Kobe Discussion: shark swimming / #prayforthesharks (664)

JoelMyersScrotalSack wrote:This guy cannot make a post without including, "so called fans" in it lol

kobebryant248 wrote:

JoelMyersScrotalSack wrote:This guy cannot make a post without including, "so called fans" in it lol

oh forgot . that s for you so called fan hahahaha

followwind wrote:His points are valid though. I don't even know how anyone can pin this loss on Kobe. Yes Kobe had a "sub-par" game but consider how horrific everyone else played...um, I can't even find words to describe how bad that game was. That was probablly one of the worst basketball game I have ever witnessed in my life.

Kobe's 10 TOs definitely didn't help, but to say that Kobe lost the game? SMH.

trodgers wrote:When should he trust his teammates? Give me the algorithm.

Dave McMenamin ‏@mcten

Learned something interesting from Tim Grover today: Kobe started working with him in 2007 after MJ recommended to Tim to reach out to KB

trodgers wrote:When should he trust his teammates? Give me the algorithm.

Battle Tested20 wrote:

Dave McMenamin ‏@mcten

Learned something interesting from Tim Grover today: Kobe started working with him in 2007 after MJ recommended to Tim to reach out to KB

There has always been that mutual respect between Jordan and Kobe. I've always valued and liked this because Jordan hasn't and doesn't always appreciate or believe some of our others superstars in the league are has good as they really are or how the media makes them out to be.

From MJ to Kobe, an off-court dynasty
Grover's training empire caters to NBA royalty
Originally Published: May 26, 2009
By Scott Powers | For ESPNChicago.com

Twenty years ago, Tim Grover met Michael Jordan for the first time.

On Tuesday, still riding the magic created from that career-launching meeting, Grover was in Los Angeles working with Kobe Bryant.

As the Lakers were falling to the Nuggets in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals Monday night in Denver, Grover was boarding a plane from Chicago to L.A. He arrived at 11 p.m. PT, and less than 12 hours later, he and Bryant met to discuss ways to prepare for Game 5. They planned to meet again later in the day.

"As physical as the Denver series has been, [the Houston series] and other stuff, he understands this is part of the reason he's been successful for so many years, and he's not willing to change that," Grover said. "It's easy to lay around, but just resting on the couch is not beneficial.

"Kobe is coming off playing a game in Denver where the altitude is different. All that comes into play with his hydration, nutrition, how he's going to prepare for the next day. There's a lot of preparation that goes into it before meeting with the athlete. Being that I'm as obsessed as the clients are, they're willing to trust me."

Grover is paid a nice sum for traveling across the country -- and now likely staying on the West Coast until the Lakers either win the title or get eliminated. But to him, like his clients, winning is what matters most.

"It is taxing, but we're as committed as our athletes," he said. "We're as obsessed as they are. Kobe fell short of his goal last year to win a championship. Our job won't be complete until he wins that championship. Anything short of that is a failure. That's how I feel about it."

And Grover's instincts have been sharp enough to gain the trust of NBA royalty.

Jordan had just been knocked around again by the elbows, knees, chests, heads and fists of Detroit's "Bad Boys." Jordan understood if he and the Bulls were to go further, his body had to be better prepared for such playoff punishments.

Grover was only 24 then, and Jordan was to be his first professional client, but Grover was sure he had Jordan's answer.

"He said he'd try it out for a month, and it ended up being 15 years," Grover said.

Jordan, of course, went on to win six titles and is regarded as perhaps the greatest basketball player of all time. For Grover, the arc was similar. His accomplishments can't be measured in rings or MVP trophies, but he also has proof of success. His client list includes Bryant, Dwyane Wade and more than a dozen others; he employs his own small army of trainers and owns a 65,000-square foot facility on Chicago's West Side that includes three NBA courts, over $1 million worth of exercise equipment, a barber shop and a 110-inch television.

"It's not just hiring Tim Grover any longer," Grover said. "You're hiring Tim Grover and Attack Athletics and everything that comes with it."

In the 20 years since that initial meeting with Jordan, Grover has witnessed technology and training methods develop beyond his dreams. But while Grover has adapted and added new pieces to his training program, his core has remained the same. Whether it was building Jordan's body to absorb Bill Laimbeer's elbows or strengthening Wade's knee for last summer's Olympics or currently maintaining Bryant's body, Grover has relied on preparation and hard work.

"That's something my parents instilled in me at a very young age," said Grover, who grew up on Chicago's Northwest Side and later played college basketball at Illinois-Chicago. "There are no shortcuts. There's no substitute for hard work. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. You saw that in Game 3 when Kobe hit that 3. That's not luck. He's prepared to take that shot. We've hit him with pads while taking that shot. When the opportunity came on, he took it.

"It's the same thing Dwyane did, Michael did, all the super superstars. It doesn't happen by mistake."

It didn't happen by mistake or coincidence that Bryant, Jordan and Wade all hired Grover.

"It's a first-class organization here with Tim Grover, first with Hoops and now with ATTACK Athletics," Wade said after a Grover workout last summer following the Olympics. "It's a first-class thing we run. I say we because I feel so much a part of it because I've been coming here since my rookie year."

Grover often is asked what the common denominator is between the greats he has trained, and Grover has found it's that ultimate focus and dedication.

"Here's what they're willing to do: They understand the sacrifice that it takes," he said. "Getting to the top of the mountain isn't the hard part. It's staying on top. They know it's not just an in-season thing, an offseason thing, a preseason thing. It's a year-round thing. They have to make sacrifices to go places where you don't normally want to go."

JGC wrote:

trodgers wrote:When should he trust his teammates? Give me the algorithm.

Always. Even when they're missing. It's a simple algorithm really. It's easy to dish when everyone is hitting their shots. Where Kobe still has some room to grow (given he's just about perfect in every other aspect) is in not giving up on the team concept when the team starts to struggle a little. In fact, that might be the WORST time to give up on the team concept because in order to win you gotta get the other guys going.

We are a much better basketball team when Kobe plays facilitator because he commands so much attention.

The only time Kobe hero ball should be acceptable with this group is the final possession of each quarter if we're stagnant, or, at the end of games when we need someone who can create a scoring opportunity. Other than that, force feed the team concept and eventually someone will get going.

Ariza3 wrote:ill put this game on Kobe and Mike IMO. Kobe for knowing what the team needs but still going 1v5 and not getting guys involved. he needs to be facilitating as LNG as Nash is gone and when he does then we win. then when D has to account for others he take over. and mike for playing Kobe so much when he could have played Meeks next to him...kid drills a 3 to out us up 7 in the 4th and takes him out and immediately were down by 1 never to recover after hack a Dwight.

also don't know why we didn't put gasol in when they hack a Dwight when we were only down 1 or tied. kind of bad rotations today IMO and Kobe forcing the issue all game. tons of possessions the ball didn't leave Kobe's hands and many Didnt end in points for us either. also his D was terrible today. everyone's was but Kobe's guys went off.