Stop Kobe, PLEASE!

[Change]

The big three will be fine. The issue is Kobe if he goes the team goes, 18 free-throws for Kobe is rediculous. How do you stop the "MVP"? Simple keep him off the lane, how?

1) Clog the middle, switch when they run their sets and keep either KG or Perk in the middle
2) Stay in-front of him, don't go for the fakes.
3) Double team on pick & rolls make him pass the ball
4) Most important NEVER TAKE YOUR EYES OFF HIM

 
Same things we did with Lebron
Any more ideas?

[ma11l]

I just don't understand going from the extreme of doubling at half court to not doubling him at all, all within a span of a minute.  If we played the defense we had all series long in against him in the fourth quarter we might've had a shot.  Then again he is a phenomenal player and a great closer.  We kept it close, but their star put them over the top, ours didn't respond when they had their chances.

[PerkinsERA43]

its not so simple-- remember late in the game we aggressively doubled Kobe with Ray and KG? That was when Vujacic (who will never play that well again) hit the three from the corner to put them up 7.

Kobe is the best in the world. A raging ******* but a great player. We tried clogging the middle, and it worked alright thats the best way to contain him.

Its pretty easy to say "dont go for fakes". Its a different thing to actually stick with him 1 on 1.

When we doubled teamed he, in the words of Mark Jackson "is a willin' passah".... he's not, and only passes because he's doubled, but still, same effect.

Never take your eyes off him? Should the whole D focus on him? they do have other players who can score.....

Bottom line he's tough to stop. Even more so at Staples, because he gets all the whistles (and, side note, Pierce gets NONE... wow.... did you see how many times Pierce got banged around on his drives without the benefit of a whistle? The fact that we all saw who stern would pick to ref ahead of time, and that they performed in exactly the way we thought they would, speaks volumes.)

[bbc3341]

Kobe is a great, great player. But he is not on the same level as MJ. His 36 tonight felt like a brutally hard, wrestled 36 with lots of FTs. He is having a hard time scoring against the Cs and it will take its toll as the series rolls on...

[Change]

i understand that kobe is too good, but at least contain him. and about the refs it p---es me off when a team whines for two days and never gets fined, and the next game gets all the calls. thats doesn't look good for the league. whine and get your way!

[Discoflux]

Boston has been containing kobe as well as you possibly can.
Games 1 and 2 he was fairly stifled.  Back home in LA he was able to get off, but still, good D by most of the Celtics.  Besides, if you double Kobe you leave open The Machine.

[rmcc4444]

NO NO NO! sorry for the emphasis, but i strongly am against doubling kobe.  if you double up on him, you allow the role players to get involved.  kobe is going to get his stats even if you triple team him.  take out the role players and tighten up on everyone else.  if we shot shot even marginal tonight, we would be up 3-0.

[Bahku]

Nope ... I wouldn't double-team Kobe ... it's a waste of energy and court time. He's gonna get his when he's on, no matter what you do, and that doesn't happen much against the C's. The key is staunching the bleeding everywhere else, and suffocating them on defense the way we have been. This game was a bit of a fluke, and I think next game will be a little different ... and more positive for the Celtics, (as long as Rage isn't hurt).

[thedawg]

The big three will be fine. The issue is Kobe if he goes the team goes, 18 free-throws for Kobe is rediculous. How do you stop the "MVP"? Simple keep him off the lane, how?

1) Clog the middle, switch when they run their sets and keep either KG or Perk in the middle
2) Stay in-front of him, don't go for the fakes.
3) Double team on pick & rolls make him pass the ball
4) Most important NEVER TAKE YOUR EYES OFF HIM

 
Same things we did with Lebron
Any more ideas?

Putting bodies in the middle is the idea around the sides which is how he gets through and gets the calls.  If Kobe gets to the line as often as tonight then the defense is NOT doing its job and the chances of winning the game are slim.    I like it when we let him take contested shots from the outside and let him earn the points, not give him easy points from the charity stripe. 

I also want our guys to keep on running into the paint and get fouls like we did in game 2.  If we get huge game from Perkins or Powe in game 4 then I predict a Boston win.  The big three will be ok.

[ziggen]

let Kobe be a one man team and deny help from his team mates. Game 3 was the lowest scoring game for the Lakers so far this series. The Celtics just didnt have that extra offense they needed in the 4th quarter.

[Hrvoje]

Tony is the only one who can guard him.

[nickagneta]

The announcers got it right late last night. There is no one in the world that can guard Kobe one on one when the game is on the line late. Ray did a phenomenal job during those last few possessions but Kobe is just that good. The trap, given the outside shooting of Vujacic, was ill advised as well.

The Celtics should have done everything possible to deny Kobe the ball to begin with instead of letting the ball get to him late.

But the whole team from the coach down to the last bench guy had a bad game and bad body language. It was as if the free throw discrepency early on proved to them that there was no way the C's could win so they just decided to play out the string.

Their body language on the court and off during the game was depressing to watch.

[crownsy]

yea, they didn't play through what they had to know was going to be a one sided ref game, which of course it was.

but you have to play through that, you know its coming. they got the calls phil wanted and got to hack all night and you were still up 2 to start the fourth, missed a chance to end it right there.

p.s unintetionaly funniest mark breen line of the night, looking at how the celtics were in the game and KG and PP were having horrid games.

keep in mind at the time the lakers were up 22-4 in FT attempts (think it was early-mid second)

"Just goes to show you, you can't predict how a NBA game will go!!"

me and my roomates were like "hmmm yea ya can breen, we had 2/3 officals called and knew how the game would be called at 4 oclock yesterday"

the only offical we missed was violet palmer.

but again, you have to play through that, home cooking is part of the nba, every team benifits from it, and you have to steal games when able.

that said, i feel good about our chances to win one of the next two.

[Oldschoolkid]

You are overlooking the answer that was proven in regular season,....TONY ALLEN is the guy who can guard Kobe......faster, taller and more agile than anyone else on defense....He is the one who can stop him..but doc cannot see that, must have been listening to too many bloggers, like the same ones who told me LEON didn't understand the game...!  You know what, play the man and see, you CAN afford a few trial minutes.....should have played him when we were up 20 in game two to see how it worked!!! Doc gets too tight when the team is struggling, no Leon, no big baby, at least he finally saw the HOUSE for the player that he is...! AND, cover that fool Vujivujec, or however you spell that import.....they give him too much space to GET the ball, that is lazy D, the kid can shoot, and he makes a great outlet for Kobe, GOT to cover your man....!

[crownsy]

doc's probley listning to tony allens 30% shooting and 5-1 TO/assist ratio.

also, tony has proven ok at defending this year. he didn't "shut down" kobe in the two regular season games, he played a combined total of 15 minutes i belive (someone feel free to check me on this, nba.com is blocked at work)