Lakers vs. Celtics: Match-ups

[Barnabas]

Both teams match up fairly well, in my humble opinion. 

1)  Odom's main job for his team will be to keep Garnett in check, rebound, and block shots.  Garnett's job for Boston will be to score and rebound.

2)  Perkins' main job is to defend Gasol, rebound, and defend the interior.  Gasol's job is to score and defend the interior.  If Gasol can be productively offensively, then he's basically doing what he needs to do, even his defense is not good.  On the same line, even if Perkins doesn't produce offensively, if he can keep Gasol in check and gets himself a lot of rebounds, then he's done his job.

3)  Kobe vs. Paul.  That's a fairly even match, with a slight nod towards Kobe for his explosiveness and MVP performance thus far. 

4)  Allen vs. Radmanovic.  I doubt they'll guard one another, but Allen is the better, exprienced player.  Radmanovic has the height advantage, so look for the Lakers to have him go inside, just like they did against Ginobili in Game 1 vs. SA. 

5)  Rondo vs. Fisher.  This is the match up that worries me.  Fisher is a veteran, and he's a very smart player who doesn't make many mistakes.  The opposite of Rondo.  Rondo can beat Fisher off the dribble, but Rondo is not a good finisher.  So what happens when Rondo takes it to the paint, surrounded by Gasol, Odom, and Radmanovic?  This match up clearly favor the Lakers.

Our bench is probably the best in the league.  Anytime you've got PJ. Posey, and Cassell you have yourself an awesome bench.  Cassell is struggling to find his role on the team, to fit his game to the team.  We really need his experience and playmaking in this series.  I believe the Celtics have the advantage here.  Though I really like Sasha Vujacic (maybe Danny Ainge can make a play to get this guy!), the Boston bench is probably the better one.

What should worry Boston fans is that they're playing a team that has not lost at home, and you play that team three times in a row, at home.  So, you win your two games at home, then they win their three, now in spite of holding serve you're down 3-2 and have to win back to back, to their one.  To me, this takes away Boston's homecourt advantage.  I can see why the media would pick the Lakers as the favorites.  Surely even Boston fans can see that.

[Jon]

Just a FYI about Kobe being NBA All Defensive First Team; he deserves that about as much as Michael Jordan did late in his career when Pippen and Harper got all the tough defensive assignments and he casually guarded the worst player on the floor. 

Posey is a much better defender than Kobe. 

[RebusRankin]

Walton is the only non athletic Laker? Radmonovic, Fisher, Turief come to mind.

[oneofthesedays]

You really need to throw out what happened in the regular season.  It has almost NO bearing on the playoffs.  I would hope you guys understand that after having seen ATL and CLE take your team to 7 games.

The way I see it, the Celtics need production from their Big 3 to beat LA.  If Jesus Shuttlesworth decides to slump again for the series the Celtics are toast.  The Celtics have yet to face an offense as dynamic as the Laker's or a coach as good as Phil Jackson.  Doc has his work cut out for him, and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if he looks like a complete fool when all is said and done.  Coaching matters so much in the playoffs, I can't remember the last time a mediocre coach won a ring.

[BudweiserCeltic]

1.  With regard to the 45% fg pct, I'm looking at the season stats as opposed to the playoff numbers.  I thought they'd be more indicative of what the Lakers are capable of, since they are based on 82 games instead of 15.  For the playoffs, the Lakers are holding opponents to 43% fg pct.  

Well, you were making a comparison against Cleveland, a team that had players holding out, injured, and a huge trade in mid season... clearly an unfair comparison. During the season we never saw the real Cleveland team.  If the season is such a good indicator, then lets go with the 2-0 advantage and killing the Celtics did against the Lakers.

2.  You are right about the Lakers not being younger.  The avg age for the Hawks is 25.8; the avg age for the Lakers?  26.4
The Lakers are pretty athletic, with the exception of Luke Walton.  Since athleticism is kind of a vague concept I should have avoided throwing it in there.

Not AS athletic as the Hawks... Bibby is really the only unathletic player there. No one in the Lakers, other than Kobe compares to the athletism of Smith, Horford, and the rest of that squad. Really, this is not even worth discussing, the Lakers are not that big of an athletic team. That's why the Hawks were such a good rebounding team, while the Lakers aren't.

