Fish Takes on Another Challenge

//Fish Takes on Another Challenge

Fish Takes on Another Challenge

By | 2016-10-22T05:57:48-08:00 April 17th, 2011|News|Comments Off on Fish Takes on Another Challenge

When the Los Angeles Lakers open their run at third straight NBA championship this afternoon, no Laker will be facing a greater challenge than Derek Fisher.

In LA’s first round matchup with the New Orleans Hornets, Fish draws NOLA’s ace in the hole, point guard Chris Paul.

Fish knows he’ll have to be at his best to keep Paul from taking over the game:

"Chris is like a great quarterback," Derek told
Fox Sports. "You can’t give him the same look
or he’ll tear you apart."

The Lakers managed to stop Paul so far this season and swept the season series from the Hornets in dominant fashion, 4-0.

Fish’s best performance came in the Lakers’ first win, when he scored nine points and outdueled Paul, passing out eight assists to CP3’s seven in the 103-88 victory.

In fact, whenever Derek’s played the Hornets this season, he’s been in a generous mood. In the team’s next meeting, the guard threw out six assists in another Los Angeles victory. In the team’s final meeting of the year, Fish put up four assists.

Mike Trudell of Lakers.com writes that his assist game will be a part of Derek’s two main tasks this series:

"Fisher’s primary job on offense against New Orleans is simple: make sure Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum get enough touches against the Hornets’ front line. Meanwhile, no one in the NBA can really guard Chris Paul, but since he spends most of his time in pick-and-roll sets and rarely goes all the way to the rim, the brainy Fisher is more equipped defensively than one might think."

Derek talked after practice on Saturday about New Orleans’ pick and roll sets:

"They run as many as anybody because of how good Chris is in those situations," he said. "We could easily see 70-80 screen and rolls per game. That’s a lot of aches and pains on my back, my hips and my legs, but this time of year I’m willing to do it and I’ll definitely have to anticipate screens coming from every angle."

When breaking down the series, SI.com’s Lee Jenkins noted the matchup between Fish and Paul as one of the most important factors:

"Fisher traditionally performs better in the postseason and he will have to summon all his playoff guile to keep up with Paul."

D-Fish has playoff guile in bunches. He is the NBA’s active leader in postseason series wins with 33. He sports five NBA championship rings and a résumé of experience that is unmatched among the league’s top point men. But teammate Pau Gasol said it’s his work ethic that sets Fish apart:

"His experience and success bring him a long way. He understands how to get over a screen, the different angles. He watches tape. That’s what makes him effective," Gasol said. "He has a great knowledge of any point guard out there. He’s a guy that is dedicated to his job, a very bright player. He understands all of our opponents’ abilities. He’s a leader out there for us,  a guy that is going to work. He’s going to give you every thing he’s got and he’s going to set the tone."

STARTS IN PRACTICE
Derek sets the playoff tone for the Lakers long before they take the floor for a game.

He is their captain in practice and helps to make coach Phil Jackson’s triangle offense run with continued efficiency.

"Derek has really taken his statesmanship to the highest regard. He’s had to carry out on the floor everyday. Kobe has not practiced very much with us during the course of the season

[due to injury]," Jackson said. "Derek has been a guy that has been leader both vocally and on the floor for us, day-in and day-out."

Click here to watch Sports Science break down how the Triangle works.

Kevin Ding of the OC Register writes that LA can count on Fish to execute whatever is asked of him in the Triangle:

"Derek Fisher came into last postseason a pending free agent needing to earn another Lakers contract, and he did so with more clutch play en route to his fifth NBA championship. He is a team leader who executes gameplans at both ends of the court."

It’s that leadership, along with his penchant in the clutch, that Fish will bring to the Lakers this series, writes Mark Medina of the LA Times:

"Get ready for clutch shots, pre-game and halftime speeches, fans saying they were wrong all along about Fisher and people like me writing that I’ve preached this all along. The playoffs are Fisher’s moment to shine and there’s no reason the 2011 NBA postseason should be any different.

The Lakers’ first-round meeting with New Orleans will feature Fisher having the daunting task of guarding Chris Paul, but he’s actually shown enough tenacity in fighting through the Hornets’ pick-and-rolls to at least minimize the damage. Besides, this matchup will mostly put the onus on the Lakers’ defensive scheme that funnels drivers to the basket to make sure Paul doesn’t get easy looks in the lane."

But Derek knows that the talented Paul can expose any flaw in not just his game plan, but that of his entire team.

"Chris is pretty crafty," Fish said. "He’s one of the best in the game at, not just the mistakes that the guy makes guarding him, but the guys behind you. If they make mistakes, he’s going to take advantage of it. He’s tough. He’s a competitor. He really tries to enforce his will upon the game. When you have him on your team he makes everybody better. It’s not going to be an easy task."

The matchup, and the Lakers’ series with New Orleans, tips off from the Staples Center today at 12:30 PST on ABC.

Following is the schedule for the entire series:

  • Game 1 – Sunday, April 17, 12:30 p.m.at Los Angeles (ABC)
  • Game 2 – Wednesday, April 20, 7:30 p.m. at Los Angeles (TNT)
  • Game 3 – Friday, April 22, 6:30 p.m. at New Orleans (ESPN)
  • Game 4 – Sunday, April 24, 6:30 p.m. at New Orleans (TNT)
  • Game 5* – Tuesday, April 26, TBD at Los Angeles (tbd)
  • Game 6* – Thursday, April 28, TBD at New Orleans (tbd)
  • Game 7* – Saturday, April 30, TBD at Los Angeles (TNT)

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this: