Lakers vs. Celtics: Match-ups

[chibi]

Any preliminary thoughts on match-ups, mis-matches, problems, weaknesses, strengths, advantages, and disadvantages?  I have followed the Lakers all season, and I'm all for answering questions and discussion.  I'm also curious about just what the Lakers will be going up against, because I've only seen a handful of Celtics games. 

[chibi]

The first match-up that concerns me is Odom vs. Garnett. 

Offensively, Odom's strengths are his ball-handling and passing.  He isn't as skilled shooting the ball.  I anticipate KG will be able to back off him and dare him to shoot the mid-range jumper, a low-percentage shot for Odom.  This also means KG can clog the paint. 

McDyess and Ben Wallace were too slow of foot to take KG off the dribble.  But, Josh Smith seemed to have some success in the 1st round.  I think Odom is closer to a Josh Smith type PF, so what does that mean for the Celtics? 

[ManchesterCelticsFan]

Josh Smith still scored about 5 ppg less than KG during the series and shot less than 40%. It means the Celtics have a clear advantage if that's the matchup your going with. BTW, isn't Odom the SF with Radmanovic playing PF?

In general, this is how I rank the major players on both teams:

Ranking the top 3 players on each team

1.   Kobe
2.   KG
3.   Pierce
4.   Gasol
5.   Ray Allen
6.   Odom

Starters by position:

C – Gasol > Perkins
PF – KG > Radmanovic
SF – Pierce > Odom
SG – Kobe > Allen
PG – Rondo > Fisher

[chibi]

KG definitely outclasses Odom.  There's no debate there. 

No, Radmanovic is the 3.  Typically, Odom is responsible for guarding 4s.  In the first 3 playoff series, he was assigned Kenyon Martin, Carlos Boozer, and Fabricio Oberto.  When the Lakers go to a small lineup, he plays the 5.  Next year, when Bynum returns, he'll slide to the 3.   

[KJ33]

Josh Smith still scored about 5 ppg less than KG during the series and shot less than 40%. It means the Celtics have a clear advantage if that's the matchup your going with. BTW, isn't Odom the SF with Radmanovic playing PF?

In general, this is how I rank the major players on both teams:

Ranking the top 3 players on each team

1.   Kobe
2.   KG
3.   Pierce
4.   Gasol
5.   Ray Allen
6.   Odom

Starters by position:

C – Gasol > Perkins
PF – KG > Radmanovic
SF – Pierce > Odom
SG – Kobe > Allen
PG – Rondo > Fisher

Nope.  Odom plays the 4, Radmanovic the 3. 

Can you even conceive of Radmanovich trying to cover KG??  It would be the biggest mismatch ever.  I think Odom has a unique skill set which gives most 4's fits with his length, quickness and agility.  KG is one of the few I think that can match up with those skills defending against him, and Odom will have a very tough time defending KG.  I think just about every matchup but Kobe is in our favor, but Kobe wins his matchup against every team in the league.   While I would never argue that Perk is better than Gasol, I think he can do a decent job against him both covering him and on the glass, so that matchup is fairly even to me.  Pierce will destroy Radmanovich, Fisher is solid, but no match for Rondo in my opinion.

[libermaniac]

Center:  Perk should be able to play solid D against Gasol, but, as usual, will be a non-factor offensively, with the possible exception of offensive rebounds he might get by out-muscleing Pau.

PF:  I don't see KG's game being altered much by Odom.  Odom's best bet would be to try to pull KG outside to keep him away from helping on penetration.

SF:  Not sure who the Lakers will put on Pierce.  I'd probably go with Kobe.  He would give Pierce some trouble, but Pierce could possibly put Kobe into foul trouble if the Lakers went with this matchup.  If it's Radmanovic, I think Pierce will abuse him.

SG:  Not sure if the C's will put Ray Allen on Kobe ... that would worry me. They might go with Pierce.  And, Kobe will get a healthy does of James Posey.  The C's will also double Kobe as much as possible, and force the other guys to hit their jumpers.  Cleveland did this well, and I would imagine the Lakers shooters will do the same (and likely better) ... that's my biggest matchup fear.

PG:  This should be a pretty good matchup.  I haven't seen DFish play in years, but he used to be a tough defender.  Assuming he hasn't lost much of a step, he should do OK vs. Rondo.  Rondo should be fine defending DFish.

As I mentioned above, I can see the Lakers giving the Celtics trouble in the same fashion that Cleveland did, with the supporting cast hitting the open looks that are inevitable as the C's try to take Kobe out of the game.

I also think the Lakers are better then their individual matchups would dictate ... probably due to Kobe making everyone better.  So, this should be a slugfest.

[Who]

Radmanovic's defense has improved a lot since the start of the season and especially since his Seattle days. Still his value is primarily as a long help defender who clogs passing lanes rather than his one-on-one defense.

