Defense is a question mark. Rudy T has never been the greatest defensive coach, so I wouldn't expect them to use any of the elaborate schemes that San Antonio and Detroit use. Payton will have his playing time and will be allowed to go head to head with other points, so we'll he if he was telling the truth last season when he said he could shut them down if he was put in with them consistently. We know Kobe can shut down the opponents top scorer and Karl (if they resign him) showed that he can at least slow and bother guys like KG and TD when he's at full strength. Vlade won't have anyone to guard anyway, so I wouldn't worry about him, and I know Lamar Odom can play D when he has to. He has long arms and quick feet, so he should be able to clog the passing lanes and get steals and blocks in help situations. They don't have a shot blocker, so they'll need to get a lot of steals to start their fast break. The main problem I can see is that they don't have anyone on the bench that can play great D, although I think Devean George is a good team defender and Kareem Rush is showing improvement.
The offense should be one of the most versatile out there. GP can still post up the smaller, quicker point guards he's matched with, nobody in the league can match up with either Odom or Kobe one on one, so I'll expect a lot of isolations and pick-and-rolls involving those two. They won't get a lot of scoring down low, but they should get a lot of layups off of back-door cuts by George, Butler, Kobe, Lamar, and Rush when either Vlade or Karl get the ball in the post. I think those are the two best passing big-men in the game right now, and they could both be in the same starting lineup. They'll be very exciting to watch. I even think Kareem Rush has the potential to be an instant-offense off the bench guy like Michael Redd was a couple of years ago, and I'm eager to see what Brian Cook can do with playing time if he stays healthy. The one very positive thing I see in this team is that they have a lot of smart guys. Except for Slava, they're all pretty-good decision makers. They should execute very well; it all depends on Rudy T.
The offense should be one of the most versatile out there. GP can still post up the smaller, quicker point guards he's matched with, nobody in the league can match up with either Odom or Kobe one on one, so I'll expect a lot of isolations and pick-and-rolls involving those two. They won't get a lot of scoring down low, but they should get a lot of layups off of back-door cuts by George, Butler, Kobe, Lamar, and Rush when either Vlade or Karl get the ball in the post. I think those are the two best passing big-men in the game right now, and they could both be in the same starting lineup. They'll be very exciting to watch. I even think Kareem Rush has the potential to be an instant-offense off the bench guy like Michael Redd was a couple of years ago, and I'm eager to see what Brian Cook can do with playing time if he stays healthy. The one very positive thing I see in this team is that they have a lot of smart guys. Except for Slava, they're all pretty-good decision makers. They should execute very well; it all depends on Rudy T.
Comment