Kobe #40

[shabazz916]

kobe playn hero ball... every other player is going to check out before christmas

 

[wlk3]

kobe playn hero ball... every other player is going to check out before christmas

Have they checked in yet...

 

[Arizona_Sting]

All I'm saying is what he's doing ain't working... his teammates are garbage, but you have to at least try to get them involved. Lin & Hill are both solid role players, but they don't know what to do other than stand around and watch Kobe try to shoot. I've already seen LA play 3 games this year and that offense is atrocious with spacing and ball movement.

They may all suck besides him, but he's not helping the cause.

 

[Lakers+USC=#1]

It's funny, how majority of the people said Kobe was done and wouldn't do the things he did before his injury, but now that Kobe has showed that he can still ball, they switched it to, "Well, look at his FG percentage."

Once Kobe start shooting better, anx he will, what will be the next thing they will try to bash?

 

[trojanfan12]

All I'm saying is what he's doing ain't working... his teammates are garbage, but you have to at least try to get them involved. Lin & Hill are both solid role players, but they don't know what to do other than stand around and watch Kobe try to shoot. I've already seen LA play 3 games this year and that offense is atrocious with spacing and ball movement.

They may all suck besides him, but he's not helping the cause.

Kobe shooting so much isn't why the spacing and ball movement are atrocious. Kobe is shooting so much because the spacing and ball movement are atrocious. Someone has to shoot the ball within 24 seconds, so if Kobe gets the ball and his teammates choose to stand and watch him, what's he supposed to do?

Also, as wlk pointed out, if he passes to teammate who proceeds to miss an easy shot, what's he supposed to do?

Both Kobe and Byron are preaching ball movement, spacing and not being so "Kobe centric". It's 5 games in and there are a lot of new faces. It's going to take some time. Also, the cumulative record of the teams the Lakers have played is 14-2. Even if they Lakers were playing as well as they possibly can, they are still likely to be 0-5 or 1-4 at best.

I find it hilarious, btw, that the Cavs, with a much more talented lineup that includes the best player in the games are sitting at 1-2 and everyone says "Oh, they just need time to gel". Meanwhile, the Lakers, who everyone knew was a lottery team going in to the season, are somehow supposed to have it all figured out already.

I'm not necessarily a Kobe fan and I'm the first to criticize him when I think he's shooting too much. Right now, the issue isn't Kobe shooting too much.

 

[trojanfan12]

It's funny, how majority of the people said Kobe was done and wouldn't do the things he did before his injury, but now that Kobe has showed that he can still ball, they switched it to, "Well, look at his FG percentage."

Once Kobe start shooting better, anx he will, what will be the next thing they will try to bash?

He'll get caught on camera giving a death stare and they'll say he's a bad teammate. Some of these guys are as predictable as the sunrise.

 

[LogicMan]

Trojan, thanks for update on Scott's defensive attitude. If thats the plan thats good. There is a silver lining in Lakers woes.............I think you guys get the pick this year if your in the bottom 5? If thats so, and Randle comes back fully healed, than the future starts next year for sure.

 

[BobGnarly]

 

[MrHoople]

[MEDIA=twitter]530082351762903040[/MEDIA]

Kobe is a volume shooter. Especially on a team that doesn't have scorers.

Jordan lead the league in FGA a 9 different seasons.

 

[wildturkey]

All I'm saying is what he's doing ain't working... his teammates are garbage, but you have to at least try to get them involved. Lin & Hill are both solid role players, but they don't know what to do other than stand around and watch Kobe try to shoot. I've already seen LA play 3 games this year and that offense is atrocious with spacing and ball movement.

They may all suck besides him, but he's not helping the cause.

I'm in agreement here. Didn't see the whole game last night but best I could tell was Scott just said "Fuck it, Kobe do whatever you want". The offense is ugly because its backwards in its philosophy. They aren't scheming 3s so the spacing isn't good and therefore there's no driving lanes. Once the possession starts and they realize there's nowhere to go, Kobe is demanding the ball. He gets it and it sticks. No one else is moving because they have nowhere to go (scheme wise), and Kobe dribbles himself into a double, sometimes triple, team and launches a contested midrange two. His percentage will not improve because those aren't efficient shots for anyone. It's a testament to his talent that he actually hits more than he does but he, and LA would be better off not funneling everything towards him and the middle of the floor. You have to actively try and force to get others involved. It's the only way you'll consistently win games. Yeah, it could fail since LA doesn't have all stars out there but what's the worst that can happen, you lose? Well guess what, you're already gonna lose if you've got a guy being 80% of the offense. 30+ shots is not sustainable for anyone to be effective.

