Nice way to draw up a conspiracy... Kobe's been injured for most of this season with nagging injuries. The CORRECT assumption should be that his injuries were nagging him enough for him to play conservative. Plus... that conspiracy has bull **** written all over it. His body language still posed that he wanted to win. He was vocal and talking to his teammates even though he wasn't attempting shots. You would think if he was trying to prove a point to anyone that he would have a negative attitude towards the game.
"2004-05 • New rules were introduced to curtail hand-checking, clarify blocking fouls and call defensive three seconds to open up the game." source : http://www.nba.com/analysis/rules_history.html who did this impact the most? Lebron james statistics in 2003-2004, he shot .417 fg percent, .29 3p percent, and 3.46 turn overs a game. He averaged 20-5-5 for a losing cavs team and got rookie of the year which is questionable, his stats as you can see above are incredibly inefficient, he shot only 3 percent better than the infamous adam morrison rookie year percentage and almost led the league in turnovers and had one of the highest possessions per game, so basically he was force fed the ball. -What makes the nba agenda even more clear is Carmelo averaged a slightly more efficient and similar stat line of 21-6-3 and did so where he was the leader of a playoff team in the west. Yet it was not even a co-rookie of the year, the person with similar stats on the winning team took this one even though he was less efficient. Now, you see the rule change to 'open' up the game, and lebron the next year averaged 27-7-7 with a 47 percent shooting and 35 percent 3 point hike. As far as your question on if it affected kobe, the rule changes made it easier for perimeter players in general, while lebron was incredibly unsuccessful and inefficient with the rules that jordan and guards played with. Before the Hand-checking rule change, kobe averaged 24, 30, 25, and 28 on mostly over 45% fg, so he was rather successful and acquainted despite a much more physical game. So there are too many factors that determine statistics in terms of possessions, offensive systems and a large factor is era of play and the particular rules and agenda of the league. You can see on a recent Sports Illustrated player poll where Lebron was voted overrated by his peers and kobe bryant received no votes as a testimony that perhaps some of the actual players understand the rule change and the difference between skill and athleticism and feel that perhaps the nba hands lebron more than he had earned. Despite media hopping on his boat, there is another guy who seems to share this sentiment: http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3243645 There is no doubt that Lebron has improved his game especially this year, but theres also no doubt that the nba has given him a unique star treatment that might even has surpassed jordan's star treatment. Yet Jordan's point in the above article is that he went through his trouble and earned his 'partnership' in the league. Kobe started out on the bench and earned his way into stardom as well. It seems that before he played a game, he was labeled king and after an ineffective and deceptive rookie year, the nba had to hand him more perhaps than when he earned it. Many casuals and media love to see the stat line and use that as support for him, but they simply can not tell the whole story. Next is the common argument that lebron's team is inferior so therefore it is remarkable what he is doing. There is no doubt he carries the team ,but in the end of the day basketball is about cohesiveness. Putting stars together does not guarantee winning a championship such as the pistons beating the clearly more individually talented lakers when they had 4 hall of famers in their line up. Lebron's team is filled with specialist who although not individually talented, their skillsets fit lebron james's game and compliments his strengths to bring the best out in each other and giving him room to do what he does best, drive. And, what if he has trouble driving due to fundamental traveling issues? Well, NBA got his back: http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/57874/20090313/nba_may_make_crab_dribble_rule_change/ After I told you, the NBA is evolving, as billions more are on the line, its not as much about the sport as it is about creating entertainment. They need their stars and they need their statistics to create the illusion of a golden era in sports to remain competitive and back up the hype. Thats why for the first time ever you are seeing euro and international ball actually being more physical thanNBA ball and you see some of our less skilled and more athletic stars not being able to do what they normally do in the international stage. Also keep in mind, FIBA has rejected the adjustment of these rules that the NBA has changed clearly indicate their star agenda while FIBA has kept importance in the purity of the original game. The best statistics in the nba are clearly held by lebron, but we saw in USA when the they needed to win in the Olympics who ended up coming through in a stage where star calls are not supported. This certainly doesn't take away from how unique of a player lebron is, he is physically probably the most dominating presence the NBA has ever seen and has a unique skill set and potential to be one of the greatest, however its discouraging to see it go down this path of in my opinion hindering that potential. Unfortunately that is just the state of the game for better or worse it caters to the majority of the casual fans who get excited by such.
