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 PHILADELPHIA VS. TORONTO MILWAUKEE VS. CHARLOTTE SAN ANTONIO VS. DALLAS L.A. LAKERS VS. SACRAMENTO |
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Fred's Points: Lakers, Shaq look unstoppable ESPN.com What's the first thing you notice when you see ESPN's Fred Carter on NBA 2Night or SportsCenter? Of course, he points at you. It's his way of saying hello. So we've asked NBA expert Fred to greet us and make some points for ESPN.com from time to time. Here are his points on the Lakers-Kings series. Look for more questions and answers occasionally. Enjoy. Lakers-Kings
1. Shaquille O'Neal became the first player ever to get 40 points and 20 boards in back-to-back playoff games. Why is he doing it now? Is Sacramento playing poor defense on him? How should they play him? The Kings aren't necessarily playing poor defense against Shaq, but their overall defensive gameplan could use some work. Shaq is over 300 pounds. He probably outweighs his opponent by 40 or 50 pounds. No matter how much resistance his defender is providing, Shaq can use his weight advantage to move his opponent wherever he wants. In weight there is strength. As the game goes on, Shaq gets stronger and the defender gets weaker. Somewhere along the line Rick Adelman has to come up with a different gameplan. If Sacramento doesn't double-team Shaq he will get 40 and 20 in four straight games and there won't be any more games after that. 2. This series shifts to Sacramento, where the Kings took both games in last year's playoffs against Los Angeles. Do you expect the crowd will make enough of a difference to get the Kings going? The Sacramento Kings have shown a lot of fluff and not a lot of substance so far. Going back home should be the lift they need. Hopefully the team will feed off their fans, come alive and be active. That will probably happen, but it still won't win them the game. You have to play hard wherever you are. The Kings can say they had a shot to win both games but they really didn't. The Lakers eased up their intensity, allowing Sacramento to creep back into those games, knowing they could turn it on when they needed and bury the Kings. The Kings have to be tougher as a team. Their shot selection, passing and everything needs to be better. If not, they're going to go out in four.
3. Jason Williams hasn't exactly stepped up for Sacramento at all in these playoffs. Considering that L.A. has a top-notch defender at point guard in Derek Fisher, should Rick Adelman consider a different lineup with Doug Christie at the point and another rebounder in the lineup? Normally Jason Williams is a great first-quarter player and gets his team off early. If he doesn't, the Kings have a problem. Bobby Jackson is a good defender and a good player. They need someone to bring them energy and defense. Williams has to get more serious and attentive to the game of basketball. He needs to take care of the basketball and make the right decisions. He made a boneheaded play coming down the stretch in Game 1. He had Vlade Divac open under the basket and Shaq coming toward him. Instead of dumping it of to Vlade for the easy bucket, he tried to shoot over Shaq. The only way you shoot over Shaq is to shoot over the backboard. Those are the plays that he needs to eliminate from his game.
4. Considering that Chris Webber might leave town this summer, is this the end of this Kings era as we know it if they don't get going soon? Did the team underachieve? I don't know if this is the end for the Kings or not. Webber is almost certainly leaving but they will probably get involved in some sort of sign-and-trade. What the Kings get back in that deal will tell if they can keep their play up. Their core players are pretty darned good. They will have to play a different brand of basketball, but the results might be surprising when they spread the ball around a little more. 5. The way the Lakers are playing right now, are they better than last year's playoff team? I think their opponents are not quite as formidable as last year's playoff opponents. There is one team standing in their road -- San Antonio. Unfortunately, the Spurs lost Derek Anderson. Losing Anderson is going to impact San Antonio's ability to offset Kobe Bryant. If Kobe gets 27, Anderson was capable of getting 18. With Antonio Daniels in the lineup, that might rise to 30-12 in favor of Kobe. San Antonio is going to have to make up those points along the way if they are going to beat the Lakers in the Western Conference finals. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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  ALSO SEE Fred's Playoff Points: Bucks-Hornets Fred's Playoff Points: Sixers-Raptors |
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