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Some random NBA and Finals thoughts on this Saturday morning of World Cup action. Also, check back later this afternoon for a post from Jeff who will be taking a look at the rivalry wit the C’s…
*As we’ve all read, Andrew Bynum had his knee drained for the 2nd time in two weeks on Friday. And while I’m hopeful that the relieving of the swelling will allow him to be more effective, I’m not quite banking on that and still feel the Lakers will have to find ways to be successful as a team with a limited Bynum. And over at Land O’ Lakers, BK examines the things that change for the Lakers if Bynum is unable to go in game 5.
*Adding on to the concept of dealing with a limited Bynum, I yield the floor to Zephid who made the following point in the comments in response to whether Mbenga could/should see more time:
(Phil) even says that he doesn’t think DJ is prepared to play after not having done so for so long. He does say that Josh Powell is ready, which not only indicates that he’ll probably see the floor in G5, but also speaks volumes about Powell’s work ethic that was highlighted in the McMenamin article from a while back.
I’m not sure how much I like that thought, but it’ll be interesting to see if Powell can improve our spacing and give Gasol the room he needs to operate. Also, he’ll need to battle with Big Baby on the boards (since he’ll likely get dominated by KG or Perkins, maybe even Sheed), so he’ll definitely have to show up physically because Big Baby probably has 50-60 pounds on him.
*One last point on Bynum, Matt Moore has a good read over at Pro Basketball Talk about the paradox that ‘Drew faces. I’m not sure what the best decision is for Bynum (play or sit), but I think it’s fair to say that he’s shown me a lot and made it clear how much this means to him.
*In this series, we’ve been talking about how the team that executes best down the stretch is the one that will win (that and who rebounds best). In game 4, that was Boston and over at NBA Playbook, we’re showed how they did it. Needless to say, it’s a bit painful watching the C’s bench carve up the Lakers starters. But, I think lessons can be learned here. Namely that the Lakers must also get back to running their sets with precision and dedication. Too often it’s the Lakers that are settling for isolation sets that only yield a difficult shot against a contesting defender and an expiring shot clock. The Lakers must do better than that.
*I’ve you haven’t been able to watch the Finals, I feel a bit bad for you. Sure the games have, at times, been a bit foul plagued and the rhythm of the games have been thrown off somewhat. But, the competitiveness of this series has been extremely high and there have been some great performances so far. I say all this because nba.com has been putting together these “mini movies” that summarize the action quite nicely. If you haven’t checked them out, you should. I’ve embedded the ones for games 1-4 below. Enjoy. And remember, check back this afternoon for Jeff’s post…
E. Dimowo says
For the purpose of this match up, and really, any NBA finals match up, I will simply say this: rebounds equal rings. REBOUNDS EQUAL RINGS. Rebotes igual a anillos. Rebonds anneaux égalité.rimbalzi anelli uguali. Rebounds gleich Ringe.Rebounds pete sawa.
All I can say is that every game the Lakers have lost, I have repeatedly yelled, cried, begged for them to grab the rebound repeatedly.
JeremyLA24 says
Feeling really anxious with the development of Andrew’s knee problems. I Think there are three people that can solve the Andrew Bynum problem: Phil Jackson, Lamar Odom, and Andrew Bynum.
*If phil Jackson can switch up the rotation a bit to give Andrew some spot minutes to prevent a Big Baby sighting or a Rondo lay-up frenzy that should make his minutes affective in its own.
*If Lamar Odom can be a reliable rebounder like we all know he is, he should be able to take on a bulk of Andrew’s minutes. I’d love to see Lamar have a 15-15-5 night on Sunday. That is a winning stat in itself.
*The only time we should be slow getting into the offense is when Andrew calls for our point to slow down so he can get into position. Nobody knows Bynum’s body as well as himself. Basically, Bynum needs to treat that knee like a 6th foul (don’t do anything that will put him out of the game.) Hopefully in the process, he can keep Rondo/ Allen out of the Lane and prevent any big from dominating the game. If Bynum does that and finishes 8-8, I’ll be more than happy with his performance.
Hopefully I don’t have to wait until the game to find out how his newly drained knee is feeling.
bluesky says
It’s sad to know that DJ Menga is not ready. Before the series start, we all know that Bynum had knee problem. I thought Phi had a plan in case of Bynum not playing. In NFL, when two teams play in the Super Bowl, usually they did not meet in regular season. In NBA, teams meet 2 times, so coach and players know their opponents very well.
In 2008, we asked for DJ Menga, but Turiaf kept playing, so same old story. DJ can intimidate opponent, that’s the way the C’s want to play. Tough guys can defend, rebound, block shots, Phil knew that better than all of us. You can’t take a looser and tell him, ok, you go out there defend, rebound,…, and then asking why he failed.
Kaifa says
Haven’t been able to read a lot, maybe this has already been talked about. But Rivers sticking with the bench did one important thing for them, it took away the match-ups LA prefers. Kobe had to chase Allen over screens, Fisher was matched up with a quicker Robinson, Odom on Davis, and the Celtics exploited this well. Maybe Phil can find a way to turn the match-up battle around, putting in Bynum to make Big Baby having to guard either him or Gasol.
