Who Will Guard LeBron?
by Jeff Clark on Feb 25, 2010 6:00 AM EST
in Boston Celtics News & Links
Email
PrintWith Pierce and Daniels likely out, who's left to check one of the top 2 players in the game?
Celtics pestered by flu bug - The Boston Globe
Tony Allen will likely draw tonight’s assignment on James, with newcomer Marcus Landry a possibility in relief. But Rivers said: "[Rajon] Rondo may have to guard him - if Marquis and Paul don’t play, I don’t know who we’re going to put on him. It’s not easy to guard him on any night anyway, and it’s going to be tough [tonight].’’
Ray Allen figures to see plenty of James when the Celtics decide to double team. "A guy his size, he’s normally on the block, power forward,’’ Allen said. "Many times, [James] is out there coming at you full speed, he knocks you over and you’re trying to foul him. It puts the advantage on him a lot of times when he’s going to the hole. So, defensively, we have to load up on him, give so many different looks. Most importantly, we can’t let those other guys go off.’’
Perkins has his own assignment to worry about. He was asked to compare Shaq with Dwight Howard.
Kendrick Perkins has big task - BostonHerald.com
"Shaq is more physical," Perkins said after yesterday’s practice when asked to compare the two big men. "Dwight is physical, but Shaq is more physical, as far as throwing a few elbows. "With Shaq, when you come out of the game you might be hurting a little bit. I just hope I don’t come out with a broken nose or something like that. Other than that, I don’t do anything different. I’ll try and play him the same, just try and play him physical."
58 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
BBD
I almost wouldn’t mind seeing them use BBD. Could be painful too. But at least if you had BBD, you could tell him to stay a couple paces back from LeBron and dare him to take the jumper. It’s possible that he’s off tonight.
And if LeBron drives, BBD has more than enough mass to keep a body on him.
Scal
the newly tanned Scal will do it for us! LOL
"The beautiful thing about when you go through a slide is that you learn from it. Not just saying that you learn from it, but applying the things that you have learned." - KG
by LoveTheShootingPF on Feb 25, 2010 8:02 AM EST up reply actions
scal for 2010 MVP! and Defensive player of the year too!
and i almost forgot for scoring champ too!
Agreed Scals will take on the tought task.
Anyone know if his athleticism has improved with the tan?
"Do you know that nonbelievers create the most positive energy?" Davis said
Scalabrainy finally has someone to take the pressure off
from being Ainge’s worst player move during his Celtics tenure. Now we have Nate to irritate us.
by lemonade sky on Feb 25, 2010 11:17 AM EST up reply actions
I miss House but, I think
Nate the Grape will be a better form of House.
"Do you know that nonbelievers create the most positive energy?" Davis said
???
So, Walker and Giddens couldn’t get playing time according to Danny yet did everything right while here but now this kid Landry may see time against Lebron? Landry? Kid has shown even less than Walker and Giddens in his short time in the league and he’s going to get PT? Unbelievable.
He is not going to get any minutes, come on...
…Doc likes to play veterans that is just the way it is…
It is obviously temporary. Doc does not have many options tonight. Plus, it will be fun to watch. And how cool would it be to beat the Cavs without Pierce and Daniels. That would certainly mess with their heads.
Unrelated….Lakers got loss number 15 last night. I still think the C’s can get the better record and home court should they meet in the finals. Now 4 back in the loss column. And we are holding firm to the second seed. Just need to have one less loss that the Magic to avoid the tie-breaker scenario.
Good question Jeff..
Of course I think we will see TA and Daniels get a shot at defending Lebron.
But I am worried since Daniels lacks the bulk do guard Lebron and TA not only lacks the bulk but also lacks the length to guard him.
Maybe the best guy for the job may be (gulp!)…. Scal.
All kidding aside he does have the length, bulk and quickness to possibly throw on Lebron for a few minutes at least .
Its times like this when we are going against a strong, long offensive wing player (especially now with Pierce hurt) that I wish we had a long, strong wing defender sitting on the bench.
Um...
Did you read the article? Or have you just not been paying attention? Daniels is probably going to be out as well, he has the flu. Of course he would be the first option if he was going to play. Since he probably won’t play, my guess would be TA sees most of the minutes at SF and Scal will probably get some time there as well. Obviously these are not our best options, but we don’t really have any others, so it is what it is. Maybe Landry will get some minutes,but I doubt it. Who knows maybe BBD even gets some minutes at SF.
Rotation will probably be:
SF: TA/ Ray/Scal
SG Ray/ Nate/ TA
PG: Rondo/ Nate
Oops overlooked that sentence...
Well I guess then its up to TA with Scal seeing some serious minutes also help out.
