The team was not prepared at all for Houston .. I'm not surprised by the result of Game 1 but we'll lose the series if Rondo keeps playing this much .
they've pretty much done this against us since they stopped playing centers. if we don't figure out how to use that against them, the series will be short. not at all encouraged by game 1 being an exact replay of the last couple times we've played them.
I’d start KCP Green Kuzma Lebron AD. Better spacing and defense. Gives AD and a Lebron more room to work and Kuz to cut or get open looks. McGee just gums it up. Bring in AC as the first guy off the bench for Green.
This might make the most sense. Houston did a lot of doubling off the ball. I was shocked a damfony coached team used a defensive strategy that made sense. They doubled Ludabrow off the ball by having a guy front and someone else hovering in zone behind him. That means you can't throw the ball over the front defender or else your pass will get intercepted. This type of defense is easier to play when there's no spacing and have JAVALE MCGEE in ruins the spacing. @lakerjones , your starting lineup idea fixes the spacing issues and makes doubling Ludabrow off the ball more difficult since you'd have 3 players on the court who in theory should be 3 point threats in KCP, Danny Green and Kuz, Danny Green's poor play not withstanding. Rondo should play spot minutes only when Lebron is not in and there needs to be spacing if he is in since defenses don't respect Rondo's jump shot. Unfortunately dawite and JAVALE will not be able to make as much of an impact in this series but I think this is our shot at making this series competitive. We may want to look at Markieef at the 5 for spot minutes as well. Defensively we just have to accept that Soften will get his. It's the other guys going off that killed us last game more than anything. Let Soften get his, and stay at home on their 3 point shooters. Essentially this team is Portland on steriods but we can't let their role players kill us. And also play with some effort and passion. That wouldn't hurt. Also Lebron will need to be more of a scorer.
Vogel remarked that they have the personnel to adjust to whoever is playing them. Well, what do you do in Game 2 Coach?
Davis isn't fond of playing at the 5 spot but not opposed to it. McGee should be understanding of it just like in Golden State. Caruso should sub in for Green right away if the former isn't contributing anything. I would think that Morris is a better alternative than McGee. Rondo should not be playing if at all in spot minutes. He's in there to supposedly relieve play-making pressure of James who is not really built to play off the ball. We lose more opportunities with that combination. #FreeDionWaiters
I will be the devil's advocate here: I don't think we should go "small" like that. We produce noticeably more points per possession against the Rockets when we play big. We are not going to out-match them in playing small ball. Against our small ball, they will pack the paint like crazy. AD and Bron have bad efficiency playing vs clogged paint. We can't let that happen. Now, I think we need to fix several things first: 1. We should go small when Harden is on the bench, because he will generate offense for others by penetrating... most of the time, at least. Going with AD at the 5 will encourage him to penetrate more. He needs to take jumpers instead if we want to win. 2. When he (Harden) is on the floor, we go big and roughly split the minutes between MCG and Dwight, depending on how they feel, how many fouls they have etc. That means we have to fix the rotation in general, bringing me to my next point: 3. Rondo can't play significant minutes. He hasn't played in 7 (!) months, and simply isn't very good anymore. Yes, he is a great basketball mind and I respect him, but he should use that mind on the bench to help the coach. He literally enters the game in the first quarter and we lose the advantage. Houston is daring him to shoot. They are leaving him wide open in order to clog their paint even more. He would have to shoot like Steph to overcome that. 4. Someone on this this team of Three Tenors has to start hitting shots: KCP, Green, Kuzma. Not all of them, but someone has to help the spacing. Read Bron's lips: Can you see it? "There's no spacing". How can there be spacing for him to operate? What kind of rotation/lineup is this on the floor? Why is Rondo playing with Bron anyway? And for god's sake - look at that Rockets' paint!!
We're not going to out small ball the best small ball team in the league. Trying to match that is playing into their hands and will get us swept. Not saying play McGee and Dwight 48 min, but going away from that too much won't help. With only AD in there, they'll pull him out to the perimeter and continue to equal our rebound numbers. That equals game over. Yes, we have to hit shots for our bigs and for AD and Bron to operate freely. Don't try to get in a shoot out with them. Just enough to keep them honest.
