How to beat the Fantastic Four? We've got the secret
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Apr. 18., 2009 | 01:14 pm
By NBA.com staff
Posted Apr 16 2009 3:20PM
We asked NBA.com's writers to give us an idea of how to beat the top teams in the Playoffs. Here's what they had to offer:
How to beat the Cavaliers
To beat the Cavs in a seven-game series, you're going to need a little luck. They're 39-2 at Quicken Loans Arena, where they'll have four games in every round. And you don't get the best record in the league by being a bad road team, either.
Defensively, your best strategy is to protect the paint. You have to keep LeBron James away from the basket and make him a jump shooter. That's much easier said than done. His jumper has improved over the years. Still, he'll have some off shooting-nights during the postseason. The Cavs are the second-best 3-point shooting team in the league, but they were just 9-8 when they scored fewer than 30 points in the paint. They were 28-1 when they had 38 or more paint points.
Even if you can slow down the Cavs' offense, you're going to have a tough time scoring against their stingy defense. The strength of that defense is in numbers; no team helps out defensively better than the Cavs. They're five guys on a string. You're never going against just one defender.
One way to take away that strength is to put one of them on an island with an isolation up top or on the wing. If you send three or four guys to the weak side of the floor, you're making it harder for their defenders to help the guy on the ball. But you can only do that so much in the course of a 48-minute game.
The Cavs like to keep the ball on one side of the floor, and as with any defense, it pays to move the ball from side to side and make them work.
-- John Schuhmann
How to beat the Lakers
Defensively, you have to try to keep the ball on one side of the floor. The Lakers don't really start their offense until they make their second pass when they try to swing the ball to the opposite wing. The swing pass gives them the extra spacing to allow the triangle offense to operate at peak efficiency.
On offense, teams have had success when they force the action off the dribble and attack Derek Fisher. Fisher's legs are 34 years old. Quick guards give him trouble and often saddle him with early foul trouble. When he needs help, the Lakers turn to Jordan Farmar, who moves fast enough to keep up with the speed demons but gets exploited by bigger guards who post him up.
Kobe Bryant had as good of a season as anyone in the league not named LeBron James, but you can still bait him into trying to do too much. L.A. was 32-14 (.695) this season when Bryant attempted 20 shots or more and just 3-5 when he took 30-plus shots. The Lakers were 33-3 when he kept his attempts under 20.
Ever since the departure of Vladimir Radmanovic, L.A. hasn't had a consistent outside threat. Lakers coach Phil Jackson has implored Farmar to come in the game off the bench with a shooter's mentality, but Farmar's been reluctant, making just five of his last 26 attempts from deep in the Lakers' last 13 games. Sasha Vujacic has the gunner's mindset, but his 3-point percentage has dropped from a dependable 43.7 percent last season to just 35.6 percent this one. Teams will want try to pack the lane on Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol and dare the Lakers to hit from outside.
If none of that works, your best bet is convincing David Stern to schedule all of the games in Portland. L.A. has lost its last eight games at the Rose Garden.
-- Dave McMenamin
How to beat the Celtics
During the last two seasons, the Boston Celtics have won 142 games, including the postseason. So the book on how to beat them is more of a pamphlet. Or, if you prefer a more timely reference, a blog entry.
One of the best ways is to make them chuck 'em from the cheap seats. Despite having shooters such as Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Eddie House, in the 14 games in which they shot .437 or worse, the Celtics lost 11. In those 11 games, the Celtics shot .400 or better from 3-point range only twice. Letting Boston get hot is certain defeat as the Celtics are 29-1 when shooting .500 or better.
Keeping point guard Rajon Rondo from getting into the lane is key, as his dribble penetration sucks in defenses and leaves the perimeter loosely guarded. The Celtics are 23-5 when Rondo has 10-plus assists in a game. And because he can get into the lane with great frequency, Rondo shoots a stellar .506 from the field.
Any postseason opponent will want to get deep into the Celtics' bench, too. Boston's reserves averaged only 27.2 points per game, 22nd in the league. And while the dropoff isn't as steep with Mikki Moore and Stephon Marbury coming off the pine, the Big Three of Allen, Pierce and Kevin Garnett still account for 54.3 of the 100.8 points the Celtics average per game.
And finally, any team that meets the Celtics needs to fight back. The Celtics' defense, and at times the whole team's rough-and-tumble play, intimidated opponents last season. This season, the Cavs and Lakers showed if you stand tall and don't give an inch, the Cs get frustrated and may cede some ground.
-- Rob Peterson
How to beat the Magic
There's a theory about matching up against a team with a dominating force. Either clamp down on that guy and let the others beat you or shut down everyone else and let that one guy go to town. Dwight Howard and the Magic could be the test case.
As overpowering as Howard is, his skill set is rather one-dimensional. He destroys people on the block. His supporting cast is stockpiled with 3-point shooters -- Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, Courtney Lee, Mickael Pietrus, Rafer Alston and so on.
Almost 28 percent of Orlando's shots come from downtown, and when those 3-point specialists aren't on, the Magic are ordinary. Orlando is barely a .500 team when shooting less than 33 (LOL. tas ir ļoti maz!) percent from beyond the arc.
Focusing on Howard and/or his long-range counterparts shouldn't be as taxing on the defense as facing all-around threats such as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade. None of the Magic men possesses that coast-to-coast ability to break down the defense single-handedly.
Pressuring Orlando's defense also has worked at times. The Magic are solid defensively, but they don't have many standout individual defenders other than Howard. When attacking the basket doesn't lead to Howard sending shots back the other way, the big man has a tendency to get out of position while helping. The lack of a deep bench also comes into play if Howard, Turkoglu or Lewis gets into foul trouble.