4.  And you say Perkins is better than Tim Duncan on defense?  Come on, Dino.  You're better than that!

You saw Tim Duncan defending first hand... how was his help defense? How easy did some of your players blow by him? And you clearly haven't seen Perk play, and haven't noticed the huge responsibility he has on the defensive end. I'd even say that in the last round or so he has been our best defender out there, and yes that includes Keving Garnett (Defensive Player of the Year, anyone?). Just ask Billups.

[chibi]

Walton is the only non athletic Laker? Radmonovic, Fisher, Turief come to mind.

For a 6'10" guy Radmanovic can still run the floor pretty well for a guy his size.  No, he's not Josh Smith.  Fisher isn't going to dunk on anyone but he's strong and quick.  And Turiaf is a bonafide athlete.  I'm sure there are youtube clips that will make my point for me.   

[BudweiserCeltic]

3.  Any specific reasons why athletic teams like the Hawks and Wizards give the Celtics trouble?

Their athletism helps them rebounding the ball, especially in the offensive end. Their long arms and shot blocking ability also gave the Celtics a bit of trouble. Lakers won't outrebound us and they won't bother us much with their shot blocking.

Also, Joe Johnson was spectacular he really hit some really tough shots, and he really caught a few Celtics by surprise with his composure. We know Kobe, we know what to expect.  There was a huge unpredictability factor with the Hawks which caused the Celtics problems. I don't see any surprises from the Lakers side, they are who they are, and even though the Hawks aren't that good of a team, they have some real talent there. Horford raised his game, Josh Smith is no bum, and needless to say Joe Johnson.

Not only are they athletic, but their bigs are athletic, and that's very important in how they can give us and probably other teams some amount of trouble.

[RebusRankin]

Walton is the only non athletic Laker? Radmonovic, Fisher, Turief come to mind.

For a 6'10" guy Radmanovic can still run the floor pretty well for a guy his size.  No, he's not Josh Smith.  Fisher isn't going to dunk on anyone but he's strong and quick.  And Turiaf is a bonafide athlete.  I'm sure there are youtube clips that will make my point for me.   

Fisher's a good defender and a steady floor general but he's not quick.

[chibi]

1.  With regard to the 45% fg pct, I'm looking at the season stats as opposed to the playoff numbers.  I thought they'd be more indicative of what the Lakers are capable of, since they are based on 82 games instead of 15.  For the playoffs, the Lakers are holding opponents to 43% fg pct.  

Well, you were making a comparison against Cleveland, a team that had players holding out, injured, and a huge trade in mid season... clearly an unfair comparison. During the season we never saw the real Cleveland team.  If the season is such a good indicator, then lets go with the 2-0 advantage and killing the Celtics did against the Lakers.

2.  You are right about the Lakers not being younger.  The avg age for the Hawks is 25.8; the avg age for the Lakers?  26.4
The Lakers are pretty athletic, with the exception of Luke Walton.  Since athleticism is kind of a vague concept I should have avoided throwing it in there.

Not AS athletic as the Hawks... Bibby is really the only unathletic player there. No one in the Lakers, other than Kobe compares to the athletism of Smith, Horford, and the rest of that squad. Really, this is not even worth discussing, the Lakers are not that big of an athletic team. That's why the Hawks were such a good rebounding team, while the Lakers aren't.

4.  And you say Perkins is better than Tim Duncan on defense?  Come on, Dino.  You're better than that!

You saw Tim Duncan defending first hand... how was his help defense? How easy did some of your players blow by him? And you clearly haven't seen Perk play, and haven't noticed the huge responsibility he has on the defensive end. I'd even say that in the last round or so he has been our best defender out there, and yes that includes Keving Garnett (Defensive Player of the Year, anyone?). Just ask Billups.

Well, the Lakers had their share of injuries as well, and a major trade to deal with.  And if you feel like judging the Lakers without Gasol, you're free to do so.  I just don't think you'll get an accurate read based on their performance without him.  In any case, I was just rebutting another posters' assumption that the Lakers are some sort of poor defensive team, and that the Celtics would "have their way" with them.  Is that you're opinion, in spite of the Celtics offensive struggles and in spite of the Lakers being a top 10 team in defensive fg%?  If so, how did you arrive at that conclusion?          

