ROCKETS -at- LAKERS - 5/6 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[Arizona]

So much for Pau not being able to guard Yao. They need to get LO involved in the offense early. When they don't he gets lost in the shuffle and gets frustrated and starts forcing stuff. The team's rhythm is still off. The only cure for that is running the offense. There's too much one on one stuff, though Kobe and Pau played great. In Houston, we need the whole team involved.
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“I’m just a basketball player, you know? Just put me where you need me.” -Lamar Odom

“You’ve got to play with pride and guts.” -LO

[noJINX]

Thanks DB The game flow is awesome.

Can we lead a telethon to buy Craig Sager a new wardrobe, I think Phil would give 5.00

[AllorNothing]

can we play some powell on artest?

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Oh yeah! Awesome intro DB! Thanks again for all the effort as well as the insights.

I'm a bit perplexed at how PJ and Kobe both seemed to toss the loss as a "don't worry, we'll get 'em" triviality. In spite of the talk; they came out with a chip on their shoulder. As soon as we see a glimmer that the game might be in quite winnable shape, PJ fritters with the lineups, pairing a confidence-starved Bynum with Brown/Machine/Ears (wtf) and has Powell out there taking up space while the lead dwindles and an impact player sits... That's not exactly shortening the rotations. Then the game turns into a cage fight and the whistles fly. Interesting lineups to show after such a display of confidence and certainty that giving away home court wouldn't matter.

The Lakers did indeed fight through it. PJ has 9 rings. When logic fails I have to take it on faith that he knows what he's doing; and mark this down as an intriguing series to illustrate the unfathomable nature of Phil's coaching.

[LakerSanity]

There is no reason for a Farmar/Brown/Sasha lineup to ever be on the floor. There is also no reason for Powell to see one minute of playing time unless Bynum has fouled out.
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[DancingBarry]

Here is my best guess.

First, he wanted a Farmar/Brown duo to match up with the Rockets small lineup speed. I was thinking about this as a move in the first game, but it's pretty ballsy since they haven't run that but maybe just a few minutes this season. Wasn't sure he would do that, but those are the two fastest backups we have. I'd still like to see us go big sometime against them and see if they can match up to us, as well.

Second, Bynum and LO out there, you obviously want two impact players on the floor at a minimum.

So, that leaves Sasha. This is the real problem. Phil probably wanted someone to space the floor to give LO and Bynum room to work. Last time against this small lineup, we had Brown/Sasha out there and that wasn't a good combo defensively. So, he slid Sasha to the three, where Wafer is playing since Sasha seems to be in his head badly. And this is during Sasha's regular rotation where Kobe is resting. So, that's how we get here.

But you stand back, though, and look...Farmar, Brown, Sasha... are you freaking kidding me? That's just nuts.

After a few minutes he brings in Kobe for Farmar (and Luke for LO, who gets his first rest of the night). And Kobe gets to go up against Wafer. This is a matchup we love. Kobe bleeds it for a few possessions, but they took a few off, too, which was a mistake. This lineup could have been a bit more successful, but eventually the Rockets have to yank Wafer.

We then get a Yao/Landry duo out there. This is where Phil makes another bad move. He wants to get rest for LO, but he doesn't want Luke matching up with Landry. He doesn't think Bynum is playing well (nevermind the strange combo of players). He sits Bynum and Luke for Pau and Powell, to get LO a little more rest. In the 2:18 Powell is on the floor, the Lakers go -6. He's concerned about the speedy guards vs. our bigger guys, so he wants more defensive mobility. The D is soft anyway with Pau/Powell. Should have stretched out Bynum's run and go with 3 impact players on the floor and move Pau to PF. Run the offense through Pau at PF.

In the fourth, things change. Adelman doesn't put Wafer out there (sends him packing). Instead he puts Artest out there. So, now we have Sasha matching up with a speedy guard. Bad move, should have immediately went to Brown (he eventually does, but it cost us a couple Sasha fouls and early penalty problems). But here's where the matchup changes in our favor. With Artest out there, this allows Phil to run Luke against against him. Artest can't back Luke down like Ariza. Luke is crowding him on the three line, so he can't get his jumper off, this forces Artest to the dribble against a physically stronger player than Ariza. The D swarms Artest, he's O.C.

This time the Bynum/Odom duo holds serve and plays even with the Rockets while our 1-2 punch rests up.

Next game the rotations are obviously in flux because of DFish's absence. So, who knows what Phil will do to deal with it. He may not have the ability to play Brown/Farmar together. If our starter gets in foul trouble, we're suddenly down two PGs. I might bring Luke in earlier on Artest and have some run for Ariza in that second unit against one of the speedy guards. Might also finally be a good time to go big and make them match up with us.

[LakerSanity]

I actually think that its important to always have two of LO/Gasol/Kobe/Walton out on the floor at all times because we always need at least two triangle facilitators on the floor at all times or our offense tends to go stagnant against good defenses.

A Farmar/Brown/Sasha/LO/Bynum lineup really only has one facilitator and against a team which would allow us to run, that's fine (actually I'd still prefer Sasha or Brown at SG with Ariza at SF there in that lineup). However, it doesn't work in a half court game against a good half court defense like the Rockets have.

Also, as you noted, Luke was key for us. Against Artest (and maybe Melo/Lebron in the future), Luke seems to be the better matchup on D than Ariza for whatever reason. With Sasha struggling, if Luke is healthy, I'd actually like to give Luke more minutes and consider Ariza a little at the 2. I would also play LO at the 3 on Artest more too. With Fisher out the next game and the need to preserve Brown at the 1, these suggestions may be even more useful.

With Bynum, this is the most puzzling part for me. EVEN WITH Bynum struggling, I don't see any scenario where playing Powell over Bynum benefits this team. I thought this was the playoffs? Where are the shortened rotations? This is especially pertinent because Bynum isn't even playing enough minutes to foul out, so I don't see foul trouble being a concern and a reason to play Powell to "save" Bynum or something.

Lastly, I have no clue why when Landry/Hayes are in the game why we don't go big with Pau/Bynum with maybe even LO at the 3 again if Artest is in. Going small is allowing Adelman to dictate the matchups... we need to be the aggressors, not the one's reacting. However, even if we refuse to dictate the matchups and we stick with LO/Gasol in that scenario, why is LO on Landry/Scola? Shouldn't he be on Hayes where he can roam because Hayes isn't a threat and where he's less likely to be pushed around on one on one offense? I have no clue why we didn't switch them up.
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[DancingBarry]

[MIMLaker]

And DB's nightly recap is just ONE of the reasons this is the best Lakers site on the web.

Bravo, DB!

MIM
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[TooMuchMajicBuss]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]