There's a decent chance that the fate of the 2008-09 Spurs season will be determined by whether or not they can slow Kobe and the rest of the offensive attack by the Lakers. Last year in the playoffs, the Spurs defended the Lakers decently well but struggled down the stretch of games -- especially on Kobe.
With the different personnel on the roster, it'll be interesting to see the gameplan Pop comes up with.
On Kobe, RMJ will undoubtedly start off on him. That matchup alone will be interesting. Hopefully RMJ will play passable defense against Kobe and make him work. It'd be a bad sign if Kobe can shoot right over RMJ with ease - a la Antonio Daniels in 2001 and 2002.
Obviously, Bowen will spend a lot of time on Kobe. With Bowen coming off the bench, perhaps it'll work out better since Kobe typically doesn't testing the Spurs' defense until late in the halves.
I also expect Pop to put Ginobili on Kobe for a few minutes to give Kobe a different look. Hopefully we don't see Udoka on Kobe because that was a disaster last season and Udoka seems considerably slower this year. One interesting idea would be to try Hill on him. Might be a little bit crazy but it just might work . . .
A philosophical change I'd like to see the Spurs make against Kobe is to not go the "safe" route they did during the playoffs last season. In the WCF, the Spurs had the strategy of keeping Kobe off the line at all costs. The only thing that accomplished is is it let Kobe get tons of shot attempts and get in rhythm.
Instead, I'd like to see a more physical brand of defense on him out on the perimeter ... like the Celtics played on him. Although the Spurs don't have the same personnel, if Ray Allen could get away with guarding him at times, the Spurs should find a way to survive with what they have. If it causes RMJ and Bowen to get more fouls than usual, so be it.
Outside of Kobe, the biggest obstacle is the Gasol and Bynum duo. With Bonner starting, that might get ugly. But what I think Pop should do is put Bonner on Bynum and tell him to try to keep him out of the paint. Perhaps Bonner will have the strength to do that, or perhaps Bynum will destroy him. I guess we'll find out.
I don't like the idea of Bonner on Gasol because Gasol is too talented on the low block. Plus Duncan usually defends Gasol about as well as he can be defended.
Although Bonner on the floor will create a mismatch favoring the Lakers, I'll also be interested to see how the LA's bigs handle Bonner staying out on the perimeter. Best case scenario is Bonner makes Bynum work for his points and then takes advantage of that duo's lack of mobility on the other end. I'm not counting on it but it'd be nice to see.
Most likely, though, is that the Spurs will have to use the frontline of Duncan and Thomas quite often. Thomas against Bynum and Duncan against Gasol actually makes a lot of sense. The problem comes on the other end because both bigs will be able to easily collapse on Duncan with Thomas on the court. Usually Oberto would make some sense but he's been out of it for so long I wouldn't defrost him out for this game.
The rest of the matchups are pretty straightforward. The only one that worries me is if Ariza gets matched up against Finley for long stretches -- that could get ugly.
Two questions:
What would you do against Kobe to hopefully slow him down?
How would you handle the Gasol and Bynum duo?
P.S.
Oh and on offense, I truly hope Manu curbstomps Vujacic ..... repeatedly.
I would handle the Gasol Bynum duo with physicality and a bit of bad boys pistons defense. Its been proven Gasol is soft and shys away from contact, and Oberto proved last year I believe that if you push and prod on Bynum he will eventually lose his cool.
The best way to defend the Lakers is to go and get a decent big.
Seeing as none are available, I doubt you can defend them I suppose.
I think Ariza may be put in to hound Ginobili. Since there is no forward for him to hassle, that leaves Manu. Maybe Parker. Trevor has been a beast on the defensive end this season, and one of the X-factors each side has.
IMO our best chance is to play a lot of Bowen on Kobe, KT on Bynum and Duncan on Gasol. G. Hill with his long arms could be also a good option to defend Kobe: Pop should try to play significant minutes of Hill against Kobe to figure out if it could be an option.
Hard foul both Kobe and Gasol ala Celtics... play physical on them.. VERY physical... that should make it
I wonder if Pop will try to do diferent things on Kobe or the froncourt duo?
I guess he will as he uses RS to watch what is working what is not.
