Kobe is the best shooting guard in the NBA. His ability to get a shot off against incredible defenders is still tops among guards. Some guards can get a shot off, but they can't make them. I believe Kobe said he shot thousands of jumpers a day during a summer off to hone his jumpshot. Ray Allen can make a shot, but the guy lets guys like Bruce Bowen bother him. Peja can get locked down by JJ. That's poor. Vince Carter is widely known for having problems with Bowen. Only individual defender who I've seen bother Kobe on the defensive end is Tayshawn Prince due to his length. He killed Bowen and Hassell. My guess is the battles between Lakers and the Rockets will be rife with tension. TMac and Kobe are battling. Rudy T butts heads with his successor. Yao is not going to be the focal point anymore in those games.
Actually, they could have beaten Detroit if Malone didn't get hurt. But then of course, they wouldn't have beaten Minnesota if Cassell didn't get hurt.
Not really. Shaq had one bad game and one decent game. The rest were pretty good. Look it up on yahoo. Kobe, on the other hand, shot well below 50% in every game except one.
An update w/ the Kobe/Allen fiasco... http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/196836_sonx26.html Kobe's beef with Allen simmering Lakers star remains upset over preseason comments SAN DIEGO -- Ray Allen was missing, out with a stiff lower back, and that made a mismatch out of the Sonics' preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers last night. But even his absence from the floor couldn't take all the spice out of the team's first game against the Lakers and guard Kobe Bryant since Allen said Bryant played selfishly in the preseason opener on Oct. 12. Allen and Bryant came face-to-face with 3:18 left in the first quarter when Bryant chased a ball out of bounds in front of Allen, who sat on the Sonics bench in slacks and a shirt. "I'll see you again," Bryant said to Allen. It was the most exciting exchange in a one-sided game, which the Lakers won 117-91. "It was funny," Allen said of the exchange after the game. "We laughed. I'll leave it at that." He declined to discuss the issue further. "It's a dead issue to me," he said. The teams play for the first time in the regular season in Seattle on Dec. 14. Bryant played only nine minutes, scored two points and had two assists. "I'm tired of talking about Ray, to be honest with you," Bryant said afterward. "I'm tired of talking about Ray. Next question." As Bryant walked away from the bench after the first-quarter exchange, Sonics center Jerome James shouted to Bryant to go occupy himself with something else (in less-than-kind fashion). Lamar Odom looked at the bench and said, "He started it though," motioning his head toward Allen. "He knows he started it." The conversation was more noteworthy than anything that happened on the court. The Lakers led by 11 points less than 10 minutes into the game, were up 23 at halftime and never let the lead drop below 17 in the second half. Allen did not practice on Sunday in San Diego because of his back, which has bothered him since the team's preseason game in Spokane on Oct. 17. Allen said it hurts to stand up straight, but he would have at least warmed up and tried to play if it was the regular season. He said he is unlikely to play in tonight's preseason game in Phoenix and will have his back examined when the team returns to Seattle. As for missing last night's matchup with Bryant? "This is preseason," Allen said before the game. "We play each other four times during the year. I won't get my drawers in a twist over this game." Allen's absence left the Sonics without their top three scorers from last season. Rashard Lewis is with the team, but out indefinitely with plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Guard Ronald Murray is still in Seattle, undergoing treatment for a quadriceps injury. With a weakened lineup, it wasn't surprising the Sonics spent most of the first half trailing by double digits, especially after they committed five turnovers in the first five minutes. Bryant had little to do with the outcome. He had a basket in the first quarter, but Caron Butler scored 18 of the Lakers' 29 points in the opening period. Bryant scored 35 points in the first preseason game against the Sonics, who won behind Allen's 25 points. The day after that game, Allen said that Bryant had played selfishly and had come out to prove that he didn't need center Shaquille O'Neal, who was traded to the Miami Heat this summer. Allen said that Bryant may win the league's scoring title, but the Lakers' success would depend upon the development of teammates. "Is his attitude going to allow him to take a back seat and let Lamar Odom shine and let Caron Butler have his nights and bring those big guys along with him?" Allen asked rhetorically on Oct. 13. The Lakers played a preseason game in Las Vegas on Sunday night, and before the game a group of Los Angeles reporters were present when Bryant was asked about Allen, and responded with several profanities. "Don't put me and him in the same sentence," Bryant was quoted as saying in the Los Angeles Times. As for a personal rivalry, Allen said it wasn't on his mind. "I don't know Kobe," Allen said. "I have no personal problems with him whatsoever. When I play him, I try to play my best as well as I know he does. That's it." Yesterday's exchange showed that Bryant might feel a little more personal about it.
Didn't Allen have some problems with George Karl and Glenn Robinson as well? Still, he seems 10 x classier to me than Kobe. More and more, I think Kobe is a psycho.
I don't really see what the big deal is. Kobe gets motivated to play the game in a different way than Ray does, big deal. It seems to have worked for him so far, moreso than Ray. Non-issue.
I feel like a loner when I'm pro-Kobe in this Shaqless-era. The guy has more talent then anyone in the league. Everyone doubted him when he was younger and he rose to the top of the league. If you want to talk about over-rating players, let's talk about Shaq. Shaq is great. Demands alot of double and triple teams because of his size, strength and mobility. But Miami gave up their WHOLE team when they finally had a great group of players molding together. In the weak East, look for more and more people to fall off of the Miami/Shaquille bandwagon.
I like kobe as a player. not as a person but you can't deny that he played a very team oriented game last night. That block he had on andre miller after fouling up on the offensive end was a very good example of leading the team. I'm going to have to put aside this false hatred for him as a person since I don't know him at all except from what the media reveals to us and definitely just judge him on his game which so far is looking very good. Tough to like the guy but also tough to hate him too. He just does some amazing things that you just can't hate him for.
