The Guy I Underrated the Most Prior to the Playoffs

Honorable Mention - Rip Hamilton. Man he's an assassin. On top of that he cared throughout the Celtics series, which did not appear to be the case for some of his teammates. Now on to the winner.

Even after he made the All Star team and dropped 37 points on the Celtics I still felt that David West was a little overrated, largely due to playing with Chris Paul. I tend to make up for overvaluing Celtics by undervaluing players around the league. Then West averaged 21.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.9 blocks during the playoffs. On top of that he had the face-tapping incident with Dirk Nowitzki, the run in with Fabricio Oberto (not sure why that’s on fast forward), and overall a sense that he could lose his cool at practically any moment. At this point I’m sold on West’s talent, wonder if he’s secretly xenophobic, and think New Orleans needs another competent big coming off the bench. Although I do wonder about West's wiring. He might need to tone it down a few notches. And this is coming from a guy that defends Kevin Garnett against all critics.

As a side note did you watch that YouTube Clip of Nowitzki and West? What the hell was Dirk supposed to do? Hit him? The Mavericks got beat soundly as is, but would have been in a much worse state without Dirk for a game. 

The Guy That Reminds Me of My Favorite Fantasy Sports Joke

"Man his team would be unstoppable...in 2002." Note that joke really does not work if it is in fact 2002. But you get the point. And the winner is...Jason Kidd. Not a strong playoffs for him. He put up roughly 8.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists while absolutely getting worked by Chris Paul. And let's not forget Kidd throwing down Jannero Pargo.

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This night is about the Celtics. It will be a long time before I get over the 131 points they dropped on the Lakers. Still I'd like to touch on a few Kobe Bryant related points. Like it or not he's a massive figure in the NBA.

- I found this post comparing Kobe Bryant to Dirk Nowitzki interesting. I actually see the Lakers bouncing back from this because their personnel is far superior than Dallas'. Still interesting stuff.

- Hypothetically speaking what happens if Team USA plays team Spain in Beijing when the Olmpics roll around? Of course I'm talking about Men's Basketball. Is there a chance that Kobe tries to destroy his Lakers teammate (Pau Gasol) in a way that is eerily reminiscent of the way MJ and Pippen went after Toni Kukoc and his Croatian squad?

- I liked Kelly Dwyer's take on Kobe following Game 5:

"You see, that Laker offense still hasn't risen from the depths. Sure, they put up 103 points overall (and 39 in the first quarter) against the best defense in basketball, but the Triangle as we knew it still hasn't returned. Kobe Bryant "set the tone early on" (come on) with 15 first quarter points including 12 off of three-pointers (4-5 mark), but those were crummy shots.

Kobe can nail long range bombs with the best of them, but pulling up off the dribble for fallaway 25-footers? Hardly setting a foundation to work off of. And people act surprised when he misses all four of his three-point attempts to finish the game. And his 3-13 shooting mark over the final three quarters, yeah, that was a result of having to work through an offense that Bryant (the game's most knowledgeable on-court Triangle offense practitioner) failed to set up in the opening minutes." - Kelly Dwyer

I definitely thought of that tonight. By the way I also thought the following during games 4 and 5: Kobe's trying to have his MJ versus the Blazers three pointers game.

- Remember during the All Star Break when J.A. Adande asked NBA players who they wanted to see win a championship besides themselves? Well Kevin Garnett and Steve Nash came up a lot. Only one guy refused to answer:

"There was one notable abstention in the voting: the ultra-competitive Kobe Bryant 'If it ain't us, I don't care,' Kobe said." - J.A. Adande

Well KG got his. And so did Allen, Allen, Pierce, Posey, Rondo, Perkins, Powe, and everyone else. Enough Kobe talk. Great job Celtics.

