(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times / June 8, 2010)
Bad Kobe and LA's Stagnant Offense
Kobe made good plays in the first-half while driving and creating open looks. In the second-half, when things broke down, he either took deep shots or had drives that resulted in highly contested shots. This was Bad Kobe when they needed Good Kobe.
To be fair, LA's offense deserves some of the blame for Kobe's poor shooting. Not only do they expect him to bail them out with the 24 running out, but they also stand around and allow their defender to help if Kobe attacks.
How LA's Offense Can Improve
Helping Kobe
You have to move or set a weak-side screen so that defenders have to keep an eye on their defender. If you're cutting or setting a screen, defenders will have to turn their back to Kobe which will give Kobe some more room to attack. Instead the Celtics have three guys straddling the paint ready to help if Kobe drives.
Inside in the 4th
Throughout the series the Lakers have had trouble getting the ball to Pau and Bynum in the fourth quarter. Some of this that Kobe taking over, but the primary problem involves the post position the Pau and Andrew get. They usually come across the key and try to hold their position in the low block. Because they've been pushed or because the pass doesn't come quickly, they usually get the ball too far away from the hoop. Two easy solutions:
1) Use a cross-screen from a guard/forward so that the defender has to go under/over a screen when Pau/Bynum are crossing the key. This will give help Pau/Bynum time to get open since they can present a passing angle while their defender is getting through a screen.
2) Clear-through screen from the passer. This is when the guard passes it into the post and then goes towards the baseline & around a screen that the post player sets. Normally when this happens, Pau/Bynum's defender will give room so that the passer's defender can slide under Pau. This is all the room that Pau needs to get closer to the hoop and make a good play.
Derek Fisher
Leadership and excellence come in many forms, one of which must be playing beyond your potential when it counts most. It's really sad to see so many other players with bigger contracts, egos, and Twitter feeds that produce so much less than Fisher, who always makes huge plays in important moments.
Ray Allen and Paul Pierce
Ray obviously had an off-night for whatever reason- guarding Kobe, Fishers's defense, tired from Game 2, or the long distance travel from LA to Boston. Whatever the case he only missed 13 shots, Kobe missed 6 more! Regardless of why this happened the Celtics need more production from Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Too often the ball wasn't moving around and the Celtics were watching Ray Allen instead of creating screens or passing angles for Ray. One solution is to run more Pierce-Allen or Allen-Garnett screens to exploit LA on a switch.
Good Lamar, or Just Better Lamar?
Lamar had a decent game (5-5 fgs, 12 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist) but that's only in comparison to the two horrendous games he had. The media makes it seems like he had a huge game and dominated the closing minutes of the game. Most of his damage (8 points) was in the first-half and included a banked-in 3-pointer. Yes, Lamar had two big hoops but he was totally outplayed by Glen Davis in the fourth.
Bad Officiating?
A lot has been made of the number of fouls called, key players in foul trouble, instant replay, and alleged uneven officiating. More than anything the officials have been calling the game tightly throughout the first three games.
If they're calling it this closely, then you're going to get called for pushing, grabbing, and reaching-in. It's up to the players to adjust. On the Celtics side, how can you complain when you take two hands and push Gasol/Bynum from the low block all the way out to the free-throw line. Apparently, their idea of physical play involves getting away with pushing and grabbing.
Also, just because one team takes more foul shots (or has more total fouls) doesn't necessarily mean that the officiating is uneven. It could be that one team is just committing more fouls than the other.
Doc Rivers put on a great show at Wednesday's press conference. He complained about Fisher's defense, accused the NBA of caving in to Phil's comment ("unusual" fouls called on Kobe in Game 2), and then said that it wasn't the officials fault. I wish there was video of this but the NBA probably won't be producing video of someone complaining about the officiating. From ESPN-
When asked how Fisher was able to be so successful drawing fouls while being screened, Rivers replied:
"What? Besides flopping? He doesn't do a lot extra. He plays hard. He's been in the game long enough to understand. I thought he got away with a lot last night. I thought there was a lot of holding going on and a lot of flopping going on and he finally showed that last one."
"But as far as the off-the-ball action, single double action, you are not allowed to hold. You're not allowed to bump and you're not allowed to impede progress. I read that this morning, and I'm positive of it. So you know, when that happens, it has to be called."
Addressing his points-
-Yes, Fisher does flop sometimes, but i don't think Doc should be complaining about flopping or else Pierce, Rondo, and Glen Davis will be in big trouble
- Phil just said that there were "unusual" fouls called on Kobe which is not a direct and blatant complaint about officiating. Doc's just doing this so that the media creates a firestorm to point the finger at the NBA.
- When Doc says it's not the officials fault he doesn't want to get fined and sound like he's complaining even though he knows that's what he's doing.
- On Fisher impeding progress- yes, Fisher does sometimes grab/hold and this should be called. But Ray Allen also runs into Fisher when Fisher takes away a certain spot. This is a foul on Ray since Fisher has a right to be in Ray's desired path without being shoved out of the way.
I thought David Stern was going to hand out six-figure fines for complaining about the ref's, has Stern gotten soft? Doc's real goal is to get more people talking about the officiating so a fine may actual work against Stern and in Doc's favor.
Part of the problem is that players, coaches, media, fans, and pundits put the officials in a no-win situation. On the one-hand they say "let the players play" so that the play becomes more physical with fouls only being called when the officials have to. But when does physical play become a foul? Typically, only when someone falls down do the officials feel they must call something.
What about the rebound that Odom knocked out of bounds with less than a minute left? Oh yeah, Rondo fouled Lamar by grabbing only arm when trying to steal the ball. The foul was clear in the replay but for some reason the official didn't make the call and the Celtics unfairly received possession. But if the official calls that foul then Celtics fan complains that it was ticky-tack. So either which way the official is blamed by one side.
