Re: YES!!

["j.hironaka" <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

At 09:44 07/06/01 -0400, Dorine Pratt wrote:
Hi, all
     Am so happy Philly beat the Lakers on their court last night - now we 
won't have to hear, for the rest of our lives, how the Fakers went through 
the entire playoffs without a loss.  Thank God!  Now if Iverson and Company 
can win the championship - that would really be frosting on the cake.
Dorine

-------

My memory may be off, but sometime back in the mid-80s (when the Celts had 
finally eclipsed Philly as the best of the Eastern Conference), didn't the 
Sixers fans start chanting "Beat LA" in support of our team, during the 
waning minutes of an elimination game at the Spectrum that put Philly out 
of the playoffs? I don't know if it was the Sixers or another team's fans 
that did that (I guess Detroit is the only other possibility), but it was 
very classy.

Fast forward, and now we have one of the most courageous, injury-riddled 
teams you'll ever want to see trying to beat Goliath. I'm convinced it will 
be a five-game series once the Fakers get acclimated from the long layoff, 
let's not kid ourselves. But all I can say is "Beat LA!" in support of 
Philly. It is so exciting, what just happened last night! The Eastern 
Conference representatives basically showed up and said "sorry Miss 
Jackson" to the Zenmeister and his "pink triangle offense".

BTW, the TSN Website's "how to beat the Flakers" analysis was by far the 
most insightful I've seen. I'm posting it below, because it is no longer 
highlighted anywhere on their Website.

Incidentally, these tips will be handy for future reference, when Antoine 
and Pierce have the young, athletic supporting cast to go to war against 
Shaq-ass and Kobe (who if you ask me looks like the missing member of the 
Marx Brothers)and the rest of these Fakers. I hope Deke and The Answer and 
Snow and McKie and Troy "Glenn McDonald" Raja just kick their pink triangle 
asses.

Beat LA!

---
http://www.sportingnews.com/voices/sean_deveney/20010605-p.html

(...) After all, when it comes to upsets, this is the same city that 
brought us Rocky Balboa over Apollo Creed and the colonists over the 
British.  In that spirit, we offer the Sixers a blueprint for knocking off 
the Lakers. Our coaches -- speaking under the cloak of anonymity, of course 
(if they could stop the Lakers, they'd have done it by now) -- have a plan. 
If Philadelphia sticks with it, the team is sure to upend Los Angeles and 
pull off one of sports' greatest shockers.
Hey, stop that laughing over there!

Phase 1: Extend the triangle
The Lakers' triangle offense presents an odd challenge because it runs out 
of sets that are atypical in the NBA. Thus, the Sixers should defend it a 
little differently.

Western Conference coach No. 1: "One thing that I was extremely impressed 
with about Philadelphia is how early and intensely they got up on us. They 
got up on the ball and overplayed the passing lanes. Now, with (Dikembe) 
Mutombo behind them, they can do it even more, they can overplay and take 
risks because you know you have him behind you. You have to do that with 
the Lakers. When you get up on them, you have to get up on them right from 
the first pass because you don't want to let them into the triangle."

Western Conference coach No. 2: "I am a big believer that you have to pick 
up the triangle at three-quarters every time. NBA players won't play 
defense beyond halfcourt during the regular season, but in the playoffs you 
can get them to do it. I don't want to be back on my heels waiting for them 
to bring it up and make the passes they want to make. The earlier you get 
them into the triangle the better chance you have. If you let them come 
down and the first pass they have is an easy one, they get the ball right 
where they want it, and it becomes very easy for them."

Western Conference coach No. 3: "If you can slow the ball down in the 
backcourt, it gives them a little less time, so they can't make the seven 
or eight passes they want to make to set up the offense."

---------

Phase 2: Get Iverson inside the defense
There is only one advantage the Sixers have in this series: MVP Allen 
Iverson. Philadelphia must let Iverson take over.

