Schilling on Kobe, KG <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Red Sox starting pitcher Curt Schilling, who watched last night's Game 2 from courtside seats at the Garden, today blogged some interesting thoughts on Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett. "Who doesn't know Kobe Bryant right?," asks Schilling. "I only know what I have heard, starting awhile back with the entire Shaq debacle. I don't really have an opinion one way or the other on or about him other than to know that people feel he might be one of the 4-5 greatest players to ever lace it up. What I do know is what I got to see up close and hear, was unexpected. From the first tip until about 4 minutes left in the game I saw and heard this guy bitch at his teammates. Every TO he came to the bench pissed, and a few of them he went to other guys and yelled about something they weren't doing, or something they did wrong. No dialog about 'hey let's go, let's get after it' or whatever. He spent the better part of 3.5 quarters pissed off and ranting at the non-execution or lack of, of his team. Then when they made what almost was a historic run in the 4th, during a TO, he got down on the floor and basically said 'Let's f'ing go, right now, right here' or something to that affect. "I am not making this observation in a good or bad way, I have no idea how the guys in the NBA play or do things like this, but I thought it was a fascinating bit of insight for me to watch someone in another sport who is in the position of a team leader and how he interacted with his team and teammates. Watching the other 11 guys, every time out it was high fives and 'Hey nice work, let's get after it' or something to that affect. He walked off the floor, obligatory skin contact on the high five, and sat on the bench stone faced or pissed off, the whole game. Just weird to see another sport and how it all works. I would assume that's his style and how he plays and what works for him because when I saw the leader board for scoring in the post season his name sat up top at 31+ a game, can't argue with that. But as a fan I was watching the whole thing, Kobe, his teammates and then the after effects of conversations. He'd yell at someone, make a point, or send a message, turn and walk away, and more than once the person on the other end would roll eyes or give a 'whatever dude' look." Observing the Celtics' efforts, Schilling was clearly impressed with Kevin Garnett and how he handles himself on the court. "His eyes are on the floor, or the ball, all game," writes Schilling. "What an incredible pleasure it is to watch and be a fan of. I am blown away in that he came out of high school, something that can be a huge disadvantage, and has ALWAYS maintained who he was purported to be ... "Last night KG goes to the line, Lamar Odom (who I became a fan of last night) is saying 'Hey KG why don't you help on the ball down here?' Pointing to the paint, and I am guess referencing the fact that KG wasn't down in the paint mixing it up. He says it again, loudly, KG doesn't even acknowledge him, and sinks both. Impressive, total focus."</div>
Phil Jackson has embarrassed people much worse than this. I'd say similar things about MJ. I love both too, so stop being soft about this Schill.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>"I'll let them stand up and take responsibility for themselves." "They've got no idea what it's all about. The white guys, they work hard, but they don't have the talent. And the rest of them? Who knows what to expect? They're not good for much of anything." "We have to do some things. We need to make some changes." "...I call them 'the Looney Tunes.' Physically, they were the best. Mentally, they weren't even close." "He's scared. He's got no heart...Nobody told me that. If I had spoken up, he wouldn't have been here." "I know I can recognize what to do, but I'm not sure they can." "It's a hell of a lot easier to make Earl Monroe look good than it is Brad Sellers." "I hope there's a jumpshot in there." - Michael to Stacey King who was walking into the locker room with a box "They don't need a ticket to watch you sitting on the bench. They can go to your house for that." - Michael to Charles Davis who was sorting through his tickets for his family and friends "Give me the ******* ball." - Michael to Doug Collins who drew up a play for Dave Corzine "I hate when I have to read that in the papers the next day, that I couldn't do something. It wasn't my fault." "You're an idiot. You've screwed up every play we ever ran. You're too stupid to even remember the plays. We ought to get rid of you." - Michael to Horace Grant "I hate being out there with those garbagemen. They don't get you the ball." "If you [pass the ball to Bill Cartwright], you'll never get the ball from me." "We're not winning because of talent. We're just beating bad teams." "Headache tonight, Scottie?" - Michael asks Scottie, while showing him his 2-for-16 line "It's probably a twelve-day. He needs two days to wake up." - Michael on a ten-day contract teammate "Five more years and I'm out of here. I'm marking these days on a calendar, like I'm in jail. I'm tired of being used by this organization, by the league, by the writers, by everyone." "They're not interested in winning. They just want to sell tickets, which they can do because of me. They won't make any deals to make us better. And this Kukoc thing. I hate that. They're spending all their time chasing this guy." "If I were a general manager, we'd be a better team." "He can't do anything with the ball. Don't give it to him." - Michael yelling at Paxson who passed the ball to Perdue "We're beating a lot of poor teams. So what? We won a lot of games last year, too. Will Horace and Bill still be playing at this level in the playoffs...Can Pip keep it up?" "I know what's gonna happen. We'll wait until the last minute and then they'll say something like they couldn't get a deal done because of the cap or somebody pulled out at the last minute. It happens here all the time. I don't know why I'm surprised every year." "You ever hear of a guy, six-eleven maybe and two hundred sixty pounds, a guy big and fat like that and he can't get but two rebounds, if that many, running all over the damn court and he gets two rebounds? Big guy like that and he gets one rebound. Can't even stick his ass into people and get more than that...Big, fat, fat guy. One rebound in three games. Power forward. Maybe they should call it powerless forward." - Michael ripping Stacey King a new one "He was scared in there and panicking. He just lost it when Stockton scored." - Michael on B.J. Armstrong's mental fragility "Will Vanderbilt. He doesn't deserve to be named after a Big Ten school." - Michael on Will Perdue "I want to prove the critics wrong...I want to see some serious moves from management, which I really haven't seen that much of yet, and I want to see more serious attitudes from my teammates this year when it comes to the playoffs. In the past, it's been more or less a joking thing, sort of a 'Well, we're here, so let's have a good time.'" "I'm sure everything will be fine if we win, but if we start losing, I'm shooting." "I know what I would do if I were coach. I'd determine our strengths and weaknesses and utilize them. And it's pretty clear what our strength is." "Your boy doesn't want to play. I'm tired of bailing his ass out." - Michael yelling at Jim Cleamons about Dennis Hopson "I don't know about trading a 24 year-old guy for a 34 year-old guy." - Michael questioning the Oakley trade "He's causing me too many turnovers." - Michael on Cartwright's inability to catch "Why the hell don't you ever set a pick like that in a game?" - Michael yelling at Perdue after also hitting Perdue upside his head (led to the institution of the private curtain for practices)</div> MJ quotes from another forum.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>I don't really have an opinion one way or the other</div> I will never believe that when it comes to Schilling.
