What do the Lakers need to do in Game 7

[JellyBean]

I noticed that when Kobe was guarding Rondo in the game, Kobe was trying to help out, which is always good on defense. But sometimes Kobe should have let Pau/Odom/Bynum handle the Celtics Bigs one on one. It wasn't just Kobe a few Laker players lost track of Rondo and he had some easy baskets.

The Lakers should also focus keeping their composure. The Celtics are going to come at them hard, so the Lakers have to keep cool. Play smart basketball. The Celtics are bullies. I hate saying that because I am a huge KG fan, but they are bullies. So the Lakers have to play smart ball. Attack and don't get caught up in all of the drama that the Celtics are trying to create.

Good luck, Lakers. Do this for the Western Conference!!!!

Timberwolves fan

[EllEffEll]

I think Boston will do a better job of spacing the floor so that Rondo can be more effective driving to the hoop and either isolate Fisher//Kobe/? or kick out to the open man if the Lakers give help. I don't think they did this to their advantage in Game 1. That made it too easy for the Lakers to give help without paying the price.

I also saw many times when the mismatch was created and somehow Boston failed to exploit it. I expect that to change so the Lakers have to be careful to limit that. Work on their pick-n-roll (which has improved in general) defense because it wasn't consistently good in Game 1.

I didn't watch LO that closely to see why he may have struggled, but he needs to figure out a way to get his, especially when more of the 2nd unit is on the floor.

In one sense, Boston has an advantage in that they will have made adjustments to counter what the Lakers did in Game 1 and the Lakers won't know exactly what it will be until it happens. Then we will have to break it down and adjust to their adjustments on the fly.

I felt the keys to our Game 1 victory were:

- attacking in the paint
- Bynum making the most of his minutes
- defensive intensity

Keep doing these things.

Rondo's boards killed us tonight, and the picks (several of them moving IMHO) that got Ray Allen so many uncontested wide open looks from downtown in the first half.

Officiating was tragically terrible for both sides.

SMFH on the OOB call late. Other weird calls too. Not a good day for the zebras.

Now we get the advantage of making the major adjustments for Game 3.

- Break down the picks/screens and the way they are being executed. Fix it.
- Keep that sawed off PG Rondo from getting 10+ rebounds. Inexcusable.
- Put out APB on Lamar Odom (6'10" male, candy addiction could be exploited to get him to surface)
- With Andrew giving us what he has been giving in this series, we should take advantage of it.

Not surprising to be 1-1. I expect this series to go back and fourth, but obviously the pressure is squarely on us to take at least one in Boston.

When someone takes a game on the road, the series officially begins. That day is at hand. Enjoy the ride.

[crisoner]

I think Odom is going to come up big for us in Boston mark my words. No reason to why I just feel it...he seems to show up at our darkest hour to say.

I like to say we need to stop making dumb fouls but geeeez did the refs do a number on both teams.

The series will come down to this....which team is more aggressive and makes the extra plays. And that was Rondo down the stretch. Really why doesn't anyone put a body on that lil f*ck. It's like he seems to be at the right place at the right time for those boards.

I hope Bynum can continue to have these type of games for us.

Kobe...what can I say out of sync but it;s hard to establish a rhythm when you are out most of the game. Kobe could not play...I would say dumb fouls but those are two huge bad calls he got. And I'm sorry taking out Kobe of the game is > anything the Celtics have. That being said the Lakers STILL played good enough to win. Loved how Sasha and Farmar made clutch shots...but we need the Mamba. I expect him to have a huge 3 games in Boston for us.

So I think we just need to feed the bigmen...keep our defense intensity at a high...be more aggressive then Boston...and get Perkins to commit a T...shoot I don't care let's use that to our advantage.

And note to Artest keep doing a great job on Paul...just make your open shots like game 1 please.

Last thing....better dee on Ray Allen...let's also attack him on defense more please.

[NY-Knicks]

Even though I am a Knicks fan I absolutely hate the Celtics so I really want the Lakers to win this series. The Celtics do have the upper hand now, they have home court advantage, the confidence from beating the Lakers and it will be hard for the Lakers to win at least two (preferably three) games in Boston. Kobe needs to play better in order for them to win and Artest needs to hit those open jumpers. The main point is still rebounding and defense though. Game 3 will be incredibly important.

[crisoner]

Yes the Celts have homecourt to say but the Lakers can get that back or even it up with one win. The Celts have been poor at home and I know the Lakers can beat them 2 out of 3. For the most part I say the Lakers as a team have been playing better ball over the last two games. So no worries one game at a time game 3 will be a huge win for the Lakers.

[Swaggin916]

production from those not named Gasol/Bynum. The fact that we are getting such good production out of Bynum is a pleasant surprise... Odom not doing anything isn't necessarily surprising, but I figured he would give us a little bit of production being that we were at home. It's as simple as that tho... 5-22 on 3's isn't going to get it done either. That's why we lost to PHX those 2 games because we couldn't knock down a damn 3. Boston on the other hand was 11-16... Ray Allen is not going to have another game like that tho that we can be sure of. Pierce and Garnett will play better in Boston, but both haven't been able to do much of anything... they should hit their open shots but I still don't see them doing much else. they just look old and slow. As long was we continue to attack them inside, we should continue to cause problems and get to the line. The only way they are stopping us is to foul us.

We will win 1 in Boston... 2 would be fantastic.

[ZeN]

Better D on Ray and PP.

Odom needs to wake up and become aggressive.

