Myth: Shane still gave Kobe his average so his d wasn't a big deal Truth: shane kept kobe from being average Kobe and not becoming playoff Kobe who wills his team during tough stretches and sometimes carries them himself to victory Kobe has scored 40 twice in just 3 games against denver, shot 50% twice in 3 games also. Against houston he scored 40 once in 7 games. He shot 50% or better twice in 7 games. In 3 games againt denver he has shot 10, 13, and 17 FTs....In 7 games against houston he shot 10 once, and never more than that. Myth: If Shane tried to score on Kobe on the other end, instead of allowing Kobe to rest on D, he'd tire him out sooner or more Truth: Like i mentioned earlier, Kobe loves to be challenged and actually shifts into another gear when someone tries to score on him. He's in superb shape, he's not going to tire out significantly unless he's going against a Lebron for 48 mins. In 3 games against denver he's had to play some d, earning foul totals of 3,4, and 4. Against houston he had 4 once, and only had 3 or more three times
Shane was amazing against Kobe......he is an amazing defender one on one and as a team defender. He is the primary reason we have a top notch defense.....he and Chuck Hayes make great team rotations. DD
This has to be one of the most ridiculous things you've ever posted and that's saying a lot. So let me get this straight: Your "logic" for debunking this "myth" and stating the "truth" is fouls per game? Lol. Also, is it better to let Kobe just rest on defense, because he "loves to be challenged"? Lol. The fact of the matter remains that Kobe against the Rockets did one of two things on defense: He either exerted no energy and rested or he roamed and wreaked havoc by disrupting the Rockets offense. Occasionally, Battier made him pay, but not enough for Bryant to really acknowledge his presence on that end of the court. You seem to be fine with this, but I want the Rockets to succeed and to be successful you have to minimize all your weaknesses. Remember how Roy eventually got tired against the Rockets, because he actually had to play defense. Maybe you won't do the same to Kobe, but actually making him work and exert energy on the defensive end is a plus. It's in no way a negative. My solution, as stated earlier in this thread, is to make Battier's role more situational and dependent on the competition, which would either relegate him to the bench or reduce his mpg or both. This is primarily due to his erratic and inconsistent play on the offensive end. Hopefully this will happen once T-Mac is traded for another wing player and a back-up center.
For those who want to trade Battier... look no further than the two Denver losses to the Fakers. Isn't it nice we have someone with a brain to in-bound the ball when it's crunch time?!?!? Another role that Battier fills that doesn't show up on the stat sheet.
we're the opposite of the Nuggets..they're a team of scorers and we're a team of defenders...a good team needs a balance of offense and defense.
For those who want to Trade Cook look no further than the two Denver losses to the Fakers. Isn't it nice we have someone with a brain to in-bound the ball when it's garbage time?!?!? Another role that Cook fills that doesn't show up on the stat sheet.
IMO, Brooks and his ability to outrace his defender deserves more credit for our late-game inbound passes than Battier. Billups doesn't seem to have the speed to put the needed distance between himself and his opponent.
Just add pieces that would fit the system. Shane should be untouchable unless it gets the Rockets a star player.
