Battier needs to mix up his defense on Kobe a little instead of just sticking his hands to block Kobe's eyes (too predictable for Kobe). He needs to surprise him by going for the ball and actually try to block it sometime. When Kobe shoots, Shane should try a good hard poke at Kobe's eye and pretend it was a accident (like Kobe's elbow to Artest's throat). That should affect Kobe's shooting for the night. Have you guys been poke in the eye before? You know how that feels for the day. But Shane is a very nice guy...nice guys never finish first. Flame away.
i clearly remember how Nate Robinson poked in Yao's eye couple of years ago and got away with it, Nate Robinson is a thug whereas Shane is a gentleman though.
I agree, if Kobe's gonna be taking 20-30 shots a game with the majority of them with a hand shooting up in his face like that, he's gonna get used to it. There's really not that much Shane can do since he's no straight up shot blocker and he's too busy chasing kobe most of the time to try a swipe as the ball's being brought up.
I don't agree with poking Kobe in the eyes, even though I don't like him anymore, this is still basketball, a game...people need their eyes for life. But Battier's face guarding has become his defense of choice, instead of really harassing Kobe a little more. For one, like the OP said, I think he should actually try to block the shot more. Even though it probably won't happen, Kobe has to have on his mind that he is trying to do it in order to alter the path of some shots. Kobe knows that Battier is only going to try to put his hand in his face, so he can relax when shooting the ball with it's normal trajectory. Second, Battier needs to put some real hard fouls on Kobe when he drives past him in the lane. Nothing dirty, but hard ones that send Kobe to the floor for sure. None of that grab your jersey or hit the elbow on a shot crap. Make Kobe know that if you beat me off the dribble, Im going to knock your arse to the floor and you ain't getting no layups! Third, I see Battier doing this some, but he needs to work even harder to keep Kobe from even getting the ball. This will frustrate Kobe even more and make him be more aggressive because he will get less touches. Then when he does get the ball, send Ron immediately to double team and take the ball out of Kobe's hands completely. His team mates will then have to beat us and Kobe will get frustrated if they miss a few shots and we take a lead. Last but not least, Battier needs to import some acting skills and do some flopping on those moving screens that Gasol and Bynum set out on the perimeter. He needs to run hard after Kobe because they always set a moving screen and Battier needs to have momentum going so that he can fall hard to the floor as soon as Gasol or Bynum move into him as they always do. That's my two cents. We can't let Kobe come out tomorrow and score 10-15 points in the first quarter and give his team tremendous confidence that they can win that game as well. When they have Kobe going like that, they all know that they can relax and just spend all of their energy on defense because Kobe will carry the offense and they will get easy buckets in transition or wide open threes. We need to make them work harder on both ends of the court.
I think Shane should elbow Kobe in the throat to avenge Artest. Let's see how he feels, when his Adam's Apple gets hit.
The title is incorrect. In the NBA playoffs, the nice guys do finish first, the bad guys will carry on
No. Battier does not need to play outside his game. Kobe was not the reason we lost, and after the first quarter Battier locked him down pretty well. We lost because of us. We can play our game and win, if we actually get the ball where it is supposed to go. In general, no one here has the right to blame anyone but the rockets. This was our game, and we effed it up.
I disagree with the idea of poking him in the eye. Then, he would pretend to get poked every time he plays Shane. But, I do agree that Shane's D is weak and predictable so far. There have been NO HARD fould whatsoever on Kobe. He needs to feel some pain. Also, in the first quarter last night, Ron had the opportunity to dive for the ball when Wafer knocked it back towards the Rox basket. Instead, he tried to pick t up and we lost the ball to the Fakers. We need to play tougher if we're going to win. And, it'll have to be someone other than Ron that plays the enforcer. Too bad Deke and his iron elbows are riding the pine. Deke could send a nice message.
I really don't have a problem with Battier's defense. I only wish he was a little more versatile on offense. I know he is expending a lot of energy guarding Kobe but JVG is right a little more involvement on the offensive end is needed to make Kobe work on defense.
It not nice guy never wins. Nobody can stop Kobe in this league if he goes nuts. Nice has nothing to do with it. Battier did what he can and tried avoid fouling. Kobe is that good. I guess the only thing I can try is swarm him like JVG used to do, but then that will leave other lakers open and Kobe will find them. It's tough.
you have to destroy Kobe from within... the best way is to make him think it's not worth "showing up" for the game... the guy thrives under pressure which is the reason he's dangerous. He's an adrenaline junkie.
As the primary Kobe defender, Battier would never do that. I am in favor of throwing different double/triple teams at Kobe and force him to give up the ball before he wants to. Once he gets to the paint and defenders collapse on him, it usually means trouble.
More like dumb guys never finish first. This is team ball and this team is full of mistake prone players.
Once again, Kobe shot 11 for 28 last night! That's 39% from the field which is terrible! He started 5 for 6 in the first quarter and shot 6 for 22 for the rest of the game. He was not the problem. Battier is doing a great job on him. We lost because of too many turnovers. Simple as that.
terrible examply. nate robinson went for the ball. it's crazy to suggest he went for the eye intentionally. why would he go for the eye when he can block the ball?
I agree that Battier is doing his job. The problem is no one else is helping him out. So many times I saw Battier make Kobe miss a tough shot and instead of the Rockets going to get the rebound, I see another laker going to get the offensive rebound for a basket. Just wasted efforts by Battier.
I was thinking of making a similar thered. We need to get physical with Kobe. You can't just let me drop 40 points on jumpers so easily. Each player has 6 fouls. If kobe gets hot, and the face contest continues to fail, then its time to poke his eye, hit his hands, drop on the floor; there's no other way to stop this guy
