There's nothing else Shane can do. He's throwing a bit of everything at Kobe: ball denial, hand in the face, fight through screen defense. There was one moment in game three where Kobe had the ball deflected down low by Shane, but he still managed to put the ball up and get the basket. If Kobe's going to hit those, the lakers deserve to win. I like the way Shane's played Kobe. Outside of game three he's held him in check. And a lot of game one's points were garbage time buckets in the last two minutes. This is like complaining about Gasol's "dominant" last game against Hayes, when about 18 points came in garbage time fourth quarter.
Shane's technique worked much better last season. I would like to see Shane mix it up and attempt to block Kobe's shot.
Simply put, no not really. Kobe is Kobe, he is extremely hard to keep up with. IDK if you ball a lot, but it is awfully hard to keep your hand in the face of a player who is a triple threat, just that alone is a great feat, and rather draining on your energy level.
This is exactly what he needs to do . Take a foul or 2 , but fouling him by rubbing his hand on Kobe's face will definitely effect few of Kobe's later shots
Maybe because it works? Ok, the scenario is this: If Shane always tries to contest Kobe's shot by trying to jump and get the block, one thing will always happen. Kobe is gonna pump-fake, and drive around him, either getting an easy 2 points at the basket, or draw a foul on Hayes/Scola/Landry, and get 2 easy points at the free throw line. I'd rather see Battier make Kobe shoot jumpers. So what if the shots are going in? The layups that Battier won't let Kobe have, have even a HIGHER percentage than jumpers. Battier is doing just fine. Kobe is Kobe.
OP, you are out of your mind. I'd rather Kobe get a tiny bit more success on threes than break down our defense with penetration (causing open shots for teammates, causing fouls, easy points at the ft line, etc). Not to mention that Kobe has played pretty poorly in three out of the four games against us.
That is a lot easier said then done. Only way you can deny Kobe the ball is if there are two defenders on him.
He's done that too. It seems no one notices those possessions. You can't deny Kobe the ball the whole game. It's a bit harder than fronting Yao.
+1 to that. If you haven't played the game before then you have no idea how hard it is for him to do what your asking of him. Especially against somebody who is more athletic.
this thread is ridiculous. have you ever played basketball before? making jumpshots with a hand in your face is not easy. most players don't really go for blocks on most jumpers, they just look like it when the close-out. how many jumpshots are actually blocked a game? maybe 1 or 2? most blocks occur in the paint. if you go all out for the block, you've got a much better chance of getting a foul called against you. one of the biggest things in bball is "never foul a jumpshooter".. kobe is the best scorer in the planet. there is no such thing as a kobe-stopper. but i do know a hand in the face decreases shooting percentages dramatically. i for one have always been amazed with shane's D. how many times has kobe settled for jumpshots in this series? shane is always right in front of kobe and almost always all up in face when he shoots. i've lived in Sothern California for 10 years now and always watch the lakers and i can't think of anybody who plays kobe better then shane. rubin patterson used to play him well. and bruce bowen used to play him super-tight but nobody on earth can stop this guy. i can not believe anybody would actually think shane could do any better. dude plays him as well as anybody on this earth.
That's how teams start to play Yao now. And fans here still complain Yao is not dominant, "got shut down". There is no other player like Yao who gets double teamed without ball that much, including Kobe.
this thread sucks. shane is doing the best he can on kobe. he's kobe bryant, you cant stop him. you can only slow him down and shane is doing that let kobe work for his shots rather than bite on every pump fake and let him drive to the paint for scola or laundry to foul out
I wouldn't worry about Bryant taking & making those jump shots over Shane, as long as Shane makes it hard for him. One thing Shane does well is sticking to his plan, doesn't get effected much no matter how the other guy does, which is really important over the course of the game, and the series. Eventually, it will wore out the offensive player, get under their skin. So far, Bryant has 2 good shooting games out of 4, I'll take that.
Handchecking rules really make this a tough job to do. I'm sure Shane could be successful a few times but other times he is going to get a call from the refs. I would rather Shane keeps playing the way he is playing Kobe.
I agree. All the analysts and even Battier said so himself. No one is going to completely shut down Kobe. He's just too good. The only way is to TRY to alter his shots (i.e. hand in the face or make him go to the left, etc.) and hope for the best. Battier is doing a great job thus far.
I mean really, is there a defender in this league who is statistically proven to consistantly shut down Kobe? He's Kobe Bryant, he's EXPECTED to score at will on anyone and everyone. And I think Shane outscoring him 23/15 last game was about a good a job you can do on Kobe.
Shane went for the block on the ball a couple of times yesterday for the first time the entire series and it seem to surprise/bother Kobe. I wonder if Shane read this thread?
