Okay, so a couple weeks ago shaq was saying things like he thought creating drama within the lakers brought out the best in him and kobe. Is he correct? Last season the lakers went through a bit of an ordeal with kobe demanding a trade, causing a certain friction within the squad, we also got gasol mid-season, had to change things up a bit to accomadate his play, would have caused even the slightest friction, yet in a positive way, in a good way. And ofcourse our three-peet with shaq and kobe at the helm, all that friction, controversy, blah blah blah. So i mean kobe's career has been filled with "Drama", yet this season...Nothing, there is nothing "wrong" with this team, nothing to "fix" (besides our defense). So my question is, seeing as our play has been a little dissapointing lately, especially kobe not playing with the same intensity as previous seasons, does kobe need something "dramatic" to motivate great play? does kobe need an instigator like shaq to make him prove he is the best in the league? Phil has created a little friction with benching radman, his comments on bynum, but maybe, just maybe, something more substantial needs to be created for kobe's play to rise in quality, thus rising our teams performance? Im just putting the idea out there, but i admit it is a little half-baked. so yeah, discuss.
That's an interesting way to look at things... Phil said there's nothing wrong with Kobe this year. I agree somewhat. Physically, he seems fine. Mentally, he seems out of it. He just doesn't seem to have the passion we've all been so used to seeing from him. Defensively, he, along with the rest of the team has really been slacking. I'm pretty dissapointed because as a leader, I expected him to lead by example by stepping up his defense, but so far it hasn't happened. Offensively it seems like he's just going through the motions. Personally I just feel that after playing so many games in the Olympics, and winning the GOLD medal (best in the world), these regular season NBA games probably feel really insignificant to him. I fully expect him to step up in the postseason though, and I'm sure he won't disappoint. If you look at his career, Kobe usually doesn't turn things up until after the Allstar Break. It's just that he has never seemed so disinterested and sloppy before... As for motivation, or a kick in the ass, the entire team, including Kobe and Phil need it. For the past month we've just been going through the motions, playing uninspired basketball. Hopefully they'll pick it up soon because we'll be having some stronger competition these next couple of weeks.
yeah, that might fire him up a bit, it might not make us play better though, lol. yeah i have the same stance as you Lost One, i think kobe will pick it up eventually, i understand what kind of player he is, but what im saying is, for the rest of the team, this lazy attitude could become a bit of a habit, the y need something to shake them around a bit, show them that they've got to work harder to earn their playing time. It sure didnt work on odumb, but the rest of the team isnt as much of a lost cause as he is.
I am glad this uninspired basketball is good for 21-3 record. Just imagine if the Lakers were playing inspired basketball, they would be 24-0. Crazy.
