Lakers @ Kings Game Thread, Wed 11/3, 7:30p

[bloom]

I know we all want to beat the Lakers but I have no problem with Tyreke guarding Kobe. I think it’s good for him to get the experience and this will hopefully make him a better defender/player. The problem that I do have is not letting Donte play. We’re already down and Donte has proven to step up defensively on some top players (last year he was great against Kobe). I’m just shocked that he’s not seeing the court.

Demarcus shooting 3’s is not good. I don’t mind the occasional shot – when he’s wide open but I’d like him down low.

Tyreke is really settling for the jumpers. I like that he’s working on bettering his mid-range/3-point game but this is no excuse. He should be penetrating the lane, and either kicking out or going to the bucket.

And last but not least, our game just was awful. We couldn’t pass, and all we were doing was settling for jumpers. We missed and missed and missed some more and we didn’t even learn our lesson – go to the bucket and make a statement (slam the ball)! Sometimes shots don’t fall and we just kept throwing away some really key possessions down the stretch with some bad bad, bad plays.

 

[Kings4life23]

I think Luther Head playing down the stretch makes perfect sense. He's a prime example of defense earning minutes, which is what Westphal preaches. So what if he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn? You can't emphasize defense and then yank a player who's battling with Kobe and actually doing a decent job of it. It might cost the team a game now, but the hope is that the players see the effort and realize what it takes to get in the game.

Also, I agree that Tyreke on Kobe was a mistake, but I think the aspect of it that's easily overlooked is the mental one. It seems natural that Kobe is going to try harder and be more focused against Tyreke than, say, Garcia. While that's great for the Lakers and might be good practice for Tyreke, it's not good for our chances.

I hope you do realize these games are more than just games around here lately. I mean did you see how many Lakers fans were out at arco tonight its disgusting. This would of been a huge win not just for are standings, but to create some excitement for our team and get that old feeling back in arco again. We are on the brink of losing the Kings and I really think a crappy season will really help in the re location process. This win tonight would of I think have stirred up some old feelings for the sacramento kings again or at least put them on the right track to coming out. Do not make the mistakes the fans over in Seattle made in thinking that re location could never happen because it can and it will if things do not change. Trust me I know the Maloofs say they wont move, but sooner or later its going to come down to a business decision and its in there best interest to leave as it stands now.

 

[ZZ-TOP]

Yeah they do. Just look at what the lakers do. They guarded Reke with Artest and put Kobe on Casspi or Garcia. It's called conserving your best players energy so he can go 100% on offense when you need him and he won't get in foul trouble.

Yeah wright.
Because of this conservation of him, Kobe was chosen as a member of first All-defensive team seven or eight times and same goes for Jordan.

 

[ParniValjak]

After a 3-1 start, a lot of people have forgotten that this is a very young team, age-wise and chemistry-wise. Donte is not a superstar defender so stop sticking to the point "WHAT IF DONTE PLAYED". This game is a true reality check in a lot of ways.

1.) Reke on Kobe - If Reke's going to be the star player of this he needs to learn to defend against superstars too. He will deal with them a lot of times if this team wants to go up. And there's no better way than pit him direct against Kobe. Real superstars don't hide behind their teammates against legit superstars. So there you go Reke, hope this will light fire in you.
2.) This is the Lakers we are playing, the great purple and yellow bitches that ride on the zebras.
3.) This is not the end of the road. At our status right now, we'll be lucky to get that 8th seed. So let's just be happy we almost made a comeback in the 4th against the reigning champs.

This team is just tapping its potential. Cousins and Reke are young guns, if not for foul troubles this could have been a lot better.

But this is the thing. A big part of the foul trouble is having Tyreke guard Kobe. Tyreke likes to swipe and reach in and blind freddy can see that that is NEVER going to wash against Kobe. Every time, Tyreke puts his hand in the cookie jar against Kobe he will get called for a foul. Tyreke had tendencies to reach in and swipe, so knowing this, you don't put him on Kobe because you need him on the floor to win against the Lakers. He can learn his lessons on reaching in and swiping against other teams and when he gets better at it, THEN you stick him on Kobe but until he reaches that point, you need to hide him so to speak because you need him on the floor to win against the lakers.

