Lakers probably would have lost anyway tonight in Phoenix, but they wouldn't have lost by 20 if Kobe played.
Ok so no Kobe tonight and Lakers get shafted by 20 points. Andrew Bynum 10-27 from the field as the first option.
They need each other. If Kobe is on the floor, Bynum should clean up against the Suns. A good post player suffers without a dynamic perimeter player to distract and occupy the defense. Pau was able to adapt by popping in crisp jumpers and posting up selectively. Lakers lack heart, soul, intensity, toughness and focus without Kobe on the floor. Especially playing for a coach they don't respect.
How did he lead them back? They were down 2 going into the 4th and Gasol scored 1 less point than him that period. And he wasn't getting most of his own misses back....but Gasol was with 9 offensive boards. Kobe played like garbage that game, but the team had his back.
The Lakers should have suspend Bynum for his antic since they were going to lose without Kobe anyway.
and they won a banana 14-25 56% FG.... good but not great stats They would have needed a 65% shooting and 20 rbs game from Gasol to have a chance in this got blown out of the water.
Exactly what I was mentioning. people love BS stats like per 38, or whatever, if a player shoots 50 percent and is shooting 12 shots, doesn't mean more minutes and more hots he keeps efficienncy. the whole scenrio changes, not only that once you become the first option thigns change in focus and how defense plays you. People look at box score, per and all the crap and translate things that have far too many factors to decide that
Never said Kobe shouldn't be the #1 option, I said he shouldn't have been taking TWICE as many shots as Bynum who had been their most efficient scorer. With that said, for about 2 weeks now Kobe and Bynum have been sh**ing on this thread.
Most efficient scorer is one thing. Most efficient toucher is another. Bynum holds the ball way too long, throws too many raunchy passes that leaves his mates hanging out to dry with the clock running down, and he takes too long to get into his moves. For short, Bynum still hasn't learned to use his length like he should. He takes entireley too long trying to figure out what to do and he creates offensive scramble because he takes so much time that the defense can attack him from different angles and then recover to the perimeter. For all his talent, Bynum is severely lacking in the head department....at least for now. He needs to majorly improve his game.
yea people don't realize how good you can look with someone great on the court, it takes a lot not just mentally but physicl skill and timing to know how to be the number one option. Hell kobe becaeme great, when shaq left that first year it was an adjustment(he did have one of the worst teams around him) but without shaq taking attention, he had toaoadjust that year. the thing you can count on kobe is that he east, breathes, and lives hoops and winning so he adjusting and became the amazing next year. Bynum and well 99 percent of the toher nba don't have that tenacity and obsession. So its one thing to performwhen oyu have defense planning and worrying about two dangerous options around you, and people see oh look byunmber shot 8/12, he should be shooting 30 and make 20 everynight and rop 40! ...no stats don't translate like that, there are too many fators that determine stats
I have been saying this for a long time. Bynum just takes too long to make a move. It takes time to feed the post already, with his indecision, a deep clock is guaranteed when he passes. Kobe would take that bailout shot 9 out of 10 times. And that has been lowering Kobe's efficiency.
Kobe's the leading scorer and pour 10 in 4th quarter in that game. He made the FT that gave them the first lead in 4th quarter. He made the FT that made it 2 possessions games in final seconds. If that's not clutch, what's clutch? And Kobe forced the double team all game long, KG was going out to help. That left Rasheed to guard 2 of Gasol/Bynum/Odom. Of course Gasol and Lakers overall dominated on the boards. In a game Allen/Pierce were shooting .27 combined. Kobe didn't have a worse true shooting % when he also had 15 FT. MJ had a worse game in 1996 game 6 and worse series overall, and nobody took anything away from him. You are making yourself a joke here.
^^^^^^^ And the ESPN recap that someone linked still highlights Gasol as LAs top performer. Hitting the ft to finally out you ahead isn't bringing your team back, which you claim he did. He had 1 more point than Gasol in the 4th and when he came back in they were only down 2. He wasn't doubled all game. Actually he was primarily single covered by Ray Allen. Next time you wanna lie try it on a board where folks don't actually watch the games. And no one is claiming Jordan stepped up in the 96 Finals. He played like garbage too. Try again!!!!
Look, kobe did well that 35 ppg year. They didn't make it far with him as the number one option. Once Gasol came nad grounded the team, they won. Once shaq was there, they won...notice the trend andnotice that kobe has one MVP title that IS DEBATaBLE if he really was the MVP that year. I don't want to hate, he is a good player, not a likeable person AT ALL, but a good player, but the dude needs to realize he is not the best, probably not even the best on the lakers and needs to pass the ball to the better players and then score more like a jason terry type of thing or louis williams. Realistically, if it wasn't for ESPN and his reputation, that is EXACTLY where his role would be. He is good, don't get me wrong, but probalby the most overrated player I have seen in this league
MJ was 1-9 in playoff without Pippen. Shaq didn't win **** without Kobe/Wade. What's your point? Gasol wasn't the level of Pippen/Kobe/Wade, he led Grizzles to 0-12 in playoff and Kobe could take him to championships.
For a game, Kobe wasn't the top performer, but he did enough to get the win. That's the point. He won the FMVP for his performance in the series, not for game 7 alone. And Kobe was doubled way more than any player in that series. In game 3, Kobe used to that give Fisher a number of open shots in 4th quarter coz Allen wouldn't switch to Fisher in P&R and rather double Kobe every single time. You need a pair of new glasses, try again.
Here is an interesting stat, while I think kobe is overrated(decent,just nothign compared to king james), I am DEFINITELY not a Bynum fan. Well, it seems here everyone is saying Bynum should be the top option since ofcourse he shot so efficiently right? S more shots are in order and bryant shoots way worse. Well, now we have had 4 games of bryant sitting out. And bynums amazing shooting fg percentage drops considerably when he gets more attention and he shoots more. He usually shooes 12-13 shots, now as the focus of the offense he shoots almost 21 a game. And his shooting percentage? 42 Percent and for 21.7 ppg. So the little cheapshot artist isn't as good as everyone says he is or everyone thought it was just simple, guy shoots a high percentage, give him more shots, ofcourse hell continue...or not?
The Lakers shot 50% last night without Kobe. I don't care about Bynum. But the team's offense ran pretty well without Kobe. And consider this is Mike Give-The-Ball-To-LeBron-Kobe Brown as the coach.