Why not double team Kobe?

I think the Lakers do a very good job spreading the court and moving without the ball. They run a great offense. It's hard to double team a wing player like Kobe without giving up WIDE open, easy shots to other players.

 

We did. Smush Parker then sank a three to seal the win.

 

Well we should have done that throughout the Fourth Quarter Selectively ( not double team all the time)- Kobe at Home is not that easy to guard one on one.

 

The comment I heard was we were in a zone protecting the paint and we allowed the Laker 3p shooters to have space outside the 3p line

 

Never in my life did I ever think I could praise the guy who guarded a player that scored 53 points but I will now. As unbelievable as it may sound given Kobe's stat-line, Battier actually played him pretty well.

3/4's of Kobe's shots were just plain old pull-up jumpers that you can't really do much more than Battier did to defend. Battier stayed in front of him, got a hand up in his face and made sure every shot he took was contested---what more can you really do? Most of Kobe's shots in that scenario fell. That's the way it goes...some go in, some don't.

The double team tricked Kobe on that one sequence but other than that I really think Battier deserves some praise for his one-on-one defense. Did anybody keep track of the number of deflected passes, steals and hussle plays Battier had when defending Kobe?

Let's also not lose sight of the fact Kobe took nearly 40 shots and gets every call too. So, props to Battier for one of the best defensive efforts i've ever seen against a guy that scored over 50.

 

Isn't that what david robinson said too?

Kobe did miss 21 shots

 

Not sure, I didn't even know DR was employed by anybody to anaylze and break down games.

 

i meant against olajuwon back in 95....he said he guarded him pretty well

 

Ohh ok I got ya. Thought you were implying I simply reiterated somebody else's analysis of the game in my own words.

 

Another thing that is puzzling is that why VSPAN did not play at all. Defensively, he definitely can help to contain kobe.

 

shane was on him like glue. no one player could have defended him better. kobe just made some amazing shots.

 

Before our HOME game vs the Lakers I was actually thinking about sacrificing Hayes' other knee for Kobe. If that doesn't work, send VSpan to karate-tackle him. Or should we save that for our playoff game vs the Mavs?

 

Because kobe was bricking alot of his shots that night.

 

To tell the truth, I only remember one time when the double team actually worked. Battier and Head doubled Kobe at mid court, Battier deflected it, gave it to Head, who (I think) got the shot blocked off the backboard and it went to Battier who layed it in. That's about it if talking about the success of the double team.

 

there's one thing to be taken into consideration with questions like this. JVG is an idiot. that usually answers most questions regarding his strategy.

 

Kobe can not be stopped, only contained. Just like T-Mac, there is little you can do when he is on fire. Also, Kobe isn't the same player like he was. He will no longer force up the bad shot when doubled, he'll find his open teammate. Everyone saw last game when they did decide to double him, it left Smush open for a crucial three.

Stop blaming everything on JVG. Coaches can only do so much, it's the players who have the ball in their hands. That game was a couple possessions away from a Rockets win and a wasted effort by Kobe. If we won, there would be no negative talk what so ever. Everyone would be praising JVG for his "SMACK-A-KWAME" strategy. But we didn't win, and now everyone is in panic mode when it's only December. Calm down folks, cry and whine all you want, but I want some apologizes when we're in the Finals.