Kobe 501 - 1169 ~43% Drew 334 - 577 ~58% I understand that Kobe is Kobe, but geez. Andrew Bynum has been a monster this year, he's earned more possessions down low.
Bynum is a superstar in the making. If he got as many touches as the other elite level players do, nobody would question the assertion that he's a superstar.
The Lakers have more problems than just Kobe. Go to the "Lakers are better than last year" thread to get the full scoop. Of course, Kobe is a big part of the problem. The bottom line is this Lakers squad is stale. Past their shelf life. They need a roster revamping and a new coach. Just saw a brief part of Bynum's post-game interview tonight and he has a serious negative attitude towards Mike Brown and doesn't even try to hide it. Someone needs to counsel him on speaking to the press.
18, 12, and 2 while committing less than 2 fouls per.(and while taking half the shots of Kobe!!) Seriously get this man the ball! If he sustains this or exceeds it in the next couple years he'll no doubt be the best offensive C in the game, and might challenge for the best overall. Mike Brown is a sh**ty coach though, he's good at defensive schemes, but on O he has no plays, and he's letting Kobe play Kobe ball. They have a ton of bad contracts too, if Morey really has his eyes on Pao, he should be a lot cheaper in the off-season.(especially if the Lakers don't go far in the playoffs.)
Players need to really hard to score in Brown's offense It will eventually wear you down even when you can make tough contested shots
This is the continuing argument I have about Kobe year after year. He can be spectacular, but his achievements are all individual and part of statistical averages. If you take that many shots, every game, you will have offensive performances which stick out. If you take that many buzzer beaters, you will have a lot of clutch shots to boast about (if I remember correctly a poster actually took out his 4th quarter shots and found him to be very average when it came to being clutch). The Lakers are so talented year after year but you rarely feel like he's making everyone better the same way mr.23 did.
people still look at stats and think its translates over, when offenses are plannign for a 3 headed monster knowing that kobe is going to shoot the most, they make the big game plan for him, bynum gets les leeaway and it helps that the focus isn't on him when they have to worry about Pau and kobe. if he becomes a focal point, things will change and theres not telling how he will adapt to double and triple teams. So you can't just say he shoots higher we need to run it through him its a lot like harden. People see his stats off the bench, call him ginobili and say he is amazing, you have to realize the defenses are geared for durant and wesbtrook, so harden gets some leeaway and freedom. If you watch the game when it is just him on the court and they are focused on him like at some points in the game today, he struggled and wasn't as effective. Things don't just translate how you make it seem
What happened with the Cavs (and also now with the Lakers) is Brown's teams often get discouraged when the offense stalls and stop putting out 100% on defense. It's human nature. Another comment: Kobe is no longer an intimidating figure to other contending teams like OKC.
When a superstar declines and fails to acknowledge that he is declining, it hurts the team, that is why most good organizations jettision their superstars to another team. Kobe is not the same, he should do what David Robinson did with Tim Duncan and take a backseat to Bynum. DD
If Rick Adelman was the coach and the offense was run though Pau in the post feeding Bynum down low or Kobe on the wings, the Lakers would be right up there with the Thunder as the best in the West. Because when the ball is moving and the Lakers make the defense rotate instead of Kobe throwing up a bad shot, they are unstoppable once the ball gets into Paus hands. If you rotate the 2nd big onto Pau, he lobs it up to Bynum for a dunk. If you don't rotate the big Pau makes the shot.
You re comparing field goal percentages of a jump shooting SG to a camp all night in the paint overgrown C? I agree that Kobe needs to chill out a bit and get Bynum involved more but you can't compare shooting percentages in this situation. Just IMO.
I was mostly comparing shot attempts, Kobe has shot twice the shots as Bynum, while Bynum is the one that is a constant mismatch. If you're a coach and you see those stats who would you want getting more shot attempts?
The proven guy. Jelly Bean. The only reason Bynum and Gasoft are even effective is because Kobe gets double and triple teamed every time he touches the ball. Like I said, I agree that Bynum should get more shots but to say he should get more than Kobe is borderline r****ded.
What exactly has Kobe proven besides his willingness to put himself ahead of the team? I've seen a bunch of Laker games this year. I've never seen Kobe face multiple defenders unless he attacks the rim and the defense collapses or there's a late-game ball denial situation. On the other hand, I've seen defenses swarm to Andrew Bynum when he catches the ball in the post. The Lakers' offense should be running through Bynum.
Why? You always feed the big man. I've seen Bynum get doubled just as much, if not more, than Kobe this year (although I've only watched their nat'l games). Kobe isn't the player he used to be. Sure, he'll have a breakout game here and there, but he needs to give Bynum and Gasol more looks.
It's funny, in NBA2K my player just got traded to the Lakers (I'm the PG) if I let the computer call plays about half of them end up being Kobe iso's. I have to call all the plays if I want the offense to run through Bynum in the post. But his post up's are successful about 2 out of 3 times. Watching the game the other night it made me laugh how true to life this is.
Did you even watch the game? How many times did OKC double-team Kobe last night? Thabo doesn't need help guarding Kobe. What's interesting when watching the Lakers is how teams let Kobe go one-on-one WITHOUT helping. Considering that he's shooting 40% the last couple of months, it's no wonder. Who's really r****ded?
