Kobe Discussion: Klapper video, possible 6 months (646)

well i have to say there are so many kobe haters outhere and they will always attack kobe and bash him for everything what goes wrong. no other player will be bashed so many times like kobe. he i one of the best who ever played that game.everytime lakers loose so many here come out and say because it was kobe s fault , even when lakers win or kobe had some great plays there will be always some people here that find something bad what they could say over him. i can t stand that and i hate that. and offf course jazzygirl205 kobe can t do everything for the team like pass, rebound score and defend the best player on a opposing team that s to much to ask for but it s not because of his age it s just simply to much for most players in the league. kobe needs help. like i said he had yesterday a bad game but i expect him to bounce back vs clippers .

Despite the facilitating, has there been a consistent scoring 2nd scoring option for this team? Has anyone risen up from our team and you can point to and say lets run the offense through him when Kobe is struggling? NO. Thats what this comes down to. From 08-10 years it was Kobe, then Gasol and if he doesnt have it going then it was Odom and so on and so forth. Hes been passing the ball well for the past month & we still dont know who the 2nd best scorer on this team is. Nash as great as a 3 point shooter and skilled player he is, doesnt look comfortable at all launching open shots & he prefers the pick and roll but he gets trapped way too easily these days

Dwight we all know his FT & TO issues. Pau is hurt. Jamison looks more willing to score as much as possible and at least he can create his own shots & what not but hes old and coming off the bench. Thats why we are where we are, thats why we couldn't get it done in from the 2010/2011 season till now, we just do not have a secondary player who can take pressure off Kobe & can be counted on to carry us through stretches. So putting up arbitrary numbers like saying oh Kobe reaching 20 or Kobe reaching 8 assists....well it does not work....because in the Miami game he took less than 20 shots, shot over 50%, had 8 assists, which is supposedly the optimal level he is supposed to be play which would benefit the team the most. FAIL. We still gave up 100 + points & lost the dam game to the Defending champs

It really depends on a game to game bases & a possession to possesion basis on the rhythm of the team. Look to establish bigs early, then look for your own offense, if single covered look to score, if double covered in areas outside your comfort zone pass the ball. Simple. Thats how we won all those games from 08 to 10.

JGC wrote:


I think you're making up the part about people expecting a certain number of rebounds from Kobe. LOL. I have never heard of anyone expecting a certain number in all these years. Where are you getting this idea from?

I referenced the rebound thing because he's been grabbing boards and well and it's usually documented when people talk about his stat lines so that's why I mentioned the rebounds.

Do you think it is unrealistic to expect him to...

- Score around 20 pts on most nights
- Average around 6-7 assists on most nights
- Play solid defense

Depends...it's not unrealistic but people shouldn't expect it all the time.

Or do you think that is beyond what Kobe can do at this point in his career?

I've seen people who've had the privilege to go to games say he's slowed down a bit, I don't think it's something we can expect to see every single game from Kobe. You might get a 60% shooting game on just 10 shots but with like 9-11 assists, you might get a 30 point games or a 28 point game with just or 6 assists on 20 shots. It's just something we have to live with, imo if the team is winning with whatever he's going with I'm content with that. He's already said he's not changing his game plan anytime soon. I think he knows his body better than we do.

Of course it's easier said than done. That's why he is paid $30 MILLION per year because what he is tasked with doing is supposed to be considered difficult. That's why his salary alone is nearly half of the entire amount of money teams get to fill their roster before being penalized.

Not sure what his salary has to do with this discussion but okay..

I expect Kobe to do whatever it takes to win ball games. Put the ball in the hole, pass to your teammates, make them better, and play some defense. He's utilizing half the team's cap, he's not Ray Allen nor is he paid like Ray Allen.

As far as him doing whatever it takes to win ball games I'm pretty sure that's what he's doing. Sacrificing one part of his game in order for the team to win. So far it's working. He's going with whatever seems to work for the team, if he didn't care about the team's success he wouldn't be doing what he's doing right now. His teammates prefer this Kobe, I said repeatedly I would like to see balance, I want him to score when warranted but whatever is working, is working.

