khandor’s sports blog

What a certain so-called ‘basketball expert’ has said recently about the plight of the New York Knicks and the future possibility of Phil Jackson becoming their head coach for next season:

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Chris Palmer on twitter

Carmelo & Amar’e – 2011: 51.6 ppg; 2012: 39 ppg

27 minutes ago

Phil Jackson and the 2012 Knicks would be perfect for each other.

No team with as much talent as the Knicks should have a losing record. Ever.
about 1 hour ago

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… could not, possibly, be further from the truth.

Simple facts regarding the New York Knicks and Phil Jackson:

#1. James Dolan, historically, has been a meddlesome owner.

#2. At this stage in his life, Phil Jackson – at 67 years of age – has zero need to work for a meddlesome owner.

#3. New York presently has only 2 players who would fit readily with a Phil Jackson coached team: i. Landry Fields; and, ii. Iman Shumpert; as solid, multidimensional, players.

#4. Specifically, Amare Stoudemire [i.e. as a Pick & Roll and Isolation Big, exclusively], Carmelo Anthony [i.e. as an Isolation Forward, exclusively], Tyson Chandler [i.e. Defensively-focused Center, exclusively], Jeremy Lin [i.e. as a defensively weak starting PG], JR Smith [i.e. as a Perimeter 'jacker', exclusively], and Baron Davis [i.e. as a defensively weak back-up PG] are the anti-thesis of what could be accurately described as “a good fit player for the Triangle Offense“, based on their individual skill sets.

#5. Although Mike D’Antoni has, indeed, done a poor job of dealing with the myriad egos on the Knicks, since Carmelo Anthony has returned to their active line-up … in no way should Phil Jackson – and the Triangle Offense – be seen as an elixir to their present [and future] ailments.

If New York Knicks actually want to hire a highly experienced NBA championship winning coach with a different mind-set than Mike D’Antoni, who has a history of working well with established veterans and would be a decent fit with their current roster they should think seriously about one of their own former coaches, i.e. Mr. Larry Brown.

The Triangle Offense is a thing of beauty … when it’s executed properly.

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Q1. Which specific option is the best one for the Lakers to use in Game 6, considering the difficulty Los Angeles has had scoring efficiently?

A1. The option which they have steadfastly refused to go to in each of their 3 losses!

i.e. The Wing/Corner Pick and Roll/Pop [with Kobe Bryant as the ballhandler]

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Fig. 1 -  Initial Alignment

Fig. 2 – Wing/Corner Entry Pass

Fig. 3 – UCLA Backscreen and Weak Side Triangle

Fig. 4 – Wing Pick and Pop

Fig. 5 – Wing Drives Into the Lane to, either, Shoot or Pass

What Boston showed in its series with Orlando is just how vulnerable the Celtics are to a team that will repeatedly put the C’s into Pick and Roll/Pop situations.

Unlike Orlando, however, what the Lakers need to do … instead of having their Picker roll to the basket repeatedly, ala Dwight Howard … is have Pau Gasol set the Wing Pick … ala Bill Wennington [Chicago Bulls],

e.g. like what you see at the 4:40 and 4:50 marks of this video clip

… and then Pop Out to the Wing/Corner, in order to stretch the Celtics defense and allow their best player, i.e. Kobe Bryant, to facilitate the remainder of their half-court offense with their:

i. Other PF/C [i.e. Bynum/Odom/Powell] in the Weak Side Screening position;

ii. PG [i.e. Fisher/Farmar/Brown] in the Weak Side Corner position; and,

iii. SF [i.e. Artest/Vujacic/Walton] in the Weak Side Free Throw Line Extednded position.

Instead of having Kobe Bryant establish his initial position as the Weak Side Pinch Post player [i.e. #4, in the diagrams above] … which is precisely what the Lakers have done repeatedly, in all 5 games, thus far … Los Angeles needs to:

i. Put their best “Pick and Roll/Pop artist” in the Ball Side Wing/Corner position [i.e. #3, in the diagrams above];

ii. Get him the ball [i.e. either, via pass or dribble-handoff] after their initial Offensive Transition has failed to generate a high percentage FGA;

and, then,

iii. Allow him to go to work against the Celtics’ Defense, off the dribble, from the Wing position, with the rest of the floor spread in this manner.

