Zach Lowe says Kelly Olynyk cannot defend LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the pick and roll and that Heat could be annihilated if they allow that to happen.
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With the Los Angeles Lakers set to face off against the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, NBA analysts are working overtime to rack their minds around potential player matchups.
Questions pertaining to who takes on the defensive assignment of guarding LeBron James on the perimeter, or Anthony Davis in the mid post are what’s running through everyone’s mind.
Both teams are very offensively gifted, however, one team has two top 5 offensive players on their team and the other is the Miami Heat.
Kelly Olynyk guarding LeBron James is a recipe for diaster
Bam Adebayo has proven to be the Heat’s overall, best defensive player. His frame, length, and the fact that he is 6’9, makes him the most versatile defender on the court.
The problem however, is that Bam cannot be on the court for 48 minutes. When he takes a breather, Kelly Olynyk is the next man up.
Respected NBA analysts Zach Lowe and Jeff van Gundy said if LeBron and AD are on the court at the same time, while Bam is on the bench, it would be an absolute annihilation of the Heat’s interior defense as Olynyk cannot guard LeBron and AD on the pick n’ roll.
Lowe ridiculed Olynyk further by saying, “The film on that should not be viewed by Olynyk’s family, unless there is a lot of alcohol involved.”
How can the Miami Heat defend the LeBron and AD pick n’ roll?
The Miami Heat switch between a 2-3 and a 3-2 zone and with Bam on the bench, the only way to limit LeBron James and AD PnR action, is to play the zone much tighter than they do.
The Heat try to limit shots from beyond the arc by stretching their zone out but to curb the PnR action, the Heat’s zone will have to be closer to the paint, and pray the Lakers cannot make shots from 3.
