You give Tmac too much credit. Tmac has helped us win some games but we wouldn't have even been in those games without the all out hustle of Scola, Battier, Hayes, Landry and occcasionally Rafer. I can assure you if you put Kobe with those he would at least have won 13. And this not a serious dis on Tmac because I believe he was extremely tired but he didn't even show up for to of those losses.
I'd rather have a team then a hog putting up 50+ a night. There have been numerous cases of guys doing that and their team losing like crazy.
I disagree. Like you said, we won 22 straight playing Team Ball, and T-Mac was apart of that. With Kobe, you aren't going to see the team ball we played with T-Mac. Kobe isn't as good as a passer nor does he trust his teammates as much. Whenever he does pass, he doesn't make smart ones. He'll pass when he should have taken it himself and he'll shoot when he should have passed. We don't win 13 straight, we'd probably miss the playoffs. When you put Kobe together with a bunch of role players, you don't get team ball, you get Kobe ball. Which is what the Lakers had to deal with the last couple seasons and when Gasol/Bynum went down. He can't lead a team all by himself. He needs a post presence like Gasol or Bynum or Shaq to be successful. When Kobe has another "Star" on his team, he plays much better.
I believe Kobe outdid T-mac by outscoring Dallas 62-61 in 3 quarters a year or two ago. You also can't dismiss his 81 pt game.
Interesting point, however, I would respectfully disagree. Without Bynum, Gasol, Ariza, and Odom (who was sick), the Lakers are more or less a D league team apart from Kobe. Take away Yao, we still have B-jax, Mandry, Scola, Battier, and Rafer (who is playing out of his mind this year), and they are by far superior defensively and as a team compared to the rest of the Laker's role players. T-mac does have better vision than Kobe, but I wouldn't attribute the win streak solely to him "trusting" his teammates. To me, it seemed like he was passive more than what not, with his teammates bailing him out.
"Passive" in my view is an irrelevant term. A team is supposed to "bail" each other out. At least T-Mac knows when to at least try and take over, which he has in the stretch, and to let his team do what it has to do. He's not simply going to just jack up shots and then get blamed for damned if he does/damned if he doesn't. And to answer this deal about Kobe's 81 or how many in 3 quarters...it tells the story of a volume scorer. T-Mac will have a quality game in his legacy...13 points in like 40 seconds to cap a stunning win over San Antonio a few years ago. That's got to be a difficult feat to repeat. But someday someone will break or match 81 points during the course of a game.
Saying Kobe has no one to pass to is just plain wrong. Fisher, Farmar, Vujacic, Radmanovic are all good shooters. And Turiaf is a much better finisher than Chuck Hayes. And I haven't even mentioned Odom. With all the defensive attention on him, Kobe could create wide open shots for these guys when he wanted to. The problem with Kobe is that he doesn't seem to have grasped when he should pass and when he should shoot. He either shoots every time, or he passes off every time (when he suddenly remembers that he is supposed to create for his teammates). This is why I cringe when people say Kobe is the best player in basketball. I would think the best player should be able to make good decisions on when to pass and when to shoot. Kobe is the best scorer in basketball. But LeBron and TMac are much better than Kobe in terms of making good on court decisions.
I am sorry, but I disagree on all points. Being passive is not irrelevant. How many times during game threads have you seen posters asking T-mac to step up? Ideally, teammates are "suppose" to bail out each other, but T-mac is a superstar, and therefore he bares the burden of carrying the team when things are not working right. You can't just say that when we win, all credit goes to t-mac for "trusting his teammates," while when we lose its because the other players don't step up. To me, it is one and the same, and that is T-mac is just not as aggressive as we would like regardless of win or loss and that's what differentiates between him and Lebron/Kobe. Also, I don't understand how you can discredit Kobe's 81 and then proceed to claim how T-mac's feat is more insurmontable. We've had so many great scorers in the league, has it ever occured to you why so few players have scored above 70, and even fewer above 80. Now, I'm not saying 13 in 40 is not amazing, in fact both feats are out of this world. I just don't agree with the comparison. I brought up the 62 in 3 quarters by Kobe just to rebuke another poster who said T-mac was able to pull of a comparable amount in the same time frame.
What's up with all these Kobe ass-licking threads? Last time I checked this is still a Rockets fans site.
I definitely agree that Lebron is the best decision maker on the court at the moment. T-mac is good, but his reluctance to drive inhibits him from making the right "decision" at times. Kobe does struggle a lot with that balance, but to me his scoring ability and skill level does put him above T-mac and his comparatively inability to cope with a declining athleticism. Hence, Lebron is the best player, especially with his improving defence this year.
seriously. stop making excuses for this whining loser. he cant "will his team to victory" like our superstar, and ours gets yelled at here for simply speaking the truth...
Screw the Lakers. IF this was the Rockets you boys would be bashing TMac to Hades. Kobe completely ignores his team again and goes for his own (typical) and you give him praise for scoring a bunch of points in a loss to a sucky team? That's what happens when you don't let your team get in a rythmn before you go jacking up 37-40 shots which is totally unnecessary. Honestly, this crybaby doesn't deserve to win anything. I'd take LeBron on my team way before him.
You might be a long time Rockets fan but that doesn't give you the free pass to diss our best player. I find idiots like you who worship Kobe "I am the best baller since sliced bread" Bryant disgusting and outrageous. Why don't you idiots join the Lakersground to continue your ass-licking. This is a Rockets fan site after all. Since when has it become KobeMania.com?
Kobe made 50% of his shot. Kobe: 19-37 FG (51%) 9-17 for Three everyone else: 22-67 FG (32%) 6-26 for Three So I can't honestly see how Kobe is to blame for the lose. If T-mac can put up 50% shooting, he can shoot all he want, and if we end up losing the game, we'll most likely blame it on our most prominent scapegoat----> Rafer
Thanks demon. I love your posts. Kobe is playing with ZERO inside presense. ZERO!!! He doesn't even have anyone who compares to Landry or Scola. The best inside guy he has is Mbenga. It's not like he didn't pass the ball. I watched the whole game, no one other than him could hit a shot... Mbenga as your best low post player...pathetic!
that's what happens when one player is taking all the shots and nobody else gets a chance to find their rhythm. um just because he's their biggest player doesn't mean he's their best post player. kobe and odom are both pretty solid on the blocks, especially against smaller defenders. walton can post up smaller guards as well.
Tmac can't shoot all he wants. The Rockets went on a 22 game winning streak playing team ball. Screw the individual stats. We all know what Kobe ball does for LA. Maybe he should spend more time making his teammates better instead of playing to make Kobe look good.