Before I go any further I'd be remiss if I did not bring up the whole Jemele Hill thing. She wrote an article (this is the edited one) in which she compared rooting for the Celtics to something to do with Hitler. Odd. The guys at Red's Army were all over it. Of course ESPN eventually apologized and edited it. Here's my thing. This is the same Jemele Hill that was outraged by Don Imus. At the time she said:

"Imus' comments were harmful to all women -- especially for female athletes who still struggle to gain acceptance in our society -- but they really cut black women deep...As a society, there are times when we need to stand together against indecency and cruelty." - Jemele Hill

Were Imus' comments worse? I guess. If I were a Jewish Celtics fan I might feel differently. And that's the thing with free speech. You can't have it both ways. If you're going to go after others be ready when someone comes after you. Personally I wish they left the column as it was. She wrote it, so be it. But should she have to take some time off before resurfacing? I would say no. But based upon the Imus precedent, yes. Free speech is a funny thing.

Back to the game. Ray Allen and Kendrick Perkins will play. Of the two I feel better about Allen because I'm not sold on Perk's shoulder. He's a tough dude but his range of motion could be seriously limited.

Will Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol have big games again?

Will Rajon Rondo play well at home, as is his custom?

Will Paul Pierce be exhausted?

Can KG silence his critics?

Will Kobe score 40?

Obviously there are plenty of questions. Only time will tell. However, given the traveling both teams have done of late I expect an ugly game, particularly at the start. Hopefully the C's can battle through it. Here's to not seeing a game 7.

As I was watching Game 5 it hit me how annoyed I would be if I were a Lakers fan. The announcers, Jeff Van Gundy in particular, praised James Posey, Boston's defense and the Celtics in general. It was the story line that played throughout the game, while the Lakers still maintained control. And even when LA wrapped it up Mark Jackson and Van Gundy were all over them.

Speaking of story lines, the "Pau Gasol is soft" one lurked despite his 19 points, 12 rebounds, and his strong work throughout. Granted it is easier for him with Kendrick Perkins inactive. But that looks like a reality Boston is going to have to live with this series. Lamar Odom performed as well with an incredibly efficient 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Paul Pierce, much to the chagrin of Doc Rivers, called a timeout at towards the end of Game 3 because he was exhausted. He then was spent at the end of Game 4. And yet he went 48 minutes tonight. It was in the back of my mind when he made a few turnovers in the 4th.

I'd like to see the baseline camera view of Kobe Bryant on the floor towards the very end of the game. I'm just saying.

Ultimately I feel good because Boston went to LA and came away with a victory. And the Celtics did enough all year to make me like the odds of them heading home up 3-2, in need of one win.  Still given the confusion at point guard, injury concerns, and the fact that they could have won either game 3 or game 5, I don't expect it to be easy.

I wonder what people are going to say about Kevin Garnett tomorrow. Oh right. He did not look good from the line. In fact he looked psyched out enough that I assumed he would miss at leas one. He missed 3. Clearly the foul trouble robbed KG of his aggressiveness and allowed Gasol to go right at him. And even with his 14 rebounds KG did not bring enough to the table tonight.

I'm not defending Kobe Bryant. Lakers fans do enough of that. And I don't want to take away from Paul Pierce's monster night - 38 points (10-22 from the field, 16-19 from the line), 6 rebounds, and 8 assists. Yet Pierce can have that monstrous evening and people won't analyze whether he took too many shots. Of course Pierce's efficiency and assist totals help him in that regard. I guess I'm saying I don't like story lines that people love to bandwagon.

During the regular season I was consistently impressed by the how hard it was to beat the Celtics. They rarely if ever got blown out and always seemed to keep games close at the end unless they were administering a beating. I definitely felt that way during all three games in LA. That's a good feeling.

Boston's bigs rotation is an issue right now especially when KG is in foul trouble. Leon Powe played 5 quiet minutes, P.J. Brown played just under 25 minutes, and after that the Celtics were small. That worked down the stretch in game 4, but how long can the Celtics afford to play small?