-- Art Garcia
Posted Apr 16 2009 3:20PM
We asked NBA.com's writers to give us an idea of how to beat the top teams in the Playoffs. Here's what they had to offer:
How to beat the Cavaliers
To beat the Cavs in a seven-game series, you're going to need a little luck. They're 39-2 at Quicken Loans Arena, where they'll have four games in every round. And you don't get the best record in the league by being a bad road team, either.
Defensively, your best strategy is to protect the paint. You have to keep LeBron James away from the basket and make him a jump shooter. That's much easier said than done. His jumper has improved over the years. Still, he'll have some off shooting-nights during the postseason. The Cavs are the second-best 3-point shooting team in the league, but they were just 9-8 when they scored fewer than 30 points in the paint. They were 28-1 when they had 38 or more paint points.
Even if you can slow down the Cavs' offense, you're going to have a tough time scoring against their stingy defense. The strength of that defense is in numbers; no team helps out defensively better than the Cavs. They're five guys on a string. You're never going against just one defender.
One way to take away that strength is to put one of them on an island with an isolation up top or on the wing. If you send three or four guys to the weak side of the floor, you're making it harder for their defenders to help the guy on the ball. But you can only do that so much in the course of a 48-minute game.
The Cavs like to keep the ball on one side of the floor, and as with any defense, it pays to move the ball from side to side and make them work.
-- John Schuhmann
How to beat the Lakers
Defensively, you have to try to keep the ball on one side of the floor. The Lakers don't really start their offense until they make their second pass when they try to swing the ball to the opposite wing. The swing pass gives them the extra spacing to allow the triangle offense to operate at peak efficiency.
On offense, teams have had success when they force the action off the dribble and attack Derek Fisher. Fisher's legs are 34 years old. Quick guards give him trouble and often saddle him with early foul trouble. When he needs help, the Lakers turn to Jordan Farmar, who moves fast enough to keep up with the speed demons but gets exploited by bigger guards who post him up.
Kobe Bryant had as good of a season as anyone in the league not named LeBron James, but you can still bait him into trying to do too much. L.A. was 32-14 (.695) this season when Bryant attempted 20 shots or more and just 3-5 when he took 30-plus shots. The Lakers were 33-3 when he kept his attempts under 20.
Ever since the departure of Vladimir Radmanovic, L.A. hasn't had a consistent outside threat. Lakers coach Phil Jackson has implored Farmar to come in the game off the bench with a shooter's mentality, but Farmar's been reluctant, making just five of his last 26 attempts from deep in the Lakers' last 13 games. Sasha Vujacic has the gunner's mindset, but his 3-point percentage has dropped from a dependable 43.7 percent last season to just 35.6 percent this one. Teams will want try to pack the lane on Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol and dare the Lakers to hit from outside.
If none of that works, your best bet is convincing David Stern to schedule all of the games in Portland. L.A. has lost its last eight games at the Rose Garden.
-- Dave McMenamin
How to beat the Celtics
During the last two seasons, the Boston Celtics have won 142 games, including the postseason. So the book on how to beat them is more of a pamphlet. Or, if you prefer a more timely reference, a blog entry.
One of the best ways is to make them chuck 'em from the cheap seats. Despite having shooters such as Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Eddie House, in the 14 games in which they shot .437 or worse, the Celtics lost 11. In those 11 games, the Celtics shot .400 or better from 3-point range only twice. Letting Boston get hot is certain defeat as the Celtics are 29-1 when shooting .500 or better.
Keeping point guard Rajon Rondo from getting into the lane is key, as his dribble penetration sucks in defenses and leaves the perimeter loosely guarded. The Celtics are 23-5 when Rondo has 10-plus assists in a game. And because he can get into the lane with great frequency, Rondo shoots a stellar .506 from the field.
Any postseason opponent will want to get deep into the Celtics' bench, too. Boston's reserves averaged only 27.2 points per game, 22nd in the league. And while the dropoff isn't as steep with Mikki Moore and Stephon Marbury coming off the pine, the Big Three of Allen, Pierce and Kevin Garnett still account for 54.3 of the 100.8 points the Celtics average per game.
And finally, any team that meets the Celtics needs to fight back. The Celtics' defense, and at times the whole team's rough-and-tumble play, intimidated opponents last season. This season, the Cavs and Lakers showed if you stand tall and don't give an inch, the Cs get frustrated and may cede some ground.
-- Rob Peterson
How to beat the Magic
There's a theory about matching up against a team with a dominating force. Either clamp down on that guy and let the others beat you or shut down everyone else and let that one guy go to town. Dwight Howard and the Magic could be the test case.
As overpowering as Howard is, his skill set is rather one-dimensional. He destroys people on the block. His supporting cast is stockpiled with 3-point shooters -- Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, Courtney Lee, Mickael Pietrus, Rafer Alston and so on.
Almost 28 percent of Orlando's shots come from downtown, and when those 3-point specialists aren't on, the Magic are ordinary. Orlando is barely a .500 team when shooting less than 33 (LOL. tas ir ļoti maz!) percent from beyond the arc.
Focusing on Howard and/or his long-range counterparts shouldn't be as taxing on the defense as facing all-around threats such as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade. None of the Magic men possesses that coast-to-coast ability to break down the defense single-handedly.
Pressuring Orlando's defense also has worked at times. The Magic are solid defensively, but they don't have many standout individual defenders other than Howard. When attacking the basket doesn't lead to Howard sending shots back the other way, the big man has a tendency to get out of position while helping. The lack of a deep bench also comes into play if Howard, Turkoglu or Lewis gets into foul trouble.
-- Art Garcia