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Each week, HOOPSWORLD NBA analyst and coach Anthony Macri opens his notebook and offers an assortment of observations on games, players, and teams from throughout the league. Coach Macri serves as a player development consultant for the Pro Training Center and Coach David Thorpe, working with a variety of NBA players on their skills and game understanding. The Coach’s Notebook appears on HOOPSWORLD every Thursday.

Position and Patience

In the first game of the opening round, in addition to the trouble they had containing Chris Paul, the Los Angeles Lakers struggled to establish consistent offense outside of Kobe Bryant’s strong performance.  Despite crushing New Orleans on the glass, a lack of take-aways prevented L.A. transition opportunities and in the halfcourt the Lakers simply could not rely on any of their secondary players.

Coming into the series the status of Andrew Bynum was a concern.  In the series opener against the Hornets, perhaps still tentative because of the injury suffered in the regular season closer, Bynum was frustrated by the (pardon the pun) swarming defense of the Hornets.  They did a very good job preventing catches for Bynum with a mix of three-quarter denials and full fronts, and on the catch they released contact well and did not give him an opportunity to feel the defense.

Bynum did not help himself, either.  Instead of being patient in his post up he fought an arm battle against Emeka Okafor, Aaron Gray or other defenders.  This prevented him from gaining control of any situation.  Smart post play in these situations dictates the offensive player be more patient and purposeful.  The goal when the defense is overactive in its denials is to use their aggressiveness against them.  If the defender wants to fight for a certain spot on the floor, allowing them to win that spot is the best way to set up the next play.  Bynum should look to spin and seal, keeping the defender in the spot he has worked so hard for, and then the offense must find the post player in his new, open position.

In game two, Bynum made many of these adjustments.  He sought out specific areas of the floor, and if the defense moved to deny him he allowed them to win, stepped across their leg, patiently waited for ball reversal, and then kept his seal active to allow for easy post entry.  For their part the Lakers made it a focus to get Bynum the ball early in possessions, not really giving the defense a chance to deny.  They ran a number of "solo-cut" options, which essentially means a post clearout instead of the traditional strongside triangle.  This also gave Bynum more space on the catch and he took advantage, often turning to face the defense to make up for the fact they released contact on the catch.

As a result of his more patient and position-oriented play, Bynum had an extremely productive game for the Lakers.  He finished 8 of 11 from the floor for 17 points to go along with 11 boards.  With that said, his game could be better: he occasionally settled for mediocre possessions after making the correct play to receive the ball. The shot at the end of the possession with 9:00 remaining in the 3^rd quarter is a great example: Bynum does a great job staying on the weakside, sealing the aggressive defender, receiving the pass, and then letting the defender off easy with a 10′ fadeaway. He could stand to be more aggressive on the offensive glass (he has only two offensive rebounds in two games – a very low number for the biggest player on the floor).

The central piece to the puzzle in the championship hopes for the Los Angeles Lakers this season does not rest in the performance of Kobe Bryant.  Bryant is a fantastic player, arguably still the best in the league.  But now, more than ever (and perhaps as a portend of things to come), the burden to complete a three-peat in L.A. rests on Andrew Bynum’s shoulders.

No Worries in the Windy City

With two very competitive games to start the matchup, where many thought the series was over before it started, a few eyebrows were raised looking in the direction of the top-seeded Chicago Bulls.  After all, the Bulls finished with the league’s best record, and the Indiana Pacers were the only team in the postseason that finished the regular season under .500.

{AUTHOR_BOX}Despite their "close calls," however, Chicago fans needn’t worry too much.  After all, the Bulls haven’t played this poorly defensively in quite some time.  One of the easiest ways to judge team defensive performance is by examining the ratio of opponent’s assists to made field goals.  In their two postseason games, Chicago allowed Indiana to assist on 60.6% of their made field goals.  This is a high number in itself, and it is especially high when you look at it in context of their performance during the regular season.

Over the course of 82 regular season games the Bulls allowed opponents to assist on only 55.5% of made field goals.  Chicago’s regular season success against Indiana was even more extreme: in their four regular season matchups, the Pacers assisted on only 45.1% of made field goals against the Bulls.

There are a few theories to be drawn from this statistical difference:

·         Chicago’s defense has simply not performed up to the standard they set through the regular season.  In particular, the Bulls have not challenged shots on the level they did during the regular season, and their weakside help has only come up and played with vigor in second half of the fourth quarter in two games.  This will lead to closer contests.

·         Indiana’s offense has been much sharper, or at the very least, has hit more shots than they did throughout the season.  Indiana struggled to hit contested shots against Chicago’s defense in their matchups during the season, but since the shots have been more open, the Pacers have taken advantage.

More than likely, the situation is a result of both theories coming together.  However, the fact the Bulls were able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, especially when playing well below their abilities on the defensive end, says a lot about their team and their chances going forward.  Once that defense finds itself again the Chicago Bulls will again look as dominant as they did all season.

Have questions for Coach Macri? Be sure and drop by HOOPSWORLD on Mondays at 2PM Eastern for the Coach’s weekly basketball chat!  You can also follow Coach Macri on Twitter @CoachMacri.