Los Angeles – The Numbers*

• Pace: 93.3 (18th)
• Offensive Efficiency: 107.9 (7th)
• True Shooting Percentage: 54.5% (11th)
• Assist Rate: 20.70 (10th)
• Turnover Rate: 12.33 (3rd)
• Offensive Rebound Rate: 29.19 (5th)
• Free Throw Rate: 29.3 (16th)
• Three Point Rate: 22.0 (16th)

Los Angeles – Strengths

Posting Out Of The Triangle

The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the best teams in the NBA in terms of posting up their opponents.  As a team, the Lakers are 4th in the league in PPP and are shooting 46.8% on post up opportunities.  One of the reasons why they are able to be so successful is because they are able to use their Triangle Offense to get post up opportunities.  The first set the Lakers run (and they seem to run this the most out of their post plays) is a basic set designed to give the man posting up room to work with:

On both of the above plays, the design is to get the basketball into the paint and then clear out for their big with the basketball.  This gives the big a whole half of the court to work with, and with everyone clearing out, there isn’t a worry about a double team.  This allows the Lakers’ bigs to take their time, make their move, and finish.

The Lakers also like to get post up opportunities from the weakside:

Here, Gasol flashes from the weakside to the strong side, completing the triangle.  Once that happens, he gets the basketball on the block.  You then have the same basic clear out, allowing Gasol to work one-on-one.

In addition to the Lakers’ bigs posting up, Kobe Bryant is also very successful on the block.  According to Synergy, out of Lakers’ 1,716 post up possessions, Bryant has gotten 409 (or 23.8%).  On these post touches, Bryant posts a PPP of 1.02 on 48.5% shooting.  The Lakers don’t really do anything special for Bryant to get him the ball on the post, in fact, they use him just like a big.

The reason why this is so successful is because this is just another way the Lakers are able to isolate Kobe one-on-one.  Here, Bryant gets the basketball, faces up, and hits the step back jumper in the paint.

Isolation Offense

We all know how much Kobe Bryant likes to get isolated in the Lakers offense, and while many may argue (effectively in my opinion) that there is too much of this late, you can’t question how successful Kobe is in the isolation.  When Kobe Bryant looks to score in isolation, he posts a PPP of 1.00 (this is good for 24th among players with at least 20 isolation possessions).  This success scoring out of isolation sets allows for Bryant to have success when passing out of his one-on-one situations.  Bryant’s overall isolation offense (including his passes out of isolation situations) has a PPP of 1.049.  When Bryant does make the pass (20% of his total number of isolation possessions) he is able to get his teammates wide open looks:

Here, Bryant gets isolated in the corner, right off the opening tip.  Artest’s man leaves him to double Bryant, which forces Derek Fisher’s man to help on Artest’s cut.  This leaves Fisher wide open behind the three point line.  Bryant hits him with the pass and Fisher knocks down the three.

Los Angeles – Weaknesses

Scoring Off Of Ball Screens

When looking into the Lakers’ recent slide for Basketball Prospectus, I noticed that the Lakers were running more pick and rolls than average.  This is a problem because the Lakers are a poor pick and roll team, especially when the ball handler tries to create coming off of the screen.  Bryant uses ballscreens to try and create off of the dribble, but when you are bringing screens to him, you are actually bringing more defenders to the area:

Here, Bryant comes off of the screen looking to score. Bryant tries to attack the rim, but the screen actually brought more attention to him as the defense collapses on his drive. Eventually, Serge Ibaka, who switched onto Bryant after his man set the screen, blocks the shot.

New Orleans – The Numbers*

• Pace: 90.7 (29th)
• Offensive Efficiency: 103.8 (19th)
• True Shooting Percentage: 53.7% (16th)
• Assist Rate: 20.33 (16th)
• Turnover Rate: 12.85 (8th)
• Offensive Rebound Rate: 25.11 (20th)
• Free Throw Rate: 29.6 (15th)
• Three Point Rate: 19.2 (21st)

New Orleans – Strengths

Paul Using Ball Screens

When Chris Paul comes off of ball screens, he is one of the most effective and efficient players in the NBA.  Paul has gotten more than half (54.2% to be exact) of the Hornets ballscreens posting a PPP of 1.04 which is the 11th best number in the league of out players with at least 70 ball screen possessions.  The reason why this is important in this series is because without David West, there isn’t that popping threat anymore (West was one of the most effective pick and pop players in the league despite being a terrible screener).  Paul now has Carl Landry, a more traditional screener, setting most of his screens so this means that Paul will have more space to operate (and he needs to take this space, because as I shown in the past, Landry can’t replace West in the pick and pop game).  When Paul comes off of the screen, he is usually taking a jumper and does so 77% of the time.

This is a perfect example of why Paul needs to look to create on his own when Landry sets screens.  If this was David West, he would have popped out already and probably have been open.  Instead, Landry resets the screen, sets and effective screen, and creates the space for Paul to get an easy jumper.

Here, Landry sets a strong screen, forcing the defender to go under the screen and giving Paul plenty of space to knock down the jumper.

This doesn’t mean that Paul can’t be effective when he attacks the rim as well, posting a PPP of 1.242 when he attacks the rim coming off of ball screens.

Here, Landry’s screen gets just enough of Grant Hill and forcing Hill onto Paul’s hip.  With Hill no longer in front of Paul, he is able to attack the rim and get the lay-in.

New Orleans – Weaknesses

Cutting Off The Ball

In terms of cutting off of the basketball, the New Orleans Hornets are 26th in the NBA in terms of points per possession.  This is in large part due to Carl Landry and his poor finishing at the rim.  Landry is shooting just 53.3% (remember these are cuts, meaning that they take place right at the rim, meaning higher FG%s, so 53.3% is actually at the lower end in this case), and that is because he doesn’t have the size to finish at the rim:

Here, Landry gets the ball cutting to the rim and since he lacks the height to go right over the defense, he is forced to put the ball on the ground and try to make a spin move, missing the shot.

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*All numbers come from the fantastic website Hoopdata.com