Throwing Baby on him would be interesting to watch.
actually
the latest is that marquis is expected to play, as of 3:30pm.
that is according to
brian windhorst, the cavs beat writer and a pretty reliable source
That would be a good thing.
Even if he’s weak and can’t play that many minutes – having a body with fouls to give is helpful.
I am not so concerned with TA's lack of length or bulk.
He’s going to pickup guarding Lebron on the perimeter. At that point, his speed and tenacity are the real assets that you want in a defender on James. TA has the ability to play a man tight on the edge to at least contest the jumper without blatantly giving up the slash to the basket. James will still get his drives in, but Tony will make him work for them. Once in the paint, TA will need help from the bigs and that’s where we have to be smart. He’s got to roll James into KG/Sheed/Perk/BBD while switching to intercept dump passes from James to Shaq/Jamison et al.
So basically, it’s going to take a team effort to control James without leaking easy baskets to his teammates.
My biggest concern will be foul trouble for TA. If Quis was in, then we’d have the two of them tag-team on James, burning up all their fouls. Now, TA has to be careful not to get into foul trouble early. If he goes, then they’ll probably have to switch Ray to guarding James. Scal is a good fundamentals and team defender, but he’s not going to be fast enough for James. So when that switch happens they’ll have to bring Nate in to guard Ray’s man.
If both TA and Ray get in foul trouble, we are screwed.
Strategically, we need for whomever James ends up covering on the other end of the court to keep moving like the energizer bunny. We need to run James all over the court. He likes to play a lot of minutes but he can be worn down on the other end. If he covers Ray (not likely) then that will happen as a matter of course. If he covers TA, then TA has to keep moving and can’t do his usual wait-and-slash routine.
God, this would be so much easier if we had Quissy tonight.
The noise about Landry is probably just noise. I wouldn’t plan on seeing him. But you never know. He could be used to suck up a few fouls. He’s got the size.
It would be great if the C's could steal a win
but no complaining about being shorthanded. That excuse wasn’t allowed to the Lakers when they were without the game’s best player; it shouldn’t be a reason for the C’s losing.
That said, anything can happen in any NBA game, but I’d be hard-pressed to call the C’s a favorite even with the players that are suppoedly sitting out this one. That’s a shame because it’s getting to be time for teams to start solidyfing their rotations for the playoffs. Rivers has never gone with too many guys in the rotation – 8 or 9. Who will be out? The starters plus Wallace, Davis and Daniels are pretty much sure things. Frankly, I hope he goes with just those 8.
No way Nate doesn't get in that rotation
I highly doubt he was brought here to ride the pine. Besides, if Eddie was able to get minutes in the playoffs, there’s no way Nate doesn’t.
I also can see TA getting some spot duty as well, based on matchups, in the playoffs. Doc seems to like his “D”.
Nate will most assuredly
be in the rotation. Nice call.
"Do you know that nonbelievers create the most positive energy?" Davis said
the offense should run through nate and rondo
the cavs guards can’t stay in front of them, except perhaps delonte. nate absolutely carved up the cavs defense when the knicks played the cavs a while back – they just couldn’t stay with him.
Sorry, this reply was to you.
Huh, don’t get it.
They Will Play Zone
The play zone against LeBron a good deal of the time anyway. That’s what they will do tonight. You have to stop the penetration.
I am prepared to sit through a long, difficult evening tonight at the Garden
If both Pierce and Daniels do not play, this will likely be a bloodbath. Maybe they should just let Lebron score at will and hopefully shut down everyone else on the team and outscore Lebron. The beat goes on with the team never being healthy. I know the flu is not an injury, but it appears to me that the Gods are telling us the same thing they were telling us last season — It’s not the Celts’ year.
It’s gonna be long night, hopefully TA can step up for us
by x34celtics34x on Feb 25, 2010 9:59 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
My other comment is
Why can’t this team catch a break? I know other teams have injuries, but the misfortune that has befallen this team in the past two seasons is really quite remarkable. If Scal has to play big minutes tonight guarding Lebron - DISASTER.
I'd say Portland is far more cursed
Washington has also had some really bad luck but that is mostly their own fault for the ridiculous contracts they handed out.
by BigRedDog42 on Feb 25, 2010 10:07 AM EST up reply actions
Wilt's record is in jeopardy
I guess we’ll have TA play off him, and hope LBJ has one of his off shooting nights.
"People don't understand, if you can't live the rest of your life off one year in the NBA, you can't live off 21." -- Keon Clark
TA & Scal will do it!
We must shot the lights out early – that let James become a shooter, because he always will try to match you at this point!
