Although I really couldn't care less about this argument over Kobe that you guys have been going back and forth on, here's a good article from the OC Register on this topic. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Bryant said talks with teammates have led to the conclusion that it might be better for Bryant to seek more of his own offense. "My teammates actually approached me and asked me to be more offensive minded," Bryant said. "They felt like I was trying to get them the ball too much. They came to me and said, 'You know what, Kobe? We need you to start being more aggressive offensively.' "They said, 'Don't worry about us, we'll get stuff within the flow of the game. "But we'd like for you to kind of lead the charge for us.'"</div> <div align="center">Source</div>
See, half of me agrees with the article, but part of me doesn't. He will continue to struggle if we don't get a pg in here. I would like to see him be more agressive in the 2nd half of the game, more passive in the first. Get Lamar, Caron, Mihm and others involved in the first and get yours in the second half.
I was looking for that article (the link to it). Great. Thanks for posting that. So, what now? How do we get guys to contribute? This is the problem...plain as day...Kobe is doing this himself and it's not by choice. His teammates need to step it up and stop being scared of the ball. We need new guys that will do their thing (PG especially).
The way I see it is.....we're 14-12 because Kobe does everything on his own, and he simply can't trust his teammates, plain and simple. In the Shaq/Kobe era, Kobe had time to perfect his game by not having defenses thrown at him, and I'm talking about the double and triple teams to Shaq, which opened the floor more to Kobe. He had more opportunities at points, and more pressure came off his shoulders. Now that Kobe has his own team, opposing defenses concentrate more on him, and coaches feel if they can shut him down, they have a brighter chance of winning games. And it's working. His field goal percentages are low, and our team contributions are just horrific when I view the latest boxscores. A solution? Get a point guard. Kobe has to play two freakin' positions on the floor. Pushing the ball up the court, yelling assignments to his teammates on playcalling, and be the main ballhandler on the floor. That's not his game. We need someone like a Jason Kidd type of guard that can call the shots, keep the tempo going, and keeping everybody happy by dishing the rock. That way, Kobe can focus more on being nothing but a two guard player. Looking at opportunities to score, cutting + shifting to the basket, and finally more open shot to hit his outside shooting touch. Secondly, goodness gracious, get some MEAT in the interior. It seems like opponents nowadays eat us alive and have their way all night in our skinny frontcourt. Finally, I have to blame this more on Laker management. I know we went through some major changes this offseason, but the way I see it, the only bright spot we got out of this deal was Lamar Odom, and even he is being used in a dismal manner. Chucky Atkins, Caron Butler, and Chris Mihm are decent players, but not good enough to play 35-40 minutes a night, having to rely on them for big shots during key offensive possessions. And Vlade Divac? Just a disgrace. If you're gonna build around arguably the best shooting guard in the game, why don't you go out and GET talent? Besides trading for people that should be sitting on the bench? Frustrating....but in order to be a fan, you gotta stick it out through the good and bad times.
It's simple really, if you have the ball, but use it wisely which means shoot a high percentage, move it around, and minimize your turnovers then you won't get called a hog. If you have it a lot and shoot a low percentage and have a lot of turnovers and sometimes get caught overdribbling the ball, people won't be too pleased. When someone is shooting a really high percentage, getting them the ball is strategy, and they also don't have to take as many shots to score a lot. When someone is shooting a lot and has a low percentage, it's not strategy anymore, it's just that person is shooting a lot. If Odom was one of the guys saying Kobe should be more aggressive then he's an idiot when he's the one who should be more aggresive, but when people say teammates it's not always everyone, if 2 or 3 guys say that you'll say teammates. If Odom feels that was he needs to be slapped, but I don't see how he could, but hey, it's hard to read other people.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Kobe 8 Ball:</div><div class="quote_post">Co-sign.. Love it, Love the hate...love watching everyone else wish they could have the history and legacy the Lakers have... Once again...We love being hated, it let's us know we made it... Your hate just gives us more love for the Lakers...</div> would you Laker fans stop using 50 cent's lines? kobe is the offence. You laker fans say thats a good thing. I think thats a horrible thing. And i think the only reason he is the PG, SG and SF is because he doesnt want anyone else to play. Kobe's got a team with a former championship winning coach, Lamar Odom, one of the most versitile players in the league and Butler and they'll be damn lucky if they make the playoffs. I dont care how new they are to eachother, they are a dissapointment so far, and will continue to be. Kobe cant do it alone, and he wont share the wealth end of story <font color="red"><font size="1">Content edited. The first line was inappropriate. -Brandon</font></font>
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 02civic:</div><div class="quote_post">back on topic, kobe is the offence. You laker fans say thats a good thing. I think thats a horrible thing. And i think the only reason he is the PG, SG and SF is <font color="Red">because he doesnt want anyone else to play</font>. Kobe's got a team with a former championship winning coach, Lamar Odom, one of the most versitile players in the league and Butler and they'll be damn lucky if they make the playoffs. I dont care how new they are to eachother, they are a dissapointment so far, and will continue to be. Kobe cant do it alone, and <font color="Red">he wont share the wealth</font> end of story</div> See the "Teammates" thread. His teammates are the ones that don't want anything to do with the ball. So...those are incorrect statements by you. And you continually say Kobe can't do it alone. That's obvious, but you can't name a single player that can, either. And still in the playoffs isn't a disappointment, since everyone but Laker fans believe that they'll be out of the playoffs this season...and predicted them to start off and end up like the Magic of last season. Wow, were you guys wrong or what?
