Last night I re-watched Game 1 of the series, and charted 4 different elements:  all of Kobe's possessions, all of Gasol's possessions, the Jazz pick and roll game, and the possessions of Carlos Boozer.  Please realize I did the best I can, but I am not a professional game scout, and I don't know all the play calls, etc.

On each play, I charted where they got the ball, what direction they went with the ball, who the defender was, and what the result of the play was.  Here are some of the findings:

Kobe Bryant

Kobe had an amazing 42 times he got the ball in the scoring range.  He created 48 points out of those plays.  In a game that had about 90 trips on the Lakers offensive end, and some of those were transition, that is a really high number.  In the first half of the game, Kobe did everything for himself.  He only created 2 points for his teammates, in the 21 scoring opportunites he had.  However, in the second half, largely due to the pick and roll with Gasol, he created 11 points for his teammates.

AK guarded Kobe for 6 possessions, and he scored 7 points on those possessions.  Brewer guarded Kobe for 25 possessions.  During those possessions, Kobe scored 12 and created another 11, for a total of 23 points on 25 possessions.  Kobe scored 6 points in the 6 possessions Kyle Korver was on the defensive assignment.  Kobe has 8 points on 4 transition opportunities.

He went left on his drive 15 times, and right on his drive 17 times.  That gives you a pretty clear understanding of how difficult it is for a Jazz player to guard him, when he can go either way.  In the 15 drives to his left, he scored 8 points while creating 7 for his teammates.  Going right he was more likely to finish the play himself scoring 15 points, and creating 5 for his teammates on those 17 drives.

What was amazing is how few tendencies Kobe showed in this game.  I looked to see if he was more likely to shoot the jumper going one way or the other, or if he was more likely to pass or finish at the rim, and their were no tendencies.

Scouting reports around the league say that you are better off if he goes left, but that must be minimal.

Kobe/Gasol Pick and Roll

In the second half of the game, the Lakers lived on the Kobe/Gasol pick and roll.  After not running it once in the first half, the Lakers ran the play 10 times.  They ran it 7 times on the left side of the floor, and 3 times on the right side of the floor.

The Lakers scored 11 points on those 10 pick and roll plays.  Kobe was just 1 of 4 shooting off the pick and roll, but the play created easy opportunities for Gasol.  On one of the key plays of the night, Gasol hit Odom off the pick and roll for what was the clinching basket.

Seven of the 10 pick and rolls were started on the left side of the floor.  The Lakers scored 9 points on those 7 pick and rolls.  Twice the Lakers ran it from the right side of the floor, and scored just once.  The final came from the top of the floor and didn't convert.

When the Jazz were able to get Kobe to shoot a jumper out of the pick and roll, he was just 1 for 3.

Gasol

Gasol's scoring was generated solely from other players.  Gasol didn't score a single basket off his own post ups.  Instead, he scored in transition from penetration from Fischer, or the above mentioned Kobe Bryant pick and roll.

Memo Okur was guarding him most of the night, and did a really strong job.  Three times the Jazz doubled Gasol.  Once they forced a turnover, but they also gave up a three to Sasha when both Deron and Korver came to dig out the ball, which left Sasha wide open.

This would lead me to leave Okur single teamed on Gasol in Game 2, and force him to make the moves to beat the Jazz.

Boozer

This is where the research was most telling.  Boozer had 28 touches in the scoring zone during the game.  The Jazz got 19 points out of those 28 times in the scoring zone.  Who was guarding him made a tremendous difference on his success rate.

In the three possessions he was guarded by Pau Gasol, Boozer scored on two possessions, and hit Matt Harpring for a lay-up on the other one.  In addition, he got two quick fouls on Gasol.

However, when Boozer was guarded by Lamar Odom, he was completely negated.  Boozer got the ball in the scoring zone 14 times while being guarded by Odom.  He only scored once, and only created points for some once.  The Jazz got 4 points out of 14 scoring opportunities with Boozer being guarded Odom.  Boozer was 1 for 5 shooting, and committed 3 turnovers.  In addition, when he passed out of the post, nothing came out of it as Williams missed twice and Brewer missed once.

Six times during the game, the Lakers brought another defender to Boozer, and five of the six times they were able to force a turnover.The other possession Boozer missed was a fade away to the baseline away from the double.

The Lakers brought the double team mostly when Boozer was being guarded by Rony Turaif.  There were five times Boozer was guarded by Turiaf.  The first time he got a lay-up and a foul, and the second time he missed a good look.  On the next three possessions, the Lakers brought a double team.

Boozer was far more effective in the game if he caught the ball on the left side of the floor, rather than the right.  He received the ball 10 times on the left side of the floor where he scored 6 points, and created 4 points for others.  On the 10 times he had the ball on the right side of the floor, he scored 5 points but was not able to create any baskets for his teammates.

Today on Locked on Sports, I will be talking to Jazz Assistant Coach Scott Layden at 5 PM, and will ask him to make sense out of what I discovered.

Thanks,