Yet another similarity between Kobe and MJ LOL!!! Seriously... With the way things were going in game 2 (with the f*cked up officiating) the only people Kobe could bitch at were his teammates. EVERYONE would do the same if they were in his position (especially because of the frustration)... Only a guy that doesnt play would say he wouldnt do it. Kobe was 1 tech away from an ejection. Kobe bashing his teammates was another way for him to say that they need to play perfectly or the right way since even the refs are against them.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chutney @ Jun 10 2008, 09:50 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>I don't really have an opinion one way or the other</div> I will never believe that when it comes to Schilling. </div> haha, the picture kind of solidifies that he won't be saying anything bad about the Celtics. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (kobe23 @ Jun 10 2008, 10:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Yet another similarity between Kobe and MJ LOL!!! EVERYONE would do the same if they were in his position (especially because of the frustration)... Only a guy that doesnt play would say he wouldnt do it.</div> Well some players barely bitch at their teammates for every mistake. I barely ever see Tim Duncan cussing at teammates or yelling at them.
I find it hard to really be critical of how different players handle leadership, unless its blatantly clear that they're doing a bad job. Its just too difficult to get a full understanding of the situation from such a limited outside perspective. My initial reaction to Kobe's attitude would be disapproval, but then again, I have no idea how individual players react to that, I don't know what goes on in practices/warmups/timeouts, I don't know what Kobe's teammates expect of him, I don't know if he complemented that harsh approach with something else, etc. My assessment is really limited. I can confidently judge him really only by the results (that 4th quarter comeback pretty much speaks for itself).
I have a strong hatred for Curt Schilling................he plays for the team I despise (as a yankees fan) and he's a Bush supporter..................with that being said when it comes to "leadership" qualities Kobe is similar to Jordan (Jordan punched steve kerr in the face once for standing up to him in practice)......................................I wouldn't say it's the best, but like Chutney said I'm not in practice everyday so I don't know how teammates respond to it...............
I remember a year ago, Bosh ripped into a rookie Bargnani during a timeout (like was visibly yelling at him) because the dude wasn't boxing out and let the same player get a rebound over him twice in one possession. People were pretty critical of him, but then the majority of them felt stupid when it came out a couple days later that Bosh had complemented that outburst with some legitimate advice and encouragment afterwards. That's kind of what I'm talking about. btw, those MJ quotes were awesome. He comes off as such a douche, but a badass at the same time.
The LA team has mostly gotten along pretty well, there isn't nearly as much off-court bickering compared to the three-peat. You can't access an entire year from a couple of comments coming out of a subjective fan.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chutney @ Jun 10 2008, 10:28 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>btw, those MJ quotes were awesome. He comes off as such a douche, but a badass at the same time.</div> Haha yeah, he sounds like a complete asshole, but can be very funny at times. Definitely reminds me of Phil in that aspect.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>The LA team has mostly gotten along pretty well, there isn't nearly as much off-court bickering compared to the three-peat. You can't access an entire year from a couple of comments coming out of a subjective fan.</div> ^^^i don't think anyone's doing that.........
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lavalamp @ Jun 10 2008, 10:05 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (kobe23 @ Jun 10 2008, 10:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Yet another similarity between Kobe and MJ LOL!!! EVERYONE would do the same if they were in his position (especially because of the frustration)... Only a guy that doesnt play would say he wouldnt do it.</div> Well some players barely bitch at their teammates for every mistake. I barely ever see Tim Duncan cussing at teammates or yelling at them. </div> I'm pretty sure that's because Pop does all the bitching, cussing and yelling for Timmy. Pop has that team on lockdown.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>"I'm sure everything will be fine if we win, but if we start losing, I'm shooting." "I hope there's a jumpshot in there." - Michael to Stacey King who was walking into the locker room with a box "Five more years and I'm out of here. I'm marking these days on a calendar, like I'm in jail. I'm tired of being used by this organization, by the league, by the writers, by everyone." "If you [pass the ball to Bill Cartwright], you'll never get the ball from me."</div> Nice...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (pegs @ Jun 10 2008, 10:37 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lavalamp @ Jun 10 2008, 10:05 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (kobe23 @ Jun 10 2008, 10:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Yet another similarity between Kobe and MJ LOL!!! EVERYONE would do the same if they were in his position (especially because of the frustration)... Only a guy that doesnt play would say he wouldnt do it.</div> Well some players barely bitch at their teammates for every mistake. I barely ever see Tim Duncan cussing at teammates or yelling at them. </div> I'm pretty sure that's because Pop does all the bitching, cussing and yelling for Timmy. Pop has that team on lockdown. </div> Was about to say the same thing LOL Duncan's words come out of his eyes btw