So I would like to see as many defenders on Kobe as possible. You can count out Manu, cause we know what manu can do. Ofcourse Roger and Hill will get thte chance of defending Kobe and it will be ointeresting how they will handle the situation. Well Hill know he is here for his defense, so he will be more concentrated on this side of the floor not getting much invloved in offense.
When Bowen is on the floor I would love to see much better defense as a whole. And maybe try more zone defense on that guys.
If we have Bonner on the floor we can use this kind of D. Thomas can handle Bynym more on 1-1 situation I think.
I wonder if Pop will decide to duble team Kobe. Bryant is good in passing of the double team so I don't know. Spurs like to trap (or put him out of the play - example - Suns game - one of the last plays on Nash) the player off the screenroll. Will it work on Kobe while he will be playmaking?
Many questions to answer.
only way to beat the lakers? score more than them
I'd start Mason on Kobe with some double team and then Bruce
Bonner on Bynum and TD on Gasol with Thomas as the 3rd big.
I hope Bonner can do a good job on Bynum so he can stay on the floor and take Gasol or Bynum from the paint to give TD, Manu and TP some room to penetrate
Put Hill on Bryant.
This game isn't a playoff game so it's a quite meaningless game. It's time for Pop to try a lot of things and see what can work.
IMO, Pop will put Bonner on Gasol and Duncan on Bynum to start the game.
I think by the time we face the Lakers in the playoffs Thomas and Bowen will be in the starting line-up, possibly Manu as well. It's a wild guess but I'll try to explain why I think it'd be logical.
First of all I think Kobe will try to involve his teammates a lot, especially until the 4th quarter. That said we have to make sure he doesn't get off to a great start, so starting Bowen on him would be a better decision than Mason. I think we'd also benefit if we rotate different defenders on him, Mason, Hill, even Manu and Udoka for stretches.So I'd bring Mason off the bench and start Manu.
What is more important though,IMO, is not letting him involve his teammates, I could live with Kobe scoring in the 30s, but wouldn't want to see Pau, Bynum and Odom at or near 20 points each.I can't see bonner guarding either of their bigs, so Thomas better be able to help. He did great against the Suns last year and if he can have a similar role in a series against the Lakers that'd come handily. Besides, he's a much better rebounder and here's an important aspect. They are very talented, obviusly, so we're not gonna completely shut them down but ideally we'd have to make sure they don't get any easy baskets like put ups after offensive boards, etc. I think thomas should guard Pau to start with, because he's much more likely to get plays drawn for him than Bynum and we cannot afford to have Duncan in foul trouble.
Unlike you, I'm a bit tempted to let Kobe shoot but not let him go to the rim and the FT line, because he always gets the star treatment, so if we play him hard and dare him to penetrate he'd get a lot of calls. I'd like us to play the same way they'll play us - clog the lane and let them shoot, then hit them on the fast break.
There's a lot more we can say but it's a bit too early, and I fully expect Pop to play some funny line-ups and match-ups during the regular season to see what works. It's important how Mason and Hill would fit in the game plan against LAL. There's also a ( likely ) possibility that one or both teams make trades which would affect the match-ups.
WE need another big, a real 7-footer to throw at Bynum. Otherwise, we don't have a chance against the Fakers.
Keys to Victory:
-Dictate Pace of Game
Lakers are great at getting thier compe ion to play at thier pace and are one of the best at running the fastbreak. Last year the Spurs did a great job and controlling the pace of the game and keeping it a low scoring game.
-Man to Man defense
I think the Lakers thrive when the opposing team focuses on Kobe. Kobe is a very great passer out of the double and many of thier plays are set up when Kobe is doubled. The Celtics didnt double Kobe last year but made many "roadblocks" when he was driving to the basket. Being physical with him also gets him our of his rythym. They call him black mamba for a reason. He knows when to strike and is great at reading defenses. Giving him different defenders is also a good scheme. George Hill on Kobe might also work. Does anyone remember how John Starks used to give Michael Jordan problems???
