Lakerholics

A Lakers Fan Community

Posts

How the Lakers Shut Down All Three Keys to the Rocket’s Analytics Offense!

By 2 Comments

Everybody knows Daryl Morey, Mike D’Antoni, and the Houston Rockets went all-in on analytics-driven small ball with five players under 6′ 7″ with layups, free throws, and 3-point shots being their blueprint for scoring.

Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers took the Morey and D’Antoni Rockets to school and put on an elite clinic on how to shut down the three scoring keys Houston’s small ball offense relies upon to destroy opposing defenses. After a first half shootout, the Lakers doubled and forced Harden to give up the ball, hounded and chased Houston’s shooters off the 3-point line, and protected the rim without fouling with a swarm of mobile shot blockers.

The result was a second half where the Lakers’ defense shut down the small ball Rockets’ offense, holding them to just 38 points on 13 for 37 from the field (35.1%), 6 of 16 from deep (37.5%), and 6 of 6 from the line (100%). This was against a Houston team that boasted the third best second half offense in the NBA during the regular season, averaging 56.8 points while taking 44.5 shots from the field, 23.3 three-pointers, and 13.2 free throws.

The usual defensive strategy in the NBA is to take away what a team does best and force them to do what they don’t do best. In the second half, Frank Vogel’s strategy was to take away everything the Rockets are built to do. They limited Houston to just 16 3-point attempts versus their average of 23. They allowed them to make just 1 of 11 on layups and blocked 5 of them. And they defended without fouling allowing the Rockets only 6 free throws.

It will be fun to see what changes D’Antoni will make to counter the moves Frank Vogel’s made to shut down Houston’s offense in what is a must win game. These are the chess games where great coaching comes into play. So far Mike D’Antoni won the first game and Frank Vogel has come back to win the last two games. Morey’s and D’Antoni’s future with the Rockets may be on the line tonight so look for new winkles tonight against the Lakers.

If the Lakers win, this series is all but over. If the Rockets win, then all bets are off and we’re likely to see a Game 7. I still have the Lakers in 5 but we’re going to need big games from Playoff LeBron and Playoff Rondo to do it.

Frank Vogel’s defensive genius versus Houston

By 1 Comment

1. Cut the head and the body will follow

We know very well that James Harden is the fulcrum of the Rockets’ offense. Without him this small lineup would not exist. The whole team would not exist

Harden had 21 points in the first half because Frank decided to not double team him until halftime, maybe to spare his players the huge expenditure of energy that doing it the whole game entails. The Beard scored just 12 points in the second half when LA began double-teaming him again. As for Westbrook, we will see later why its performance is not to be overrated.

2. Reacting to the double teaming

Playing without bigs gives the confidence to know that it will not probably be a player alone in the middle of the area. All the Rockets station around the arc, which means the risk of a lower percentage shot. You prefer leaving that alone. You can leave with it.

What has been most remarkable of Vogel’s plan, though, is that he remained cool. He did not panic rushing into changing approach. He stayed the course. Because such a drop was expected. It is part of the idea that at some point they are going to make those threes but it is not going to last forever, and they will not be enough to even the missed ones that allowed the opponent to build its lead.

3. Mixed defense

While after every basket the Los Angeles Lakers would play man-to-man (obviously, the rule is switching on every screen), after a missed shot or a turnover their defense would shift to a 1-2-2 zone.

Reminding of Game 2, Vogel also went on a hint of Box-and-One on Eric Gordon at the end of the first quarter, when Harden was on the bench, and also a 3-2 zone in the last seconds.

4. He was counting on Russell Westbrook

The idea was that by double-teaming Harden and consequentially rotating, the Los Angeles Lakers could afford to leave Westbrook alone on the arc. And in fact, he did not disappoint, going 1-for-7 from three in Game 2. He also turned the ball over seven times, finding the area filled when he

5. The final stroke

For the grand finale Vogel had one more ace up his sleeve. The unexpected move that took the Rockets by surprise throwing them off balance. Putting Rajon Rondo on a full-court pressure on Harden.

6. The unforeseen

Even Frank Vogel did not predict it. This was the unexpected component of the Los Angeles Lakers’ game. LeBron James’ defensive effort is out of the charts. For the series, he is averaging 2.7 blocks.

At 35 years old he is flying in the area like he was in his twenties, rejecting opponents shots with emphatic home-run blocks in key moments of the games. In Game 3, he had four huge blocks, going short of the fifth because his finger got entangled in the rim.