I would respect him if he wouldn't have to be so dirty sometimes. Tim Duncan has the most respect from me outside of the Rockets, even though he is a divisional opponent. I would say he's the Peyton Manning of basketball.
That's just not true. Battier came here in 06-07 and since then Kobe's ppg have decreased against the league while all other stats have more or less remained constant.
This says it all for me. I'll watch a Lakers games just to see if he's kicking ass...but I always feel like I'm cheating or something.
well it's a good thing kobe didn't start peaking around the time shane got here, huh? Because if he had peaked it would mean he would be better against us and everyone else, oh wait...
Kobe had a huge scoring year in 05/06 (when, incidentally, he averaged 33 PPG on 51% shooting against the Rockets in 3 games). In the two prior years, he struggled. There is no question that Kobe has been a better player from 06/07 through this season on average than he was the three seasons prior corresponding to JVG's tenure with the Rockets. And what I said about Kobe's efficiency and passing since Battier joined our team is accurate. You can check for yourself what Kobe has done against the Rockets compared to the rest of the league.
Sorry but Duncan gets some minus respect points for refusing to play center which is really his natural position, and whining to the refs all the time.
Kobe is the nerdiest basketball player on the planet and you've got to at least respect (if not like) that.
It doesn't matter how many times you tell him. He will dissapear in this thread and then pop up again in the next one.
i can. totally lol in all seriousness though. kobe is one of the greatest players to step on the hardwood and one of the hardest worker. i have mad respect for him as a player he does so much especially contacting hakeem for help and everything, that takes a lot of dedication and i do love watching him play. that been said.. he raped a woman and hes a laker
Does Kobe's numbers against the Rockets matter at all? It's not like that's the point of team defense. The Rockets defend Kobe(and other wing players) straight up more than most teams in the league. How well the Rockets fare against Kobe should be measured by how well the Lakers offense have played vs us than what Kobe has done.
I agree. The Rockets strategy has been to force Kobe into shooting low percentage shots. They like to avoid double teaming, and they want to make him more of an ISO player, rather than scoring in the flow of the offense and getting his teammates involved. Kobe Bryant has scored a lot more points against the Rockets than most other teams, but he's also been the least efficient against the Rockets on average than against other teams.
Shane's teammates did not know about Lewis' article? Because he didn't advertise it to them? Wow! Shane's a really humble guy. Shan'es value is not just his stright-up defense but also the way he's the glue guy for the whole team on defense. He often directs the switching and double-teaming by shouting out instructions on the floor and didn't Ballard's book say Shane has studied the playbook of all the other teams? Just as Kobe is dedicated on beating his opponent offensively, Shane is committed to doing that defensively. It's just fun to see them go head to head. Shane knows Kobe will score; he tries to pull down Kobe's efficiency (x points in x number of attempts). And hopefully we get a win.