^I dont know what your talking about "teammates"??? and i'm not sure if anything else is really opposing me or proving a point so i'll leave them be for people to draw their own conclusions of But all i want to say is Why do lakers fans bitch about Kobe having to carry the offence!!!??? They've got a ton of offensive threats! I mean i could see them complaining about Kobe having to do the work defensively, i could see them complaining about how none of the gaurds are boarding the ball. But the Lakers have plenty of of offensive threats. Odom is a #2 player on almost every team in the nba. Boy can flat out score, and in a varity of ways. Butler can put it up as well. Mihm can get it done, Atkins can hit the three, George can ball when he's healthy. Grant can get garbage and back down the wimps of the PF spot. They've got tons of threats on offense. Kobe does not need to handle the offensive load so saying he does indeed have to, in defence of his ballhogging ways is just a cop out. You dont need stars to win, Detroit proved that. What you need is a team that plays to eachothers strenghts. And i dare you to tell me HOW in the name of ****** does Kobe help others be better players?
http://www.justbball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29910 Read that, and come back and defend all of your points that are now invalid, because of the support that Kobe does NOT get in LA.
You guys say Kobe can't be a ball hog he averages over 7 assists a game. But you have to think the ball is constantly in his hands. He has the ball more in his more than all of the lakers point guards combined. Duncan, dirk, t-mac and lebron james don't bring the ball up court as much as kobe. He is a ball hog the rest of the laker's shoot a better percentge than him from the field, he shoots under 40%. An outside observer that doesn't know who he is can look at that on paper and say the lakers would be better if he didn't shoot as much.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting navyballer18:</div><div class="quote_post">You guys say Kobe can't be a ball hog he averages over 7 assists a game. But you have to think the ball is constantly in his hands. He has the ball more in his more than all of the lakers point guards combined. Duncan, dirk, t-mac and lebron james don't bring the ball up court as much as kobe. He is a ball hog the rest of the laker's shoot a better percentge than him from the field, he shoots under 40%. An outside observer that doesn't know who he is can look at that on paper and say the lakers would be better if he didn't shoot as much.</div> Kobe didn't take over the 4th quarter or the overtime period against the Heat...and the Lakers lost. However, Kobe was hot for three quarters...and the Lakers ended each of the first three with a lead. Kobe is shooting the same amount of shots he did last season...21 per game...and last season, the Lakers stormed through the playoffs and had won the Pacific and Western Conference titles. So the obvious directing you should be pointing your finger at is at his teammates. They said it themselves...that they want Kobe to shoot more, to dominate the ball...but this is insane. Kobe is an incredible player, but he's not able to go out and play "1 on 5" basketball every game, and have the energy to finish off games. He's shooting enough...it's about where he should be, really...but now it's time for everyone else to remember that they are in the league, so they can get involved as well. If the teammates are going to act this way and be spectators, they just should've bought season tickets and sat by Jack.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Real Deal:</div><div class="quote_post"> If the teammates are going to act this way and be spectators, they just should've bought season tickets and sat by Jack.</div> Or they could go for a nice ski-fest.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Purple Fever:</div><div class="quote_post">You guys realize that you have a game tonight, right?</div> Yeah, Emo's got the preview I think. We switch off...I did the Christmas one.
