POTW- Kobe Rampage Squeeze

Congratulations to Samene for winning Post of the Week. Making his first post on CL, he makes it count discussing what he calls the “Kobe Rampage Squeeze”. Discuss his post here.

Against the Jazz I saw something germinate that I think can make the Lakers more than just a contender and potentially a team of greatness. We have quite a few players who can be a threat when they get loose near the rim (Odom, Evans, Smush, Bynum… even Luke lately) and the Lakers have the only player of the modern era who can outscore a team by himself and make them completely panic when he gets hot. Now, if the coaches can recognize and if the players can be greedy (how hard is that?), there can be a powerful synergy between those two assets.

When Kobe was taking over in the third quarter against the Jazz, at least for a while, the other Lakers were continuing to cut and stretch the defense.

I’m sure Kobe was caught completely unaware by this as he is used to them turning into statues when he asserts himself.

If the other Lakers can realize that Kobe’s rampage makes the defender on THEM scared hollow for fear Kobe will come their way, they can exploit that to create a parade of gimmes for themselves. The opportunity for uncontested layups and easy ones for the rest of the team is HUGE when Kobe has the defenders jumpy. The other Lakers should be in a “here’s my chance” mindset when that happens because the defense is dealing with a situation they are not used to being in and are thus mistake prone.

Here’s the synergy:
- Kobe gets on a roll and the defenders get jumpy
- Other Lakers think “here’s my chance” and start cutting more and being active/unpredictable
- Defenders make a barrage of defensive mistakes because the threat of being “out of position” vis-a-vis Kobe has them on a leash
- Kobe, instead of being stunned by the rarity of all this, picks the other team’s poison - pass to a wide open teammate or bury them himself.

If the cutters start getting layups, the defenders are going to bite on every jab step and arm waive the Lakers make. Kobe get’s easier shots. When they stop biting, the layups are back.

Kobe’s “roll” can be the team’s “roll” and, with experience, Kobe can keep the opponents balanced on the razor’s edge for a LONG time as opponents take a beating.

Most of the great teams became great because they could put the opponents in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” squeeze play. Our last three rings were the product of the Shaq & Kobe Squeeze. Showtime was often about the Magic and Kareem Squeeze and sometimes it was the Double Magic or Defend The Pass Squeeze . This Laker squad has been waiting for a ’second scorer’ to emerge so they could squeeze teams by making them decide who to double. Great. If that appears we step up. But the team can step up right now if they can execute the Kobe Rampage Squeeze.