He was just completely horrible offensively for the majority of the game, but his defense and passion towards the end of the game was simply unbelievable. It was one of his worst games of the year stats-wise, but he impressed me more tonight, than ever. What did you guys think?
His two long 3s in the 4th quarter were clutch. He basically manhandled and overwhelmed Rip Hamilton the last few minutes on both ends. The Lakers erupted like a volcano on the Pistons in the 4th quarter.
I watched that game and to be honest, I rarely see the passion Kobe showed tonight in Tmacs game. Very Rarely. And to highlight Kobe's competitiveness, HE WANTS OUT OF THIS TEAM When Tmac didnt like Orlando he sat. Kobe brings it every night, thats why he is so special
I watched the game and it doesn't surprise me at all. We've all seen him take over games like this before. Not many players can take over a game while not scoring that well but he can. Mark my words: IF he gets traded to an Eastern Conference team this year, the worst that team does is make the Conference Finals. Which makes his "veto" of the Pistons deal quite the head scratcher.
Kobe was tenacious, but I think he got away with some fouls on Rip too. You knew it was gonna be the Lakers' night when that errant pass by them hit the ref instead of going out of bounds for a turnover and resulted in a layup. Also, the Pistons got some talented, young, and athletic big men who played well. Maxiell, Samb, and Amir Johnson don't have the most polished offensive game yet, but they really got after it on defense with lotsa blocks and rebounds. I wish the Rockets had some of that athleticism. Snyder could provide some of that if he could manage to get some mins and maybe even Steve.
In all fairness, perhaps the Pistons Lakers deal that fell through had something to do with Kobe's competitiveness.
Instead of watching my fantasy cornerstone, I played Halo for 6 hours with an espresso machine. Although Kobe is the one who could've used the caffeine jolt looking at his paltry stat-line. God, my hands are still shaking. UH cmon FEEL it... FEEL the vibration.
Agreed 100% with this part of your post. Seems like Rip gets physically abused and knocked around quite a lot and Kobe took it to the nth degree because the refs allowed it.