That is a coaching mistake for THIS game. Sure in the long run it will be good for Tyreke's development but we should now be in the process of trying to win every game, especially against great teams. We had a worse team last year and we pushed the Lakers in every game....it came down to the last shot. Some games went to OT and they had a hard time shaking us off. Today was a cuising win. The Lakers are better than last year but then again, so are we but we were able to stick with them last year because we could keep Tyreke on the court for longer than 28 minutes. Believe it or not we actually had a real chance to win this game provided we that our coach decided to really coach tonight rather than try a few things to see how they work out.

 

[KingsCitizen]

Yeah they do. Just look at what the lakers do. They guarded Reke with Artest and put Kobe on Casspi or Garcia. It's called conserving your best players energy so he can go 100% on offense when you need him and he won't get in foul trouble.

I'll take this game as something that we are willing to lose to let our young star player learn a lot of things.

Reke is a hard worker. He'll keep this in his book of lessons learned and work on it.

These are things that a coach I believe should do to young superstar to speed up the learning process. Kobe's been there and done that. So I don't mind Phil keeping him away from Reke. But then Casspi was shutdown totally.

Reke is our best perimeter defender, we've seen that last season. This is just one of those wake up calls for him. And it's good to wake him up early this season. Rather than hide him and let him be the goat in crucial games because he never learned to guard better players than him.

 

[Sac.1989]

But this is the thing. A big part of the foul trouble is having Tyreke guard Kobe. Tyreke likes to swipe and reach in and blind freddy can see that that is NEVER going to wash against Kobe. Every time,
That is a coaching mistake for THIS game. Sure in the long run it will be good for Tyreke's development but we should now be in the process of trying to win every game, especially against great teams. We had a worse team last year and we pushed the Lakers in every game....it came down to the last shot. Some games went to OT and they had a hard time shaking us off. Today was a cuising win. The Lakers are better than last year but then again, so are we but we were able to stick with them last year because we could keep Tyreke on the court for longer than 28 minutes. Believe it or not we actually had a real chance to win this game provided we that our coach decided to really coach tonight rather than try a few things to see how they work out.

Where do you draw the line and say its time for Reke to learn though and for coach to stop experimenting ? Sooner the better i feel, I mean we're a few games into the reg season with a different side than what started last season so theres got to be some inevitable experimentation.

We beat the lakers on the boards and lost out on turnovers and fouls, it was really closer then the final score. The issue clearly remains our Defence, its slow starting is what really cost us this game as well as our inability to hit free throws

 

[UK_King]

God i hate loosing to the Lakers.

how about that foul for the 4 point play... no contact... no even a bit of contact... not even a pinky. But hey lets call anyway!

total BS.

We held in there early and it was a joy to watch but when you're up against a superstar it's not that easy; especially when they're just putting up shot after shot after shot.

 

[ParniValjak]

Where do you draw the line and say its time for Reke to learn though and for coach to stop experimenting ? Sooner the better i feel, I mean we're a few games into the reg season with a different side than what started last season so theres got to be some inevitable experimentation.

We beat the lakers on the boards and lost out on turnovers and fouls, it was really closer then the final score. The issue clearly remains our Defence, its slow starting is what really cost us this game as well as our inability to hit free throws

Closer than the score suggests?! Are you kidding me!

From about 2 minutes or so to go in the first half until the end of the game we never looked like winning it. Lakers established a nice lead and had as arms length for the rest of the night. At one stage we were down by 20 and made is a respectable 12 points in the end but at no stage were we close in the 2nd half.

 

[FaStRmAn]

God i hate loosing to the Lakers.

how about that foul for the 4 point play... no contact... no even a bit of contact... not even a pinky. But hey lets call anyway!

total BS.

We held in there early and it was a joy to watch but when you're up against a superstar it's not that easy; especially when they're just putting up shot after shot after shot.

