Kobe Bryant is a jerk-ass clown trapped in a great basketball body. I respect his skills, but I have no respect whatsoever for him as a person and a teammate. He's TO with a brain, but a jerk nevertheless.
The city of LA should charge him with homicide. Whenever the man's on trial he plays like his freedom depends on it
LOL, I love the replies in this thread. As it stands, Kobe looks pretty good to start, now let's see if he can actually remain consistent for the entire duration of the season.
If i m not mistaken, last year kobe started strong as well... then faded in the mid-season... i means his scoring....
OK, this LA Times article does a lot of ass kissing, but note what PJ says about the Rockets at the end. It seems he listed the Rockets as a contender while leaving out Phoenix: LA Times Bryant Displays Efficiency By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer Kobe Bryant, who once called the triangle offense boring, is now thriving in it. Three games do not a most-valuable-player season make, but Bryant is averaging 36.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists, numbers that have him finding the triangle to be a little less square. ADVERTISEMENT "I just have a hunger and a passion for the game like I've never, ever had before," he said. Never, ever had before? "It's a new challenge," Bryant said. "I had the same zest for the game a few years ago when Phil [Jackson] got here and they proposed a challenge to me to become a facilitator. My hunger just increased to a level it never was before because it was just a completely new challenge. Now it's the same situation." Bryant, 27, often brought up the ball in Jackson's first go-round with the Lakers, but now he sets up on the wing as a small forward. With Lamar Odom bringing the ball up, teams cannot try to muscle Bryant up and down the court, allowing the seven-time All-Star to conserve more energy. Bryant has scored 33, 39 and 37 points in the Lakers' first three games and is shooting 49.4% after tumbling to 43.3% last season, his worst mark since his second season. His game has been "decisive and concise," Jackson said after Bryant's 37-point, eight-rebound, five-assist effort Sunday against Denver. And to think it wasn't that long ago — a preseason luncheon in 2001 — that Bryant took offense to Jackson's triangle, saying it "does win championships in June; but December, January, it's boring as hell." From the now-it-can-be-told department: Jackson had been playing cat-and-mouse with which Western Conference teams he expected to make the playoffs, but he finally revealed some of his thoughts. "I only had like four teams I felt were really going to be top-notch teams up at the top of the group. Maybe five," Jackson said. "But I did think Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Denver are legitimate teams that are going to come in. I think Minnesota will rebound, even thought they've had a hard start." Jackson characterized the Lakers and Clippers as teams that will be chasing the final three playoff spots in the West.
If he averages 35+ points a game and shoots at a decent FG%, the Lakers will make the playoffs. Problem is, his utter domination of that team will stunt the development of the other players. This is what I want to happen. Without Shaq, Kobe is the new AI and the Lakers are worse off for it.
Kobe is on a MISSION this year. He looks to be in good shape, he looks mentally prepared and looks to be on the same page as Phil Jackson. I think he will win the scoring title and the NBA MVP and the Lakers will make the playoffs. Whether you like him or not, you have to admit hes probably the most talented guy in the NBA. And the closet thing to Jordan that I've ever seen. I don't think Kobe is a bad guy. He's usually fairly quiet and soft spoken, nothing like TO. He made a mistake and banged some chick who wanted his money and didn't see eye to eye with Shaq and all of the sudden everyone hates the guy.
If you've watched lakers games this year you will see that he is involving his teammates more and is listening to Phil. Sometimes people do grow up and change ya know.
maybe i've underestimated the triangle (just like i may have underestimated Titanic after watching it the other night for the first time since the theaters). i always just viewed it as an offense that created great spacing (which is nice), but when run by the lakers was nothing more than a glorified spokes and wheel offense. but watching some of the first 4 games, kobe is scoring 35+ with relative ease. he's not just dominating the ball and putting up a ton of shots. he's getting shots in the flow (a lot of them, but in the flow) and putting up big numbers doing it. he doesn't seem to expend near the energy putting up 35 that he did last year. granted, it's only been 4 games but they've played denver twice and the suns once, so they're not just beating scrubs.
I am not going to get into debate of JVG vs. Phil jackson but I will say this..... Tmac and Yao combo is built for triangle offense. Their games fit perfectly with that system. Phil Jackson knows this, which is why he was lobbying this past summer to coach them.
I am not saying one coach is better than other coach. Each runs his own offense and they are both effective at what they do. What I am saying is that the games of Tmac and Yao are better suited to the Triangle offense. It would be beautiful to watch JVG run Triangle on offense and his usual sets on defense.
...and he scores 37 ppg and everyone loves the guy. I'll pass, thanks. He's still a phony and a jerk.
It pains me to say this, but Kobe is looking like an MVP. 36.5 PPG,5.80 RB,4.8 AST and shoots better then 50% from the field and lead their division with a 3-1 record. Its hard for anyone to argue with those stats. I admit, as much as I hate Kobe, he's looking like the best player in the NBA right now. He's doing everything and his teammates are playing their role like how it should be. He's basically carrying the whole team on his sholder. How long do you guys think he will keep this up? Damn, T-MAc doesn't come back soon enough.
