I don't think you can "throw out the intangibles", b/c that is exactly the basis of Battier's game. It is obvious that Shane has affected Kobe, despite the stats. The only real stat is the W or L. Haven't you been paying attention? You cannot shut down Kobe, you can only frustrate him and make him work for his shot. But there is one other "intangible"/ace that Shane has left up his sleeve. The ultimate Kobe-stopper:
Kobe knows what he's doing...he has a counter for every individual defensive scheme you throw at him. <object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/j9dhjeixLXc&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/j9dhjeixLXc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object> Let Shane stay true to his defense and continue to force him to make the tough jump shots.
I noticed that, too. On one play, where Kobe drove right to the top of the key, Shane went for the block up high. He made Kobe readjust his shot to where he released it after reaching full height. I think it airballed or hit front rim, but it was way off.
Hmm I sure hope so But I think most likely it was either Shane himself or the coaching stuff realized the same thing and they made the adjustment. I noticed that Shane would do the face cover thing when Kobe is too far to block. Otherwise he'd jump with him. It seemed Kobe got rattled a little and he missed most if not all those real contested jumpers. Making adjustment is what you do in playoff. After seeing the same guy 4 or 5 games in a row you're going to figure somethings out.
