Fakers' Small Ball

[YouGotRondo d]

I expect to see the Fakers play some small ball tonight, with a lineup of something like fischer, vooyachick, the mj wannabe, space cadet and gasol. It seems like their only hope is to fire away from 3 off of the fast break, and it (obviously) has had some success for them, so I was wondering a few things...

Can the Celts match up while keeping our normal rotations?
and
Does anyone think LA would be more dangerous with Team Odom coming off the bench?

Let's hope Doc doesn't pull an Avery Johnson and try to match up with them, I think we should exploit this mismatch in the post, however, I'm concerned that we will have a difficult time defending the 3PT line. What should we do if its successful?

[Roy Hobbs]

The last thing the Celtics should do in those circumstances is match the Lakers by playing small ball of their own.  Instead, the Celtics should exploit the defensive mismatches.  Vlad Rad has to guard either KG or Perk; both would work him in the post.  I like having either Pierce or Allen matched up on Sasha.  That lineup forces them to guard Rondo with Fisher, rather than Kobe, because of mismatches elsewhere.

Also, of course, our team would be even more dominant on the boards than usual.  The only half-way decent rebounder the Lakers would have in there (relative to his position) is Kobe.  Gasol is not a great rebounder, and VladRad, Fisher, and Sasha are poor at it.  That means more second opportunities, more fast breaks for the Celtics, etc.

On the other end, there's no way the Lakers are going to hit the majority of the long range jumpers they take, like they did in the fourth quarter of Game 2.

[Donoghus]

The last thing the Celtics should do in those circumstances is match the Lakers by playing small ball of their own.  Instead, the Celtics should exploit the defensive mismatches.  Vlad Rad has to guard either KG or Perk; both would work him in the post.  I like having either Pierce or Allen matched up on Sasha.  That lineup forces them to guard Rondo with Fisher, rather than Kobe, because of mismatches elsewhere.

Also, of course, our team would be even more dominant on the boards than usual.  The only half-way decent rebounder the Lakers would have in there (relative to his position) is Kobe.  Gasol is not a great rebounder, and VladRad, Fisher, and Sasha are poor at it.  That means more second opportunities, more fast breaks for the Celtics, etc.

On the other end, there's no way the Lakers are going to hit the majority of the long range jumpers they take, like they did in the fourth quarter of Game 2.

Agreed. Don't play into their smallball if the Lake Show do decide on that route. 

[YouGotRondo d]

Yeah, thats a good point. The rebounding and post advantages would probably be so significant that the opportunities for this lineup would be limited.

With that being said, Doc still needs to find a solution for this defensively as we go forward. Even if its just used to close out quarters, they can obviously put up points in a hurry and I don't see the Celts having too many 20+ point leads in LA.

[Chris]

I don't see it.  I think Odom is too important to their success inside. 

I also think if they do do that, the C's will stay big, at least at first.  They will only go small if they start getting burnt.

It will be a whole lot easier if Perk is healthy enough to play more minutes.  With Perk, they can play big against a small lineup like that, because despite his size, he is able to cover guys on the perimeter very well.