It seems that every message board,article, website,(laker) commentator and avid fan seem to be lying to themselves. They continue to place blame on others for the failure of the "TEAM". When in reality the team leaders are the actual problem. The team leaders being Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson. People continue to glorify Kobe based on his stunning numbers from the first week of the season, but lets be real even during that time he was not playing up to his worth. I mean lets not forget people .....KOBE is the best player in the world not 6'11. High skill level is far and above better than other players at his position, his insticts are uncanny, and his athleticism is on par or better than most. But the thing that seperated him from the majority is his passion and his will to be the best. It seems that his passion is'nt there, his enthusiasim is rotted. While on the bench he seems to be waiting for the game to be over so he can get outta there. Of course there is the usual fist pump ata great play. But where is the insperational "ass smack",or the scream of "let go","yeah boy","d-up" that I seem to see Odom incouraging the players more and more; and more and more I see a content attitude. Last year I chopped the failure of Kobe to hold the crown up to the fact that the colorado issue, the Phil and Shaq issue was still fresh. But every one has moved on so there is no legit exscuse......what new teamates? here is an idea stop shooting so many frakin jumpers. The jumper is a lazy ass shot and it dosnt do anything that involves the team. Why not take the ball to the basket and dish or get the foul. Not taking the best shot and just trying to get your is a direct signal of not caring. Not trusting your teammates is a term that public relations guru Jon Black came up with the keep people from saying "Kobe is gunning". Take a look at the new slam magazine, the supposed king is wearing the crown......Aparently Kobe Bryant thinks so too. P.S. Phil.......the triangle is too hard(switch it up)
I agree and disagree with those observations. I'm not too, down on his offense, but I'm really disappointed in Kobe's defense this season. For lack of a better word, he's dogging it on defense and is playing with too, much frustration because of no-calls or poor execution on offense. Last night he went for a senseless steal on Mobley and it led to a Sam Cassell wide open jumper. I saw him get worked by Eddie Jones, Trenton Hassell, and Voshon Lenard. He's so worried about everyone else on the floor, he's leaving his man open and letting them get into rhythm. Kobe has to play with the same intensity against the average and subpar shooting guards in the league. I agree, he is taking far too, many jumpshots, but a lot of his shots are a result of poor execution from the offense. The players always give it to him with the shot clock winding down and he has no choice but to take a tough shot. Also you have to sometimes take what the defense is giving you, and right now the defense has no respect for his teammates. Until those guys start playing consistent on offense, Kobe will continue to take difficult shots.
better yet, imagine if Kobe signed with the Clippers, they'd be unstoppable. I'm a KOBE fan before I'm a Laker fan.
Mr.Bryant is Kobe really the best player under 6'11? i can think of a few names who you can definately argue are doing better then kobe right now: AI, Lebron, Shawn marion, Dwyane Wade. So what if your the most athletic person in the world if that doesn't translate to sucess then your not the best.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Johnnybrasco:</div><div class="quote_post">Mr.Bryant is Kobe really the best player under 6'11? i can think of a few names who you can definately argue are doing better then kobe right now: AI, Lebron, Shawn marion, Dwyane Wade. So what if your the most athletic person in the world if that doesn't translate to sucess then your not the best.</div> Let's not turn this into yet another Kobe comparison thread. It's just his opinion Kobe is the best player under 6'11, let's leave it at that and stay on the meat of the topic.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Johnnybrasco:</div><div class="quote_post">Mr.Bryant is Kobe really the best player under 6'11? i can think of a few names who you can definately argue are doing better then kobe right now: AI, Lebron, Shawn marion, Dwyane Wade. So what if your the most athletic person in the world if that doesn't translate to sucess then your not the best.</div> Your making my point, this should not be up for debate. There was atime it was undisputable and those who disputed it were haters. Now it's hard to argue a case for him. The whole making your teammates better, is such a huge hurdle for him. Others are sharing the crown, but the problem is that the threat of his title being taken should inspire him and he just dosen t look inspired. Maybe the challenge of a move to the pg might light a fire.