If the Lakers execute this part of the Triangle Ofense … which Michael Jordan’s Bulls teams did so exquisitely with largely average Centers like Wennington, Luc Longley and Bill Cartwright … then, Los Angeles has a very good chance to force a Game 7, in what would go down in NBA history as an epic Finals series.

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PS. Dr. Phil is the winningest head coach in NBA history and it will be up to him to figure this out, and then make the Lakers execute this option within their offense. 

Related:

Five ways for the Lakers to win it all, again

The votes for last week’s on-line survey have been tabulated.

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Who is the better player, Yao or Bynum?

Now – Yao 11; Bynum 11
Later – Yao 8; Bynum 14

Which one would Phil Jackson choose as the Center for his team?

Yao 6
Bynum 15

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In sharp contrast to what phdsteve originally postulated … i.e. Yao Ming is a vastly superior player to Andrew Bynum AND the player Phil Jackson would select if asked to choose between the two, as the Center for his team …

Survey Says, “This is far from the definitive perception held by others in the on-line basketball community.”

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Concerning this Corner’s specific rationale …

As a Center in the NBA, at 20 years of age, Andrew Bynum is superior to Yao Ming in every statistical category imaginable with the following Career Averages:

Given the ‘Rate of Progress’ Andrew Bynum has shown during his first 3 seasons in the NBA [Table 1], at 18, 19 and 20 Years of Age, respectively, and the ‘Rate of Progress’ Yao Ming has shown from 22 – 27 Years Of Age [Table 2] … barring a major injury … it is reasonable to expect that Andrew Bynum will surpass the production values of Yao Ming, at comparable ages.

At this stage of his career [i.e. 20 Years of Age/3 seasons in the NBA], Andrew Bynum [Table 3] is a better basketball player than Yao Ming [Table 4], in terms of Field Goal Shooting Accuracy, Rebounding, Passing, Shot-blocking, Generating of Steals/Turnovers, and Overall Athleticism [Horizontal & Vertical Quickness, Explosive Power, and Coordination].

IMO, if Phil Jackson [LA Lakers coach] was asked today to choose between Yao Ming and Andrew Bynum to fill the Center position on his team, the ZenMaster would select Andrew Bynum.

Bynum runs the floor better in transition [Offensively & Defensively].
Bynum is a more athletic Shot-blocker.
Bynum is a better ‘finisher’, in the air, around the basket.
Bynum is a better sized defender when asked/needed to ‘switch’ checks with a smaller player.

Bynum is at least as good if not a better Rebounder.
Bynum is at least as good if not a better Passer.
Bynum is at least as good if not a better Generator of Steals/Turnover.

Yao is a better Mid-range Shooter.
Yao is a better Free Throw Shooter.

As a complimentary player to Kobe Bryant [Alpha Male No. 1], Bynum is a better fit with a team coached by Phil Jackson which uses the Triangle Offense and relies primarily on players with high levels of agility [physical & mental] on Defense and when Rebounding.

Writing on SportsHubLA.com prior to the start of this Conference Finals series, this writer explained in the ‘Comments’ section what the easiest way is for the Lakers to beat the Spurs …

Three Ways to beat San Antonio

which was clearly on display in yesterday’s gigantic W for LA, in San Antonio.

Lakers 93, Spurs 91 … Boxscore

Given this corner’s affinity for Phil Jackson and the Triangle Offense, it’s important that other NBA observers fully recognize the inherent beauty and effectiveness of this specific Offensive Basketball System and the role it plays in creating invaluable scoring opportunities for its practicioners …

(from a half-time interview during Game 4)

When the Lakers generate 5 more Offensive Rebounds in a game than the Spurs, LA exponentially increases its chances of winning … especially when one of those D-Boards-Lost (LA/Team Rebound) occurs at the 5.0 sec mark of the 4thQ … Full Play-By-Play … in a 1 possession game.