Not to take away from the Celtics, they've been impressive on defense and have outworked the Lakers in the first two games, but I'm wondering about the change in rotations PJax has made in this series. The Lakers were in a rhythm throughout the post-season by keeping the rotations consistent. Even when the team was down by a lot of points, PJax kept Kobe on the bench and allowed the second unit to play their normal rotations. For some reason he's abandoned our rotations in this series and I think he's disrupted the rhythm of our squad. In Game 1 when Radman got in foul trouble PJax subbed Sasha into the game instead of Luke. This forced Kobe to play SF and when the 2nd unit came on the court they were without the main spark to shoot 3's and spread the court. PJax also played Fisher extended minutes when Farmar got off to a rough start. Farmar played like crap in the Utah series, but PJax still stuck with him and didn't disrupt the 5-man units. Tonight PJax subbed in Ariza out of nowhere (a sign of desperation?) and Trevor looked completely lost on the defensive end. He also allowed the Celtics to double off of him because they have no respect for his jumpshot.
It's funny, when Ariza doesn't play, there's always incessant complaining about that too. For what it's worth, I think Ariza did a fine job on Pierce. I think what's killing us most is the Celtics are just playing harder and the calls are all going their way.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (yodawgsup @ Jun 8 2008, 10:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>It's funny, when Ariza doesn't play, there's always incessant complaining about that too. For what it's worth, I think Ariza did a fine job on Pierce. I think what's killing us most is the Celtics are just playing harder and the calls are all going their way.</div> I wanted Ariza to play, but with the second unit and not the first guy off the bench. Ariza stayed in front of Pierce, but he kept leaving him wide open once Pierce passed the ball and moved into a new position to attack. You can't put Ariza into situations he's going to fail at this late in the season. I'd prefer to see him match up with Posey.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Black Mamba @ Jun 8 2008, 10:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I don't think Ariza did too bad, Shape. Phil's rotations blow.</div> The problem is disrupting what was working this entire time. We've gone through rough spots the entire playoffs, but PJax has never gone away from his original 8 man rotation. In this series he's made too, many changes which is confusing for role players. All of sudden guys off the bench don't really know what their job on the court is and they aren't used to playing with different pieces on the court. The chemistry has been compromised.
I would have never expected in my whole life that Doc Rivers would be outcoaching Phil Jackson. But funnier things have happened, I guess
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Brian @ Jun 8 2008, 11:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I would have never expected in my whole life that Doc Rivers would be outcoaching Phil Jackson. But funnier things have happened, I guess</div> Doc Rivers isn't out coaching PJax. You can credit Boston's defense to their assistant coach Thibodeux. He's been able to take the Spurs blueprint to slow Kobe down and limit his free throw shooting. Lakers broke the Spurs defensive pressure by abandoning the Triangle and playing more pick and pop with Kobe and Gasol. Lakers started doing this finally in the 4th quarter tonight, but the Celtics lead was too, much to overcome. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Lakers to go the pick and roll a lot faster in Game 3. Celtics haven't been able to stop it yet.
I liked Ariza in there .. even though he was letting PP get by him, I still can't see how he can be worse that Walton
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Shapecity @ Jun 9 2008, 12:54 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Brian @ Jun 8 2008, 11:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I would have never expected in my whole life that Doc Rivers would be outcoaching Phil Jackson. But funnier things have happened, I guess</div> Doc Rivers isn't out coaching PJax. You can credit Boston's defense to their assistant coach Thibodeux. He's been able to take the Spurs blueprint to slow Kobe down and limit his free throw shooting. Lakers broke the Spurs defensive pressure by abandoning the Triangle and playing more pick and pop with Kobe and Gasol. Lakers started doing this finally in the 4th quarter tonight, but the Celtics lead was too, much to overcome. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Lakers to go the pick and roll a lot faster in Game 3. Celtics haven't been able to stop it yet. </div> Ah, the pick and roll. One of simplest...and yet, if used effectively, most difficult play to defend.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (notmuchgame @ Jun 8 2008, 11:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I liked Ariza in there .. even though he was letting PP get by him, I still can't see how he can be worse that Walton</div> He didn't do well fighting through screens and the careless turnover he had when Cassell stripped him showed how rusty he is. I guess you could say those same things about Walton too.
Personally, I'm not going to question what PJax is doing. Maybe he saw something that we didn't, who knows. I don't agree with it, but there's got to be a motive for it. I'd prefer that he stays with the regular rotation though, because I do think you're right. Our second unit had their issues tonight, though they sucked in game one too. Maybe Phil was just trying something different, I don't know, but we've got to figure out a way to get and keep a lead, much like we did against Utah.
Should Newble play instead of Ariza? He's more experienced, has been to the Finals before, and could play some good D on Peirce. And he really wants to play.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (pegs @ Jun 10 2008, 02:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Should Newble play instead of Ariza? He's more experienced, has been to the Finals before, and could play some good D on Peirce. And he really wants to play.</div> really physical to boot
Had to bring this up again after last night's meltdown. I'm watching us run the Celtics out of the gym in the 1st half and then watched the Celtics pick us apart in the 2nd half because we had the wrong matchups on the floor. Why the hell was Fisher on the bench for such an extended period of time down the stretch of the game? He wasn't in foul trouble, he had it going in the first half playing very aggressive, and he's a superior defender than Farmar. Plus he's one of our most experienced players on the team who's not afraid to shoot the ball under duress. Fisher didn't come back in the 4th quarter until 2 minutes left in the game. Was PJax waiting for Rondo to come back in the game before he let Fisher back on the court? Jordan Farmar was completely rubbed out when the Celtics started running their high pick and pop and his man was losing him leading to wide open 3 pointers. Another matchup nightmare was James Posey. He absolutely killed us with his 3 point shots and offensive rebounds. The Lakers could not take advantage of him on the defensive end either despite Odom having 4 inches on him in the post. He completely outworked Odom on the low block and didn't allow Odom to get by him when Odom tried to dribble penetrate. If Odom isn't willing to work for position in the post and make the Celtics pay for having a smaller defender on him, then put Gasol back in the game. I can't fathom what PJax was thinking in the final quarter with the majority of minutes being played by this lineup Farmar-Sasha-Kobe-Odom-Turiaf. Just because Boston goes small doesn't mean the Lakers have to adjust their rotation and play small with them. We should have stuck with what got us the lead in the first place and definitely had all 5 starters on the court to close out the game.