As a fan and blogger following the Celtics I've been struck by how draining the playoffs are. Mentally and physically these guys have to be exhausted. Throw in a travel day tomorrow and it will be interesting to see how Game 6 starts. I would not be surprised if it were ugly at the beginning.

Tony Allen makes me nervous.

As you can probably tell by this random, rambling post I'm a little overwhelmed by everything that went down. Time to call it a night.

Ray Allen's reverse lay up was ridiculous. To review. He blew by a rotating Kobe Bryant, jumped, avoided Pau Gasol's block attempt, which was a lot more of an attempt than his game 2 wave at Leon Powe and his later wave at Allen in game 4, started falling, and somehow threw squeezed a shot off between an outstretched Lamar Odom and the basket. I've referenced this play about 5 times already on the blog. Although this time I actually watched it. To be fair Kobe was probably concerned about the 3, as he should have been. But he still got burned. It was crazy:

Ray Allen Drives Baseline and Makes a Tough Reverse Lay-Up (via NBA)

I know Sasha Vujacic and Ray Allen got tied up and if you watch closely (no video available right now) you can see Allen pull Vujacic to the floor. However, that is nowhere near the same as what Vujacic did next - he put a scissor hold (hat tip Mark Jackson) on Allen and kicked the Celtics star to the floor. It's always dangerous to mess around with a NBA player's legs, especially a jump shooter. There's a reason Allen hates Bruce Bowen. Meanwhile, now Boston can feel even better about despising Vujacic. 

If the "Beat LA" chant were an 8 on a scale of 1-10, the "Boston Sucks" chant would be a 3. And it should probably be lower than that but I tried to adjust for my biased ways.

Speaking of chants. The Justin Timberlake led, "Let's go Lakers" was beyond pathetic.

I'm pretty cynical when it comes to marketing. Still even I was blown away by the following ad. Saw it for the first time towards the end of game 4. It's awesome.

There Can Only Be One: Compilation (via NBA)

I can't believe I didn't recognize this earlier. Ray Allen played the whole game. That's amazing. On top of that he grabbed 9 boards, had three steals, was perfect from the line (5-5), and shot well from the field (6-11). He came to play.

Some assorted notes before looking at each player

atthehive from At The Hive sent me the following note after the game:

LA’s first half swag was phenomenal.

I don’t like P.J. Brown and Kendrick Perkins on the court together. Nor do I like Leon Powe and KG on the court together. In the end though Doc Rivers made the right call with KG and James Posey.

Speaking of lineups. Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Eddie House, and James Posey play well together.

Go to the boxscore and see how close some of the stats – rebounds, foul shots, field goals, blocks, turnovers – ended up being. Intense game.

One of the lasting images for me is definitely LA’s bench whooping it up in the first half. I don’t begrudge them. That was some great basketball. Still it was refreshing to see the Lakers come off as frontrunners, as the Celtics have been painted as such at times this season.

It’s not over. I can’t stress this strongly enough. Let’s not let this go down as the defining moment of a losing series. Think Carlton Fisk waving a homerun fair and Pierce celebrating on the scorer’s table after the come back victory against the Nets in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Lakers

Trevor Ariza

If the Lakers had won I would have given Ariza his own post. His first half was that good. It would have gone something like this. In the midst of possibly the greatest in season trading period ever Ariza was sent to LA for Brian Cook and Maurice Evans. Few people cared, especially when Ariza broke his foot and barely saw the court in the playoffs. It’s similar to the Celtics acquiring the 49th pick in the 2006 NBA draft from the Denver Nuggets only to see him blow up in Game 2. And in Game 4 Ariza made a tremendous impact. Without watching the first half again or even looking at the box score I distinctly remember him doing the following things:

- He blocked one of Ray Allen’s shots to start a fast break.

- He made a great read and stole a pass when Ray Allen jumped in the air and tried to throw it the wing. As a side note I hate it when Allen does that. Yeah I linked to myself. What now?

- He grabbed an offensive rebound over James Posey and dunked it.

- He hit an uncontested three-pointer.