Eastern Conference coach: "One thing the Lakers don't have is that small, 
quick waterbug-type player like Iverson. He is so special, he can get 
around anyone in the league -- definitely around anyone on the Lakers. They 
don't have a jet, someone like Damon Stoudamire, who can keep up with him. 
(Derek) Fisher is a good defender and a solid player, but the way Iverson 
plays adds that X-factor."

Western Conference coach No. 2: "Phil (Jackson) does not want anyone 
getting inside his defense. That bothers the Lakers because they aren't 
going to double-team. Iverson must do that. He can't settle for jumpers 
against this team. The Lakers haven't faced anyone who can break them down 
off the dribble, and they don't really have the kind of guys who defend 
that way.

Western Conference coach No. 3: "Allen Iverson has to create for himself 
and his teammates, because no one on that team can really get his own shot. 
One thing the Sixers do, even when he misses, is they hit the offensive 
glass hard. He creates opportunities for them that way. Sometimes, he can 
mesmerize a defense so much with what he is doing that they stand around 
and watch him while his teammates are rebounding."
Western Conference coach No. 4: "Iverson is one of those guys who, if he is 
making his shots, is impossible to guard. Kobe (Bryant) will accept the 
challenge of guarding anybody, but they like to put him on a lesser player, 
put Fisher on the tougher matchup and have Kobe just sneak over and help. 
Allen has to be able to run around, draw Kobe and Fisher and get his shot 
or set up a teammate."

---------

Phase 3: Make sure Mutombo was worth it
Publicly, the Sixers say they traded for Mutombo to seal the top seed in 
the East. But everyone knows they did it with an eye on giving them someone 
who has a chance to guard Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal. Now, he just has 
to do it.

Eastern Conference coach: "Philadelphia was rolling when they traded for 
Mutombo, and I don't buy it when they say they wanted to lock up home 
court. Forget it. They made that trade to win a championship, to get a guy 
who could match up with Shaq. There's no other big man in the East like 
Mutombo, and that hurt them against Eastern teams, where Mutombo could not 
keep up. Antonio Davis kicked his ass. Ervin Johnson rebounded with him. 
They got him for Shaq. Dikembe has played the same way for years, and he is 
not going to change. He plays behind you and makes you shoot over him. 
He'll do the same thing with Shaq -- he is not going to front him or play 
three-quarters. Most guys playing Shaq are trying to push him off the 
block, but Dikembe will stay behind Shaq and just get his hand up and make 
Shaq change his shot. He won't work the body. That might keep him out of 
foul trouble."

Western Conference coach No. 1: "Philadelphia is thin up front. (Todd) 
MacCulloch has been playing more, but you have to be brave to throw him in 
The Finals against Shaq. A series against Shaq might set him back two 
years. Basically, you have Mutombo, and if he gets in foul trouble, well, I 
hate to think about it. It's what happened to San Antonio when (David) 
Robinson had to go to the bench. Who do you bring in?"

Western Conference Coach No. 4: "Mutombo matches up in height, but Shaq is 
playing with such intensity and focus right now, I am not sure it matters. 
Mutombo could be 8 feet tall. I don't know if Mutombo can keep out of foul 
trouble. He will stand, he will put his arms up, but with Shaq, Mutombo 
might have to reach a lot, and that's where he picks up fouls. You'd like 
to see your big man, if you're going to foul Shaq, foul him hard enough to 
make sure he has to go to the line. Does Dikembe have the strength to do 
that?"

---------
Phase 4: Shaq-le the entry pass
There are three things to worry about for the Sixers: O'Neal, Bryant and 
the other guys. Bryant gets the ball in many spots, posts up his defender 
and creates his own shot. You almost have to live with what he does. With 
the other guys, you don't know if they will be missing their shots. O'Neal, 
at least, is predictable. That does not make the job easy, but it allows 
you to prepare.