Yea, that was a total Phantom Foul. No contact whatsoever. No idea what the refs were doing calling that foul. It was disgusting.

 

[FaStRmAn]

Where do you draw the line and say its time for Reke to learn though and for coach to stop experimenting ? Sooner the better i feel, I mean we're a few games into the reg season with a different side than what started last season so theres got to be some inevitable experimentation.

We beat the lakers on the boards and lost out on turnovers and fouls, it was really closer then the final score. The issue clearly remains our Defence, its slow starting is what really cost us this game as well as our inability to hit free throws

I think the Final score was indicative of the game played. The Fakers were given a lot of calls in the first half, and they built a lead on good shooting and poor foul calling. Once the calls started evening out, it was too late for the Kings. I thought up until halftime the Kings played superb basketball. Most other teams dont play the Fakers this good. We are a team in progress. The Fakers have been together for a long time now. I think down the road this is going to be a great matchup, but for now the Fakers are just that much better than us. Maybe the Kings attract a star player and trade nothing to get him like the Fakers deal to get Pao. That is the kind of bs that keeps the Fakers competative. They have a competative advantage because players want to play there. The day will come when Kobe is injured and not as great a player and free agents will want to go elsewhere.

 

[Asaf]

I think the Final score was indicative of the game played. The Fakers were given a lot of calls in the first half, and they built a lead on good shooting and poor foul calling. Once the calls started evening out, it was too late for the Kings. I thought up until halftime the Kings played superb basketball. Most other teams dont play the Fakers this good. We are a team in progress. The Fakers have been together for a long time now. I think down the road this is going to be a great matchup, but for now the Fakers are just that much better than us. Maybe the Kings attract a star player and trade nothing to get him like the Fakers deal to get Pao. That is the kind of bs that keeps the Fakers competative. They have a competative advantage because players want to play there. The day will come when Kobe is injured and not as great a player and free agents will want to go elsewhere.

Players will always want to play for big market teams like the Lakers, just like almost every superstar in free agency talks about the Knicks, despite the fact that they've been losing since before they were born. With or without Kobe, the Lakers will probably never have any problems attracting good players.

 

[fnordius]

even lamar odom who always sucks against us played great.

Odom played very well against us in his younger days, remember 6 March 2004 when he was playing for Miami and embarassed CWebb with 30 and 19? And that wasn't his first >20-10 performance against us.

I was kinda hoping he was done with that, though...

 

[Kingster]

But this is the thing. A big part of the foul trouble is having Tyreke guard Kobe. Tyreke likes to swipe and reach in and blind freddy can see that that is NEVER going to wash against Kobe. Every time, Tyreke puts his hand in the cookie jar against Kobe he will get called for a foul. Tyreke had tendencies to reach in and swipe, so knowing this, you don't put him on Kobe because you need him on the floor to win against the Lakers. He can learn his lessons on reaching in and swiping against other teams and when he gets better at it, THEN you stick him on Kobe but until he reaches that point, you need to hide him so to speak because you need him on the floor to win against the lakers.

That is a coaching mistake for THIS game. Sure in the long run it will be good for Tyreke's development but we should now be in the process of trying to win every game, especially against great teams. We had a worse team last year and we pushed the Lakers in every game....it came down to the last shot. Some games went to OT and they had a hard time shaking us off. Today was a cuising win. The Lakers are better than last year but then again, so are we but we were able to stick with them last year because we could keep Tyreke on the court for longer than 28 minutes. Believe it or not we actually had a real chance to win this game provided we that our coach decided to really coach tonight rather than try a few things to see how they work out.

That's not a coaching mistake. Just the opposite. I don't even think it's a situation in which we are sacrificing the short term for the long term. Tyreke is the best defender on the Kings. There's nobody better to put on Kobe. And Tyreke is never going to learn unless he gets schooled from the best. Are we always going to protect him from the big bad Kobe? From the big bad Wade? Same thing holds for Cousins. Are we going to protect him from the big bad Gasol? Howard? Kaman? Throw the metal in the fire and burn baby burn until it is rolled into red-hot steel.

