Kobe Bryant Excels in a Triangle Built to Revolve Around Him

LA Daily News: It might not have sounded like one at first, but Lakers coach Phil Jackson was paying Kobe Bryant a compliment after watching his superstar guard finish with a game-high 25 points in Sunday’s exhibition victory against Charlotte.

Why the confusion? Only because Jackson’s job of teaching the triangle offense gets tougher by the day the more Bryant continues to shine in the preseason.

“He can become like a thumb that you need to suck when trouble’s going on,” Jackson said. “You just stick it back in your mouth. We don’t want to do that with Kobe.”

Even as the Lakers struggle with the triangle, Bryant has had one of the best exhibition seasons in the NBA. He has taken to his new position at wing and is averaging 22.3 points in only 29.2 minutes and shooting 52.1 percent overall.

He hit 10 of 16 shots Sunday, all from inside of 17 feet. Bryant knocked down jumpers over Charlotte’s Keith Bogans, finished an alley-oop from Lamar Odom, forced his way to the basket and drilled a tough turnaround on the fastbreak.

Bryant then put the Lakers in front for good by connecting on a fadeaway jumper with 49.9 seconds left. And coming off a season in which he shot 43.3 percent - his worst since he was a teenager - Bryant has been locked in during the preseason.

Take away the five questionable shots he missed at the end of last week’s game in Bakersfield and Bryant would be shooting nearly 55 percent. If he was playing the 40 minutes a game he will in the regular season, Bryant would be averaging 30.6 points on 22 shots.

But Bryant, who has shifted his game from the perimeter to the post, remains committed to helping his teammates learn the triangle rather than taking over games himself.

“I’m just playing in a rhythm, I’m just playing within the offense,” Bryant said, “and as a result, I’m just getting good looks at the basket. That’s pretty much it. I just try to do what I do. But I’ll be more happy with our overall execution improving.”

Do you think Kobe can continue this successful trend into the regular season? What differences have you noticed with the new triangle revolving around Kobe? Sound off in our CL.com Forums!