Re: YES!!

[Larry Taylor <lataylor@us.hsanet.net>]

Joe,
        You are correct! I was at the game and was amazed when the fans started
yelling BEAT L.A.!
Everybody loves to hate the Fakers!

"j.hironaka" wrote:

> 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.