 

[Peter_Gibbons]

Yeah wright.
Because of this conservation of him, Kobe was chosen as a member of first All-defensive team seven or eight times and same goes for Jordan.

Thats why kobe is overrated. He's been guarding guys like casspi, sefolosha, Dudley, etc. Basically the 4th or 5th scoring option of every team they play against. kobe gets those All-Defensive teams because of the media voting on reputation, popularity, and the pull of big sponsors like Nike. Do you really think the lakers got Artest and then went after Raja Bell and eventually Matt Barnes for their offense so kobe can spend more time playing D?

 

[Peter_Gibbons]

The "problem" with using Tyreke on kobe is because Beno is supposedly our starting SG according to PW.

I've said before, the coaches need to make up their mind about Tyreke's position. If they are set on developing him to be a PG, they need to get another SG ASAP that can at least be a decent back up and defend. Start Cisco instead of Beno. Cisco is our best catch and shoot guy on the team and Tyreke needs that.

 

[Boogie-havoc]

There just can't be a more annoying player in the NBA then Derek Fisher in the 4th q when the team you like is in a tight game with the lakers.

God I hate him... when he made that 3 pointer and after the and one, man was I pissed off..

 

[Peter_Gibbons]

There just can't be a more annoying player in the NBA then Derek Fisher in the 4th q when the team you like is in a tight game with the lakers.

God I hate him... when he made that 3 pointer and after the and one, man was I pissed off..

Derek Flopper is the real clutch shot guy on the lakers. kobe makes some in the regular season but almost all the big shots in the playoffs are from flopper.

 

[Kingster]

Thats why kobe is overrated. He's been guarding guys like casspi, sefolosha, Dudley, etc. Basically the 4th or 5th scoring option of every team they play against. kobe gets those All-Defensive teams because of the media voting on reputation, popularity, and the pull of big sponsors like Nike. Do you really think the lakers got Artest and then went after Raja Bell and eventually Matt Barnes for their offense so kobe can spend more time playing D?

Kobe is a fantastic defender. Jackson just doesn't want him to expend a lot of energy during the season. He's waiting for the real season to begin.

 

[Lockehead]

Im sure Tyreke learned something from last night. No matter how good he is scoring or defending, he is not going to play if hes in foul trouble

 

[Kingstime]

The "problem" with using Tyreke on kobe is because Beno is supposedly our starting SG according to PW.

I've said before, the coaches need to make up their mind about Tyreke's position. If they are set on developing him to be a PG, they need to get another SG ASAP that can at least be a decent back up and defend. Start Cisco instead of Beno. Cisco is our best catch and shoot guy on the team and Tyreke needs that.

I'm more in favor of starting Garcia over Cassipi then taking Beno out of the starting back court. We need Benos smartness out there on the fast breaks and he is automatic from mid range, plus we can hide Beno against most starting back courts even the Lakers by having him guard Fisher. If we start Garcia we can have him take the harder back court matchup and we can put Reke on the bigger guard/small forward. Basically we all should be able to agree that last night should of went like this matchup wise....

Beno v Fish
Garcia v Kobe
Reke v Artest

We all know Reke is capable of being a great defender but he's too important to our over all gameplan to have him missing huge chunks of games due to foul trouble, save a Evans/Kobe matchup for the 4th Q.

 

[Bricklayer]

I'm more in favor of starting Garcia over Cassipi then taking Beno out of the starting back court. We need Benos smartness out there on the fast breaks and he is automatic from mid range, plus we can hide Beno against most starting back courts even the Lakers by having him guard Fisher. If we start Garcia we can have him take the harder back court matchup and we can put Reke on the bigger guard/small forward. Basically we all should be able to agree that last night should of went like this matchup wise....

Beno v Fish
Garcia v Kobe
Reke v Artest

We all know Reke is capable of being a great defender but he's too important to our over all gameplan to have him missing huge chunks of games due to foul trouble, save a Evans/Kobe matchup for the 4th Q.