I don't ever remember someone saying "Ok now, with Bynum's knees we can't expect this and that" and I certainly don't hear much sympathy for Dwight's injury issues either. Get the job done. That's why you get paid the big bucks. Can't shoot 30 times and dish 10 assists? Fine. Then score 20 points and dish 7. Just, adjust, and do it what it takes to win. Talk about what Kobe CAN do to generate wins, not what he can't do anymore because of his age.

Kobe only cares about winning, he's made the sacrifices so that his teammates can have confidence and play better no matter if they have off games or not. You have to commend him for not going away from the game plan no matter the outcome. It's obvious he doesn't care about having a particular stat sheet, so far we've been having success, at this point all that matters is a win in the end. We've been winning in a little more promising fashion with Kobe being willing passer. I prefer Kobe looking for his shot first with maybe 5 or 6 assists a game to be honest but I'm not going to knock this Kobe because it's proven to be successful for our team.

WHY can't Kobe play with balance? He has shown he can score 30 with no assists, and he's shown he can dish the ball 9 times with almost no points. How about going closer in between those, you know, scoring less and dishing more, a net-net wash in terms of energy output? Why do you feel his age prevents him from doing anything other than either leading the league in scoring or never scoring a basket again and passing only?

Because we can't expect him to go out there every night and expend all of this energy playing all of these roles. That's why Nash was acquired to be the play maker he was in Phoenix, remember fans are complaining about Nash not looking for his shot too since he's been given the role to play off the ball. Nash is accustomed to passing more than anything, Kobe is the opposite of that. I just think people are asking them too do too much instead of just letting them play "their" game the right way. Whatever is working is working. Also as I mentioned what older player has been asked to do all of these things in their 17 season after going out and acquiring players or a player to fill those voids?

Why do we have to accept it? I don't understand that. Is it because it is Kobe? Because we don't accept it from anybody else and last I checked he's a human being too. I don't think I'll ever accept that we're losing more games than we are winning.

I don't think any of us want to accept losing games, I know I don't but this formula at the moment is winning us games. In the end if it wins us games and moves us closer to the playoffs, then right now, so be it. Other guys have been able to show their strengths and contributions as a result of him passing like this. Sure it would be amazing to see 30 point Kobe along side 10 assists Kobe something similar to what we saw in Miami with Bosh, Wade and Bron. But these guys can do that because either one of them can score 30 or more and free up the other guy. Who else outside of Kobe and sometimes Dwight can give you that privilege so it can allow the star player to focus on other areas while getting his? We can't hold on to leads so how can Kobe be able to give people balance without playing so many minutes as well?

Balance has been a struggle for Kobe his whole career. Please don't use his age now as a reason we can't expect him to play the right way. Playing the right way is not necessarily an expectation of numbers, it's an expectation on a style of play.

Well this guy has won 5 rings with this historic franchise so far playing his game, so I'm not sure if it really matters at this point. It's not like he's laid goose eggs all his career, he's been successful and far more successful than a lot of the recent players in this league younger and older. So he must be doing something right. Once we start losing games then I think he'll adjust and think of another formula, but right now for some reason this Kobe passing stuff is working. The team is winning, teammates are happier.

i think kobe was goofing to much last night and it allmost cost us the game...i dont get it,what he was trying to prove...
i remember similar game...i think it was 2004...we played sac and he refused to shoot too...and we lost that game...i was so dissapointed,back than i couldnt watch games online...we had 1 or 2 games live per week...

i could get that kind of aproach if we were top team in west...but we are fighting for the 8th spot...
he looked immature...he looked like dwight...

not similar situations. I think kobe sometimes enjoys playing games in different ways. last night was him trying to be rondo and he kind of failed lol

Dirk on Kobe:

So as a shot artist, what other shots do you admire around the league? I’m not talking about something as general as Ray Allen’s jumper. I’m talking specific shots.

I'm such a dork, still. This is my 15th year and I still sit, when my wife's asleep, I sit there and watch League Pass. I do it from sometimes 9 p.m. till 12:30 a.m., until the West Coast games are over. I was always a huge fan of Kobe. Obviously, he's now on the declining end, like most of us older guys, but the stuff he does … They are never out of a game. When I get home, at like 11 p.m., I know the fourth quarter will just be starting in L.A., and I'll sit down and watch him basically will his team to win with some incredible shots.

So you don’t buy the idea that Kobe and other stars are playing hero ball there at the end of games? That they are taking really bad shots with two or three guys guarding them?

