Vecsey on Finals: "Should be a lay-up drill for the Celtics"

[PerkinsERA43]

The Lakers have held each opponent to well below their scoring averages.  Their defense is good and very underrated.  The most important aspect is the coaching, and Phil has consistently developed gameplans to hide the defensive flaws that existed in the regular season.

 

I'm sorry... but I just *don't* buy this. All this talk about how amazing a coach Phil jackson is... all the pointing to his rings and to his winning percentage... those are all skewed stats! He's always had stellar teams and stellar players. Sure, maybe he's a *good* coach. I say this because he did win 6 titles with MJ. Doc Rivers only would have won 4. Or 5. Teams with transcendent superstars are very easy to coach. You win a lot of games when the team is fantastic. You could have taken any coach in the league and put him with Jackson's Bulls teams and they would've had similar success. Phil Jackson is not a prophet, nor is he basketball jesus. He's a good coach who has never had to manage a bad team. I *hate* to hear these blanket arguments: "Phil will take care of it", "Phil has a gameplan", "Phil can fix it", "Down the stretch, Phil will win it". The idea that Phil Jackson can cook up some clever scheme that at once stops KG from killing whoever they throw at him, keeps the Celtics off the boards, keeps Ray Allen under a wet carpet, and do whatever else needs to be done to address the Celtics' strengths is stupid. You can't gloss over a teams flaws with coaching. The Lakers suck at rebounding.... nothing Phil 'Zen Master' Jackson draws up will change that, nor will he be able to negate any of the other flaws the Lakers have.  

this post = fact

[Jon]

The Lakers have held each opponent to well below their scoring averages.  Their defense is good and very underrated.  The most important aspect is the coaching, and Phil has consistently developed gameplans to hide the defensive flaws that existed in the regular season.

 

I'm sorry... but I just *don't* buy this. All this talk about how amazing a coach Phil jackson is... all the pointing to his rings and to his winning percentage... those are all skewed stats! He's always had stellar teams and stellar players. Sure, maybe he's a *good* coach. I say this because he did win 6 titles with MJ. Doc Rivers only would have won 4. Or 5. Teams with transcendent superstars are very easy to coach. You win a lot of games when the team is fantastic. You could have taken any coach in the league and put him with Jackson's Bulls teams and they would've had similar success. Phil Jackson is not a prophet, nor is he basketball jesus. He's a good coach who has never had to manage a bad team. I *hate* to hear these blanket arguments: "Phil will take care of it", "Phil has a gameplan", "Phil can fix it", "Down the stretch, Phil will win it". The idea that Phil Jackson can cook up some clever scheme that at once stops KG from killing whoever they throw at him, keeps the Celtics off the boards, keeps Ray Allen under a wet carpet, and do whatever else needs to be done to address the Celtics' strengths is stupid. You can't gloss over a teams flaws with coaching. The Lakers suck at rebounding.... nothing Phil 'Zen Master' Jackson draws up will change that, nor will he be able to negate any of the other flaws the Lakers have. 

this post = fact

I agree about coaching.  It only matters so much in the NBA.  Unlike football where a guy like Bellichick can micromanage a few seconds of play at a time, basketball is a lot more free flowing.  I've always said that for as much as we all bash Rick Pitino, we all would probably have dramatically different opinions of him if a few ping pong balls bounce the other way and the Celtics land Duncan. 

Concerning the "layup drill" comment, I think the "layup" part is the key part.  The Lakers have decent perimeter defense, but against Gasol, it should be a layup/dunk drill if they get near the basket.  Unlike other series, guys like Perkins and Rondo who have missed a ton of easy floaters and dunks should finish those.  Imagine how all three of our series would have gone had those little shots gone down routinely. 

[RebusRankin]

If Phil Jackson is such a genius why doesn't he fix these flaws in the regular season?

Oh and Vecesy's last good work was coming up with Bird's nickname.

[Las Vegas Asian]

Hate to say it but Vescey is spot on with this comment. Being on the West Coast I've watched a lot of Laker's games this year and they have been absolutely destroyed when the opposition drives it to the basket. Not only that but the Laker's interior D offered no resistance in getting there. Even more so now with Gasol in the lineup instead of Bynum. This is why they struggled with teams like G.State & Portland who have penetrating guards and swingmen. The key to winning this series is...DRIVE, DRIVE, DRIVE!!!

[aka_USAPA]

Well, I've never trusted Vescey for anything else, so I'm not going to start now.

The Lakers' defense isn't anywhere near as bad as that quote implies.

Their defense is underrated but they do play pretty tough team defense.   The Spurs know, and the world will know soon enough.

[pslakerfan]

My concern with this series is how much super start treatment kobe gets.
We barely survived the Cavs with Bron Bron getting all the calls,

I am pretty sure that was designed to get the Lakers to the finals against Bron Bron, not necessarily to win. 
But let's save the excuses for after the bad officiating.

