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Double jeopardy Raptors' adjustments to Iverson gave them life
Updated: Saturday May 19, 2001 2:16 AM
CNNSI.com's NBA insider Kevin Loughery joined the Sports Tonight show to discuss the NBA playoffs.
Vince Cellini: What do you think Game 7 is going to be like in the Philadelphia-Toronto series? Kevin Loughery: It's going to be a tough game. It's nice to be home for Philadelphia. Good to have that advantage. However, in Game 7, which star is going to step up big? Vince Carter or Allen Iverson? In Philadelphia, you kind of like Iverson some, but the changes the Raptors made, like doubling him immediately ... someone else is going to have to step up and make shots.
Cellini: Let's switch to the West. Do you think Derek Anderson will be able to return, and if so, can he slow Kobe Bryant ? Loughery: You're not going to stop Kobe Bryant, you just have to try and slow him down some. You give him the outside shot. He's a great player. The key with Anderson coming back, is that Kobe has to play him. Anderson is an outstanding offensive player. Antonio Daniels is not the offensive player that Anderson is. And the Spurs will put Malik Rose on Kobe some, too. They'll get a bigger man on him, so he can't get inside. Cellini: Shaquille O'Neal probably won't have his way like he did in the first two rounds. Loughery: Vince, I always thought that Karl Malone was the most punishing offensive player in the NBA ... until this year's playoffs. Shaq just annihilated people offensively -- Aryvdas Sabonis, Dale Davis in Portland, and he just killed Chris Webber, Scot Pollard and Vlade Divac in Sacramento. The first quarter of the first game is going to be very important. He's going to try to be physical with Tim Duncan and David Robinson, but Duncan and Robinson have great defensive reputations. They'll get some calls that the others didn't get. Shaq could get in early foul trouble. Cellini: What do you make of all the talking going on? Shaq is now accusing San Antonio of playing zone defenses. Loughery: Well, Vince, it is a pretty good zone! (Laughs.) What's going to happen is you're going to see two big people come and double Shaq, two 7-footers who are very talented. It makes it tough for Shaq to pass out of the double. That means Kobe won't get as many open looks and the fringe players will get hardy any at all. Cellini: We have a caller with a question for Kevin. Caller: Out of the four teams competing for the East, which one has a realistic chance at competing with or even beating Los Angeles or San Antonio? Loughery: That's a very good question. I think Milwaukee has the only chance. They were undefeated against the top teams in the West in the regular season. They shoot the basketball so well from the perimeter. So, since it's going to San Antonio or L.A., and they both have the big people, they are going to have come out and play Milwaukee. The Bucks have the only chance, but they'll still get beat. Fred Hickman: Milwaukee had that success against the West because they could throw so many different looks at a team. San Antonio can do the same thing. Loughery: That's exactly right. I think San Antonio will give the Lakers an awful tough time. Everyone thinks because the Lakers won two easy playoffs series that they are just going to waltz through San Antonio. That is not so. I think San Antonio will beat the Lakers, especially if Anderson comes back because then Kobe has to play someone on the defensive end. Hickman: We have another caller for Kevin. Caller: In the East, we've seen a lot of defensive trapping. How do you defend against the trap? Loughery: It's very difficult when you are getting double-teamed by two outstanding defensive players. Iverson has the best chance because of his size. Everyone says he has a disadvantage because he is so small, but I think that helps him get through traps, where it is tougher for others like Vince Carter and Jamal Mashburn. One thing that is tough for Mashburn, and I think we'll see this from Milwaukee in Game 7, is that he likes to spin every time he takes the basketball to the bucket and the Bucks sent the double-team for that. So Mashburn will have a tough time Sunday.
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