Just thinking something here... With Steve Francis going off the last two for a triple double, and nearly another, the Lakers will more than likely focus on shutting him down with a double... Which will obviously free up other shooters, and primarily Yao. Yao must take a wee bit more advantage of Shaq's apparent diminishing playoff burst... Yao's been beautiful, but it's time for more. More stuffing it, and less getting the ball swiped out of your hands. That being said, I see it happening no problem. The question is: Will this fire SF up to slash, cut, and create more? Will he handle it? Will he thrive off it? Will he collapse? And Who will be the key third or fourth role player? I'm quite confident Yao can play all day with Karl defending him, and I know he can handle even the big Radio Shaq... but who will he kick it too when SF is locked up? I imagine Phil will have Rush more involved, as well as Fisher... I'm thinkin' SF and Yao will handle it well, and surprise even the SOF's and YOF's in here... If they can just muster it for at least 2 in a row.... On the other hand, will they use reverse psychology and just load up double on Yao, forcing SF to create and overdribble? Any thoughts? p.s. - if you're gonna be there, please chant "Go Rockets" and "De-Fense" - thanks.
With both Malone and Shaq on the floor, it's hard to double Francis because that leaves a 4 on 3 over the rest of the court with 2 of the 3 being the aforementiond slower Lakers. You could possibly do it with Luke Walton at PF, but the counter to that is Mo T who so far has abused Walton. In fact, when facing the basket 12+ feet from the basket, Mo T has been a tough cover for Malone. IMHO, a better idea (and one hopefully VG has prepared Steve for) is to put Kobe on SF3. Francis has had noticeable trouble with taller, long-armed athletic defenders this season....Barbosa & Pietrus to name a few. Kobe on SF3 makes the low post entry pass tougher for obvious reasons. The answer is PnR and getting the ball to Jackson for the post entry pass. (Francis trying to go 1on1 if guarded by Bryant plays right into the Lakers' hands). This same Kobe strategy was deployed to stop Tony Parker (and Terry Porter) when the Faker$ beat the Spurs in the 2001-02 WC Finals. For some reason, Popovich and/or Parker never figured out how to get the ball to Antonio Daniels or Stephen Jackson who was guarded by the much shorter Derrick Fisher. Phil and Shaq are probably too vain to double Yao. Malone can only guard Yao under two conditions....physical lower body play forcing Yao farther from the basket and stripping Yao as he makes his move. Getting the ball to Yao early before Malone has a chance to body him and making the pass high so Yao is less likely to get it stripped in his shooting motion are critical. IMHO, Malone can't stop Yao. But Yao and Steve can stop Yao when guarded by Malone.
I don't think the Lakers adjust to Steve Francis at all. I think they defend him the same way and challenge him to duplicate his Friday night performance. Let's face it. Steve Francis' was ultra-pumped Friday night, but I don't think anybody on this board is going to call the shots Francis took high percentage. I think the Lakers would live with those kinds of shots from Francis on most nights. Furthermore, Francis has come to play in more ways than one this series. Hes averaging 8 assists a game while creating for others as much as he has been creating for himself. And in game three all of the Rockets were moving well without the ball giving Francis multiple targets. A double team on a pass efficient Francis would be a no no as long as this type of energized play continues from Francis and the Rockets as a whole.
Gd point. I mean, after all, he shot 7/16 despite 2 circus shots at the end, so he could easily have been 5/16. Having said that, given the number of free throws he had, his drive is evidently causing problems. But these aren't problems that, from the Lakers perspective - a focused Kobe can't solve.
Deuce Rings - You've got a mixed bag of logic in there. First, the Rockets were moving well without the ball because most of the game Francis was initiating the offense earlier than any other game this season (except for possibly the MINN thrashing). And Francis was willing to give up the rock earlier. Stated another way, Francis forced tempo and did not turn the ball over. Game 3 was one of Francis's most efficient games of his career. The slightly quicker pace took it's toll on the older and bench-short Lakers. That is why the circus shots were there....the Lakers were too tired to rotate properly. If Francis plays the same in Game 4 as he did Friday, the Lakers will have to adjust. Otherwise it's a 2-2 series IMO.
