i have said it before and i will say it again - i am not a fan and do not support kobe bryant. however when i waste my time reading something as stupid as this it makes me annoyed. it makes you wonder why someone would ever even publish such rubbish. what's your opinion?
I'm used to it already. It gets old and annoying, but I don't bother reading past the first ridiculous quote...and that goes for anything from BSPN anymore (that has to deal with the Lakers).
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting cula:</div><div class="quote_post">BSPN - that's funny </div> Yeah If I didn't love basketball so much (in general), and if I had League Pass...I would never flip the channel to ESPN again.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> The league ought to slap an asterisk on you. You don't scare anybody</div> Did Phil have a say in this article? LOL. Seriously though, so much of what is said in there is true, but I don't feel like this topic is worth arguing.
It's pretty funny but not as funny as one they made where they have Shaq in the witness stand and the lawyers are asking him questions. It was actually quite hilarious. This one's not that funny. Actually, most of the writers on ESPN are Kobe supporters but it is thier jobs to cause some stir and doubt among general NBA fans, so I guess that is why they bring negatives all the time as well.
Us Laker fans are chillin'. Notice that it was a Kings fan that brought it up so I guess is not only Laker fans who get annoyed by BSPN and the rest of the media.
I'm sitting back and watching it all unwrap itself...the Laker season...because Kobe is feeding off of all of this nonsense. He loves it; he lives for it. Even when I played ball in high school, I played my best with someone in my face, telling me that I can't do this, can't do that, etc. I'm not the best player, by far, but make fun of me and I'll drop 30 in a game.
I don't see what's so stupid about it, actually. He makes some good points as far as areas the Lakers need to work on. I think its way too early to call the new-look Lakers a failure or success yet, but it brings up legitimate concerns. Looking at the boxscore to the Lakers-Clippers game, it appears that Kobe looked to get his teammates involved more and looked for his shot less. An encouraging sign. I think Kobe only really asserts himself in cruch time or when he's on a hot streak.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting realdealbneal:</div><div class="quote_post"> I'm not the best player, by far, but make fun of me and I'll drop 30 in a game.</div> But if you dropped 30 and shot 39% then you would basically be justifying the trash talk to the guy that was taunting you.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jurassic:</div><div class="quote_post">But if you dropped 30 and shot 39% then you would basically be justifying the trash talk to the guy that was taunting you. </div> Haha...actually, I've never scored over 26 in a game, but I've never shot under 42%, either.
I think Kobe responded to the criticisms that he was only averaging about 4 assists per game...this is the type of stuff that motivates him
It's sad to see that a great writer such as Eric Neel (he does have a great sense of humor) would share his personal dislike toward Kobe Bryant with his article readers and spread the hate.
Thanks cula for posting the article....very interesting indeed. As a Laker fan, I can take reference to this article. It may look like Eric Neel is hating the guy, but we can't read between the lines fellas. What he's saying is nothing more but the true nature of our superstar Kobe Bryant. Treated like a god, an excellent team player when he wants to be, along with selfishness, arrogance, and a huge ego problem. The stat that I found particularly amazing was Kobe is averaging 4.6 assists a game? Now I realize Kobe is the focal point of the team as he should be, but if you don't get four other players involved in the ballgame, how are you going to be looked at and respected in this league? Us Laker fans in particular should look at the Detroit Pistons and their amazing championship run last year. I was one of the idiotic individuals that thought oh since we have the best lineup that arguably could ever be constructed in basketball that we'd just waltz to a championship. But what comes first before talent? Team unity and teamwork. Larry Brown had his guys playing the right way playing unselfish basketball and always believed in themselves that they could master a major upset. How does this deal with Kobe Bryant now in the 2004-05 season? If you average 4.6 assists a game, and you're the leader of the Los Angeles Lakers, that stat alone shows you'd rather attempt to do everything by yourself instead of putting your teammates first. And let's not forget 39% shooting from the field. Horrendous. About last night's game however, this is what Kobe needs to continue to do. Stick to the basic fundamentals of efficient ball movement, balanced double digit scoring from others instead of himself all the time, (I believe we had six last night) and getting people involved for 48 minutes as a leader. Like I keep saying, it looks good to score 30+ a night, but if the supporting cast can barely break a contributive outcome, our season will not be as successful.
Kobe's averaging 41% shooting, and 5.3 assists...with 6.2 rebounds. Not to mention a career high in blocks, and nearly 28 PPG, and a career high in FT% (87%).
^ Yeah, but our 5-4 record isn't impressive either. Knowing we haven't beat a premier Western Conference team.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Emo:</div><div class="quote_post">^ Yeah, but our 5-4 record isn't impressive either. Knowing we haven't beat a premier Western Conference team.</div> We've played Utah and San Antonio, that's it...and those were our 2nd and 3rd games. We lost to Memphis, but I think we could beat them next time. We have beaten the Rockets, who everyone thought would be near the top of the West...and we beat the Clips, who is the only team to pull away with a win over the Sonics. Nine games, Emo. Come tell me how we can't beat an elite West team once we play 40 games, and then I'll agree accordingly. :thumbsup:
People who point to his low shooting percentage also need to take into account the number of free-throws he's getting. According to the excellent Pro Basketball Forecast by John Hollinger, the following formula is the best for evaluating a player's scoring efficiency: PSA = Points / (FGA + .44*FTA) If PSA=1, that's about average. If PSA>1.15, that's among the league leaders. If PSA<.98, that's poor. Right now, Kobe's at around 1.125, which is solid. For comparison, in Jordan's last 3 championship seasons with the Bulls, he had a PSA of 1.121 during the regular season. Even though he's shooting a poor percentage from the field and not hitting his 3s, he gets to the line more than anyone else and hits a superb percentage. You're not getting the whole picture of what he does on the offensive end if you don't take his free-throws into account.