Playing Green, KCP, Kuzma, Lebron and AD isn't exactly small. In comparison to Houston we're gigantic. It's not about small versus big per se. It's recognizing that McGee isn't going to be able to defend their shooters at the perimeter. Kuz is. So can AD. So can Lebron. Also it's a recognition that they are clogging up the paint and McGee kills our spacing. If we don't do something different we are going to get swept. If we stay doing the same thing over and over it's not going to be much of a different result.
If. Bubble Kuz shows up, that can work. If game one Kuz returns, then I'd rather have McGee in there for rebounding. Cause game 1 Kuz was worse than JR.
If you have AD with one big, they will not pack the paint, because you have a tall, athletic lob threat. With any other solution, expect to see that swarm of bodies in the Rockets paint. If that happens, one of the guys in the corner should almost always be KCP. I am 100% positive he will wake up and be great for us again. The other one can be Kuz, Morris or Eagle, or Green (yes, I know...), but under no circumstances should it be Rondo. I swear, they would put Mike D'Antoni in the paint with them if they had a chance.
Frank Vogel Guarding Potential Lakers Adjustments For Game 2 Against Rockets Published on09/06/2020 AUTHOR Matthew Moreno Heading into the Western Conference Semifinals, much of the intrigue with matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets centered around their contrasting styles of play. Lakers are a rarity in today’s NBA — essentially starting two 7-footers — while the Rockets took the small-ball phenomenon and amplified it. In a four-team trade at the deadline that saw the Rockets part with Clint Capella and acquire Robert Covington, the versatile forward became their tallest player at 6’7. What the Rockets lack in stature they make up for with athleticism, grit, shooting and pace. That won out against the Lakers, with LeBron James noting the team needed to see the Rockets’ speed in person in order to adjust. With another Game 1 loss to their ledger, talk of the Lakers potentially going small was reignited. Though, head coach Frank Vogel declined to tip his hand on any potential changes for Game 2. “I’ll keep my opinions on our lineups kind of close to my vest right now. We continue to evaluate,” he said after the team’s latest practice session. “We got off to a strong start in the game, so the starting lineup did have a positive plus-minus, but we’ll continue to evaluate what the best way to best way to beat the Houston Rockets is.” One issue for the Lakers was Anthony Davis getting pushed away from the rim on offense. He was still effective, but not dominant. “We’ve talked a lot about that in film, and again, not really going to get into what that looks like,” Vogel answered when asked how the team could help Davis establish better positioning. “Certainly we want to put all of our guys — in particular LeBron and AD — in the best position to be successful. AD still had a strong night but there are some things we can do a little bit differently.” As for the notion of making the Rockets adjust to them, Vogel wasn’t completely sure if it would be possible in practice. “They don’t really have the option to go big,” he noted. “They made an organizational decision to create this style of play and I think they’re going to sink or swim with it. That’s more a question for them, but I believe you’re going to see this style regardless of what the results look like.” Davis reportedly open to center Davis made it clear at his introductory press conference with the Lakers that he is not in the least bit excited by the prospect of playing center. However, he expressed a willingness to do so on occasion. That may be required for the Rockets series — though how effective it would be has been the source of debate. Nevertheless, Davis reportedly is willing to slide to the 5 for the Western Conference Semifinals.
They are clogging up the paint even more with no lob threat on the floor . The defensive and offensive numbers have been better with 2 bigs on the floor against Houston . The Lakers should stay big contrary to the popular belief . McCranjis B-ball and others touched on the subject
I always liked Vogel but no changes tonight and im on the "fire his a**" train. Don't be stubborn ffs!
We are going down 0-2 tonight without a doubt since Rondo is going to play significant minutes . Don't waste your time watching Game 2 live this night as an European I'm going to DVR it and fast forward to the 4th quarter , hopefully we'll still be in the game Lakers in 7 or Rockets in 6 ... if Rondo keeps playing 20-25 minutes a game after Game 2
Very concerned about tonight's game. In the first game, the Rockets imposed their will and style of play and we just did not have an answer.
No way im watching it live man. If Rondo plays more than 15mins. (garbage time ideally) im done with this season.
Meh. Obviously, I'm happy we won and aren't down 0-2, but I'm not satisfied that we blew a lead and we (well, Vogel) still haven't figured out the Rockets. IMO, we need more Keef and Kuz, no more McGee, AD needs to play at the 5. Also, maybe I'm in the minority, but I'm ok with Rondo as long as he doesn't play on the floor at the same time with Lebron. I'm sorry, but he kills the spacing more times than not.