We do NOT want Reke to have to be guarding SFs with any consistency. Adn Cisco is a soft SF. In fact that basically creates the softest, weakest leinuep we can put out there. Cisco and reek in the backcourt should at least be experimented with as long as we can keep Beno involved as a major contributor.

 

[midnightlove1998]

outside of that Rockets game, the Kings really pushed the Lakers. This team presents many matchup problems and Bynum just started running on a track.

There just can't be a more annoying player in the NBA then Derek Fisher in the 4th q when the team you like is in a tight game with the lakers.

God I hate him... when he made that 3 pointer and after the and one, man was I pissed off..

That's just Fish. He may not appear when you want him to but he's always right on time.

 

[Bricklayer]

That's not a coaching mistake. Just the opposite. I don't even think it's a situation in which we are sacrificing the short term for the long term. Tyreke is the best defender on the Kings. There's nobody better to put on Kobe. And Tyreke is never going to learn unless he gets schooled from the best. Are we always going to protect him from the big bad Kobe? From the big bad Wade? Same thing holds for Cousins. Are we going to protect him from the big bad Gasol? Howard? Kaman? Throw the metal in the fire and burn baby burn until it is rolled into red-hot steel.

Who guarded Tyreke most of the night? It wasn't Kobe. And that's compeltely normal -- very rarely do you see stars guard stars precisely because of what you saw happen last night. You can't afford to have your main guy get into foul trouble. So you switch over and protect the star for most of the game on leser playes, and then maybe have him swing over and guard the other star late in the game with the game close, and him having most of his fouls to use. Training Reke to go mano a mano with Kobe over the course of a whole game is odd, because basically nobody does that. Artest takes Reke. Kobe rests against a lesser guy. And maybe that's something we need out of a SF or SG. The defensive wingman/protector the same way that great centers need an enforcer wingman at PF.

 

[midnightlove1998]

Tyreke should have been on Fisher or Blake the entire night. Beno on Kobe would cause some serious issues on the flip side. I look for him to make these corrections when they play again. He did have a couple ticky-tack fouls called against him but once he had hit two fouls, you've got to play with your hands in your pockets until the third.

 

[Kingster]

Who guarded Tyreke most of the night? It wasn't Kobe. And that's compeltely normal -- very rarely do you see stars guard stars precisely because of what you saw happen last night. You can't afford to have your main guy get into foul trouble. So you switch over and protect the star for most of the game on leser playes, and then maybe have him swing over and guard the other star late in the game with the game close, and him having most of his fouls to use. Training Reke to go mano a mano with Kobe over the course of a whole game is odd, because basically nobody does that. Artest takes Reke. Kobe rests against a lesser guy. And maybe that's something we need out of a SF or SG. The defensive wingman/protector the same way that great centers need an enforcer wingman at PF.

Totally, totally different. Kobe the superstar. Tyreke the wannabee. Kobe the proven outstanding defender. Tyreke the novice with lots to learn on the defensive end. Kobe saving himself for the playoffs and potential championship. Tyreke with a very outside chance to even get to the playoffs with no need to save himself. Kobe, with many miles on those legs. Tyreke with young legs.

Let's have this conversation in three or so years after Tyreke has expended some major effort to become an excellent defender, and then I probably agree we should ease off of Tyreke on the defensive end of the floor. I will say, though, that I would very much like to have another starting guard with mega quickness in our backcourt that can defend the smaller uber-quick point guards; otherwise, longer term, Tyreke will get worn down by those guys.

 

[Bricklayer]

Totally, totally different. Kobe the superstar. Tyreke the wannabee. Kobe the proven outstanding defender. Tyreke the novice with lots to learn on the defensive end. Kobe saving himself for the playoffs and potential championship. Tyreke with a very outside chance to even get to the playoffs with no need to save himself. Kobe, with many miles on those legs. Tyreke with young legs.