- He deflected another lazy pass out bounds, which even though it was not a steal sent a message.

- He grabbed an offensive rebound and then hit Luke Walton in the corner for a three pointer.

Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant acts like a child. There I said it. I understand he is the greatest player on the globe/planet. That’s the new thing. But he’s downright petulant. A few times tonight I was begging for Marlon Brando to rise from the dead and give him the old, “You can act like a man!” His ten assists and four steals were excellent. Give credit where credit is due. But let’s not forget two very important things:

1. P.J. Brown dunked on him.
2. Ray Allen blew by him baseline. More on that later. However, never, ever, ever give up baseline. Ever! 

Jordan Farmar/Derek Fisher

Both LA point guards wooed momentum back when it was thinking about switching sides and joining the Celtics. Fisher had a three-point play the old school way and a couple of other free throws. Of course Farmar hit that runner at the buzzer. Here’s my question. Have the Lakers gotten to the point that they don’t know when to go with Farmar or Fisher? I’m not exactly sure what I’m trying to say here but LA’s point guard situation is a mess too. And they don’t have an injury and a really old dude.

Pau Gasol

He put up 17 and 10, had a huge three point play towards the end of the first half and showed flashes of what he can bring to the table. I’m not sure if the Lakers just go away from him or if he just isn't assertive enough. But if I rooted for the Lakers I’d want the offense to run through him at times, especially if the other team is on a 36-15 run. He’s such a great passer. And he’s crafty around the rim.

Coby Karl

I saw him during one of the timeouts and thought - he's a Laker and a cancer survivor. I bet he does okay for himself.


Lamar Odom

I don’t think he should be praised for showing up in the first ¾ of game 5. First of all he is one of the most physically gifted players in the NBA. Second of all where was he down the stretch? Meanwhile, I don’t have much of a problem with his showboating. Hell Eddie House and Paul Pierce taunted everyone at the end. But it was weak when Odom showed up Kendrick Perkins after the hard foul where Perk injured his shoulder. Yes Perk fouled him hard. But that’s what a player has to do when an opponents is driving with great success to the hoop. Ray Allen didn’t bat an eyelash when Derek Fisher got him hard on the break. And if being down 3-1 was not enough Odom has now unleashed the Beast. Best of luck with that.

Vladimir Radmanovic

Lakers fans probably feel better if Radmanovic has a second half.

Ronny Turiaf/Luke Walton

Not much to say. Although I was impressed with how physical Turiaf was with KG.

Sasha Vujacic

I should probably save this for the praise James Posey section that is coming up. But I’ll tell it now. I watched the media session the NBA scheduled for Monday. And at one point a reporter asked Posey if he was worried about Vujacic’s lethal shooting. Something along those lines. Posey calmly remarked that Vujacic wasn’t hitting anything in Boston and he was not too concerned. Well tonight the Machine was 1-9 from the field. And he overplayed Ray Allen on several occasions. Of course Allen’s final field goal was the most glaring example. Granted it’s not Vujacic’s fault that the C’s had shooters out there to spread the floor. And it’s also not his fault that Gasol was not there to even challenge Allen. But Vujacic’s in your face defense was not that effective.

The Celtics

Ray Allen

All Celtics fans that follow the team closely had that moment this season when the light bulb went off and they said, “Ray Allen is not just a jump shooter.” Some of those same fans later considered if Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West were a better fit on this team. Morons. And yes I’m looking at me. Regardless, how about the Ray Allen resurrection? It will be a long time before I get over him blowing by Kobe Bryant baseline and then going with an MJesque reverse lay up. He also pulled down 9 rebounds, which is his new high for the season. And one of those boards was in crunch time in the paint. He absolutely skied for it. He was cold blooded.

P.J. Brown

I loved when he dunked on Kobe. That was a top 5 moment for me from a comeback stacked with great moments. And it was great to see Doc Rivers know when to pull him.

