Not saying Battier had a good game by any means, but this was posted elsewhere: Kobe was 5-7 shooting against Artest. (Most likely includes the end of the game when Bryant was playing out of his mind) Kobe was 6-12 shooting against Battier. Just looking at the numbers, Battier didn't do so horribly.
I don't subscribe to the "Kobe got pissed off" argument. Did anyone piss Kobe off when he dropped 81 on the Raptors three years ago? No, it was Kobe being Kobe. He's an incredible player, and you should know that 9 times out of 10, even if he's not hot the whole game, he's gonna heat up in the second half. He wants to take the game into his hands and win. You've heard it a million times, and it's a bit cliche, but the guy just refuses to lose, whether someone's talking **** to him or not. That's just what he does.
nice Doc rocket, I would have loved for somebody to have shoved Powell after all those screams after layups. no punches cause we don't need more than 1 game suspension or anything crazy. But don't take crap from scrubs..
yes, his team SUCKING and trailing by 20 pts to the lowly raptors at home pissed him off. he then started jacking it up. kobe was playing a very nice team game last night. yes he got more aggressive in the 2nd half, but he didn't go to the kobe show until artest pissed him off. clyde drexler even said so. he was pissed that artest pissed kobe off.
That's not the same thing. Would you say that every time Jordan took over a game because it was close and the rest of the team wasn't pulling away without him dominating = Jordan getting pissed off? No. It's a great player taking the load on his shoulders and finishing. That's it, nothing more. Kobe has bad nights, but more often than not, he's dominant, and that's not because he's pissed. It's because he will do everything within his power to win, and it just so happens he has more power to do that than anyone else in the league.
the kobes, jordans... they're already great players. so yes, i would expect kobe to have great games regardless. the point is why give them that extra "motivation?" and yes if you play sports, you'll know what i'm talking about. the great players play a "little" harder after someone pisses them off. they play with a "little" more focus. the other players play a little more reckless... do you seriously think ron artest is a type of player who would elevate his game when he's mad? i think he plays a little worse when he's a little pissed b/c he's nto good enough to make it a personal game. if he was, i wouldn't care. i mean, if we want to piss anyone on the lakers off, it's pau. now that dude would melt (like he did in the finals last yr when the celts played physical).
You are out of your mind if you don't think we need a thug on this team of softies. Without Artest this team this year would be a joke, and not for lack of talent, but for complete lack of passion. Artest's fierce side I believe brings out the best in most of these Rockets players, if he gets into some fights and gets a few suspensions it wont be the end of the world (obv don't in playoffs and no fights with fans ).
Ron, for all that he is (and has done), can probably get inside the heads of some players that he's guarding, and I agree that it was a mistake to think that it would work with Kobe. I haven't watched Ron throughout much of his career on a regular basis, and I really don't know whether he has delivered a game when he gets worked up like that, but he definitely didn't last night. And I suppose that I can understand and partially agree with the position that Ron's behavior "sharpened" Kobe's focus, but it's so hard to tell with him. He is a competitor of the highest order, and I don't know about you, but I was just holding my breath at the beginning of the second half because you just know, even if you're up 10 points with 7 or 8 minutes to go, Kobe has the absolute ability, whatever the circumstances, to bring the Lakers back and win. I guess we can both settle on a middle ground and agree . . Ron's **** talking didn't help
I guess what I mean is that we've got so many nice guys that I like a little of the rough housing. Ron got it handed to him last night - no doubt. Kobe is great. But Ron was talking at the FT line because it's hard to accept that someone is just killin' ya and you keep hoping for a way out. Ron and Kobe are okay. But Kobe is the greatest today just as MJ, Magic, Bird, etc...were the greatest because those guys don't NEED the Artests to get them going. Kobe would've done that anyway last night because he's Kobe and he was going for the throat. Last night, he just enjoyed it a little more. But to say if we would've played sweet and nice and not made big bad Kobe mad at little old us maybe we could've won it...well, what is there to be gained from that? To play almost cowardly as to not upset the King? Differing opinions, I guess. Ron looked bad because he was having an off night but if Ron would've been on fire, nobody would've had a problem. Like Kobe said "He's a competitor just like me." Everytime Kobe looks at the stands and gives that smirk, do you know why it boils your blood? Because that's his 'elbow' that's how he pisses people off. "If you can beat me, beat me but this is the way I play and I ain't shuttin' it down for nobody." ***And it wasn't AUTOMATICALLY a mistake to do it with Kobe because like Kobe said, Ron's kicked his ass before too. Ron gambled and lost - no big deal. Such is life...***
And Pau may be a total puss, but he was the missing piece the Lakers needed to be contenders, and I will hate Memphis to my grave for that gift. Sorry, I just haven't b****ed about that in a while.
Lets be fairly said, What Ron was trying to do simply just playing 1 on 5 when he think he is on same level as KB.He just trying to prove himself he can do as KB.Thats too much emotional move,if you going to win the game,play the teamball,bcz you are not KB.Rox won 42 games so far,not bcz any indivial but TEAMBALL.
then why did everyone want rafer alston gone? dude got into players on the regular. we played cowardly last night? what are you talking about? wafer was TAKIN' it to the lakers without trash talking. he was screaming and pumping fists and all that. he didn't back down when kobe was on his barrage and actually made some key shots down the stretch for us. THAT'S TOUGHNESS. aaron brooks taking it to the lakers' D down the stretch. THAT'S TOUGHNESS. toughness to me is you don't back down from a challenge. you elevate your game to another level. dennis rodman would elevate his defense to another level if he's pissed off and play more physical. shaq would look to dunk on your ass and tear the rim off if you piss him off. -> they do it with their actions. they want to embarrass you. and then they mix in some words to diss you along the way. i mean, can you imagine sasha vujacic talking trash to yao? and that girl would do it too. C'MON NOW.
yeah sorry <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PGAPpfrf4fk&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PGAPpfrf4fk&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
I honestly can't believe all the "Please don't piss off Kobe" posts in this thread. There is a word for that type of attitude.... and it meows. Criticize Artest for his bad plays, criticize him for his poor shooting, but on a team that has been notoriously soft in recent years, the last thing you should do is criticize his competitiveness. In truth, that was one of the few things I loved about Ron's game last night. You don't let a guy come into your house and issue an ass kicking while you quietly comply. If he's better than you, so be it, but you make your presence known. You let him know you're there, and that each night it will be a dogfight. And for the record: Bill, I like tough guys too!
Thug life y'all know the rules gotta do what I gotta do. Stay True! We gave L.A. a good run....they don't wanna see us.
Artest is the reincarnated version of Vmax with more consistent scoring. I thought Shane Battier was Mario Elie, at least Mario attacked the rim. Shane does notihing on offense.
