<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Kobe, right? Kobe Bryant? Mr. 81? You know, gimme the ball and get out of my way? The guy who never met a shot he wouldn't take? Wrong guy? "I go out and play the game," Bryant said. "I don't just try to score. The challenge is elevating my teammates to be able to win a championship. That's what people say we can't do. Now I'm more of a facilitator. I'm more the weapon we can go to when things aren't going right and guys are struggling. "But everyone has a role to play. My role is to make sure we're moving in the right direction, getting points, rebounds, steals, assists and providing leadership, whatever it is." Seeing is believing. The Bulls will get a chance to do that Sunday night when they hit Los Angeles to face the Lakers. Bryant had one of the biggest scoring seasons in NBA history last season when he averaged 35.4 points and had games of 81 and 61 points. The 61 came in a remarkable three quarters against the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks, whom he personally outscored. Now he is averaging a pedestrian (for him) 22.6 points per game, his fewest since 22.5 in the 1999-2000 season. More significantly, Bryant is shooting 52 percent and averaging 14 shots per game, nearly half of the 27.2 he averaged last season. Got to be someone else, right? Well, he is wearing a new number, 24, after discarding his No. 8. That suggests a new Bryant. Apparently in a Zen moment, he said the 24 reminds him of the 24 hours in each day, and we have to enjoy and appreciate each one. There are plenty of doubters and "we'll see" responses. Bryant is recovering from off-season knee surgery and admittedly doesn't have the drive and explosiveness of previous seasons. He'll probably need another month to get it back, the Lakers believe. Still, there seems to be a transition going on with Bryant, in some ways not unlike what occurred with Michael Jordan when he returned from his first retirement with the Bulls in 1995. At 32, Jordan wasn't the startling dunker and electrifying driver anymore, often preferring to settle for an uncanny jumper combined with quickness in surges. He deferred more often, saving his best for the pivotal moments of the game. It seems to be a road map to excellence that Phil Jackson has devised for Bryant. "He's moved into the second phase in his career," Jackson said, noting that Bryant, despite being only 28, has played more than 30,000 minutes in his 11 NBA seasons, the most in NBA history for a player that age. "Right now he knows he can't do it for a sustained period of time."</div> Source
Well if nash was MVP for 2 years because of improving his team mates then kobe should be this year's MVP!
I would really like to see Kobe keep this up, this "faciliator" thing. I do believe we will and have been seeing a different Kobe. I expect he will still on occasion drop 40+ in a game. What I am interested in seeing is how Kobe evolves as a basketball player now that he understands the game and wishes to further his knowldege of the game.
As of now Kobe is averaging 20 points a game 4.9 rebs a game and 5.1 assists a game... IMO he is the only one lacking for the players to be dominant... if lamar, bynum, walton, etc continue to play they play and kobe pulls his averages up to about 25-28ppg, 5-6 rpg and 6-7 apg then the lakers will be a lock for the top 5 or 4 even
If the rest of the Lakers are going to continue to play well, Kobe can't start averaging 28ppg. He needs to keep his teammates involved. When that happens, we still have the dangerous Kobe on offense, but if he's not having to do as much, we get an even more dominant defensive performance from Kobe. I like the way he's playing right now. If he can average 24-26ppg and 6rpg and 6apg, we should be a top 5 lock, that is, assuming the rest of the team continues to play well.