Kevin Garnett

His final numbers were modest – 16 points (7-14 from the floor) and 10 rebounds for what he is capable of doing. But on numerous occasions he went to work in the post. It’s odd because he has 2, maybe 3 moves. Still he made a big bucket down the stretch and made the right pass to Eddie House at one point for another huge basket. Prepare yourself or a rant. People always talk about how important leadership, defense, and attitude are. Garnett excels in all three of those areas. Yet when it comes down to it most people just focus on scoring. It reminds me of people paying lip service to special teams and ultimately ignoring them, even though we all know how important special teams are to a football team. Well KG brings so much to the table. Granted if he were a scoring assassin in the 4th quarter he’d be even higher on the list of all time greats. Still he was +17 tonight and has nothing to be ashamed of, that’s for sure.

Eddie “freaking” House

Boston fans tend to give him more credit than what he deserves at times because of his hustle. But I refuse to downplay his 11 points, 4 rebounds, and team leading +/- (+20) for tonight’s game.  This is his 8th team in 8 years. Can the Celtics just sign him and give him a home? Several more Eddie House thoughts:

- Turns out he just needed real minutes (24 tonight) to make things happen. He got off to a slow start but could not get the quick hook and started feeling it.

- In hindsight are we sure he didn’t deserve some burn in Phoenix during the playoffs? I know this is crazy, biased fan talk. And Steve Nash ran that offense better than anyone, getting great looks for his guys. But remember how tired Nash used to get? I’m just saying.

- The Celtics organization and its fans owe House an apology. He helped Boston get off to a great start but we focused on his weaknesses. The organization brought in Sam Cassell and slowly worked House out of the rotation. Yet he still jumped up and down on the sideline, stayed ready, and eventually made an impact. Well done.

Kendrick Perkins

Perk has a history of both shoulder injuries and being a beast. He’s a tough man. But even with that and the 3-1 I’m concerned. That looked painful. And there’s always a chance he plays exactly long enough to close line Odom with his good shoulder. I never thought the C’s could win with Perk giving them so little. And that’s not an insult.

Paul Pierce

First a question. Did Pierce recently find God? First it was the angel after the ultimate shooter’s role on the free throw late in game 7 against Cleveland. Then there was the Game 1 knee situation. And once again tonight. Whatever the answer Pierce came alive when his team needed him most. Strangely he only scored 5 in the 4th. It seemed like more. But he busted on both ends of the court. Kobe can attest to that. There’s a reason Shaq nicknamed Pierce The Truth. We saw it tonight.

James Posey

As Posey was walking off the court Danny Ainge grabbed him. I can only assume Ainge said something like, “Hey we’ll get an extension worked out quick and easy this summer, okay. Hell of a game.” And Posey said, “Cool, don’t forget about House.” And somewhere a critic remembered that he hates when a blogger make up quotes, even if said blogger does not pretend the quotes are real.

Leon Powe

He got after it in his 9 minutes. I know his game is not what I make it out to be. But the guy is all effort. And I’ll take 5 rebounds in limited time.

Rajon Rondo

He just didn’t have it tonight.

That's it for now. I need some sleep. I'll get back at it tomorrow. In the meantime vote in the poll.

1. Get Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett going in general, to the hoop in particular. The Celtics can't afford a repeat of Game 3 where Pierce and KG fired jumpers that just didn't fall.

2. Hurt LA's guards in the most legal way possible. And by that I don't mean injure. Rather if the Lakers decide to employ full court pressure the Celtics guards must run them into Kendrick Perkins or P.J. Brown. Those types of screens can be devastating.

3. Play Eddie House. Celtics fans tend to overrate House because he runs around like a maniac. But at this point his weaknesses (dribbling, initiating the offense) are Cassell's weaknesses. And House can contribute in other ways - deflections on defense, running a bit, even hitting the boards. Also I'm sold on playing House and Posey at the same time.