Eastern Conference coach No. 2: "You know where Shaq wants to get the ball 
-- right down on that block where he can go to his right through the lane. 
If I am coaching Philadelphia, I am trying to slow them down, always aware 
of the lane between my man and Shaq. You have to get him off that block to 
the other side of the paint where he is not as comfortable. His shot is not 
as good, and he is not as good a passer, and that is such a big part of his 
offense, him feeding his shooters from the post."

Western Conference coach No. 2: "If you are defending the perimeter, that's 
going to help you with Shaq. He is going to set up on one block and cross 
the paint to the other block. What they want to do is get it to him while 
he is crossing, while he is in the paint. If you can disrupt the timing by 
getting on the perimeter, you delay the pass and they can't get the ball to 
him in that spot in the paint because he can't stand in there or it's 3 
seconds. So he has to go to the other block. If you defend the perimeter, 
you keep him from getting the ball in the middle of the paint. The other 
thing you want to do is keep them from making that entry pass from the 
corner. They like doing that, setting up (Rick) Fox or someone to pass to 
Shaq from the corner. He seals you so deep on that play, it's a lost cause. 
San Antonio actually did a good job preventing those passes, but Portland 
and Sacramento got killed on those."

---------

Phase 5: Don't Grant offensive rebounds
OK, you followed the game plan and got O'Neal to miss. But you gave the 
ball back on an offensive rebound? Ugh.

Western Conference coach No. 2: "They hurt you so much on the offensive 
boards, especially Horace Grant and with Shaq rebounding his own miss. That 
can be so debilitating. You play good defense, he misses a shot, then you 
give it right back. That's Shaq's biggest strength -- his ability to 
rebound his own misses, especially when he is going to his right. It's like 
he knows where it is going. A lot of times that's where he draws fouls, so 
it's twice as bad -- you got him to miss, but he still dunked and now a 
foul, too. The same thing happens with Kobe, when he penetrates you commit 
so much attention to putting guys on him that it leaves other guys open to 
clean up the misses."

Western Conference coach No. 3: "Horace Grant is getting up there in age, 
but he was an All-Star, don't forget, and he has been terrific on the 
boards. He has been around. He knows where to be and when to be there. He 
is not chopped liver. He'll get six, seven rebounds, and he knows when to 
put it back up or slow it down."
Western Conference coach No. 4: "One guy who has been overlooked is Horace 
Grant. He is so sneaky on offense. If you use Grant's man to double on 
Shaq, you might get Shaq to miss a shot, but Grant grabs the rebound, so 
now you have to start all over. If I am playing them, I want to deal with 
Shaq, but someone is boxing Horace out."

---------

Phase 6: Make shots
Sounds obvious enough, but it's something no one has been able to do 
against the Lakers in the postseason.

Eastern Conference coach No. 2: "Everything has worked out for them, where 
the teams they are playing will leave a shooter open, and that shooter will 
make them pay -- whether it is Fox or (Robert) Horry or, especially, 
Fisher. But the Lakers, they leave a shooter open, and it's a brick, it 
seems like, every time. Everyone makes defensive mistakes, so you have to 
make them pay."

Western Conference coach No. 3: "(Aaron) McKie has to be making shots. 
(Eric) Snow has to make shots. And one other guy. Maybe (Jumaine) Jones, 
maybe (Tyrone) Hill. But they are going to need some scoring from 12-15 
feet after Iverson penetrates. Teams the Lakers have played so far have not 
been able to do that."
Western Conference coach No. 4: "The Lakers don't rotate, and they don't 
double. That's just the way they play it. But they are still getting 
someone out with a hand in the shooter's face. Sometimes, open shots look 
more open than they are. You have to create daylight for yourself. Teams 
have gotten some good looks -- (San Antonio's) Terry Porter had a ton of 
them -- but it seems like the Lakers are operating so well on offense that 
it puts pressure on open shooters, and they kind of over think things 
instead of just shooting."

---------

Phase 7: Pray ... seriously
Hey, a game plan will only get you so far.
Western Conference coach No. 2: "Stranger things have happened. Somewhere, 
sometime, I am sure."

Sean Deveney is a staff writer for The Sporting News.