Nice breakdown. It would have been nice to see Fisher break to the hoop off the double for a wide-open mid-range jumper, as he was rather efficient last night. And I’m not sure Frye’s “box out” was exactly textbook- looks like he’s mugging Pau the whole time, but that’s the way you play the final shot, I guess!

I was wondering why Kobe ran straight into the double-team, but it looks like the Suns did a phenomenal job.

Anyone else have questions about personnel for PHX? I could go either way on the issue, but think that perhaps a Lopez/Frye/Dudley/JRich/Nash grouping is your best chance at securing a board which is your only obligation after the shot goes up. On the flipside, Lopez was having an atrocious game and Hill played Kobe as well as can be played on that shot, I’m just concerned about having a Frye-Dudley-Hill front line on the most critical rebound of the game.

I think before you worry about the rebound, you need to get the stop. I would want to have one of my smartest defenders, in Hill, on the floor for the final stop. I don’t think it was a personnel issue, as much as Artest making a tenacious play, against a small breakdown. Even the lack of a blockout would normally not affect the game on one shot like that, but Artests hard work for that extra second, and a little luck, was the difference.

@Brandon
That’s exactly why I could go both ways. It wasn’t either of the Laker 7 footers on the court that got the board, and JRich is one of the better rebounding wings in the league, it just seemed to me that the lineup on the court was highly vulnerable to what actually happened.

Text book lack of a block out by Richardson. Players down to youth leagues are taught to locate your man when the shot goes up and block him out. Richardson is ball watching while Artest is reading the arc of the shot and getting himself in position for the board. This has to really piss of Phoenix fans, coaches and players. One tiny fundamental thing and the game would have been in OT.

We teach our players this mantra: blast, block, ball. Blast your man, block him out and THEN locate and get the ball. Richardson’s former coach Tom Izzo is sitting in his easy chair shaking his head. Izzo is one of the best rebounding coaches in the NCAA and I know he taught Rich better than that!

Brutal.

Breaking down film reveals so many fundamental mistakes, and oddly they can go either way.

Here, I notice that Odom does nothing after passing the ball to Kobe. He should be cutting to the basket, looking for an open shot or to rebound. He similarly played the last Phoenix possession poorly, allowing Nash to get off the three and then get his own rebound.

On the other hand, Robert Horry’s most famous shot as a Laker came after he stood around on a must score possession at the end of the game, making no attempt to go help get the rebound, and had the ball come out to him at the three point line for a game winner.

I like Artest’s winner here better, because he was doing the right thing on the play. Fisher also ran in for the rebound, and had to jump out of Artest’s way on the shot.

Great defense? You conveniently omit the fact that Frye was absolutely mauling Gasol (several times) during the play. No matter–Ron Ron muscled his way through and shoved in the dagger.

I agree with Ryan. I would have liked a play where instead of Kobe shooting he would have faked as if he was shooting & passed it off to Derek Fisher for a Mid-range jumper. The way Grant Hill fronted him & Nash doubled him opened up a wide open shot for Derek Fisher.

I think everybody(especially Jason Richardson) got threw off by the Kobe Bryant air ball & were expecting a made shot or missing off the rim.

Why is Odom standing there instead of crashing the boards???

They also executed a great play to get Kobe open but Grant Hill played it well as you can by roaming & waiting for Kobe to come off the pick.