If Scal and Tony gets in foul-trouble give Landry a chance – he had nothing to loose on James!
I asked god and he said: L.A. will lose again next year!! ^_°
I would go with Scals in that matchup
"Do you know that nonbelievers create the most positive energy?" Davis said
More like a miracle
With the way Lebron gets to the line, I could see Scal with 3 fouls in the first quarter!
by Las Vegas Asian on Feb 25, 2010 11:43 AM EST up reply actions
Hope Marquis can play
I don’t think we can win without Pierce and Daniels.
If only.....stupid knee!
Geez, if only KG’s stupid knee wasn’t next to broke, and this was 3 or 4 years ago, we could stick KG on LeBron…..(haha i know its a stetch, I’m allowed to dream).
We could’v gone, (if KG’s knee was 100%):
Perkins=Shaq
SheedJamison
KG=Lebon
RayParker
RondoMo Williams
(not reality, just a thought, of what could have been)
Go to Hack-A-Shaq the whole game
Unfortunately the Cleveland LeBrons are going to get Big Z back. They are looking very deep and tough. Hickson is an emerging force at power forward and his speed and athleticsm will give KG trouble in his weakened state. Mo Williams is a much more confident player this year. Parker has been a steady player. And then you have the addition of Jamison when they want to stretch the defense. Jamison shoots the 3-ball like we wish Rasheed could.
Isn’t it about time James twisted his knee? He’s been incredibly lucky in terms of staying free of anything but minor injuries. That would make my night, win or lose.
they've had their injuries this year...
jamario, mo williams, delonte, leon powe, shaq all missed time. they’re stupid deep, and so it hasn’t hurt them quite as much as injuries have hurt the C’s
and hickson
is a good young player – and he’s #3 ON THEIR DEPTH CHART AT PF
behind jamison and varejao. scary deep.
One could argue that those injuries haven't hurt them because
it all comes back to LBJ. As long as he’s healthy, that team is healthy.
They don’t have a huge dependency on any one of the rest of the squad.
Perk gets in Foul Trouble then Sheed will have to guard him
We can win this game if we get Sheed down in the offensive paint scoring and drawing fouls and if we can get LeBron in foul trouble (which can happen).
If we shoot too many threes then our chances are greatly reduced.
Need Rondo to be agressive…..and Nate ….let’s see what you got
Is it Soup Yet?
This is true - we need to attack the paint on offense
Shaq and Jamison are not great post defenders so that is a vulnerable point.
We also need to keep passing and moving on offense.
I played this game in NBA Live last night. . .
I was the C’s and I used TA, ’Quis, Ray, Scal and even KG to cover LeBron (we play real games so Pierce was out) to no avail, he scored 67 points. But I still won!
Scal is obviously nowhere near LeBron’s level, but I think his 6’10" frame might be able to slow him down a bit on the wings, but he’ll not be able to run with him at all. TA is probably our best option
ha
Sometimes I form my basketball opinions from playing 2k. I’m totally serious.
The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend
BEAT THE CAVS!!!!
"This is not such a bad thing to be: a deep, talented underdog with Finals experience."~Ian Thomsen on the Orlando Magic.
SCAL!
lets sign big Z though…..really
"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
im gonna be all up on you like a spider monkey!
"…traded as many times this summer as a bad hooker’s phone number at a Vegas convention of Proctologists ."
by remembering9ergods on Feb 25, 2010 1:43 PM EST reply actions
Who Will Guard Lebron?
the team…(2008 Celtics type team defense will guard Lebron…hope Perk got a good nights rest for Shaq.People worry about Lebron,they might need to worry about Nate going off for 30 to 40.
Landry should guard lebron!
why not? the kid is big and has the bulk!
i do think tony should start at Sf and back up ray. but if landry does not get any minutes i think doc is stupid!
from i’ve read landry has real good B-ball IQ.
and i think the celtics should sign Darius miles, he would be great guarding lebron and lamar odom! and the kid can shoot.
Try Something Creative
If you can’t stop him with a 2-3 zone, try double teaming him with Rondo and Nate Robinson. Pester him, slap at the ball every time he puts in on the floor, like two files harrassing a quarter horse. But one of those guys has tio risk life and limb to take a charge.
Make the other guys beat you.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sport
- LeBron James hints that he’d like to be welcomed back as a Cleveland Cavalier
- The Phoenix Suns refuse to dismantle their team because of … we can’t tell
- Video: Matt Barnes is legitimately upset with former coach Mo Cheeks
- Yao Ming discusses Jeremy Lin as eloquently as you’d expect
- Paul George (and Jeremy Lin, essentially) will highlight this year’s Dunk Contest
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