Better transition D.

Better ball rotation on offense.

[bladefd]

Even though I am a Knicks fan I absolutely hate the Celtics so I really want the Lakers to win this series. The Celtics do have the upper hand now, they have home court advantage, the confidence from beating the Lakers and it will be hard for the Lakers to win at least two (preferably three) games in Boston. Kobe needs to play better in order for them to win and Artest needs to hit those open jumpers. The main point is still rebounding and defense though. Game 3 will be incredibly important.

Lakers don't need to win all 3 in Boston... they need to win 1 at least (preferable 2), and I am sure they will get that 1 win.

WHERE IS OUR BENCH? This frustrates me more than anything. Our starters outplayed the Celtics starters but our bench was absolute GARBAGE. I told a friend of mine before the series began that the games will probably come down to which bench plays better at the end of the day. Celtics bench is completely outplaying our bench in every major statistical category pretty much and playing with more energy/hustle on defense and offense. Either the bench has to pick it up a few notches or Phil has to play Kobe/Artest/Gasol for 40 minutes each, Bynum for 35 and Fisher for 35. The only way the latter works is if they are not all in foul-trouble.. With the way the first 2 games have been called, we won't be able to rely on them to put in 40 solid minutes..

Lakers also need to involve the post a lot more. Gasol/Bynum have absolutely dominated KG/Perkins in first 2 games. WHY can't we involve them A LOT more? maybe split 14-15 shots between Gasol/Bynum each. I would rather juice something out that has worked very well so far instead of letting Kobe take garbage jumpshots.. We do NOT have to live and die by the long range 2pt jumpshots/3pt shots like the Suns. Lets really juice out the paint-game.

Phil should give Odom 2 minutes of playing time. IF he is playing like junk, bench him for the rest of the game. If he plays well in those 2 minutes, give him his normal minutes. Odom is usually consistently inconsistent. You can usually tell how he will be playing the entire game based on his first few minutes into the game. Phil should use that to calibrate how many minutes Odom should get or whether he should be benched. I am very disappointed in Odom this series.. he has not shown up at all.

[SoCalMike]

What do Lakers need to do in Game 3?

Answer: Remember game 1! haha

[crisoner]

What do Lakers need to do in Game 3?

Answer: Remember game 1! haha

true that!!!!!

[hwliuLAP]

for game 3, I think here are the keys:

first, we need to protect the paint, not just from blocking the big man, but also do better on weak side help. from second chance points and those long rebounds that Rondo turns into easy lay ups, or doing the early pick and roll switch and closing out on shooters. Docs is mixing up some spacing by throwing different rotations, and as our rotations are different, we need to figure these things out.

we got to get Odom and Artest going, we need to get balls to them where they like it and make some plays for them just to get them going, also communicate better on the defense even when Kobe isn't on the court.

we need to secure those long rebounds, we need to stop their guards and forward to get the rebound, rebounding will be a team effort and not just from the big guys. We need to stop going for shots that creates long rebounds because that helps them to get in transition, where Rondo plays his best.

If we do well defensively, and make the proper adjustments, we will slow down the game, and let the big man get the ball where they want, something that was hard to do during a stretch in the fourth where Odom made that tricky high pass to Bynum and Bynum finished with all fundamental, or when Artest made that crucial turnover by trying to force the ball in Pau. KG has made his pick on not getting embarrassed defensively first before offense, so I can see him playing a bit more timid on the offensive end and conserve energy on the defense against Pau.


At last, the bench needs to step up, the bench needs to try and make plays, plays such as drawing an important offensive foul to save the momentum, controlling the tempo to our favor, or making the open 3's. Our bench helped us a lot in that game 1 to sustain some of the runs that Boston was trying to get going, we need that type of effort once more with how the game is being called.

[DKLaker]

Despite SOME PEOPLE who are trying to keep important info off this site, i'll tell you that according to my NBA sources LO is dealing with some serious stuff that can't be discloseed on here.......just know that he's very distracted right now.......now they can keep deleting this but dude is going to keep playing like this and it's all going to come out anyways......so why stick heads in the sand and pretend.......and delete......what benefit is that?
I hope he can shake it off and help us to 3 more wins.....we gotta get this done!!!!!

[yuankiman]

game three will show us the one who will emerge as champs... so im hanging on to LA to be tougher than their opponents....... whoever wins game 3 wins it all.... mental toughness and the belief that they can win is what is important.....

[gts]

Despite SOME PEOPLE who are trying to keep important info off this site, i'll tell you that according to my NBA sources LO is dealing with some serious stuff that can't be discloseed on here.......just know that he's very distracted right now.......now they can keep deleting this but dude is going to keep playing like this and it's all going to come out anyways......so why stick heads in the sand and pretend.......and delete......what benefit is that?
I hope he can shake it off and help us to 3 more wins.....we gotta get this done!!!!!

stop acting like a 12 year old "i've gotta secret"..... lol

the reason they get deleted is because you post the same thing over and over, you're like a broken effing record,, nobody cares.... i'm sick of getting e-mails and pm's complaing about you and your crappy posts

either put up or shut up.....

[kkinchen]

Bynum's offense is our best defense because of how deep he gets in the paint, we're able to recover better on the defensive end. So more touches for Bynum. I'm thinking more of a two man offensive game between Kobe and Drew.

In this case, truly, our best defense is gonna come from getting quality offensive possessions in the paint. Kobe and Drew need to run game like Kobe and Shaq did in Kobe's first back-to-back championship.