Within Rules or Not, Defense Never Rests as Lakers March On

Explaining the intricacies of the National Basketball Assn.’s illegal defense rules seemingly is beyond the comprehension of anyone not deeply involved in the business.

But Cotton Fitzsimmons, coach of the Phoenix Sun team that has lost three consecutive games to the Lakers in the Western Conference finals, said he saw no need for an elaborate explanation after accusing the Lakers of using a zone defense during their three-point victory in Game 3.

At issue going into Game 4 here today is the Lakers’ half-court trap, which they effectively used in the second half of the last two games to overcome halftime deficits and take point guard Kevin Johnson out of the Suns’ offense.

Fitzsimmons said the Lakers’ trap is a zone, a standard 1-2-2 alignment in which two players trap the player with the ball and the other three guard areas, not players, underneath the basket and on the baseline.

“I’m not here to give you a clinic,” Fitzsimmons said. “That’s not what I’m here for. Just say they play a zone defense. We just have to attack it. I’ve given up a long time ago keeping teams from playing a zone in the NBA.

“The object of the zone is to try to get the opposing team to use up as much of the 24 (-second clock) as possible. When the 24 gets under 10, now they really tighten it up. With that zone, they were able to control the tempo. You just have to attack it on offense. We’ve made adjustments. We’ll continue to do that.”

Complaints about illegal defenses have become somewhat of a playoff tradition. Pat Riley, the Lakers’ coach, knowingly nodded when Fitzsimmons’ charges were repeated.

“We’ve been playing this defense for eight years,” Riley said. “(Teams) complain all the time. It’s not just Cotton. But I didn’t hear any of that (zone talk) coming out in the Golden State series, because they were winning. Golden State does the same thing.

“That’s all right. We trap and we rotate as well as anybody in the league. There are guidelines for it. And we’ve gotten caught a few times. So be it.”

Illegal or not, no one disputes that the Lakers’ defensive strategy has been effective, especially in the second halves of the last two games.

Kevin Johnson, who was limited to four second-half points in Game 2 and five second-half points Friday night, said that the Suns plan to counter the Lakers’ defense with a zone offense.

“That’s what today is for,” Johnson said. “In all three of the games, that may have been the turning point, when they bring out that zone in the second half. We weren’t hitting our shots, and they did a good job taking away what we like to do.

“I look at the Lakers’ zone and Golden State’s is similar, except (the Warriors) have (7-foot-7) Manute Bol inside. But the Lakers have a bigger lineup. I still think that we would’ve been successful against the zone if we had penetrated and hit our shots. We didn’t do either.”

What the Lakers do, basically, is this:

They double-team the player with the ball, usually Kevin Johnson, slightly inside half-court, forcing him to pass to a teammate on the perimeter. The two-man trap then shifts to where the ball has been passed while the other three defenders rotate and scramble to contain four players.

The Suns contend that the three defenders not involved in the double team are merely guarding spots, not players. That violates the rules against illegal defenses.

The Lakers, however, contend that they have the other three defenders guarding four players and also helping to cut off penetration with “helpside” defense, which is legal depending on the players’ positioning.

Boiled down, the rules say, in part, that when an offensive player is above the free-throw line, the defensive man must stay reasonably close by. When the offensive player is below the free-throw line, the defender is allowed to double-team or provide weakside help. Also, defensive players anywhere on the court must follow their assigned player before switching, in order to avoid simply remaining in an area.

It all depends on the referees’ judgment.

“I’m not holding them responsible,” Fitzsimmons said of the officials. “I’ve found it’s too difficult for the referees with the 24-second clock. They can get an illegal man on a man-to-man. Off of the zone, they just got too many things to watch. I’m convinced of that. They’ll say they can, but I’m telling you they can’t. I’ve watched it too many times.”

Before Friday night’s game, Darell Garretson, the lead official, warned both coaches about infractions.

“The two things Darell discussed before the game were (the Lakers’) type of (defensive) rotation and (the Suns’) illegal offense,” Riley said. “The illegal offense is when you have four guys on one side of the court and isolate just one guy. That is basically what we’re playing against.”

The Suns have used such isolation in attempts to expose the Lakers’ alleged zone by showing defenders sagging in the lane.

Riley, however, defended his team’s defensive alignment, saying that the Lakers are merely quick to help on the weakside.

“Your strongside defense is what has to be tough, but it’s your helpside (weakside) defense that makes you successful,” Riley said. “If you can’t get helpside defense there quick enough, then you’re in trouble when you’re trapping.

“All the guidelines are convoluted (concerning weakside help). We have to get an early start on the weakside, otherwise we’ll get beat.”

Bill Bertka, the Lakers’ veteran assistant coach, rejected Fitzsimmons’ allegations, saying that the other Laker defenders are at a disadvantage when two players trap the ball, which is legal.

“Whenever you put two guys on the ball, all defenses are the same--you’ve got three guys trying to guard the other four,” Bertka said. “In our alignment, all we’re trying to do is protect the post until they bring the ball over half-court. Then we trap and try to guard the other people.

“I call it just plain, old, ordinary basketball. All we’re doing is trapping Johnson and making sure he gets rid of the ball and hopefully doesn’t get it back. Then we just chase the ball all over the floor.”

The Lakers have been highly successful controlling Kevin Johnson with the trap led by either Michael Cooper or Byron Scott. It also has helped that Eddie Johnson is shooting 29.5% and Tom Chambers 36.3%.

“We knew they’d come out with it again,” Kevin Johnson said. “What we have to do is stay aggressive and keep up the tempo, but what they want to do is slow us up and take time off the clock. And if we don’t hit the shots, they accomplish it.

“I also don’t have the ball as much. They trap guys on the perimeter. You give up the ball, and you don’t always get it back if they have the zone tough. We have to rotate more and try to break the seams.”

Kevin Johnson, however, acknowledged that it is easier to talk about breaking the Laker trap than doing it. And Cooper, who has lived up to his defensive reputation against Johnson in this series, said the Suns should expect to see it again today.

“What we’re doing is squeezing (Kevin Johnson) as the game goes along,” Cooper said. “He starts the game with a bang, then slows a little in the second quarter. Then, in the second half, we really put the squeeze on him with our red defense (the trap).

“They can call it a 1-2-2, 2-1-2, 3-2 or 2-3 (defense). Whatever. Doesn’t matter. It’s just the Laker defense.”

Laker Notes

No NBA team has ever recovered from an 0-3 deficit to win a playoff series. But Sun Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons said not to count his team out. “It’s never been done, but I think we’ve done something here this year no team has ever done without a superstar college player coming in,” said Fitzsimmons, referring to the Suns’ 27-game improvement over last season. “So don’t tell me it’s impossible. It may be improbable, but not impossible.” Fitzsimmons also indicated that the Lakers were lucky to win Game 3. “Let’s analyze that game,” he said. “Michael Cooper goes four for four on three-pointers and Magic Johnson throws up a half-court shot that goes in. And we lose by three points. It seems that whatever the Lakers need, they get. I’m not disappointed at all. We’re not some team they’ve (blown out).” The margins of victory for the Lakers in this series have been eight, six and three points. . . . Laker Coach Pat Riley said one reason why the Lakers went through a somewhat rigorous practice Saturday was to avoid a repeat of their horrendous start in Game 4 of the Seattle series, when they fell behind by 29 points in the first half before winning. “If there is one thing with this team, it’s that they use experiences to learn from,” Riley said. “We were up 3-0 in Seattle and weren’t ready to play. What happened in Seattle cannot happen again. I think they’ll be ready.”