If I were Phil, I'd do this: -I'd start Shannon and match him up with that little midget Brooks. I'd bring Fisher off the bench and match him up against Lowry. -Cut Farmar and Sasha out, completely. This is the playoffs. Play your best players. Get them out of the rotation, they hurt the team. -When you put Bynum in the rotation, go to him immediately. Face it, the kid isn't going to get any better confidence wise if he isn't given a shot. Having him setting picks at the FT line isn't helping him. Having him initiate his offense from far out isn't going to help, either. Tell him to get great position and get him a few touches early on. See if that helps, if not, then he is a lost cause this year.
Who was worse. Fish or Farmar? Jordan's defense sucks, but compared to 50 year old Fisher, it's god like. At least Jordan didn't let Brooks torch him the entire game. Jordan actually kept up with Brooks and didn't allow a fucking layup line for him. I would just start Shannon Brown and back him up with Jordan. Take Fish out the rotation completely, at this point, he's giving up nothing. Tell him to take it easy, rest up. He's played way too many minutes this year. Rest him up and bring him back next series when his legs will be fresh.
Telling Fisher to sit would fuck up the chemistry all over the place. Fish is looked at as a leader of this team, Phil wouldn't do that.
I dunno, didn't seem to hurt us last game. Maybe don't completely sit him out, but at the very least limit his minutes.
I still think Fish is better than Farmar. Against Lowry, Fish can be serviceable. I just don't want to see him against Brooks.
I agree that Brown should start. Brooks is too fast for fisher sadly fishers prime days are gone. But he could match up against Lowry. Farmar was doing good in the fastbreak by attacking the rim but taking jumpshots was not smart basketball.
You're probably right but Houston's Brooks/Lowry lineup is really doing work on him. They did well against Portland too but Adelman is making you decide to go small with them or get burned by those two. Its hard to muscle them because Lowry is like a mini-Artest as far as his strength, toughness, and amazingly active hands on defense. I couldn't watch today's game but if I was Phil I'd put Kobe on Brooks and Fisher on Battier. Despite Brooks' quickness I think Kobe could really keep him in check. I think Fish would do well on Battier because hes quick enough to stay in front of him but also strong enough not to get muscled. Its a big height disparity but I'd gamble on Battier's lack of go-to scoring ability (like I said, I didn't see the game today but it looks like he scored a lot, was he creating or just doing his normal spot up shooting?).
Battier was spotting up. No creation at all. I never thought about Kobe on Brooks. How would that impact Kobe on offense, though?
I just remembered Fish is also the president of the Player's association. He's too popular for his own good, he's tight with him like Luke, plus he's a veteran that has won titles with Phil before and his peers love him. PJ is looking for excuses not to bench him.
Jackson isn't showing any more loyatly to Fisher than any coach would show to a veteran. Adelman was the same way with Rafer, throughout his struggles. Fisher still worries me more than your other PGs. He plays with a certain poise, and though he's in a shooting slump right now he still has a knack for hitting huge shots. It's a little unfair to put all the blame on his for Aaron Brooks going off. The Lakers backside help was pretty poor this game. The Rockets aren't necessarily blessed with great defensive quickness on the perimeter either, but they send help and every body understands their role defensively.
Shannon has outplayed Fish for a couple of months one could say, it's not just about Fish being in a slump. Fish had a knack for hitting big shots, but with his three point shot off since April, there's really no reason to keep him in over Shannon at this point. Sasha also saw the court again before Shannon, that should not occur. Fisher/Farmar/Shannon rotation is what we should be using more in this series.
Shannon should start. Fish can close out games because he can hit the big shot, but Shannon should see majority of the minutes.
If Pau Gasol is having problems backing down Chuck Hayes in the post he needs to simply face up and shoot right over him. I couldn't believe all the jump shots we took yesterday. Houston doesn't have any shot blocking with Yao out of the game. Straight up dumb basketball exhibited last night. I'm at the point with Sasha where I don't even want to see him sub in anymore. I'd rather give Morrison a chance and see if he can make some wide open looks.
Hack a Hayes is actually a very sensible strategy, but you don't want to do it too early or you put the Rockets in the penalty. Once the Lakers get into the penalty before the 2 minute mark, might as well go for it.
My lineup: Brown - Kobe - Trev - Pau - Bynum. If the Lakers are angry they better show it, they can easily destroy the rockets with this lineup.