Carmelo Anthony killed him in the first round in the post, midpost, off the dribble. Carmelo struggled with his scoring in that series but it was only because he was missing the shots but the shots he was getting were great. He was getting exactly the types of looks he normally scores and lots of high percentage shots.

Over the course of the season Radmanovic has also been lazy against players who drift outside or pop out for three pointers. Lots of perimeter shooting small forwards have punished him, none more so than Peja Stojakovic.

So Pierce should get a lot of shots that he likes in this series against Radmanovic.

[chibi]

Radmanovic's job is to create better spacing on the offensive end, mainly.  He'll try to pull Pierce out to the three point line and give the triangle the spacing it needs to work its magic. 

Defensively, Radmanovic isn't a speed demon or anything.  If Pierce looks to drive on him and exploit his speed, Radmanovic will try to funnel Pierce to the baseline, where Gasol and Odom will look to trap him.

Vujacic will come off the bench to play the 2, with Farmar at the 1.  Then Kobe shifts to the 3, and will matchup with Pierce.

I worry about Perkins.  The Lakers will need to prevent him from making an easy putbacks.  He's going to be a handful for Gasol on one end, but Gasol can race him down the court and wear him out. 

[chibi]

Not even Bruce Bowen could adequately guard Kobe.  I don't think much of Allen as a defender, but he's definitely going to get a lot of help.  Kobe's going to probe the defense initially and see how they react to his penetration, and the success of the Lakers depends on how well Kobe reads the defense and how effective his decisions passing out of traps and doubles are. 

[mustang]

I think there might be a fair amount of Rondo-Ray-Pierce-Posey-KG happening this series, particularly in the 4th and if Gasol runs Perk ragged. Posey can handle Odom, too, I think, as can KG with Gasol...

[irishbuddy]

well I live in LA with a bunch of Laker fans as friends and they all seem to think they are going to walk all over us.Not to mention the funny local radio talk already going on.I will tell one discussion was that Sasha was going to give Paul Pierce hell defending him and I almost started to cry I laughed so hard.But anyways congats to all you die hard fans like me who went through hell to get here.WAY TO GO CELTS.

[mikeford]

Perk will probably be out of every game 4 minutes into the first quarter with 2 fouls guarding Gasol. This thing is gonna be pretty ugly for the Celtics. We dont really have anyone to guard their 2 best players.

[blueygreen]

I haven't seen enough games to be sure, but Ray seems to do a good job on Kobe defensively. They have had a bit of a grudge in the past and Ray seems to do a good job of stopping him (as much as he can be). That being said I think the matchups will be interesting but I think we have the edge.

[chibi]

I haven't seen enough games to be sure, but Ray seems to do a good job on Kobe defensively. They have had a bit of a grudge in the past and Ray seems to do a good job of stopping him (as much as he can be). That being said I think the matchups will be interesting but I think we have the edge.

I've been following Kobe since he was a rookie.  I can honestly say that for the last couple of weeks he has taken his game to another level.  He's pretty much unguardable, one-on-one.  I know that sounds like exaggeration, but it is true.  Ask Bruce Bowen, 1st Team All-NBA defender.  Allen is going to have to rely on help. 

You guys would know.  When going up against an elite 2 guard, how do the Celtics typically defend him?  Do they usually stick with a man-to-man matchup or will they double-team him?  Who are the Celtics primary help defenders?       

[bucknersrevenge]

I haven't seen enough games to be sure, but Ray seems to do a good job on Kobe defensively. They have had a bit of a grudge in the past and Ray seems to do a good job of stopping him (as much as he can be). That being said I think the matchups will be interesting but I think we have the edge.

I've been following Kobe since he was a rookie.  I can honestly say that for the last couple of weeks he has taken his game to another level.  He's pretty much unguardable, one-on-one.  I know that sounds like exaggeration, but it is true.  Ask Bruce Bowen, 1st Team All-NBA defender.  Allen is going to have to rely on help. 

You guys would know.  When going up against an elite 2 guard, how do the Celtics typically defend him?  Do they usually stick with a man-to-man matchup or will they double-team him?  Who are the Celtics primary help defenders?       

i guess that is THE question isnt it? logig might dictate paul be the one to give help. it would be tough to give help off of either odom or gasol though that may actually happen. no laker has benefitted more from gasols presence than lamar odom who now seems to be sharing gasols brain. their interior passing when on the floor together has been nothing short of spectacular and it's going to be an issue for the celtics no doubt. the celtics are gonna have to test the toughness inside of the lakers. punish them, crash the offensive glass and likewise keep gasol off the offensive glass as well. but just as kobe can dictate matchups and create matchup advantages i think paul can do the same with whoever is guarding him at his end. with all due respect to vujacic who has been playing well and even kobe, i dont think either are big enough or strong enough to keep paul from getting to where he wants to go on the floor.