I remember Kobe blowing by Duncan a couple of times.  It wasn't a regular occurence.  You seem to think Tim Duncan is some sort of giant snail.  In reality, he can't help without leaving Pau Gasol all alone beneath the basket; that would be a huge gamble.  He's an experienced veteran and he knows what he's doing.  Look, i'm sure everyone recognizes that Perkins is a good defender.  But putting him in the same category as Duncan is ridiculous, and implying he is a superior defender is delusional.

Perkins responsibilities are pretty basic, based on what I've seen.  He blocks out and rebounds, and does a pretty good job at both when he can avoid foul trouble.    

[BudweiserCeltic]

Perkins responsibilities are pretty basic, based on what I've seen.  He blocks out and rebounds, and does a pretty good job at both when he can avoid foul trouble.     

Clearly the reason why your judgment on Perkins is inaccurate. Responsibilities pretty basic? Have you seen the Celtics play at all and seen how their defense actually works? If all he was doing was blocking out and rebounding I wouldn't be calling him a good defender.

I'm not even a Perkins fan, but he has been extraordinarily defensively and his help defense has been quite amazing. You have to give credit where credit is due.

Again, go ask Billups.

Also, it's not that I think that Duncan is a poor defender, I'm simply saying that the level of defense Perkins has been playing in the playoffs, especially as of late can be considered superior. It happens constantly, when lesser players step up their games through periods of times and currently Perkins is playing unbelievable defense.

I know it's really no big indication, but in the only game Gasol played against the Celtics this year he was 3 for 13 with 8 rebounds, a bit below his average. I know he's in a new situation and all, but there's a bit of precedent on how Perk can bother Gasol. Not only Perk, but all the bigs we threw at him bothered him.

[fairweatherfan06]

Phil Jackson is not fond of double-teams if I remember. I think any of our big 3 can flourish offensively without seeing the variety of double teams each one has had to deal with from series to series.   (that is what stifled Ray combined with PG play in the Cleveland series you see Ray is Ray again now)

BTW-Chibi I'm enjoying the back and forth between you and the board members. 

Some quick thoughts: Ray has historically played well against Kobe, he definitely won't stop him but his lack of defense is overrated.  He's not a great defender but he's not a bad one either and he's much better than advertised. 

I think Odom is soft, an extremely talented (soft) player who I am a fan of and have followed since he played at Rhode Island. But I think he is the X-factor for the Lakers in the series if he mans up against the Celtics frontline and produces (plus some of the role players stepping up intermittently) the Lakers win the series.  If he withers against the Celtics defense and becomes a nonfactor (offensively) I think the Lakers have a problem.

[chibi]

Perkins responsibilities are pretty basic, based on what I've seen.  He blocks out and rebounds, and does a pretty good job at both when he can avoid foul trouble.     

Clearly the reason why your judgment on Perkins is inaccurate. Responsibilities pretty basic? Have you seen the Celtics play at all and seen how their defense actually works? If all he was doing was blocking out and rebounding I wouldn't be calling him a good defender.

I'm not even a Perkins fan, but he has been extraordinarily defensively and his help defense has been quite amazing. You have to give credit where credit is due.

Again, go ask Billups

Also, it's not that I think that Duncan is a poor defender, I'm simply saying that the level of defense Perkins has been playing in the playoffs, especially as of late can be considered superior. It happens constantly, when lesser players step up their games through periods of times and currently Perkins is playing unbelievable defense.

I do understand what the Celtics want to accomplish on defense.  They want to clog the middle and protect the paint; they want to limit the opposition to taking contested jumpshots; and they want to frustrate the opposition and make them take shots with the shot clock running down.  

Naturally, the Celtics matched up very well with Atlanta, Cleveland, and Detroit.  Why?  Those teams aren't able to space the floor because they lack 3pt shooting.  Without proper spacing, the already superb Celtics defense becomes even more daunting.  Wing defenders don't have to keep tabs on poor 3pt shooters.  They can hedge off their men and help out Perkins and Garnett.  Do you see where I am going with this?  Perkins defense looks better than it is because he is the recipient of help.  He's not a top-tier lockdown defender.  1 block on a hobbled Chauncey Billups does not a top defender make.        

