Its funny because I touched on this topic about 2 or 3 month's ago in a topic called the diffference betweeen MJ & Kobe. And now after the finals Stephen A Smith brings up exactly the same theme basically. This article has nothing to do with who is or isnt selfish between MJ & Kobe. This article is all about a great player knowing when to pick his spots on the basktball court. Since someone has already brought up game 4. I will use that as a perfect example of Kobe not knowing when to pick his spots. In game 4, Kobe bryant took shots everytime he touched the ball in the 1st half. And then passed the ball everytime he touched the ball in the 2nd half. That is horrible for the confidence of the roll shooters around him. His role shooters already knew he had lost confidence in them because he never passed them the ball in the 1st half when they were open, so when he finally did pass the ball to them in the 2nd half they had lost confidence in their own shot because they knew their leader didnt have confidence in them from the start of the game. By the time kobe started passing the ball in the 2nd half, all his shooters confidence was gone so they arent going to make the shot even if they are open. In a big game 4 kobe should have came out with the mentalty of getting his role shooters like Devean, Kareem etc off 1st and then get himself involved in the game during the 2nd half but kobe did it vice versa. The role players are the ones that need a confidence boost at the start of the game not kobe. Kobeis a great player who can assert himself in a game anytime he wants. So he should have got the role players off, so they would have had confidence in their stroke in the 2nd half & thru out game 4 because the role players stretching the Pistons defense for a full game was the only way they were going to win game 4 to even the series. Kobe's poor picking of his spots of when & when not to take over these games in the finals pretty much left alot of his teamates hung out to dry imo. His teammates for most the series didnt know, not only from game to game but half to half, what kobe they were going to be playing with. They didnt know if they were going to play with an overly aggressive kobe as he shown in certan parts of this finals or an overly passive kobe which he also shown during certain parts of this finals. So they werent prepare to knock down the shots when they came their way because they just didnt know when they were coming. And thats the biggest difference between kobe & MJ. Inorder for MJ to win championships his game had to mature to a point where he had to find the perfect balance of picking his spots. And keeping his teammates involved & their confidence would be high, so when he called on them to bail him out when needed, they would be their to produce. Kobe Bryant has never had to learn this perfect balance inorder to win his championships because Shaq was really the one learning this as the teams leader. And I think that if Kobe does leave the Lakers this will become even more clear to the rest of the world.
Kobe is not the reason the lakers lost the reason the lakers lost are one because they played selfish ball ALL of them said by larry brown in a game to his team we can get any shot because they dont play defense and we can stop them because they dont like to pass each other the ball also another reason they lost PAYTON bash him isnt this the guy that said I want to be a laker to win a title and what does he do in the finals average less than 5 points a game and then to make matters worse malone injures himself in the finals to seriously just destroy the lakers chances of running the break or or pick and roll also another reason is with the big time players shaq and kobe in game 5 they just gave up half way into the 5th and sat down plus shaq come on big ben is a great player but shaq is 7"1 and ben is 6"9 counting the frow so in the series who should dominate the boards shaq but he doesnt get 10 rebounds in a game the whole series while in game 5 the elimination must win game big ben gets 10 just on the offensive board 22 total
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Supersonic:</div><div class="quote_post">^ MJ was the best option on his team too, Kobe isn't, and I don't think he accepts this half the time.</div> This is so true, and that's been my argument w/ the whole Kobe/MJ comparisons. MJ was the #1 man/option/leader on the team, Kobe isn't. Being the number one guy not just is wearing physically where night in and night out your getting double teamed and harassed by the opponents best defender(s), but it is also mentally wearing since you carry the burden to LEAD YOUR TEAM to a win. Now that's why Kobe RIGHT NOW can't be compared to MJ. When Kobe has Shaq taking up 2 defenders, it's easy for him to get the easy buckets going and getting open lanes. Also, Shaq takes alot of pressure off him in the leadership role as well. I think the true test for Kobe to see 'the real' Kobe is when he doesn't have Shaq around, when HE actually is the #1 man on the team and the Leader of the team. These finals, if Kobe was frustrated vs. the Pistons defense, well if he's on a team as the first option, he will face this type of defense nightly. Personally, I dont know if he would be prepared RIGHT NOW to be a leader of a team for a 82 game season. Sure , after a few years he may mature into a #1 guy and leader for his team, but right now, Shaq is the Lakers leader. but I guess Kobe will get his wish and get his OWN Team to Lead. For me, that will be the real test to see if Kobe is actually a great player or just another Scottie Pippen (meaning second fiddle to a Superstar[shaq]).
Scottie Pippen was a great player in his own right. He was an MVP candidate when MJ left the first time. But got eliminated during the 2nd round which wasn't really a surprise as both MJ and Scottie needed eachother to win. Anyways, I hope Kobe stays in purple and gold. But if he doesn't, I think he will do great on his own as well. He definately isn't winning another championship with another team. Unless by some miracle he lands in Minny or San Antonio. That's not happening. If he went to the Clippers, I think they may make the playoffs and he would be having a career individual year. But I don't think they would make it past the first round, and for the Lakers with Shaq still staying. They probaly might make the 2nd round and get eliminated. Like MJ and Scottie. Kobe and Shaq needs eachother to win another championship. But the problem is, they can never seem to get along for an entire season and would have to find a way to finally overcome that obstacle. So there isn't all that team friction thats been going on since Kobe entered the league.