And they need to score effectively and efficiently as possible if they want to win games because defensively they are horrendous and I doubt that will change all that much. It's still early but they're so much of a mess that I can't even see any semblance of a system they are trying to run. If they are running a coherent system, they'd benefit by not starting Boozer. He wasn't a good defensive player to begin with and Thibs hid his deficiencies as long as he could but he's badly exposed now. He's good for about 12 and 6 a game on offense but he can get that just as easy off the bench. Davis should be starting because at least he's athletic enough to recover from a defensive lapse. Guys are scoring on Booze before he even realizes they've caught the ball and gone past him. That's how lost he is.

 

[trojanfan12]

Trojan, thanks for update on Scott's defensive attitude. If thats the plan thats good. There is a silver lining in Lakers woes.............I think you guys get the pick this year if your in the bottom 5? If thats so, and Randle comes back fully healed, than the future starts next year for sure.

Yeah, the pick is top 5 protected. So if they're gonna suck, I hope they suck real bad.

I agree about the pick and defense. They show spurts where you can see the kind of defense that Byron wants them playing. It's how they've managed to get back into games when they're getting killed. They just don't have the bodies and the time on the court together to be consistent with it right now. So, they'll get behind, then they'll click a little on defense and climb back in it, the the defense falls apart again when the opponent adjusts or they start getting gassed.

Don't get me wrong, they can turn into the 2008 Celtics or the Bulls of the past couple of years and this team isn't making the playoffs, but if they get that defensive foundation set, it'll make them more competitive in the short run and make a nice building block for the long run.

 

[DJ]

I doubt Bynum would even be allowed in the Staples Center as a paying customer.

I think Boozer will eventually be coming off the bench and Davis will be starting. Right now, with the injuries the Lakers have though, moving Boozer to the bench would actually weaken the bench. When they get Kelly and Young back (both whom will come off the bench) you can make that move. Right now though, they need Davis off the bench.

Kelly played a little last night.

 

[DJ]

Kobe can put up all the points he wants, but at the end of the day... doing it inefficiently and without getting any teammates involved will not help the team one bit. He seems to be more about personal statistics than winning this year.

Out of the garbage they added to the offense this offseason who would you trust more than Kobe with the ball?

Just curious.

 

[purguy12]

Lakers 0-5 but Kobe Avg 27pts per game. Not bad for an old man. He just has no help on this team.

 

[Inquisitor95]

Yeah Kobe puts on a show.

So does Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey.

 

[MrHoople]

Hey look who is leading the league in Points Per Game!

1. Kobe Bryant, LAL27.6 2. James Harden, HOU27.2 3. Klay Thompson, GS27.0 4. Stephen Curry, GS26.0 5. Blake Griffin, LAC24.8

 

[MrHoople]

Try to format it better...

1. Kobe Bryant, LAL27.6

2. James Harden, HOU27.2
3. Klay Thompson, GS27.0
4. Stephen Curry, GS26.0
5. Blake Griffin, LAC24.8

 

[Mecca]

[MEDIA=twitter]530082351762903040[/MEDIA]

Harsh...lol

 

[Lakers+USC=#1]

Try to format it better...

1. Kobe Bryant, LAL27.6

2. James Harden, HOU27.2
3. Klay Thompson, GS27.0
4. Stephen Curry, GS26.0
5. Blake Griffin, LAC24.8

And yes, he's shooting a bad percentage right now, but dumb do people, who said he was done, and espn look?

 

[starbigd]

I never understand the point of these threads

Kobe could score 100 every game and they'd still lose......his performance doesn't matter if it doesn't positively impact the team and WINNING. Simply taking bad shots all night and accruing stats means nothing.

Sooner or later they have to decide to be a TEAM, not a one man show. That's on Scott, and the players to figure that out. It will start with Kobe taking less shots per game.