Cutting the Head Off the Snake: Defending Kobe Bryant
Don’t expect to see this too often during the Finals
The Celtics are underrated.
They struggled a bit in the playoffs, sure, but they’ve also played some tough teams, and Ray Allen had perhaps the worst shooting month in his career.
But they’re still the best defensive team. They gave up only 87.3 points in the playoffs, limiting their opponents to 42.2% shooting. Their offense may sputter, but their defense remains stingy as hell. They also gave the Lakers major problems this season. Sure, KG has been tough, Pierce is dangerous, Allen can light it up from outside, but Kendrick Perkins has been overlooked. A physical, 280-pound bruiser, Perkins beat up on Andrew Bynum during the two meetings between the teams.
That spells trouble for Pau Gasol, who’s been pushed around by smaller players like Al Horford or even soft players like Mehmet Okur. Gasol will get bullied by Kendrick Perkins. Book it.
Odom didn’t have good games either, shooting 6-17 in one game, 2-7 in another. That’s the effect KG has.
But Boston’s frontcourt will do more than frustrate the Lakers’ big men. Their defense puts pressure on the perimeter players. Kendrick Perkins, along with KG, clog up the middle. They take away the paint, they take away penetration. They force the offensive team to beat them from the outside.
Even though the Celtics haven’t played the Lakers with Gasol, their individual defense will force Gasol to throw up the same weak stuff he’s been putting up against the Spurs (and the Jazz). Gasol is a great passer, but if the Celtics hedge toward the paint, they take away the passes to cutters. In short, Boston will limit much of Gasol’s game, just as the Spurs did.
The interior defense is how the Celtics beat the Lakers during the two games, and Kobe (and Odom) couldn’t hit from outside to make them pay. When opponents plan how to defend the Lakers and Kobe, they have to pick their poison: get in his shirt (like Ronnie Brewer and the Jazz, Raja Bell and the Suns) or take away the lanes and force him to be a jumpshooter (like the Spurs).
The Spurs found out that forcing Kobe to bomb away from the outside has its drawbacks, namely, getting killed from the outside. Kobe hardly shot a free throw during the series, and most analysts were lauding the Spurs defense…until they were eliminated.
In fact, Kobe’s been shooting at a blistering 51% in the playoffs, and he’s doing most of the damage with a variety of midrange jumpshots.
The key then, is for Boston to employ the same strategy, to take away penetration from Kobe. However, Kobe’s been a seemingly endless shooting rhythm in the postseason. They need to respond approriately; when Kobe gets hot, they must be flexible enough to disrupt his rhythm by taking away his jumpshot, to force him in the middle where KG and Perkins lie waiting. Too much of that funneling defense might get KG or Perkins in foul trouble, but considering KG’s quality of defense, the respect he gets from the refs, a healthy dose of this change-up defense every game should be a no-brainer.
Boston’s strategy should be baiting the Mamba into tunnel vision, forcing him into the teeth of an elite interior defense, disrupting Kobe’s rhythm, preventing the execution of the triangle offense, and pressure the Lakers into unraveling that hyped-up, overreported team chemistry.
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:05 pm
comprehensive defensive assignment for the Celtics.
what do the lakers have up their sleeves to combat Boston’s defense?
It’s Phil Jackson in the Finals. ’nuff said.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:07 am
The last time Phil Jackson was in the Finals, the Lakers were almost swept by the Pistons, losing 4-1.
June 5th, 2008 at 6:36 am
did he have as much to work with?
June 7th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Shaq and Kobe in their prime…
On the other hand, Gasol looks to be a very limited post option
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