Containing Kobe
Pierce, Posey and both Allens will likely get their chance
NBA. If there was a way to stop Kobe Bryant, the Lakers wouldn’t be in the Finals, he wouldn’t be the MVP and he wouldn’t be allowed to create his own nicknames.
So providing the Celtics don’t go all “The Last Boy Scout” on the Black Mamba, they’ll need to find a way to at least make his job a bit more stressful.
To appreciate that level of difficulty, Bryant’s opponents must first fully grasp his game, so complete and so beautiful that Jerry West referred to Bryant as the “basketball Picasso.”
According to LeBron James, Bryant has the best footwork in the league, and once he has his defender on his heels, it’s game over. Bryant’s jump shot is crisp, and he’s dangerous from every spot on the court. But play him to shoot, and he’ll explode through the lane with the finesse of Michael Jordan.
“We know he’s a great, great scorer, capable of putting up huge numbers,” Paul Pierce said. “But our job is to try to slow him down, make him take difficult shots and try to make other guys beat us.”
Pierce will likely open games as the first line of defense on the perimeter, but defensive rotations behind him must be flawless to cut off direct angles to the basket and clog the passing lanes. Ray Allen, James Posey and Tony Allen will rotate through Pierce’s role, as well.
It was Posey’s job to shut down Mavericks’ forward Dirk Nowitzki in the 2006 Finals, and Posey will use a similar strategy of intimidation. Expect Posey’s philosophy to permeate through everyone on the Celtics: Foul Bryant hard, knock him to the floor and make sure he’s always wondering where the next hit is waiting.
It’s also crucial to make Bryant work on defense. He’ll probably spend most of his time on Ray Allen, so the Celtics need to keep running Allen through multiple screens every time down the court. Even if there’s no intention to get Allen the ball on that play, it’s vital to make Bryant run into hard picks in the attempt to wear him down throughout the game.
“I’m not saying that you can stop a player of Kobe’s caliber,” Pierce said. “But definitely, you can make him work and make things tougher on him.”