Run a big, quick guy at the basket. Watching the Lakers game yesterday, it struck me how good Hamblin was coaching the Lakers minus Kobe. Yao has a big problem with that circle under the basket. Howard isn't going to stop anyone going past him. What are we going to do with Dirk, KG, Duncan? Shoot, the little Lakers - think Chucky Atkins - could run in there and jump into Yao's chest, too. I'm sure we'll see Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis attack the rim vs us, instead of firing the usual jumpers. If Yao is a weakside defender behind Howard, we've got big problems. Also not so good to have him come out and try to stay with a big guy . What can we do to make things harder for the opposing slasher?
That was one thing I remember as a positive about Mo. On more than one occasion, he seemed to be in the right place at the right time to take charges when he actually decided to play defense...
Odom and the Lakers did the same thing to us that Bibby and Sacramento did. They spread the floor, and let Odom/Bibby get into an ISO situation (or off a PnR) and penetrade to score or kick out to the shooters. This will always be our achilles heal when a team has big men that can shoot. All the Laker big men can shoot with range. Same thing with Sacramento. It doesn't work for SA because Duncan, while deadly from 15, doesnt have the range out to 20 feet like Miller, Webber, Mihm and Cook have. Neither does Rasho. In a sense, it doesn't work with Dallas, because Dampier doesn't have that kind of range. Minny has Griffin, and they had success against us in the 1st half when Griffin was knocking down 3s. They had to sit him though when Yao started taking over. Its no coincidene that we have played Dallas, SA and Minny tough this year and struggled against the Lakers, Sacramento and Phoenix. Probably why well struggle against Seattle.
And Duncan is not as mobile and quick as Odom in going to the basket. One thing that I really dislike about Howard is that whenever he gets beat on the dribble, he just quit and let Yao totally exposed to potential fouls. Spoon and Mo at least know when to pick a few cheap fouls to protect Yao.
This thread should really be titled "How the Lakers should try and win every game." I could not BELIEVE that Odom did not decide to try and take over till the 4th. Sure, the Rockets game him a little extra attention early, but he was just so passive in the 1st half (much of which he was guared by Scott Padgett of all people). He's a mis-match on almost any given night... yet the guy does not maintain that killer instinct from game to game, and over 4 quarters, that he was showing in the final period yesterday. But, alas... once Kobe comes back, Odom won't be sniffing any of these sorts of spurts... and that's probably got a lot to do with why he's so passive on this team in the first place, and why Rudy was just so damn frustrated.
I smell that JO in Pacers would kill Howard in the comming game. Howard Cannot defend any mobile guys. Also when Strickland play on the court, ROX' outside D would suck. This game, Lakers' defensive strategy runs very well. Ignore Strickland and double team TMAC. That's very simple but very effective.
How to beat the Rockets: 1. Front Yao, the Rockets still haven't shown we can deal with it. 2. A jump shooting PF, a lot of PFs have scorched the Rockets this year. Howard doesn't like to come out to defend because he will get blown by everytime. 3. Use the zone.
We pack the lane. Which means they just have to hit the open jumper or make the extra pass. But most teams can do neither. It's why we are so good. Nash on the other hand. He does all of that. As for Odom and Bibby. we can counter that with McGrady on Defense if it gets too ugly. Our guards are very flexible. But at team like Pheonix, they have too many weapons.
Howard's D was just atrocious yesterday...I mean he wasn't even somewhat leveling off his man when he got beat...it was as if Howard wasn't even there and Lamar was just taking a straight line right to the rim. We were fortunate Yao got to those spots early enough.
That's why we actually need 3 players to win it all: 1. a catch and shoot PG 2. a PF who can defend and shoot the jumper 3. a defensive wing player, you can't rely on T-mac on defense and expect him to score a lot.
yep, in the 4th quarter against us yesterday, Odom was basically practicing layup drills. That was ...... ugly.
Rox need teach Yao how to CATCH the ball. picture shows he has faily large hands. Rox rotation is not very good also.
I think the Rockets know this as well. 1. The Rockets have gone away from posting up Yao as the first option. They can front all they want, Yao is in position for offensive rebounds now. 2. I can't disagree to much with that. It is a weakness, but in crunch time we can put Yao or Tracy on a Dirk/Webber type. 3. Can't play zone when we run. We are running a lot and getting easy baskets before the defenses set up. I think things will change in the playoffs though. I'm anxious to see how we play offensively then. Of course, the other team will have problems with our defense(see vs. SA games).
Zones are not as effective against the Rockets anymore... they've got guys who either break it down and hit the middle distance jumper (T-Mac, Sura, Barry), and good enough passing and spacing to swing the ball to the weakside and get the open jumper before the zone can re-adjust. The few times that the Lakers, Boston, and Minnesota tried zones last week out of timeouts, there was always a well-executed shot nailed. This team just "gets" some of the fundamentals of basketball that its previous predecessors always made hard on themselves.