Let's have this conversation in three or so years after Tyreke has expended some major effort to become an excellent defender, and then I probably agree we should ease off of Tyreke on the defensive end of the floor. I will say, though, that I would very much like to have another starting guard with mega quickness in our backcourt that can defend the smaller uber-quick point guards; otherwise, longer term, Tyreke will get worn down by those guys.

Not totally different at all. You name me one, ANY one perimeter star in the NBA who does his team's main dirty work on defense against the other team's star. I don't care baout age, I don't care about playoffs, non-playoffs, its got nothing to do with that. Its just bad strategy. You don't risk your stars like that. There are reasons why Reke himself sees a constant stream of defensive roleplayers streamed at him. When he faced Rose, it was Salmons who took him. Jennings, it was Salmons again post trade. Kobe it was Artest. After he proved himself vs. Deron in that first game, it was their SG of the week. Goes to Portland, and hello Batum, not Roy. Crushes Kevin in Houston, and then its hello Battier.

Nobody with any roster options has their star guard your star until the end of games, anywhere in the NBA. When Kobe and Wade square off, they do not primarily square off against each other (some exception there with small quick PGs who nobody else may be able to guard).

 

[hrdboild]

Not totally different at all. You name me one, ANY one perimeter star in the NBA who does his team's main dirty work on defense against the other team's star. I don't care baout age, I don't care about playoffs, non-playoffs, its got nothing to do with that. Its just bad strategy. You don't risk your stars like that. There are reasons why Reke himself sees a constant stream of defensive roleplayers streamed at him. When he faced Rose, it was Salmons who took him. Jennings, it was Salmons again post trade. Kobe it was Artest. After he proved himself vs. Deron in that first game, it was their SG of the week. Goes to Portland, and hello Batum, not Roy. Crushes Kevin in Houston, and then its hello Battier.

Nobody with any roster options has their star guard your star until the end of games, anywhere in the NBA. When Kobe and Wade square off, they do not primarily square off against each other (some exception there with small quick PGs who nobody else may be able to guard).

This is exactly why it was such an odd decision by Westphal. Tyreke guarding Kobe for a couple minutes at the end of the half or the end of the fourth quarter is one thing, having him be the primary defender for whole quarters is another and it's bad planning precisely because of what we saw last night. If Tyreke gets in foul trouble, our offense goes to the bench. If Kobe fouls out Donte Greene or Luther Head, at least you're not going to spend the rest of the game handicapped on offense. With Pau also getting Cousins in foul trouble and Landry mostly ineffective in the land of the giants, we had no hope of winning that game without Tyreke.

When Kobe isolates he's looking for the foul 9 times out of 10 and he'll use the whole shot clock to get it if he needs to. Tyreke did a good job of denying his penetration most of the time, but he was getting over aggressive with reach ins and contested shots. Some of that is inexperience -- Kobe will take the bad shot if you give it to him and that's a whole lot better than free throws -- but some of it was just Tyreke stepping up to a challenge that he shouldn't have even been put in position to tackle.

 

[steelevt]

Not totally different at all. You name me one, ANY one perimeter star in the NBA who does his team's main dirty work on defense against the other team's star. I don't care baout age, I don't care about playoffs, non-playoffs, its got nothing to do with that. Its just bad strategy. You don't risk your stars like that. There are reasons why Reke himself sees a constant stream of defensive roleplayers streamed at him. When he faced Rose, it was Salmons who took him. Jennings, it was Salmons again post trade. Kobe it was Artest. After he proved himself vs. Deron in that first game, it was their SG of the week. Goes to Portland, and hello Batum, not Roy. Crushes Kevin in Houston, and then its hello Battier.

