Take no credit away from Kobe whatsoever, but can someone logically explain to me why didn't Sam agressively double-team Kobe everytime he touched the ball midway through the 3rd especially when Mo was in foul trouble? I just want an explanation that's all.
Just watching him hitting all those shots in the 3rd and 4rth quarter made me want to cry. I mean, the dude is a legend, he scored 81 and he did it in such an efficient way. Too bad his free throw streak ended in the process tho. This was the 2nd highest point total by a player behind Wilt's 100. I NEVER believed taht Kobe was as great as MJ, but now i have to reconsider. Anybody watched the post game coverage on Raptors TV??? That was some sunny **** , winning strategies "Maintain Kobe Bryant"... To bad it didnt come with an instruction book to tell us how.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting og15:</div><div class="quote_post">The guy shot 60% from the field, why wouldn't he take 46 shots? The other Lakers weren't even interested in shooting, so who cares if he had 2 assists, it's not like he was being doubled and had to pass the ball out. Wilt's 100 point game - 36-63 [57.1%] from the floor, 28-32 from the line Kobe's 81 point game - 28-46 [60.9%] from the floor, 18-20 from the line Philly won by 22 when Wilt had 100, 169-147 Lakers won by 18 in Kobe's game, 122-104 You can't criticize Kobe for going after the points down the stretch either, as Wilt did exactly the same thing. Wilt scored 59 in the 2nd half also, so Kobe's 55 is probably the 2nd best half ever.</div> Thanks man, you just saved me a lot of time in replying to his post.
You can accuse Kobe of cheating on his wife, but DO NOT accuse him of raping a girl. That sh!t bothers me every single time I hear someone call him a rapist. You don't think there's just the slightest possibility that wh0re did it to make money? Everyone makes mistakes, and Kobe's made a few, from Shaq to the Accused Rape Charge. He's older and wiser now and I believe now we are seeing the real Kobe Bryant, the mature person and basketball player.
Pardon my language but Kobe is a rapist, he just raped the Raptors.. 81 points.. wow, and Illmatic, #23 > #8 still.. Kobe may be a better offensive player but Jordan still has a way better defender. But you never know things will change.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">81 points ... who was guarding him?</div> Nobody. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Why didn't they double?</div> Because Sam Mitchell was being a moron last night.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Fever:</div><div class="quote_post">Take no credit away from Kobe whatsoever, but can someone logically explain to me why didn't Sam agressively double-team Kobe everytime he touched the ball midway through the 3rd especially when Mo was in foul trouble? I just want an explanation that's all.</div> It still boggles my mind.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Fever:</div><div class="quote_post">Take no credit away from Kobe whatsoever, but can someone logically explain to me why didn't Sam agressively double-team Kobe everytime he touched the ball midway through the 3rd especially when Mo was in foul trouble? I just want an explanation that's all.</div> sam mitchell is a bad coach all credit to kobe, he was hitting everything. but lamar was going for an 0-fer, and nobody else on the lake show can really shoot that well...so why werent we just taking the ball out of kb8's hands? what was mitchell thinking? i remember jim todd saying to norma at the beginning of the 3rd "we're just going to let kobe get his and try and shut everyone else down". but when he started hitting EVERYTHING, why didnt we go with a different game plan? the coaches of the raptors should feel embarassed...especially mitchell
He should've been double teamed, but I doubt it would have stopped Kobe from hitting the 60-70 range. The majority of his shots were simply catch-and-shoot jumpers. It'd be different if he was driving and drawing fouls. But that 3rd quarter was basically him hitting 3 pointers. How much would a double team have helped? It wouldn't have denied him the ball, because he was bringing it up. The Raps had their assignments, they were just positioning themselves horribly and giving him way too much space. Too blame Kobe's performance on Mitchell is kind of using him as a scapegoat IMO. I mean Kobe's done the same thing against the Mavs: a much better defensive and better coached team. And honestly, he only scored like 60-something points against us, because the game was done by the 3rd quarter. While comments like Jim Todd's after the half just astound me (you're going to let a player capable of scoring over 60 get his?), you gotta realize that the players came out playing a totally different game in the second half. Mike James had 9 assists in the first half and 1 in the second. Bosh could not drive inside. The team was not rotating quickly enough on the zone. It was just a bad all-around game, and Kobe pretty much exploited it.
