It's on!

[D-Dogg]

Nice post, George...

Is it Wednesday yet?

 

[jbeecham]

I don't know if TT can score like that again, but the beauty of the Suns team is that someone (or two) always steps up. Nash & Marion pretty much always get their points and then we get a big game from one or two of Bell, Diaw, TT, Barbosa, James Jones, House and the other guys usually have decent games. Except House, he either gets hot and scores 15+ or sucks and maybe scores 2pts (probably put Jones in this category too).

 

[nowagimp]

After one game, D'Antoni has a good idea as to how the Lakers will try to defense the Suns. I think Suns are more likely to make adjustments than the Lakers because they have more options.

On defense, the Suns will know the Lakers are going to try to get the ball inside. Everyone makes a point about how inside guys score high percentages against the Suns defenders. What they don't mention is how many turnovers get generated in the process. For example, throwing the ball over Marion without throwing it out of bounds is a real art.

If I was to make a prediction, I'd say that Kobe will shoot better and Walton will shoot worse. I'd also expect that if K Brown gets the ball in the post as much, he will be doubled into turnovers a lot.

On offense, I'd expect the Suns be looking for TT every time down the court even to the point of running clearout plays for him. He will be completely wide open until he draws K Brown out, which will open up the lane for Nash.

I agree that this is probably the suns approach, but I also think that Jackson will not be too predictable and may adjust during the game to D'Antoni's adjustments. Thats part of what I like about this series, that the coaching adjustments will be more key here in the playoffs. The suns will benefit as a team by this experience, and will be stronger because of it. Jackson is teaching Barbosa, Jones and Diaw, our young players, with his strategic manuevering. They get to see and participate in the adjustments that D'Antoni implements.

 

[Gaddabout]

TT can't light it up like that again...can he?

As long as Kwame Brown is guarding him, TT is going to get open looks the whole series. TT has never had problems hitting open shots, but I doubt he had as many open looks this season as he had in Sunday's game.

But who else is Brown going to cover? The moment he steps out on Diaw or TT, the whole defensive game plan is ruined, and both Diaw and TT like to put it on the floor on aggressive defenders.

 

[Errntknght]

I don't expect Jackson to react a whole lot to TT having one hot shooting night from the arc. If he starts hot PJ might switch Walton onto him instead of sending Kwame further out - I think keeping Kwame in the paint is a key element of his overall plan.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him have the team attack TT on the other end. All he has to do is have Kwame set picks for Kobe and Tim Thomas will switch every time leaving Kwame unguarded. It happened several times in the last game but Kobe was reluctant to pass Kwame the ball - but if they expect it to happen and work on the play, it could get Kwame going big time. If that doesn't work have Kwame screen for Odom and they will get a switch with Marion taking Kwame and leaving TT in desperate straits, alone on Odom. (I've been watching TT since he arrived and he is yet to fail to switch when his man sets a screen and afterward it takes him about ten seconds to find his man again.)

 

[George O'Brien]

While TT has played some inside, he's been mostly an outside guy and interior defense is one of the hardest things in basketball to pick up.

One thing that the Suns have not tried is to use TT on Kobe. It might not work, but over the years he had some success because his length forces Kobe to alter his shots. TT is around 5 inches taller than Bell.

This switch doesn't have to be all that exceptional to make an impact. Bell could completely shut down Walton and Diaw should be able to defend Brown reasonably well. Kobe might blow up, but Bell can't really stop that anyway and would be avaiable on help defense.

Unfortunately, I doubt the Suns have worked on that approach to defense.

 

[D-Dogg]

Luke was a suprise to play that well.

I really need to clarify that comment. Luke is a very good shooter from 10-12 feet out, which is something that he hasn't done very much of. He's usually taking long shots and threes, which are not his strength. He's very good around the basket, however, and from short range. With the Lakers looking to get more interior shots and not longer to nullify the long rebounds and fast break opps for the Suns, I have to say I'm more surprised at the USE of Luke, and not his effectiveness. If they use him in the same way, he will perform as well or slightly less. If they abandon the interior strategy, I don't see him doing anything like that, and shooting more like 37-40 percent.

 

[D-Dogg]

Diaw should be able to defend Brown reasonably well.

I disagree with this...if Diaw tries to defend Kwame without a doubleteam, it will only result in quick fouls for Diaw and take him out of the game. Kwame is deceptively strong with good footwork around the hoop.

If he catches it in position (yes, that is a ?) and Diaw is behind him, Diaw is in serious trouble.

Putting Diaw on Kwame would play directly into the Lakers' hands. Please do it Mike!