Oh no he didnt. just two years ago he dissapeard in the first round against the suns. when the going got tough, kobe went missing. even last season when he realiazed he had no chance he gave up. the lakers had a 3-1 lead in 06-05 and from there kobe went missing. he had like 10 of 30 shooting in the game 7 of that series. he was just jacking up shots and stopped attacking the ring.he wasnt playing any D whatsoever. BTW, Tracy is better on defense then what kobe is now. having a beast like shaq cleaning up you're mess on defense helps. without shaq, kobe's defense is being exposed.
trust me, kobe got his all-nba D last 2 yrs from reputation. the lakers always are one of the worst defensive teams in the L and kobe is part of the problem. he gambles WAY too much and puts his big men in trouble. winters recognizes this in several of his columns. kobe can be a great D player, but to conserve energy, he's more of a gambler. tracy can be a great D player, but when he's not challenged (meaning battier takes the best guy most of the time), he coasts. when tracy is given the task (like guarding dirk, harpring...), he shuts them down for hte most part.
Sometimes I wish we would trade McGrady just so all of you who take him for granted would see how bad the rest of the team sucks without him constantly creating threats, pulling the defense out of position, and making the right pass.
but u gotta understand though, people take what they have for granted. most laker fans justified the shaq trade saying he was fat and lazy. if we were to trade tmac tomorrow, it'll take another 4-5 yrs before we make the playoffs again. he does EVERYTHING for this team outside of post play.
Shaq's interior defene made kobe on defense. without shaq there, kobe's D is getting exposed. kobe is a fraud. last years First team selection was a outrage.
Are you confused? I never said any player had no effect on those games. They all played, contributed, and got pay. But none's contribution is more than payment. That's it.
i wouldn't go that far. kobe's a very good individual defender like tracy when they want to be. but kobe gambles much much more. since kobe always wants to make the big play b/c his team is mostly behind, he gambles way too much and does not play the proper man defense.
I've rarely seen a supposed 1st team defensive player get beaten off the dribble more then kobe. kobe made he's name on defense by being able to take risks because he knew he had shaq there behind him cleaning up he's mess if he got beat off the dribble.
he's not first team i agree, even he would admit he got his from reputation. tmac sucked against him and still put up 30, 5, 10 on him. but he's not a "fraud." i think he is dong what tracy did in orlando. coast on D and dominate on O.
He did everything for the team under JVG as did Yao. Different coach and system now. Are you saying that whoever we would get for Tracy wouldn't contribute? That the new system that is made to use players' strengths wouldn't be enough to get us in the playoffs? Wow. You must not think very highly of Adelman.
ok, suggest a realistic trade for tracy and see if we're still a top 3-5 team in the L. w/ adelman or w/ anybody. unless it's for kobe/wade/bron/duncan (which will NEVER happen), who are u suggesting we trade him for?
like i said, im not saying kobe is great. but he's not the worst defender. hes been very average since shaq left. but kobe is kobe. he'll get first-team every yr from now on.
Trade McGrady + stuff for Deng/Gordon/Wallace. Wallace anchors the defense, Deng oozes potential, and Gordon can score in bunches and hit big shots. Basically we'd be the Bulls with one of the two best post players in the NBA, an aspect of their game they've sorely lacked the last two years. Unfortunately no way the Bulls will go for that due to McGrady's injury history. You could probably trade Yao for the same package, and get the Bulls with a superstar go-to scorer, which is almost as good as the Bulls with a dominant post scorer, and thus be a very good team with room to grow.