Nobody with any roster options has their star guard your star until the end of games, anywhere in the NBA. When Kobe and Wade square off, they do not primarily square off against each other (some exception there with small quick PGs who nobody else may be able to guard).

i assumed the reason evans wasnt guarded by rose, jennings and deron were because they are point guards. even though evans is considered our point. beno would be guarded by the opponents pg because he is smaller. that leaves the opponents sg left to guard evans. its not a matter of not putting a superstar on evans, i think those examples are answered by position. there are examples of big name players guarding kobe when they face him. ive seen ray allen and paul pierce guard kobe. and when they play the heat it will be wade or lebron. what if we would have kept evans off of arenas on the last play last year and put some one else on him? there are 2 sides to this and to tell you the truth im not sure which side is right. do you put evans against other stars now while hes young so that he can learn how to defend them later or do you pull a kobe and keep him off the star to preserve him? i think the answer would depend on who you pair him with beno or garcia

 

[Bricklayer]

i assumed the reason evans wasnt guarded by rose, jennings and deron were because they are point guards. even though evans is considered our point. beno would be guarded by the opponents pg because he is smaller. that leaves the opponents sg left to guard evans. its not a matter of not putting a superstar on evans, i think those examples are answered by position. there are examples of big name players guarding kobe when they face him. ive seen ray allen and paul pierce guard kobe. and when they play the heat it will be wade or lebron. what if we would have kept evans off of arenas on the last play last year and put some one else on him? there are 2 sides to this and to tell you the truth im not sure which side is right. do you put evans against other stars now while hes young so that he can learn how to defend them later or do you pull a kobe and keep him off the star to preserve him? i think the answer would depend on who you pair him with beno or garcia

putting Evans on Arenas on the last play is compeltely normal -- even if you consider Arenas that elvel of star at this point. Everybody does it at the end of games for the plays that matter, in fact that's another reason not to burn your star's fouls early in the game. Nobody does it for the whole game, unless they have no options. Yeah, Allen or Pierce take Kobe. Because what is the option? Ditto Wade and LeBron. You've got two stars in those situations anyway, and so can afford to maybe lose one, but more improtantly since both your SG and SF are stars, there's noplace to hide them unless you want to put a severely undersized PG on Kobe. Few teams have that luxury though. The teams with major stars there normally have a lesser palyer teamed with them, and 9 times out of 10 that lesser player is going to get the primary duties against the other team's star at that position.

This should be fairly common knowledge of standard strategy (not only that it makes sense for hte reasons that hrdboild listed above: you don't risk your special offensive players on defense, nor do you want to wear them down unneccesarily). But if you don't beleive me jsut start paying attention to it in the nationally televised games. Well, the 1 or 2 that don't involve Boston or Miami. Its a cross match anyway, but tonight Roy and Durant aren't matching except on switches. Its Durant and Batum, and Roy vs. OKC's random scrub of the hour at SG.

 

[steelevt]

putting Evans on Arenas on the last play is compeltely normal -- even if you consider Arenas that elvel of star at this point. Everybody does it at the end of games for the plays that matter, in fact that's another reason not to burn your star's fouls early in the game. Nobody does it for the whole game, unless they have no options. Yeah, Allen or Pierce take Kobe. Because what is the option? Ditto Wade and LeBron. You've got two stars in those situations anyway, and so can afford to maybe lose one, but more improtantly since both your SG and SF are stars, there's noplace to hide them unless you want to put a severely undersized PG on Kobe. Few teams have that luxury though. The teams with major stars there normally have a lesser palyer teamed with them, and 9 times out of 10 that lesser player is going to get the primary duties against the other team's star at that position.

This should be fairly common knowledge of standard strategy (not only that it makes sense for hte reasons that hrdboild listed above: you don't risk your special offensive players on defense, nor do you want to wear them down unneccesarily). But if you don't beleive me jsut start paying attention to it in the nationally televised games. Well, the 1 or 2 that don't involve Boston or Miami. Its a cross match anyway, but tonight Roy and Durant aren't matching except on switches. Its Durant and Batum, and Roy vs. OKC's random scrub of the hour at SG.

i understand that strategy and in most cases, thats how it should be. but with beno evans and casspi, who would the ideal matchup be against? theres no way beno can guard kobe if evans is on fisher, and its hard for some power forwards to guard artest let alone our pg/sg if artest wants to post up. to take advantage of how good evans is, we need to pair him up with a bigger guard like garcia. then it would have been evans on fish, garcia on kobe, and casspi on artest