-Role Players
We all know what Tim,Tony, and Manu will do against the Lakers. Lakers dont have an answer for Tim or Tony. Manu might be slowed down by ariza, but we will see if that is true or not. The role players need to make thier shots and creat havoc. RMJ needs to nail the open 3's when the Lakers are late in rotating D cause the Lakers defense is horrid. Hill needs to be a spark plug of energy and youth and not bring what Jacque Vaughn did last year and that was complacity. Hill could be the XFactor coming off the bench if he stays aggressive.
Duncan/Thomas will undoubtedly be the best lineup to deal with Gasol/Bynum. We will likely see Bonner start and get abused repeatedly, leading to him spending a lot of time on the bench in this game. With the energy Thomas has been playing with I think he can do a pretty good job on Bynum...especially with a couple of days rest leading up to the game. Duncan is really our only hope on Gasol. He has to be smart and stay out of foul trouble. He also has to keep him off the offensive glass. Gasol had 8 offensive boards last night against Miami. We simply can't allow that to happen. This game makes me wish Tolliver would have panned out, because another mobile big man to take a shot at Gasol would have been a nice luxury to have.
With Kobe I think you play him straight up for the majority of the game. I like the idea of giving different defenders looks at him just to feel the match ups out. If the game is close late it wouldn't be a bad idea to run some double teams at him to get the ball out of his hands. This could also be done sporadically throughout the game to keep him on his toes. But overall, defending him straight up and cutting off the other scoring options seems like the best plan.
Duncan on Gasol, Bonner on Bynum. If Bonner can nail some open looks, we might win both matchups.
Mason/Bowen/Manu/Hill, in that order, on Kobe 1on1.
Don't let them get open shots on the perimeter.
Has very little to do with the question posed, but I'd like to see Pop lose the reflexive quick hook for George Hill and play the kid some more -- let him play through some mistakes and challenge him to get better. Parker is in his prime, to be sure, but I can't help but think that he may have had a bit more oomph at the end against Orlando had he come back at the 8 minute mark of the 4th instead of the 10 minute mark. Pop's willingness to trust Hill, particularly against quality teams, is lacking right now, IMO.
As for the Lakers, I think Kobe has to be a committee assignment and I think the thing the Spurs absolutely must avoid is allowing Kobe to get into that mode where he commands a double and creates havoc by making plays for his teammates. To me, Kobe is most dangerous when he's making plays for his teammates -- you know he's going to get his, but the Lakers become damn near unbeatable when the other guys carry their weight. The default answer for years has been Bowen and when push comes to shove in a big moment, I think Pop will remember Game 1 of the '08 WCF and stick to his guns with Bowen. But in a regular season matchup like Wednesday's, I can certainly see the possibility that Pop will try a number of different things, particularly to look at Mason on Kobe for long stretches to see what he's got.
I don't like the way the Spurs bigs match to the Lakers' bigs; I suspect that Bonner's foul trouble will make Thomas and/or Oberto play a lot of minutes.
sit Manu until they play the Lakers in the playoffs
first off its impossible to defend kobe, so that shouldn't even be discussed. your only hope is to deny him the ball.
as for the rest of LA, they already got it in their head that they can kick our ass..and now they got bynum back. we aren't beating them.
Send another 19 yr old to Kobe's hotel room. Only way he'll foul out.
first off its impossible to defend kobe, so that shouldn't even be discussed. your only hope is to deny him the ball.
as for the rest of LA, they already got it in their head that they can kick our ass..and now they got bynum back. we aren't beating them.
First off, in man to man defense you're always 1on1 unless you're doubling, and since I don't think we should double, I put 1on1. Ball denial is essential, but you won't deny him the ball many possessions. LA is too good offensively for that.
Second off, we haven't even seen one game since the WCF. Mason/Hill/Tony/Tim should all be fine. I'm worried Manu will force things and the role players Bonner, Finley, Thomas etc won't make a splash.
"How the best defend Kobe"
as much as i dont like the rockets that was good one and he sure does tounger mexican girls also and we alot of those here ha
but hill vs kobe would be dumb our best bet is still bowen and hope kobe wont go for more than 40
i also think bynum is overated but of course i would start duncan on bynum and bonner on gasol and if gasol make like his first 3 or so shots bring kurt thomas on bynum and put duncan on gasol cuz gasol really struggles aganist duncan
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