Don’t give a great shooter time and space to get a good shot off and don’t help off a great shooter and let them take an open shot. It seems as if the Lakers had not read the scouting report – as not only did Metta World Peace give Kevin Durant enough room to do whatever he wanted but left other viable options like James Harden and Russell Westbrook open – but were unaware of the time and the score. World Peace could have lowered Durant’s shooting percentage by making him dribble and rush a shot, or, even better, made …
What Metta Saw
Given the time (five seconds running down), space (defender six feet away, not looking) and difficulty of the pass (open passing lane), hitting Steve Blake was Metta World Peace’s best option. Unfortunately, Blake didn’t hit the shot like Steve Kerr or John Paxson did. The lob to Andrew Bynum or skip to Bryant (who had turned his back to the inbounder) would have required challenging passes.
Free Kobe
During a 102-96 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday, Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike Brown was criticized for leaving Kobe Bryant on the bench for about four out of the final six minutes. During this time, Memphis continued their run and sealed the victory (the margin would have been nine points except Andrew Bynum made a three-point shot as time expired). As the Staples Centre crowd chanted for Kobe, Brown left the N.B.A.’s leading scorer on the bench. When Kobe went to the scorer’s table to check in, play did not stop so he waited an additional minute of …
Post-Game 7 (2010) Thoughts
The Lakers may have played a poor game, Kobe Bryant may have forced too many bad shots, and Pau Gasol taken too many fadeaways. For forty minutes, Ron Artest may have kept Los Angeles in the game with key plays (despite how unlikely that may have seemed based on his play throughout the season). But when it counted, the Lakers got to the line, found the open shooter, and made clutch baskets. Whatever happened earlier in the game – and it was terribly ugly – is irrelevant now. Like the Portland Trail Blazers in 2000, the Boston Celtics blew a …
Pre-Game 7 (2010) Thoughts
Association Finals have proved anticlimactic in recent memory; even the Spurs-Pistons and Rockets-Knicks series that went the distance were tedious and tiresome. Yet I have higher hopes for tonight’s game between the Lakers and Celtics. None of the games in the series so far have been truly exciting. There have been excellent individual performances but no true back-and-forth battles between equal squads, like the 1984 or 1969 Finals. The series has been a disappointment but the increase in intensity shown in Game 6 offers a chance for redemption tonight. Both teams are banged up but others stepped forward, especially the …