Kwame....Kobe is a freaking all-star, pretty much the best ball player in the world for the last few years, the guy has a crazy work ethic, you think he's going to get tired in ONE GAME? C'mon now. Most dedicated pros wouldnt, Kobe sure as hell isn't unless he is beat up all game AND plays extended minutes. How many guys in the league can do that?? I never said that was everything needed to debunk the myth, i was simply stating an obseravation related to it. Obviously there's more to what i wrote, but i think it's definitely a pattern worth taking into consideration and is definitely related. And i never said it's best to let him "rest", once again you change what i write for your benefit. You're going to claim it's all semantics, but there's a reason why i chose my words very carefully, and it's because i didn't want some Battier hater like you to claim i meant something else, but obviously it didnt work. It's not about letting him rest, shane can still run around and/or give him a fake here and there, things like that, shoot the open J, etc. My post was in answer to those who SPECIFICALLY stated shane should have attacked Kobe and that would have tired Kobe out sooner, while it really would have just pissed him off and set him off, its near pointless to provoke that to make him sweat one more drop and give Shane a few more points. Even Melo attacking him obviously didn't tire him out, and shane will? And comparing Roy to Kobe? Seriously? A guy who DIDNT KNOW WHAT THE PLAYOFFS ARE ABOUT, to a guy with 3 rings?? The whole Blazer team was shocked as to how rough the playoffs are, Roy himself talked about how it's a whole different season/game...the guy trained for a season, not for the playoffs, Kobe knows the difference, while roy is training to be good during the season and make the playoffs, Kobe is training to be good in the playoffs and win it all. And quit making this about Shane next season, there's a reason why i only talked about Kobe and the houston-laker series, your hate for Battier obviously didnt let you see that. My comments have nothing to do with Shane's past or future, it was in reponse to the criticism he got for "allowing Kobe to get his average" and "not attacking kobe" in the series, that's it. go as Ron Artest is he makes Kobe tired, he's just going to give you the same look he gave the poster who told him Tmac wouldn't be back for another year. You let sleeping dragons lie, you can hate me for praising him so much, but you gotta respect your opponent even if you hate them. Kobe operates differently, he can easily spend a game on cruise control, even during an important game, if nothing flips him on, the same way he can blow up in a meaningless game just because the sign a fan was holding pissed him off. Houston's teamd D can shut down most of the other guys, you're not going to shut down Kobe, so do i think leaving him on cruise control is a good idea? Yeah, the Lakers aren't going to win many games, if any, if Kobe gets his averages and the others guys are shut down.
I have never been a Battier fan. Not that he doesn't have skills. He gives it all, probably the inspirational leader of the team. The Rockets are overloaded on glue guys. They need some long, athletic players to become a serious contender. I agree, now is a good time to trade Shane. I still like Travis Outlaw, even though he had a poor series in the first round. Athleticism still rules in the upper levels of this league.
don't confuse glue guys with guys with heart, we have a lot of those, but not glue guys...also, trading shane for a longer wing player still leaves us with 6'8 PFs and back up centers. That's why i'm so against trading shane, it's not that i dont want to get better, just that you're covering a small weakness that doesnt necessarily lose the game for you, and leaving bigger gaps open. If you have to include him as part of a bigger trade, like let's say getting a Chris Paul, then you do it, but for a travis outlaw? That extra scoring raises our offense, but he's not going to average 30 per, so it's going to be a minor scoring increase, not enough to overcome what we lose in other areas by trading shane. All it gonna do is take our PPG from 98 or whatver it is, to 106-108, but also raise points allowed by about the same margin at least, maybe more. We need to keep the major parts of our D as intact as possible and try to work some magic with minor pieces or a piece that wasn't even playing so boot our offense, then, and only then, will we increase our scoring output while keeping the point allowed locked in, therefore increasing our margin of victory instead of just shifting it laterally.
I think you're wrong in your ideas about not challenging kobe, thats called being a coward in my book. It doesn matter how good offensively you are, if you have to play defense, it wears on you and you might pick up fouls in the process. Go look at kobe vs hamilton and vs allen. He had to chase those guys through screen and picks all agame and got tired. Who was the kobe stooper last year in the finals? Exactly and he played poorly. Playing defense against a good wing does take something out of you, thats a fact. In 91 the bulls had to take Jordan of magic because he was posting and doing what he wanted and had to put pippen plus a slight double with grant. Pippen worked magic all the way up the floor for most of the game and when it was time for him to make huge plays, it really didn't happen. What also happen is jordan didn't get into foul trouble and had extra energy to perform late in games. Your logic is common sense flawed from the get go. No one , not even i has said shane couldn't contribute on a championship team, but shane is a bench player on a chamionship team like posey or bowen. If he starts, he's a 20 min guys, not 35 plus. I beleive that if tracy was healthy this year, he wouldve started, but we saw artest on the floor late in games with tracy. Thats really more ideal, but if you can outlaw and frye for battier or if you can get a guy thats can produce offensively and still keep shane, you do it.
