It's been nearly 17 years since the proverbial light went off in the head of Chuck Daly. In 1989, the venerable Pistons coach, having grown weary of watching Michael Jordan torch Detroit to the tune of five 47-or- better scoring nights over the previous seasons, structured a new scheme designed to slow Chicago's scoring machine. It was called the Jordan Rules, a comprehensive strategy in which the rotation of the Pistons' defense was predicated on Jordan's position on the floor. Moreover, the Pistons were told to get physical with Jordan whenever he penetrated the lane. How physical? Let's just say Bill Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn weren't on Michael's Christmas card list.Nearly two decades later the Jordan Rules are a distant memory, but their underlying principles remain: to win a game, or more important, a series, special efforts must be made to shut down the other team's star player. It's nice to pay lip service to the supporting cast, but at the end of the day superstars win championships. Teams worried about Tim Duncan don't stay up late devising schemes to stop Rasho Nesterovic.At 21, LeBron James is not the scorer Jordan was, but at this point in his career, James is a far more complete player than Jordan was at 21. His powerful slashing ability has been complemented by an improving perimeter game, and his size and court vision make him a superb rebounder and passer.Stopping LeBron isn't possible (even the '89 Pistons will acknowledge it was impossible to actually stop Jordan), but frustrating him is another story. Strategies can be devised; call them the LeBron Rules. Maybe they would look something like this:Hit him hard, hit him oftenWe're not advocating dirty play, but with a player like James, you need to get physical. Game 2 of the Cavs-Wizards series shifted to Washington only after a hard foul by Brendan Haywood rocked James in the first quarter. James went scoreless for more than 12 minutes after that, briefly exiting the game in the second quarter. Did it affect him? It certainly made him think twice before he drove the lane again. This Pistons team isn't exactly a replica of the Bad Boys. Ben Wallace isn't that kind of player and Rasheed Wallace is more bark than bite. But don't be surprised to see a couple of strong knockdowns early in this series that will test LeBron's indomitable will.Mix it upThe Pistons would often try to confuse Jordan with multiple looks, be it the passive, sagging defense of Joe Dumars or the bullish, in-your-face style of Dennis Rodman. These Pistons have one of the premier perimeter defenders in Tayshaun Prince. They also have the hard-nosed Lindsey Hunter, who likes to body up on defense and is adept at slipping screens. Throwing different defenders at James will force him to adjust on the fly and increase the pressure on him to make the right decisions in the half court set.Make him a passerJames' size and court vision is reminiscent of Magic Johnson (or at least an old Penny Hardaway), but nothing makes Cleveland more uncomfortable than when it has to dump the ball into the post. A swarming perimeter defense -- aptly applied by Hunter, Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton -- will force James to look to Zydrunas Ilgauskas on the block. Have you seen Ilgauskas lately? His confidence is only slightly above the guy who got dumped at the prom.Force him leftThis is along the lines of choosing whether to give up a home run or a triple, but in the end you always choose the option that doesn't guarantee a score. James has been lethal the entire postseason, but if there is one flaw to his game, it's his trouble scoring off the left hand. The Pistons need to push him to the left and make him shoot from his off side.Special players deserve special attention. James is one of them. It's up to the coaches to figure out the rest.My best theory for the Pistons and any other team for that matter would be to double Lebron when he tries to drive. Bring a lot of help defense. That way he cant blow past a team's defense so easily. It will frustrate him a lot and will get to his head. It will force him to jack up jumpers more, which he is either hot or cold at. When he is cold, you may as well ring it up as a miss. And also, if he passes it to the wing who is going to make the shot right now? Damon Jones? No. Larry Hughes? No. Donyell Marshall? No. If the defender comes down a little late it wont matter. Anyway that is my theory. Add yours.
Pistons Defense can shut down LBJ. If the Pistons shut down LBJ, each game, and hold him under 30 pts, they pretty much win the game, cause players like Ilgauskas and Hughes are the type of players that can take over or carry a team.
Kobe is definately different. Id say Lebron is the tougher matchup. Lebron is better at getting inside and he is the better passer. So you can just double Kobe and he will usually jack up the shot rather then passing out of the double team.
If Im playing LeBron, I play him straight up man to man, let him get his points and force his teamattes to beat you.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CB4AllStar @ May 10 2006, 07:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Kobe is definately different. Id say Lebron is the tougher matchup. Lebron is better at getting inside and he is the better passer. So you can just double Kobe and he will usually jack up the shot rather then passing out of the double team.</div>Yeah but I'm just saying, the defenses thrown at Kobe are the modern day Jordan rules. That should tell you something about the league today.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (HornyWetPenguin @ May 10 2006, 11:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>^Kobe makes those shots though.</div>Those are the shots that he misses. He makes a couple of those fluke ones though.
LeBron is a tougher guard than MJ or Kobe. Shutdown MJ or Kobe, they get frustrated and force shots and it doesn't turn out too good (MJ eventually learned how to beat Pistons, although it took a few years). LeBron is so powerful/fast/agile that you can't stop him from getting in lane. Foul him hard and you won't do much as he is so strong that he will just brush you off. Make him a jumpshooter, and he will eventually catch fire (you could see the Wizards did this in the 1st round after game 1, but Bron eventually learned what they were doing and molded his game to the game of say a Kobe or T-Mac). Try to stop him altogether offensively, and he will always be extremely patient, and make the smart pass, which usually leads to open shot or amazing pass down low to Z for dunk. The best thing you could do to LeBron is let him score at will, stop other players. It is a proven theory, as in his 2 games of over 50 points, they lost both. Whenever he has a triple double, they are undefeated. Celtics did this to MJ when he scored 63pts yet lost, Pistons did this to Shaq, and Suns did this to Kobe in the 1st round in the games the Suns won.