Kobe was in the middle of his prime the year before the rule changes were instituted. LeBron was a rookie, playing straight out of high school. Do you understand the difference?
.........my response is this very year's Tyreke. Was pretty much force-fed the ball (hence why everyone's been comparing him to the Franchise) in order to get his stats as demonstrated in Sacramento's game against us, got 20-5-5, and failed to get his teams remotely near the playoffs while Jennings has been a major factor in the Bucks playing far better than anyone thought they would. yet Tyreke had the award wrapped up by February. Does this mean that the NBA decided to explicitly favor Tyreke? European players are more physical than NBA players. ...................................................... Good god, Kobe fans might possibly be dumber than Tracy fans.
or The Cat -- Mobley or Tmac of Europe -- Vspan or Brokeback Novak -- Steve Novak or Syphilis Willis -- Kevin Willis or Quitten -- Broke ass punk These are some name that are too good for the player itself (cept of mobley, he aite!)
The name "king" is nothing to do with a ring.Off the court ,absolutely,lbj is a king on the eyes of bussinessmen.
Man this thread did a complete 180 from the first post. What started out as one of the worst threads, ended up giving me a whole lot of laughs.
Ofcourse anytime you imply Lebrons more hype than great his fans hyperventilate. I understand ur position
with the right mix of talent around him, there is no feat lebron james cannot accomplish. he is k i n g
Or look at it this way.. with the right mix of talent in LerBon, Wade, Dirk and Howard, this is no feat Brooks cannot accomplish :grin: at least in terms of championships
Kobe Lover is irratating as hell. Bet you were one of the guys complaining about Durant's "star treatment" the previous round as well. Bynum = Old Shaq Pau Gasol>>>Antawn Jamison Artest<<<<<Lebron Kobe>>>>>>Antony parker Fisher<Mo Williams (not by much though; clutch playoff vet vs. choker?) 6th Man: Odom>>>>>>Delonte West Most annoying player: Sasha<<<Sideshow Bob So you're saying the Cavs are still better than the Lakers? Really?
Kevin Durant, in 07-08, averaged 20-4-3 on 43% fg, only 28.8% 3 pt(less than Lebron his first year), and 2.9 turnovers. The next year, he averaged 25-6.5-5.5 on 47% fg, 42% 3pt, and 3 to. What rule did they change? Oh yea, its the "every player gets better in their 2nd year" rule. Obviously, you didn't even bother to look at the stat trends of any other superstar so your argument isn't based on research, just hate.
when did Lebron James become public enemy # 1 around here? I couldn't care less about the guy or his team but I'm not going to discredit his greatness. I mean sure the OP has every right to hate the guy, but to predict he won't even make it to the Finals is kind of bold. so my question to the OP is if he DOES win this year, will you come back, apologize, then never post again?
29.7 ppg 8.6 apg 7.3 rpg Don't care what you think about him, that's a damn good stat line for a season. He is the most complete player in the game right now. Love him or hate him, he's already in the conversation for one of the best ever. The conversation ends when he gets his ring. I'm actually pulling a little for Cleveland this year. I'd love for them to sweep boston out of the playoffs.
None of what you say addresses the original post, which describes how Kobe just stopped shooting. Playing defense or being down a lot has nothing to do with deciding to suddenyl stop shooting. Kobe just passed the ball around the perimiter and wasn't aggressive at all. He quit pure and simple. Yes, LA was down with him scoring big and folks still needed to play defense but that's still no reason to quit. And blowing a 3-1 series lead is a pretty big deal.