Yeah, sometimes it's a thin line. You need a mixture [of plays] to find the open guy, but some nights you just gotta take the team home.

Kobe’s footwork in the post is obviously legendary.

Oh yeah. The athleticism, the balance in the air, the lefty shots. He made a 3 on us one year in the corner. The shot clock was winding down, and he had to spin around and just shoot it lefty. To me, he's the no. 1 player over the 15 years I've been in this league.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-trian ... shark-tank

Jazzygirl going to battle

Love dirk, sad that he's on such a decline. Always sad to see players decline noticeably. We are lucky Kobe had the surgery and came back so strong

Dirk has always spoken greatly of Kobe, but it really is sad to see how much his game has declined from that insane title run in 2012.

Yea, Dirk has always praised Kobe and called him the best several times.

Kobe Bryant: The only Shooting Guard in NBA history expected to create for everyone else on his team.

Dirk wrote:Oh yeah. The athleticism, the balance in the air, the lefty shots. He made a 3 on us one year in the corner. The shot clock was winding down, and he had to spin around and just shoot it lefty. To me, he's the no. 1 player over the 15 years I've been in this league.

Quite the memory you have dirk

Jazzygirl, MAD props. You just shut JGC on EVERY point....and he was making good points too.

Some Kobe quotes and pictures from today's practice:

Mike Trudell ‏@LakersReporter

http://telly.com/2O1DAQ - Quick video of Kobe draining a few jumpers.

Mike Bresnahan ‏@Mike_Bresnahan

Haven't seen Kobe shoot this much after practice in a long time. I think one for eight is bothering him. A lot. #Lakers

Just never stops working

Dave Miller ‏@coachdavemiller

Mamba getting shots up...pic.twitter.com/IHoYUiTk

Dave Miller ‏@coachdavemiller

No one works harder on his craft than #24 pic.twitter.com/yMzlGNWw

Mike Trudell ‏@LakersReporter

Kobe was asked if his sore R elbow has anything to do with his outside shot being off (1 for his last 30 from 3): “A little bit.”

Sort of expected this.

Beto Duran ‏@DuranSports

Kobe if he will facilitate in All Star game "HELL NO"

Gunning for yet another All-Star Game MVP maybe

Dave Miller ‏@coachdavemiller

@SerenaWinters asked Kobe what his favorite all-star game memory was, he said his 1st year #interesting

Mike Bresnahan ‏@Mike_Bresnahan

Lakers must beat Clips to prevent All-Star weekend ribbing from CP3 + Griffin? Kobe: "Not worried....They can't tell me nothing anyway."

More quotes to come possibly.......

He's a competitor & he's always working on his game; as he said in interviews, he's his biggest critic, so I'm sure we won't see that kind of performance he had in the 2nd half again this season...

Seriously what do Chris Paul and Blake Griffin have against Kobe Bryant besides two years of relevance?

Kobe has 5 rings, more than any active superstar, and he's still playing at an incredibly high level. His assist numbers have to be pretty impressive (relatively) from the 2nd half of the season. This after he lead the NBA in scoring the first half of the season.

They really can't tell Kobe anything, they went no further in the playoffs last season than us, what are they gonna brag about, a better regular season record? Please.

^ For real. The irony of 2 never-won-anything Clippers talking smack to Kobe? Yeah I'm sure he's reaaaaal worried.

Kobe is allowed to pull 4 points on 1-8 with 8 turnovers if he gets 9 assists and we win.

Or even if we don't. It's Kobe.

Last night's game does not need to be discussed.

We won. It's Kobe. End of story.

kobe takes it on him self so hard. no one is more disappointed when kobe has a bad game then himself. he goes to the gym and works on his game again. this time putting up jumpers. that s the beauty of his game. he never stops. his work ethic is so great to see. that s one of the reason why i am such a big kobe fan. i expect him to bounce back from that bad game vs suns in a big time tommorrow vs clippers.

It astonishes and saddens me that in year 17 at age 34 Kobe must morph his game into a prime "Magic Cooper" for us to have a shot at winning a single regular season game.

Kobe is done

^
LOL Charles Barkley's username would be "Thenextgreat"

Kobe needs to pay D-Wade back from last year's All Star game.