I'm a Laker fan, not a Kobe fan. I'm just a Kobe fan because he is on the Lakers. I was a Laker fan even since Kobe was around, and if he signed to another team, and we had a bad team in LA, I would love to see my Lakers stop Kobe and make him look bad.
i get what your trying to say, what i meant was you can have all the athleticism in the world but if you don't have a winning mentality then its wasted. Kobe is probably more athletic then jordan was, but he lacks jordan's killer instinct and win at all costs mentallity.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Johnnybrasco:</div><div class="quote_post">i get what your trying to say, what i meant was you can have all the athleticism in the world but if you don't have a winning mentality then its wasted. Kobe is probably more athletic then jordan was, but he lacks jordan's killer instinct and win at all costs mentallity.</div> Are you kidding me? Kobe wants to win at all costs, it's his teammates who don't have the mental makeup to be warriors on the court. He's a perfectionist, that's why he trains hard and spends his free time watching game tape. Kobe has ice in his veins in crunch time, look at all the game winners he's made.
yes Kobe wants to win, but he doesn't feel the need to help others get to that level. Jordan took marginally talentd players like bill cartwreight, luc longley, horace grant, john paxson, steve kerr and turned them into winners. Honestly do you really believe if any of them weren't on jordans team any of us would remeber them for anything really? Lamar Odom is better then grant ever was, mihm has more potential than longley ever did. yet kobe only works on improving himself not his teamates.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Johnnybrasco:</div><div class="quote_post">yes Kobe wants to win, but he doesn't feel the need to help others get to that level. Jordan took marginally talentd players like bill cartwreight, luc longley, horace grant, john paxson, steve kerr and turned them into winners. Honestly do you really believe if any of them weren't on jordans team any of us would remeber them for anything really? Lamar Odom is better then grant ever was, mihm has more potential than longley ever did. yet kobe only works on improving himself not his teamates.</div> It's a two way street, all those players bought into the system and worked at specializing in each of their roles. Longley, Grant, Cartwright, Paxson, and Kerr all played physical and hustled on every play. Lamar Odom is soft, Chris Mihm is soft, Kwame Brown is soft, Brian Cook is soft, Luke Walton is soft, see a pattern here? The players around Kobe are physically talented and gifted, but when it comes to mental makeup they aren't on the same level. Luc Longley and Bill Cartwright would never give up a layup. Those two would knock you on your butt and make you earn it at the line and make you think twice about taking to the rack. Horace Grant didn't coast through 3 quarters and then show up in the final quarter. You could count on consistent effort all game long from him. Same goes for the Lakers during Phil's first job with them. You had grunt players like Rick Fox and Robert Horry to play defense and slow a player down. Fox wasn't very athletic, but he was strong, played smart, and was a very physical defender. Horry was johnny on the spot for the Lakers, because the man uses his brain and understands the game. It's not luck he's there to steal a pass, block a shot, tip out a rebound, or draw a charge. He studies his opponent and knows their habits on the court. Jordan didn't make his teammates better over night. It was time together with the same core players that made Jordan and his teammates build that chemistry. It's going to take more than 9 games for this Laker squad to figure it out. This is a three year project for the Lakers, and they will need time to play together and PJax will need time to tweak the lineup and build the proper team around Kobe.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">It's a two way street, all those players bought into the system and worked at specializing in each of their roles. Longley, Grant, Cartwright, Paxson, and Kerr all played physical and hustled on every play. Lamar Odom is soft, Chris Mihm is soft, Kwame Brown is soft, Brian Cook is soft, Luke Walton is soft, see a pattern here? The players around Kobe are physically talented and gifted, but when it comes to mental makeup they aren't on the same level. Luc Longley and Bill Cartwright would never give up a layup. Those two would knock you on your butt and make you earn it at the line and make you think twice about taking to the rack. Horace Grant didn't coast through 3 quarters and then show up in the final quarter. You could count on consistent effort all game long from him. Same goes for the Lakers during Phil's first job with them. You had grunt players like Rick Fox and Robert Horry to play defense and slow a player down. Fox wasn't very athletic, but he was strong, played smart, and was a very physical defender. Horry was johnny on the spot for the Lakers, because the man uses his brain and understands the game. It's not luck he's there to steal a pass, block a shot, tip out a rebound, or draw a charge. He studies his opponent and knows their habits on the court. Jordan didn't make his teammates better over night. It was time together with the same core players that made Jordan and his teammates build that chemistry. It's going to take more than 9 games for this Laker squad to figure it out. This is a three year project for the Lakers, and they will need time to play together and PJax will need time to tweak the lineup and build the proper team around Kobe.</div> I really hope your right
