"Lakers Show How to Contain LeBron" (Better Basketball)

[wuck]

X's and O's of Better Basketball took a look at the Lakers defense on LeBron on Sunday.

It covers the basics of the Lakers' approach, one that is shared by other teams, and one that is not always effective (Cavs are able to shoot better; offensive issues are hidden by better Cavs defense and transition hoops, etc.). But this is the kind of thing that keeps John Kuester thinking late at night, so I thought it would be useful to post.

No, I don't want to see the X's and O's take on the Cavs defense in the 2nd half on Sunday...

Lakers Show How to Contain Lebron

From yesterday, the epic Kobe vs Lebron battle, the Lakers against the Cavaliers in Cleveland. I was disappointed by the Cavs, I thought they would play with more emotion but it turned out the Lakers were the hungrier team. Kobe made some unbelievable plays, and he apparently had the flu to boot. And despite all that, the Cavs were just a few plays from tying and winning the game.

I thought the Lakers did a decent job defending Lebron. I think they could've been even better, but given Lebron's 5-for-20, 16 point statline, it was a good enough to win. The whole key with Lebron is to force him to give the ball up or smother him with numbers. The Cavs have the depth to hurt you if you do that, but relatively speaking, that is the best option. Here were 2 sequences that I though really showed what the Lakers were trying to do, to overload the strong-side,

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Create a Numbers Advantage:

Just some pictures. In a straight up situation, you overload on the strong-side wherever Lebron has the ball, and the other players zone up behind. It's just a numbers game. It's like in football, when you play against a tough runner, you load up the box with 8 players. Yes you sacrifice some in your pass coverage, but you've got to do something to stop the freight train coming at you,

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Td-1pBdALUc/SZE0EpVRivI/AAAAAAAAC98/-HGm30odRQI/s1600-h/lakersoverload1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursorointer; cursor:hand;width: 359px; height: 252px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Td-1pBdALUc/SZE0EpVRivI/AAAAAAAAC98/-HGm30odRQI/s400/lakersoverload1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301075490810989298" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Td-1pBdALUc/SZE0EvCMpqI/AAAAAAAAC90/UQVBKy5XbJg/s1600-h/lakersoverload2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursorointer; cursor:hand;width: 290px; height: 361px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Td-1pBdALUc/SZE0EvCMpqI/AAAAAAAAC90/UQVBKy5XbJg/s400/lakersoverload2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301075492341589666" /></a><br /><br />​

Hedge and Contain:

Usually when you hedge a ball screen, the hedger has to recover as quickly as possible to his original check to prevent a pass to a basket cut or a pop out jumper. Against Lebron, the Lakers hedge, then they stay and contain. They basically take their chances with Ilgauskas or Varejao, in this case Ilgauskas is wide open,

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Td-1pBdALUc/SZE1T9Si0UI/AAAAAAAAC-M/97up7sxs9go/s1600-h/lakersoverload3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursorointer; cursor:hand;width: 361px; height: 244px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Td-1pBdALUc/SZE1T9Si0UI/AAAAAAAAC-M/97up7sxs9go/s400/lakersoverload3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301076853377913154" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Td-1pBdALUc/SZE1TmDrLNI/AAAAAAAAC-E/-ljw_Fi9MBI/s1600-h/lakersoverload4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursorointer; cursor:hand;width: 292px; height: 361px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Td-1pBdALUc/SZE1TmDrLNI/AAAAAAAAC-E/-ljw_Fi9MBI/s400/lakersoverload4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301076847141530834" /></a><br />​

Summary:

The Lakers look like a team on a mission right now. They definitely will miss Andrew Bynum but I think the team they have now is good enough to win it all, in fact I felt that way last year too. They had a bad finals, but if they can keep their focus, nothing is stopping them. As for Lebron, he's the most formidable player in the NBA right now. I don't know if there is a scheme or player in the world that can really shut him down. With an upgraded supporting cast, this could be the matchup we see in June.

SOURCE

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

"Are you big time like Mike Bibby?"

 

[theSTEREO.]

I think the Lakers did a decent job on Lebron, better than most. However, that 5-20 stat line is just as much a result of Lebron having an off night offensively as it was defense.

There were at least 3 or 4 occasions that Lebron missed point blankers that he usually makes. 9-20 wouldn't be that bad of a stat line when you consider his assists.

 

[Photon]

And if LeBron does beat you to the basket, hit him on his arms, don't worry about the refs. We lost because we played like ases but LeBron is really getting hit near basket. :thumbdown

 

[wuck]

Honestly, the best defense on LeBron this year is to just wait until another one of his teammates goes on injured reserve. :thumbdown

 

[Da_James_Gang]

Rick Barry is behind this........ :shakehead

 

[OU Bobcatz]

I play in this 35 and older league where there is a young buck (he's about 37) who we call The King because of his dominance. He is the tallest, fastest and strongest player in our league, and we came close to starting a petition to boot his azz out. Instead, maybe I'll gather my team together at the next practice and work on the above defense on him.

 

[PIP]

Rick Barry is behind this........ :shakehead

I think so... Rick Barry is completely owning the situation right now...

Damn him...

 

[Jon]

As I said in another thread, the Lakers big improvement on D this year has been related to their use of an over aggressive weak side D coupled with a very aggressive over all D.

On the first play in the video we correctly swung the ball to the weak side, but Andy missed the screen allowing the Lakers to recover and contest Gibson. On the second play, Z was left open for the pick and pop, but LeBron just decided to try to take it himself at Fisher and Gasol. And that's where their aggressiveness paid off as Fisher was able to strip him of the ball.

Gasol for someone who's never been known as a very good defender in Memphis played surprisingly well against us.

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

I think so... Rick Barry is completely owning the situation right now...

Damn him...

I wish he wasnt considered such a jerk, because honestly he has some validity to his criticsms. I saw a shot chart of Brons shots during the game, and he didnt attempt a shot from like 10-20 ft.

THATS CRAZY.

Our staff HAS to be able to make the game easier for him in terms of scoring.

 

[TAS]

If LeBron developed a good mid-range jumper like Mo: Problem solved.

 

[Splitz]

It depends on which Lebron shows up. If Lebron from the Celtics game shows up with the objective to prove to everyone he is MVP and DPOY then he's pretty hard to stop. Although there is the Lebron that looks relatively disinterested and unraveled after a no call or two. You add Delonte West into the mix and this strategy doesn't appear to carry the same clout. That's one more dead eye shooter that can put the ball on the court and get to the basket.

 

[Green Lantern]

What the Lakers did to defense Lebron is nothing new..it's old..what's really old is how Lebron and the Cavs react to the scheme..if they don't swing the ball and have cutters into the lane it stagnates..

 

[Pioneer10]

It's the same defense that the Celtics and Spurs and even Detroit used against James. James for whatever reasons has these sort of game every once in awhile where he just doens't seem all that aggresive or his jumps don't have the same explosion.

In one way I think it's a matter of timing. If you can knock the Cavs off early before James adjusts then you're good (i.e. SAS) but if not then Lebron seems to figure this D out - see Detroit and Celtics. I know Boston beat us but we really had no business competing with them in terms of raw talent but Lebron got stronger and stronger as that series went on.

One final note: Ariza may the number 1 "Lebron Stopper" in the league right now. He does as good of job defending Lebron as anyone I've seen. Lebron gets into the lane against Kobe but Ariza makes it tough for him.