22ppg (on 38% and 18% from the three), 3 boards, 4 dimes and 4 turnovers Man, it's amazing what happens to your numbers when the opposing defense decides to let Shaq go 1-1 and focus on you. I saw the Pistons focus on Kobe like no team has ever done before (in a playoff series at least). I saw his numbers drop dramatically, and LA was almost swept. What happened? I guess it was because he didn't go to the line (even though he didn't start penetrating on the reg until Game 5). For those that don't watch teams outside of LA, that was the type of pressure that most swingmen playing without a 2nd star (T-Mac, Pierce, Carter, AI, and the MJ of old) receive on a nightly basis. That was the first time (in a playoff series) that a team said...get yours Shaq, but Kobe is gonna struggle for his. So the question is, what happened to Kobe????
Kobe decided he'd take the 3 on 1 odds and try to play Jordan. Refused to create for others, refused to score within the offense, and instead took an endless number of bad shots. He looked like the worst example of what people criticize Francis and Iverson of. I honestly can't remember the last time I've seen such selfishness and lack of team concept before. Evan
You can read here his collapse....isn't it great? http://bbs.clutchcity.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=78237