And one more observation: Gasol had a good game, but especially Perkins and Wallace pushed him out from the side of the lane almost to the 3-point line before he could catch the ball. I think this also took away a lot of angles on passes, with the Celtics being able to load up much better on cutters and Kobe too. Maybe having Gasol moving across the lane for catches (a la Shaq) can produce some more low-post opportunities instead of moves out of mid-range.
Zephid says
4, I agree. This may seem like blasphemy, but I think the Celtics have actually been much better with Robinson on the floor in place of Rondo. Robinson is at least a threat of a shooter (and when he gets hot, watch out), whereas Rondo is a complete non-shooter. Now Robinson is much, much, much worse a defender than Rondo, but that doesn’t matter too much against the Lakers because Fisher is not going to go off. Robinson gives them much needed spacing, and he so often gets wide open shots because of the C’s spacing.
If anything, I would say we have to run Robinson off the three point line and force him to hit mid-range shots or gets finishes in the paint over our length. But we can’t continue to let him bomb from three.
Oskar says
Post up on ESPN just now saying Bynum ‘100 percent’ ready to play.
Lets hope the draining did the trick so he’ll be able to do some damage tomorrow.
robinred says
Andrew is of course going to try to play. And I think it is clear that:
1. We won’t know what he can give until the game starts.
2. We will know within 3-4 possessions, as we did Thursday, pretty much what that is.
There are many adjustments Phil and Shaw and the players can try to make:
–giving Walton 10 minutes of burn
–using Kobe on the block more, particularly against T. Allen
–trying Artest on Davis
–using (apparently) Powell in spot minutes to rest Pau
But in the end, I think this game, and this series, will come down to what the team gets from Lamar and Andrew. Like I said yesterday, Pau is not going to go off for 30/20 and Kobe is not going to go off for 45. Boston is too tough on D for that to happen. I think it is about #7 and #17.
robinred says
After reading Moore’s column, I will note that I was always skeptical about the idea that Bynum could play on a torn meniscus without damaging the knee further. I am neither a doctor nor a trainer, so can only take the team’s word, but Moore seems to indicate that there is more long-term damage possible. I was told this was not the case.
robinred says
Hollinger on Celtics’ “barkfest”
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2010/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=celticslakersgame4-100610
DirtySanchez says
An eye for an eye mentality is what LA has to have the rest of the series. If Boston is going to push, pull, and bark at Pau at every opportunity. Then Phil has to show some support and its time to give the bully a taste of its own medicine with Mbenga and Powell. Thats twelve fouls sitting on the bench that could at least get 5 to10 minutes between the two. It doesnt take any particular skill set( see Rasheed and Perkins) to foul hard and send a message that enough is enough.
robinred says
From yahoo:
Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he won’t encourage his players to try to draw out another technical, even though it could cost the Celtics the services of a big man in a series where size has been crucial: The team that’s won the rebounding battle has won every game.
“That’s not fair play. That’s not the way to play games,” Jackson said. “You can be provocative and get out there and act kind of like they do if you want to and get in people’s faces and do that. But that’s not the way I like to coach a team. That’s not what I consider positive coaching, and that’s what I like to think is the right way to do things.”
Rivers wasn’t so sure.
“I thought in the last game, even though they say they didn’t, I thought (with Pau) Gasol there was a lot of extra stuff going on,” Rivers said. “And they’re right, obviously, we put ourselves in this predicament with Perk, and I thought Perk did a great job of walking away.”
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Bobji says
I just gotta say I wish Bynum all the best, it’s a tough predicament he’s in, and it’s really too bad his condition is so up in the air for the NBA finals and that it is turning out to be so crucial for the team’s outcome.
I’m a little suprised by Phil’s comment about DJ not being ready but Powell being good to go, but he knows way more about it than I do. I was just hoping maybe Congo Cash could get a minute or two when Nate Robinson is in to shut that guy up because DJ can swat a shot that’s for sure.
It’s very annoying to watch the celtics players jawing and posturing so much.
Who’s more irritating in this aspect, the celtics players or the nuggets players?
Aaron says
Did anyone notice how good the Lakers offense looked last game when they ran the ball through Ron Artest? It was basically the only times the team got open shots. There are several reasons for that. Artest is better on the ball than off the ball, he and Gasol are the most unselfish Lakers when attacking with the ball (that is huge against a Celtics team that likes to focus on the ball), it allows the rest of the team (Gasol/Odom/Bynum/Kobe) to play off the ball which is something they are great at, it spreads the floor nicely with Kobe on the outside instead of Artest, and it takes advantage of Pierce who is the Celtics worst one on one defender. Artest was getting to the basket and scoring at will and passing out of doubles for lay ups and threes. I think it will be something the Lakers go to early on the loosen the Celtic defense that tightens on Kobe so often.
Darius says
New post is up.
http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2010/06/12/rebirth-of-a-rivalry/