[CoachBo]

A little strong, but there isn't a shred of evidence to suggest that there isn't a massive defensive disparity in this series.

And it doesn't favor LA.

[footey]

Roy,

I just read your reply. I did not change one word. I think you just misread it the first time. Happens to me all the time.  You may disagree with Pete, but for all his experience, I find that he remains quite accessible. He doesn't know me from Adam, but always responds when I email him.  He really is a great source of knowledge about the NBA. While it is true he can overplay the devil's advocate, he is the only guy around who witnessed the greats going back to the 60's.  Very much a legend in my book.

Footey

[pslakerfan]

A little strong, but there isn't a shred of evidence to suggest that there isn't a massive defensive disparity in this series.

And it doesn't favor LA.

A little strong, but there isn't a shred of evidence to suggest that there isn't a massive OFFENSIVE disparity in this series.

And it doesn't favor BOSTON.

[LakerRings]

The Lakers have held each opponent to well below their scoring averages.  Their defense is good and very underrated.  The most important aspect is the coaching, and Phil has consistently developed gameplans to hide the defensive flaws that existed in the regular season.

 

I'm sorry... but I just *don't* buy this. All this talk about how amazing a coach Phil jackson is... all the pointing to his rings and to his winning percentage... those are all skewed stats! He's always had stellar teams and stellar players. Sure, maybe he's a *good* coach. I say this because he did win 6 titles with MJ. Doc Rivers only would have won 4. Or 5. Teams with transcendent superstars are very easy to coach. You win a lot of games when the team is fantastic. You could have taken any coach in the league and put him with Jackson's Bulls teams and they would've had similar success. Phil Jackson is not a prophet, nor is he basketball jesus. He's a good coach who has never had to manage a bad team. I *hate* to hear these blanket arguments: "Phil will take care of it", "Phil has a gameplan", "Phil can fix it", "Down the stretch, Phil will win it". The idea that Phil Jackson can cook up some clever scheme that at once stops KG from killing whoever they throw at him, keeps the Celtics off the boards, keeps Ray Allen under a wet carpet, and do whatever else needs to be done to address the Celtics' strengths is stupid. You can't gloss over a teams flaws with coaching. The Lakers suck at rebounding.... nothing Phil 'Zen Master' Jackson draws up will change that, nor will he be able to negate any of the other flaws the Lakers have. 

this post = fact

really?  Explain Denver then?

[Robb]

Maybe it SHOULD be easy for the Celtics, but when has a team from Boston ever done something easy?

Boston teams always have to make things hard for themselves, and even more so in recent years.

[LakerRings]

My concern with this series is how much super start treatment kobe gets.
We barely survived the Cavs with Bron Bron getting all the calls,

I am pretty sure that was designed to get the Lakers to the finals against Bron Bron, not necessarily to win. 
But let's save the excuses for after the bad officiating.

that's a bunch of crap.  Kobe went to the line 6 times in 5 games vs the SPurs

[CoachBo]

A little strong, but there isn't a shred of evidence to suggest that there isn't a massive defensive disparity in this series.

And it doesn't favor LA.

A little strong, but there isn't a shred of evidence to suggest that there isn't a massive OFFENSIVE disparity in this series.

And it doesn't favor BOSTON.

Can't win if you don't score, and you're playing the best defensive team in the league. We're going to turn Kobe into a jump shooter. And if he dares drive, he's going down. Hard. Beyond that, we're going to beat your soft front line into a pulp on the box, and we're going to outphysical you off the bench, too.

Dream on. Last I heard they're not dusting off any space in Springfield for the Poodle, Lamar the Inconsistent, et al.

If you don't mind, I think we'll show up and play, despite all the nonsensical hyperbole you folks bring.

[GoldenThroat]

You guys are in for a rude awakening if you believe that the Lakers are just an "average" defensive team.

There's a difference between playing at a comatose pace (Cleveland) and being bad on defense.

I very much hope that the C's think they're facing a team that will allow "layup" drills.

[GoldenThroat]

A little strong, but there isn't a shred of evidence to suggest that there isn't a massive defensive disparity in this series.

And it doesn't favor LA.

A little strong, but there isn't a shred of evidence to suggest that there isn't a massive OFFENSIVE disparity in this series.

And it doesn't favor BOSTON.

Can't win if you don't score, and you're playing the best defensive team in the league. We're going to turn Kobe into a jump shooter. And if he dares drive, he's going down. Hard. Beyond that, we're going to beat your soft front line into a pulp on the box, and we're going to outphysical you off the bench, too.

Dream on. Last I heard they're not dusting off any space in Springfield for the Poodle, Lamar the Inconsistent, et al.

If you don't mind, I think we'll show up and play, despite all the nonsensical hyperbole you folks bring.

It's funny how in one post, Phil Jackson's abilities as a coach are downplayed due to the amount of talent he has on his teams, and a couple of posts later, Gasol & Odom's abilities are minimized.

Pick one and stick to it.