4. More Leon Powe. Realistically Powe is not likely to have another performance like Game 2. However, if given minutes it won't be like Game 3 either. He has a knack for rebounding and getting to the line. Both are good.

5. No Sam Cassell. #3 covered this in a way but I just wanted to hammer it home.

6. Keep Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom out of a rhythm. Gasol's numbers have been solid at times. My concern is that he has shown flashes of what he can bring to the table. It will be important for the Celtics bigs to keep up their physical play.

7. Own the boards. +1 is not enough. I know what you're thinking - it was enough in Game 2. Fair enough. I just prefer the 13 rebound advantage from Game 1.

8. Don't let Sasha Vujacic or anyone not name Kobe Bryant get hot. Kobe is going to get his. We know this. Yet someone else has to step up if the Lakers are going to win.

9. Get the ball to KG on the block. Even if he doesn't want it there. And if that means more House with Ray Allen to space the floor, well that will have to do for stretches.

10. Don't panic. The Celtics are up 2 and lost a close one on the road. Now is not the time to throw Tony Allen out there to defend Kobe Bryant.

In the end the Celtics don't have to do all of these to win. That's in a perfect world. And I like the idea of ten items to discuss. If Pierce and KG can get it going on the offensive end everything else might fall into place.

In his "Lakers fall for this one" column Bill Plaschke called it as he saw it and questioned the legitimacy of Paul Pierce's knee injury:

He lay in a heap on the parquet floor, visibly weeping into the silk-suited sleeve of his doctor. He was pushed in a wheelchair down a narrow back hallway, head down, season over. Paul Pierce, the Boston Celtics captain, was carried from the opening game of the NBA Finals in the third quarter Thursday with an apparent serious knee injury that momentarily deadened and distracted the Lakers. At which point, Pierce came running back to finish them off. To nearly 50 years of delicious Celtics-Lakers lore, add a new apparent bit of chicanery. Call it the Fake N'Shake. The Celtics won Game 1, 98-88, on the momentum of a recovery that smacked more of professional wrestling than professional basketball. When Pierce crumpled on the floor after being apparently faked out of his kneecap by Kobe Bryant with 6:52 left in the third quarter, the Lakers led by four points. When he returned after just 1:45 had ticked off the game clock, the Celtics led by one. The "Rocky" theme played. The crowd roared. Pierce hobbled out with drama dripping from every step. He was so hurt, he immediately began sprinting around the stunned Lakers defenders. He was in such pain, he hit consecutive three pointers late in the period that gave the Celtics the lead for good. At which point, a Lakers season filled with colorful adjectives had been reduced to one word. C'mon! - Bill Plaschke

Never mind the fact that Plaschke completely wrote off Pau Gasol two rounds ago because in this case Plascke is 100% right. I'll ignore Pierce's ludicrous broken jaw incident against the Indiana Pacers during the 2005 Eastern Conference First Round. Why? Because that pales in comparison to the time Pierce faked his own stabbing.

Consider the facts:

Continue reading this post »

Great win for the Celtics. The most encouraging aspect was the fact that everyone chipped in and contributed. And outside of leaving Sam "ball stopper" Cassell in too long during the second half, I thought Doc Rivers substituted well.

Mike Breen made an excellent point at the end of the broadcast. It will be interesting to see how Paul Pierce's knee is tomorrow. That could be key. It's also one of those times where 2 days off help. Speaking of Pierce. His 22 points were the definition of efficient.

Rajon Rondo still struggled a bit from the floor (4-10), but Celtics fans have to be happy with the overall results - 15 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 turnovers.

That was one of the best all around games that Ray Allen has played in quite some time. He had 8 rebounds one other time all season - March 5th against Detroit.

I was impressed with the pace the Lakers' subs created the first time they were in the game. But it never really materialized after that.

The Celtics were definitely allowed to play physical against Kobe Bryant in the 4th quarter. I can't imagine that will be the case throughout the series.

Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom were excellent initially and quiet down the stretch.

