Spurs: Scheming for Lebron in Game 2.

[Malik Hairston]

I didn't say you weren't from LA..

I said you better be from Cali if you're Black and a Kobe fan..I hope you're from Cali, tbh..

[Koolaid_Man]

I didn't say you weren't from LA..

I said you better be from Cali if you're Black and a Kobe fan..I hope you're from Cali, tbh..

I'm from Cali Africa

[Buddy Mignon]

I didn't say you weren't from LA..

I said you better be from Cali if you're Black and a Kobe fan..I hope you're from Cali, tbh..

ok

[Koolaid_Man]

I see Midget is back Luva....he had to go do some research on basketball terminology after you ethered his got ass...now let's see what bull he done ripped off a gay fan site

[midnightpulp]

Here is where your analysis is flawed, and due to you never actually playing the game at a high level like me, you've forced me to educate you on this issue. Lebron is not even half the slasher Kobe was. The Celtics were only successful in bodying Kobe because they basically played a box and 1/strong side zone defense. With great defensive big men this type of defensive scheme is by for the best defense to run against players that like to slash. It would have wrecked havoc on even a Jordan/Pippen combo. The only way to beat this kind of defense is to have great shooters with a dominant big man that can crash the offensive boards. A better comparison for the sake of argument would be the Spurs great defense with Bruce Bowen harassing style defense. Bowen lived to body guys and had some success against both Kobe and Lebron, yet Kobe still was still able to get past Bowen and finish at the rim over two 7 footers. Why? If you look at the way the Spurs played Lebron in the 07 finals he could barely get his shot off... why? Lebron, not having faith in his jumper and post game has forced him to developed this open court downhill bull rush to the basket that's tough to stop unless you have great transition defense, which the Spurs had at that time. Mentally, he knows that he can't rise up over his defender and shoot the fall away 20 footers when his defender body's him up or the double team comes. Therefore, this leaves his defender thinking I can sag off him when he puts the ball on the floor and body him when he has it in his hands.

Kobe on the other hand... you are basically at his will unless his shot isn't falling, which is rare. He knows that if his man tries to body him up he can blow past him. If the defender tries to sag off even the slightest bit Kobe is going to raise up for the 20 footer. The guy literally had no weaknesses in a half court offense. My only knock on Kobe was his refusal to push the ball in the open court like Lebron and Magic did creating early offense. But his reasoning for not pushing the ball in the open court came from knowing that he could get any shot in the half court, unlike Magic or Lebron. Go back to the 91 finals and peep the Bulls strategy against Magic. They put full court pressure on Magic... bodying him up to prevent him from making plays in the open court or early offense. Both Magic and Lebron are smart enough to play to their strengths, and the Bulls and the Mavs took their strengths away. As a Spur fan you should know better than anyone how great Kobe was at blowing past Manu, Bowen and others, then dunking on Duncan or Robinson. Lebron doesn't, nor never has had that in his game on a consistent basis. His offensive game is much more dependant on the skill level of his teammates. Kobe on the other hand can get anywhere he wants unless you double him or run that strong side defense at him. You play the same defense against Lebron and he'll quit. We saw it against the Mavs.

Kobe was actually great at blowing by Terry Porter, Danny Ferry, and the ghost of Sean Elliott. When the Spurs finally got some decent perimeter defenders and perimeter scorers to make Kobe actually have to work on the defensive end, he didn't drive as much, especially in '08. That series he killed us with the jumper (shot 11 FTs over the entire series). Hats off to him. But you're being a homer if you think Kobe was anywhere near the penetration threat James is.

Here's the shot charts from the '08 series:

http://bkref.com/tiny/LrHVi

http://bkref.com/tiny/ygkeG

http://bkref.com/tiny/1kEU7

http://bkref.com/tiny/8YTNk

http://bkref.com/tiny/Zm63D

Look how many attempts he has outside of 5 feet compared to at rim. Furthermore, look at the percentages of where Kobe takes him shots compared to James:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...shooting::none

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...shooting::none

0-10 feet: For James, 46% of his shot attempts come in that area compared to Kobe's 35%.

And their shooting percentage at rim: James (0-3 feet): 72%, Kobe: 61%.

I don't know why James being a better penetrator than Kobe elicited such a reply. That's pretty much common knowledge. You can say Kobe is more skilled, a better jumpshooter, has a much larger arsenal of shots, has a better inbetween game, but nothing supports Kobe being a better slasher.

[Koolaid_Man]

Kobe was actually great at blowing by Terry Porter, Danny Ferry, and the ghost of Sean Elliott. When the Spurs finally got some decent perimeter defenders and perimeter scorers to make Kobe actually have to work on the defensive end, he didn't drive as much, especially in '08. That series he killed us with the jumper (shot 11 FTs over the entire series). Hats off to him. But you're being a homer if you think Kobe was anywhere near the penetration threat James is.

Here's the shot charts from the '08 series:

http://bkref.com/tiny/LrHVi

http://bkref.com/tiny/ygkeG

http://bkref.com/tiny/1kEU7

http://bkref.com/tiny/8YTNk

http://bkref.com/tiny/Zm63D

Look how many attempts he has outside of 5 feet compared to at rim. Furthermore, look at the percentages of where Kobe takes him shots compared to James:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...shooting::none

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...shooting::none

0-10 feet: For James, 46% of his shot attempts come in that area compared to Kobe's 35%.

And their shooting percentage at rim: James (0-3 feet): 72%, Kobe: 61%.

I don't know why James being a better penetrator than Kobe elicited such a reply. That's pretty much common knowledge. You can say Kobe is more skilled, a better jumpshooter, has a much larger arsenal of shots, has a better inbetween game, but nothing supports Kobe being a better slasher.

Your asshole must be a mile long and a river wide....Imma let Buddy tag it again...but before he does let me put on the latex gloves and smear Vaseline all over your ass in preparation by saying this....what big man was waiting on Lebron when he bulled past his defender....was it a prime Duncan and Robinson?

[DMC]

After the media backlash and the criticism Lebron has received over the past 24 hours, you know he is going to come out breathing fire.

Last game, Pop switched things up and bodied up Lebron, taking away his jumper. I'm not in favor of that strategy. You can't keep Lebron out of the lane with man-to-man defense. You have to sag back, pack the paint, and concede the jumper. If he torches you with 18 footers, hats off. It's still better than him living off penetration, which also gets his teammates involved through drive-and-kicking.

Now that Lebron is going to be extra motivated for game 2, his man defender is going to be meat and our bigs will be left out to dry. If Pop mans up, I expect Duncan to be in early foul trouble from Lebron constantly attacking the rim.

I say turn him into a jumpshooter. Make him think about it. Maybe he'll mentally overcompensate trying to prove the doubters wrong and have a terrible shooting night. But if we man him up, he's going historic. No doubt in my mind.

He doesn't have to be a jumpshooter though, he's got better jumpshooters on the floor with him and he doesn't mind distributing the ball, so if the Spurs give Lebron room, he's going to use that room to move the ball, and once the ball starts to move the defense starts to move, and next thing you know someone like Ray is shooting a 3 or Bosh is in the paint.

I wish it was as easy as just giving Lebron the ball and challenging him to shoot long shots.

[Koolaid_Man]

I personally will never let this thread die....it's the thread Luva came back to life to neuter and ether both Midnight_Pulp and Malika Hairston....it was one of his finest moments indeed.

[Koolaid_Man]

bump bump bump baby

[Malik Hairston]

I would always let him shoot. He's an average NBA shooter.

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