period, and why you thought that was the concept is beyond me.
Okay...so how does starting Wafer over Scola make us quicker on the interior? You expect Wafer to play on the interior against the Lakers? I agree that we need to shoot the 3 ball good and early. But I want only Shane and AB doing that out of our starting lineup...unless Artest is at a stand still unguarded 3 pt shoot..he is deadly at those; not his contested threes off the dribble. On the other hand, AB can't just wait out on the 3 point line, he has to beat Farmer, Brown or Fisher off the dribble, get into the lane and either fish from about 6 to 8 feet ( don't try to take it all the way in against their bigs ), or kick it out to Shane or Artest for wide open 3's.
Artest is not a good low post player. So many people just assume that since he is strong, he must be good down low. But he is not. His only low post move is bully his way to the basket. But if he is guarded by a PF instead of a SF or SG, he can't do it. See how many times he got blocks or turned over the ball. So you are essentially proposing us to play a donut offense. (You can't count on Hayes to score a lot, can you?) And I doubt that Artest will be disciplined enough to stay down low for very long even if Adelman does ask him to do it. Scola is our one and only low post offensive player left now. He has to play heavy minutes. Let's pray that he doesn't get in foul trouble or, worse, injured. And we also need to pray that Artest has a big shooting game. I think he is due for one now since he has not been shooting well for a long time. If Artest going off shooting lights out, we'll have a good chance.
it would be an interesting move. i think our help defense on kobe will suffer for it though. and if kobe gets hot, the lakers can ride that to keep it close until they solve that lineup (which won't be hard considering their frontcourt will absolutely destroy us with us going small).