As Jeff Van Gundy rightly pointed out, Boston's pick and roll defense was downright bad in the first happen. That can't continue to happen. 

Kevin Garnett. It's too bad he went cold toward the end because otherwise he played phenomenally well. And that put back dunk in crunch time was epic.

Given their play in the playoffs to this point, the negativity of Boston, the 2-3-2 format and the 2 off days this was a huge game for Boston. Yet in the grand scheme of things it is just one game. This could be a special Finals.

Yesterday Brian from SportsHubLA answered a few of my questions. Today Andrew from SportsHubLA gave me three ways to beat the Lakers and three ways to lose to them. I'm pretty sure Doc Rivers and company will cite this post at some point in the Finals. Enjoy.

Three Ways to Beat the Lakers

1) Make them a perimeter team.

The Lakers were sixth in the NBA this season in both three point attempts and three point makes.  They’re certainly capable of shooting the rock.  It’s also no question that if they get accustomed to launching from outside, the Lakers aren’t nearly as good a team.  Their strengths come close to the rim, in penetration, good spacing, and crisp passing.  When things are good, jumpers come from the inside out.  When they don’t, the ball just moves around the perimeter. 

2) Get physical. 

The Jazz enjoyed the most success (relatively speaking) in the playoffs against the Lakers.  They were also the team that made a continual effort to beat up the Lakers, particularly Pau Gasol.  When he caught the ball in the high post, they hassled him.  When he went up for a rebound, they bumped him.  At times, that style of play took Gasol out of the game, a scenario that sometimes repeated itself against San Antonio.  To his credit, the lanky Spaniard (is there a more gangly player in the NBA?) tended to bounce back at big moments, but he can be bothered.  As can the entire team.  Given the space to run their offense, the Lakers are almost impossible to stop.

3) Get on the glass.

Utah earned themselves endless second chance possessions by crashing the boards hard and consistently throughout all six games.  They didn’t convert on enough of them, but it wasn’t for lack of opportunity. Against San Antonio, L.A. either kept the rebound battle close or simply won it, which led to a shorter series.  You do the math.  For what it’s worth, the Lakers were better glass eaters than Boston during the regular season (by 2.2 pr game) and remain so during the playoffs (1.1) 

Three Ways to Lose to the Lakers:

1) Overplay Kobe.

Simply put, the Lakers move the ball too well and Kobe is too good at both recognizing the double and finding the open man.  There is a very clear diminishing return to trying to throw bodies at Bryant.  It might work for a trip or two, but over the long haul, it won’t.  The last time the Spurs were in town, they gave it a shot, and as a result Gasol and Lamar Odom were able to roam free like big cats on a wild life preserve.  Nobody bothered them. 

Along those lines…

2) Ignore the supporting cast.   

I’m not just talking about Gasol and Odom, but everyone else down the line.  The more players the Lakers can get into double figures, the more likely they are to win.  LO is going to get his, as will Gasol.  But when Luke Walton, Sasha Vujacic, Vlad Radmanovic, and/or Derek Fisher go off, forget about it.  The Lakers have an extremely multi-dimensional attack.  If Boston allows it to go off with all guns blazing, they’ll have trouble keeping up. 

Kobe can attract so much attention on the offensive end, but teams must recognize that the Lakers are dominant when balanced, and Kobe will play in a way to make it happen.  He’ll still take shots that aren’t quality, but the number of CIFSPG (Cringe Inducing Forced Shots Per Game) has gone down considerably.  If the defense gives him 18 looks, that’s what he’ll take.  But if that’s the case, he’s likely to have set up his teammates for a lot of great shots, and LA is likely to have piled up points. 

3) Let them open up the floor. 

When the Lakers are playing well, the offense allows for a great deal of space.  They’ll run slip screens with Kobe and Gasol, cut off Gasol in the high post, move off Kobe’s penetration, or let Odom lead them on the break.  Force them to put it on the floor more, and they’re vulnerable.  Relative to the alternative, they’re not a great one-on-one team.