And against the Lakers, Celtics fans will find that out very quickly.  Kobe is surrounded by 3pt shooters:  Radmanovic, Fisher, Farmar, Vujacic, and to some degree even Walton.  Who is going to help Perkins when Gasol faces him up 15 ft from the basket and takes him to the hole?  This isn't Al Horford with his limited offensive repetoire.  This isn't the slow-footed Zydrunas Ilgauskas.  This isn't an old Rasheed Wallace.  This is Pau F'n Gasol!  Radmanovic will occupy a corner on the strong side.  Kobe will be at the top of the circle.  And Fisher will be about halfway between Kobe and Radmanovic.  There will be no help for Perkins.  That's the beauty of the Triangle.    

[BudweiserCeltic]

Yet the Celtics are the best in the league defending the 3, and during the season the Lakers had little success against it despite the almighty triangle, and I don't think Gasol has that much influence on their 3-point shooting. That's the beauty of the Celtics' defense.

[chibi]

Yet the Celtics are the best in the league defending the 3, and during the season the Lakers had little success against it despite the almighty triangle, and I don't think Gasol has that much influence on their 3-point shooting. That's the beauty of the Celtics' defense.

We'll have to wait and see. 

[KJ33]

Perkins responsibilities are pretty basic, based on what I've seen.  He blocks out and rebounds, and does a pretty good job at both when he can avoid foul trouble.     

Clearly the reason why your judgment on Perkins is inaccurate. Responsibilities pretty basic? Have you seen the Celtics play at all and seen how their defense actually works? If all he was doing was blocking out and rebounding I wouldn't be calling him a good defender.

I'm not even a Perkins fan, but he has been extraordinarily defensively and his help defense has been quite amazing. You have to give credit where credit is due.

Again, go ask Billups

Also, it's not that I think that Duncan is a poor defender, I'm simply saying that the level of defense Perkins has been playing in the playoffs, especially as of late can be considered superior. It happens constantly, when lesser players step up their games through periods of times and currently Perkins is playing unbelievable defense.

I do understand what the Celtics want to accomplish on defense.  They want to clog the middle and protect the paint; they want to limit the opposition to taking contested jumpshots; and they want to frustrate the opposition and make them take shots with the shot clock running down. 

Naturally, the Celtics matched up very well with Atlanta, Cleveland, and Detroit.  Why?  Those teams aren't able to space the floor because they lack 3pt shooting.  Without proper spacing, the already superb Celtics defense becomes even more daunting.  Wing defenders don't have to keep tabs on poor 3pt shooters.  They can hedge off their men and help out Perkins and Garnett.  Do you see where I am going with this?  Perkins defense looks better than it is because he is the recipient of help.  He's not a top-tier lockdown defender.  1 block on a hobbled Chauncey Billups does not a top defender make.       

And against the Lakers, Celtics fans will find that out very quickly.  Kobe is surrounded by 3pt shooters:  Radmanovic, Fisher, Farmar, Vujacic, and to some degree even Walton.  Who is going to help Perkins when Gasol faces him up 15 ft from the basket and takes him to the hole?  This isn't Al Horford with his limited offensive repetoire.  This isn't the slow-footed Zydrunas Ilgauskas.  This isn't an old Rasheed Wallace.  This is Pau F'n Gasol!  Radmanovic will occupy a corner on the strong side.  Kobe will be at the top of the circle.  And Fisher will be about halfway between Kobe and Radmanovic.  There will be no help for Perkins.  That's the beauty of the Triangle.   

Perkins isn't the beneficiary of help, he is the one providing the help in the Celts D.  The whole "lock-down" defender thing is so overrated and misunderstood.  The thing about this Celtics is the TEAM defense they play, not counting on winning each individual matchup.  They have had plenty of experience closing out on 3 pt shooters this year, their defensive schemes are not ill-equipped to deal with this.  The Celtics didn't pick their opponents in the playoffs and what their strengths and weaknesses were, they simply defended who they played. 

As far as the Gasol matchup, I really don't think you have seen many C's games to make it seem that Kendrick will be so overmatched when Pau is facing up.  Perk has shown he can slide his feet defensively on the perimeter hedging on picks, keeping some of the league's best guards in front of him without letting them turn the corner.  I think you are in for a rude awakening if you think Gasol is just going to face up Perk and blow by him with the dribble.