you have to make it a touch dbl. soon as the ball gets in his hands, 2 defenders play him super tight...MAKE him pass the ball. the same way we guarded tmac when the rockets were in toronto
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Fever:</div><div class="quote_post">Take no credit away from Kobe whatsoever, but can someone logically explain to me why didn't Sam agressively double-team Kobe everytime he touched the ball midway through the 3rd especially when Mo was in foul trouble? I just want an explanation that's all.</div> Exactly. Mitchell went single-coverage almost all the way, and even let a rookie (Graham) and Rose for God's sake take him one-on-one. Even Matt Bonner would have done a better job defensively. Last night, it seemed as if the Raptors players didn't even care anymore, and just wanted to watch Kobe score all he could. When you're being embarrassed like that, I don't care, send in some guy like Loren Woods and let him foul Kobe to the floor, injure him or whatever. Or have five guys cover him and just prevent him from dropping any more points. Who cares about winning the game when you're down 14 and your pride is at stake? The Raptors need grit.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Fever:</div><div class="quote_post">Take no credit away from Kobe whatsoever, but can someone logically explain to me why didn't Sam agressively double-team Kobe everytime he touched the ball midway through the 3rd especially when Mo was in foul trouble? I just want an explanation that's all.</div> According to Sam Mitchell himself they threw everything at Kobe but the kitchen sink. A defensive specialist as a player and assistant, Toronto coach <font color="#0000ff">Sam Mitchell</font> attacked Bryant with various sets but failed to find an answer. "The tough thing about it was that he hit tough shots," Mitchell said. "If you look at the third quarter, I thought our guys were there. We had two guys on him at times. We doubled him, and he would split them. We tried playing zone, and he just shot that ball from the hashmark. We played box-and-1. I haven't played that since my college days." ~ Sam Mitchell
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Fiyah:</div><div class="quote_post">According to Sam Mitchell himself they threw everything at Kobe but the kitchen sink. A defensive specialist as a player and assistant, Toronto coach <font color="#0000ff">Sam Mitchell</font> attacked Bryant with various sets but failed to find an answer. "The tough thing about it was that he hit tough shots," Mitchell said. "If you look at the third quarter, I thought our guys were there. We had two guys on him at times. We doubled him, and he would split them. We tried playing zone, and he just shot that ball from the hashmark. We played box-and-1. I haven't played that since my college days." ~ Sam Mitchell</div> Well the box had a huge hole in it. From what I remember, the Raptors were playing zone defense for most of the game. Their defense was giving up a lot of uncontested baskets even before Kobe went on his scoring rampage. Let me jusy say this, Chris Bosh is an amazing player and is dedicated to the game. He was the first player on the court for the Raptors warming up during the pre-game shoot around. He was the only one out there for about 15 minutes, before the rest of the team started trickling out. Once his strength and conditioning improves, he'll be a superstar in this league. He already has two or three go-to moves and sets them up well because of his mid-range shot and explosive first step. The Laker bigmen kept giving him a lot of room and he was draining the 15 footers, and elbow shots. They were scared to crowd him because Bosh would just go right around them for the dunk. If he can bulk up and not lose his explosiveness, he'll be able to attack the rim more and absorb punishment.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">but I doubt it would have stopped Kobe from hitting the 60-70 range. The majority of his shots were simply catch-and-shoot jumpers</div> You're right that he was hitting three's, but they weren't mostly catch and shoot, they were mostly pull up three's. If he's dribbling a little then pulling up, you can get a double team there in time. We had weak doubling, and not even constantly, just once in a while. We doubled Dwight Howard a lot harder, with a guy like Kobe you don't just say let's hope he cools off, that's retarded.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Let me jusy say this, Chris Bosh is an amazing player and is dedicated to the game. He was the first player on the court for the Raptors warming up during the pre-game shoot around. He was the only one out there for about 15 minutes, before the rest of the team started trickling out. Once his strength and conditioning improves, he'll be a superstar in this league. He already has two or three go-to moves and sets them up well because of his mid-range shot and explosive first step. The Laker bigmen kept giving him a lot of room and he was draining the 15 footers, and elbow shots. They were scared to crowd him because Bosh would just go right around them for the dunk. If he can bulk up and not lose his explosiveness, he'll be able to attack the rim more and absorb punishment.</div> Agreed.
Mitchell let Mo Pete gaurd kobe for so long while he was in foul trouble that it blew up the game... If Mo would have played agressively he would have fouled out by half way through the third quarter. So as a result he was wayyyy too passive. Bryant was getting past him with ease. Then, the second defender would run up to Kobe would get through him too.. Worst coaching display ever
