KOBE SABATOGES GAMES?

Read the following ESPN article. I don't know about you guys, but I think this is one of those mind games Phil is playing. Do you really think Kobe would sabatoge games, or do think Jackson is making this who thing up? That is pretty low for any coach. In my opinion the reason why Kobe is bored is because Phil is a boring coach to play with (it is his way or the highway).


Bryant still not buying into triangle offense

ESPN.com news services

Phil Jackson likes to hand out books to his players for
inspiration. Apparently, he's still trying to find the right one for
Kobe Bryant.

It has been well documented that the Lakers coach and his
All-Star guard don't share the same philosophies of offense.
Specifically, Bryant is unhappy with his role in Jackon's vaunted
triangle offense.

Bryant's season-long feud with Shaquille O'Neal about who
should be the focus of the Lakers' offense has been the biggest
problem Jackson has had to deal with this season.

In an interview with Chicago Sun-Times columnist Rick Telander
published Wednesday, Jackson discussed Bryant's reluctance to
accept the purpose of the triangle offense – which is to
distribute the ball among teammates.

"The other day I said to Kobe, 'What's the problem?' " Jackson
said. "He said, 'The game's too boring for me. The offense is so
simple. It doesn't display my talent.' I said, 'I realize that. But
we're trying to win games with the least amount of things going
wrong, the fewest injuries, the least fatigue.' He said, 'But it
doesn't give me what I have to have for my game.' "

Jackson had given Bryant a copy of Corelli's Mandolin, a 1994
novel by Louis De Bernieres. The book is the story of a tiny
Greek island occupied by the Italian army during World War II. It
touches on the adaptiveness of a tight-knit community.

"Kobe's a real Mediterranean kid," Jackson was quoted as
saying. "I thought the book would be a good look at the culture
he's attached to. It's a beautiful book. Tragic. But he didn't like
it. Last year I gave him a book by Paul Beatty, White Boy Shuffle,
about a black youth who grows up in a white community. But
Kobe had no affinity for it. He's not willing to let someone else's
ideas penetrate his mind.

"The point of the book was that you can't always dictate the
terms of what your life is going to be," Jackson said. "Those
Greeks are going to be overrun and organized by the Italians.
So they learn how to win by losing, in a way. 'We are going to be
occupied, now how do we get along?' "

The point apparently is lost on Bryant, Jackson said.

"Kobe's having a hard time with the triangle offense this year.
Not last year. Last year he could hardly wait to get to the spot
on the floor where Michael Jordan had been. He wanted to be
Michael. But it's a different team this year. We don't have a
Scottie Pippen for him, the guy who allowed Michael to be
Michael. That's the cross Kobe has to bear."

Jackson then added: "Someone told me that in high school,
Kobe used to sabotage his own games. So the game could be
close. So he could dominate at the end. To sabotage the team
process, to be so self-centered in your own process .. it's
almost stupefying."

Jackson said that recent on-court disturbances with Bryant
might not reflect their total relationship, however.

"It's not butting heads at all," Jackson said. "We had one
interchange on Monday night. He was upset at his teammates. I
told him he had no right to be upset with his teammates. He
made the pass from up in the air. That wasn't even
contentious."




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