LakeShow
04-29-2008, 10:37 AM
Lakers defense stifling Nuggets forward Anthony
By KEVIN DING
The Orange County Register
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DENVER — After the eighth of his 17 missed shots Saturday, Carmelo Anthony laughed about it all the way back up the court for some reason. That was late in the second quarter, when there was still time for Denver to catch a break and beat the Lakers in Game 3 of this playoff series. By late in the third quarter, Anthony had sped to the other end of the emotional spectrum, ranting at referee Bill Kennedy and drawing a technical foul after getting the ball stolen by Derek Fisher.
Anthony, who turns 24 in a month, vented further by saying the whole team quit and said in response to a question about trusting Nuggets coach George Karl: "I don't really know what it is, but when it comes to that (trust), I think it's a fragile area. But I'm not about to sit here and go back and forth and point fingers and say `George this, George that.' I'm not going to do that. As a whole, I just think we gave up. I have every right to feel like that."
Karl said of Anthony's comments that "keeping our composure and a maturity to it is probably the best way to go." On the bright side for Karl, Anthony left it at that — not talking to reporters Sunday or turning to the 100,043 people listed as friends on his MySpace page (O.J. Mayo among them) to whine more.
This is the place the Lakers — who have now beaten Denver in all three regular-season meetings and all three playoff meetings, with Game 4 and a sweep scenario looming tonight — have sent the baffled Nuggets. Lakers coach Phil Jackson looked around at the motivational pieces of paper taped up all over the Nuggets weight room Sunday — 150 sheets with "I BELIEVE" printed on them, Jackson estimated — and understood that's what the Nuggets needed, saying: "If you have doubt …"
The playoffs are often about matchups, and Denver knew it was in for some trouble given that the Lakers have perhaps the best group of passers in the NBA and the Nuggets have perhaps the worst team defenders in the NBA. It's just that Denver had no reason to believe that Anthony wouldn't score with relative ease, too.
Anthony was a 49.2 percent field-goal shooter in the regular season. He is shooting 35.3 percent from the field in this series — when he also has five assists against nine turnovers, unable to create easy scores for teammates.
Neither Vladimir Radmanovic nor Luke Walton is a particularly feared defender, but Anthony has still been bottled up. The Lakers liked the way their defense came on late in the regular season, and Kobe Bryant is thrilled with how the Lakers have swarmed to help Radmanovic or Walton in this series.
"It takes more than one guy to guard Carmelo," Bryant said. "That's why he hasn't been able to get to the basket as cleanly as he would like, because we're all stacking up the side and we're all coming to help him out."
Jackson has succeeded with his defensive approach using Radmanovic and Walton — not resorting to Lamar Odom, who has struggled against Anthony's power in the past, or Bryant, who has struggled against Anthony's size in the past.
At the other end, Radmanovic and Walton have combined for 22.6 points per game in the series — to Anthony's 23. Radmanovic's 32 percent shooting has been offset by Walton's 73.1 percent shooting.
Jackson has been huddling with Radmanovic, whose starting job is not in jeopardy, to offer support while Walton has been on fire. But Bryant praised Radmanovic's understanding of defensive positioning. Both he and Walton have been wise to keep it simple against Anthony.
"You can't just let him just raise up and shoot, because he's such a great rhythm shooter," Walton said. "So you've got to try to jam him a little bit, get your body into him. But at the same time, he's so strong, when you have your body on him, he uses that to his advantage. So that's when you really have to count on your help-side (defense) being there."
Contact the writer: [email protected] ([email protected])
By KEVIN DING
The Orange County Register
Comments (http://www.ocregister.com/articles/carmelo-anthony-luke-2028284-walton-lakers#slComments)| Recommend (javascript:recommendReview('OCRArticle2028284'))
DENVER — After the eighth of his 17 missed shots Saturday, Carmelo Anthony laughed about it all the way back up the court for some reason. That was late in the second quarter, when there was still time for Denver to catch a break and beat the Lakers in Game 3 of this playoff series. By late in the third quarter, Anthony had sped to the other end of the emotional spectrum, ranting at referee Bill Kennedy and drawing a technical foul after getting the ball stolen by Derek Fisher.
Anthony, who turns 24 in a month, vented further by saying the whole team quit and said in response to a question about trusting Nuggets coach George Karl: "I don't really know what it is, but when it comes to that (trust), I think it's a fragile area. But I'm not about to sit here and go back and forth and point fingers and say `George this, George that.' I'm not going to do that. As a whole, I just think we gave up. I have every right to feel like that."
Karl said of Anthony's comments that "keeping our composure and a maturity to it is probably the best way to go." On the bright side for Karl, Anthony left it at that — not talking to reporters Sunday or turning to the 100,043 people listed as friends on his MySpace page (O.J. Mayo among them) to whine more.
This is the place the Lakers — who have now beaten Denver in all three regular-season meetings and all three playoff meetings, with Game 4 and a sweep scenario looming tonight — have sent the baffled Nuggets. Lakers coach Phil Jackson looked around at the motivational pieces of paper taped up all over the Nuggets weight room Sunday — 150 sheets with "I BELIEVE" printed on them, Jackson estimated — and understood that's what the Nuggets needed, saying: "If you have doubt …"
The playoffs are often about matchups, and Denver knew it was in for some trouble given that the Lakers have perhaps the best group of passers in the NBA and the Nuggets have perhaps the worst team defenders in the NBA. It's just that Denver had no reason to believe that Anthony wouldn't score with relative ease, too.
Anthony was a 49.2 percent field-goal shooter in the regular season. He is shooting 35.3 percent from the field in this series — when he also has five assists against nine turnovers, unable to create easy scores for teammates.
Neither Vladimir Radmanovic nor Luke Walton is a particularly feared defender, but Anthony has still been bottled up. The Lakers liked the way their defense came on late in the regular season, and Kobe Bryant is thrilled with how the Lakers have swarmed to help Radmanovic or Walton in this series.
"It takes more than one guy to guard Carmelo," Bryant said. "That's why he hasn't been able to get to the basket as cleanly as he would like, because we're all stacking up the side and we're all coming to help him out."
Jackson has succeeded with his defensive approach using Radmanovic and Walton — not resorting to Lamar Odom, who has struggled against Anthony's power in the past, or Bryant, who has struggled against Anthony's size in the past.
At the other end, Radmanovic and Walton have combined for 22.6 points per game in the series — to Anthony's 23. Radmanovic's 32 percent shooting has been offset by Walton's 73.1 percent shooting.
Jackson has been huddling with Radmanovic, whose starting job is not in jeopardy, to offer support while Walton has been on fire. But Bryant praised Radmanovic's understanding of defensive positioning. Both he and Walton have been wise to keep it simple against Anthony.
"You can't just let him just raise up and shoot, because he's such a great rhythm shooter," Walton said. "So you've got to try to jam him a little bit, get your body into him. But at the same time, he's so strong, when you have your body on him, he uses that to his advantage. So that's when you really have to count on your help-side (defense) being there."
Contact the writer: [email protected] ([email protected])