I'd say Tracy had a better game. Damn look, he attemped only 20 shoots and he got 30 pts on 50% fg and he wasn't selfish. Look at Kobe he attempted the shoot even if he was guarded well. And in the 3rd when he as off he even tried to finish by himself on 2-1 fast breat when Walton was open. Really good game Tracy, really. Kobe got that 45, that's very good but 13-31 ain't the best + he was selfish as hell
that's when the post was made i never intended this to turn into a tmac versus kobe thing. my concerns lied with t-mac taking jumpers when he had his man one-on-one.....after the initiated play didn't work (which it didn't quite a bit) we tried a play, it busted, then we would isolate or pick and roll, we did this all night and in the first quarter and a half quarter, instead of taking it to the hoop, t-mac would take jumpers, when they clearly weren't falling. so this is not about kobe is a better player, has better killer instinct, t-mac is a better passer or team player. it's about him taking the damn ball to the rack (at the time the post was made) BTW, I never knew how annoying "post padding" is, I'll never do it again.
Next time perhaps you can wait a little bit before posting something like this then. It seems a little premature to post this in the first 5 minutes of the game. You were obvoiusly going to get called out on it. Next time wait to make judgements. The game is 48 minutes. Not 5.
Padder? Your point has been made by others. Obviously, I could have waited, but last season in the couple of games at Staples Center against the Lakers he had problems attacking then (whether it was due to his back or the offense or whatever) I don't think it was quite as knee jerk as some of you think. Sure he started attacking later, and I'm glad for it, maybe he read the thread during timeouts?
T-Mac had a slow start but flourished later. He outplayed Kobe last night. But giving the current circumstances with his status, Kobe's performance was pretty impressive.
Just wanted to touch on this point. Killer mentality for Kobe or straight up selfishness? I vote the latter. He has zero trust in those around him...so what can be seen as killer instinct is straight up him just only trusting himself to score down the stretch. I wasn't happy with Tracy's timidness at the start of the game, but he had points where he wanted the ball and was having a "killer mentality." Difference is, Tracy trusts his team. You think Kobe would have passed the ball to Shane for the game winner? WRONG. Tracy wants to take the shot, but there was only one play to be made, and he alluded to that post-game on TNT. Kobe would have just taken the shot, hit or miss. You can call it killer instinct at that point if you want. I want the guy to make the right play. Some will see it this way, some won't.
Kobe is more physical and taking a lot of abuses by driving inside and drawing fouls. That's the only difference i see....Kobe is more physical and willing to take punishment....Tmac's not. Both can drive to the hoop at will. Kobe has more of a killer instinct. I also think Mike James has the killer instinct as well. Dude like to put a dagger down your throat any chance he gets.
Everytime I see Mike James, I feel like he should have a set of grillz in his mouth while he plays. That would be awesome. I see where you are coming from. I don't necessarily disagree either. I think Mac was starting to do that in the 2nd half. I hope it's indicative of how he will play most of the time. Tracy played great last night, I don't think there is a need for any worry...yet (not directed at you, just the board in general).
I'm surprised to see so many blind kobe fans here in a rox forum. Kobe didn't take those shots because his teammates suck. walton and turiaf did a decent job in the first half and the score remains close. When kobe decided to take over and took every shots of the lakers have, we came back from behind and took the lead. If that's the killer instinct everyone is talking about, I'm so glad TMac doesn't have it and that's why I like him. What kobe did this game is nothing to brag about. Low efficiency and selfish are probably the right words. TMac had an ok game, nothing special. He went with the game flow, didn't force anything except when they had the 10 points lead he tried his luck at 3p line. He did just enough for us to take the win. I don't know what else you asked for. He could choose to go on a 1on1 duel with kobe, but how can rox benefit from that? Kobe is quicker, more aggressive on both ends, has a better jumpshot and overall stronger scoring ability, I still take TMac over him because TMac plays within the system. Don't give me that crap that kobe has no help in his teammates. He does. He just decided not to use them.
It does seem like kobe wants to challenge tmac but tmac just rather play team ball and not worry about that indivual battle like he did when he was with orlando. Kobe just more of a fierce competitor.
When Kobe started drivign to the basket like a mad man in the 2nd half that's when the Lakers started climbing back. I wish T-Mac had that mentality.
Well the trade off is that Tmac doesn't have the ballhog mentality! Lakersfan complaining about how the rest of the team shot a better percentage then him.
You mean like he took the previous shot instead of passing to Fisher, right? (I hate Kobe's attitude with a passion, but he still manages to average 5-6 assists per game every year, even while taking tons of shot. Let's not start fibbing.)
Kobe gets his dimes within the offense but watch his game (compared to T-Mac's) and it's evident that he would rather score than pass. This is even when he had talent on his team (see the 04 Finals vs Detroit). Even in last night's game Kobe went 1 vs team on many occassions. T-Mac will get a dude with no offense (i.e. Chuck hayes involved).
