How about we just ask Kobe who defends him the best, and then let that guy guard him? Seems like a foolproof plan to me. I mean, it's not like Kobe would be dishonest and prop up the inferior defender just to give him and his team a better chance of winning.
I thought he said in the offseason that Battier defends him the best. Its possible his opinion may have changed.
Well there ya go. Let Battier guard Kobe until Kobe says otherwise, regardless of how many huge games he has against Battier. Kobe wouldn't lie, right? His word is gospel when it comes to ranking defenders.
he knows kobe said that, he's just trying to imply kobe said that because he wants shane to keep guarding him...
According to Tim Donaghy's book, Raja Bell guards Kobe best. Bruce Bowen did a bang up job back in the day too.
Shane Battier is the most overated player on this forum. Some people worship him as if he's as good as Robert Horry. They claim that Battier is a winner while he has won nothing in the past years. Bruce Bowen plays better defense and he actually hit those corner 3s in the playoffs.
Battier worshippers probably had a minor heart attack after seeing this thread and the poll results. Meanwhile, Shane's value continues to decline.
I would've said "Battier" about 6 hours ago. Now I say Ariza. Battier has been mostly ineffective on Kobe the last several games, and while Kobe was off tonight due to his groin, Ariza was stripping and blocking him and generally guarding him extremely well all night. I think the best thing, though, is a combination of both of them switching every possession. Giving Kobe constantly different looks all night is the best way to effectively stop him.
Lol, Battier's hand in the face must be a league wide joke now, cos it is for me and friends watching the game at home. Watch Kobe's face whenever they put Battier on him, Dude starts smiling and licking his lips- as if Battier is fresh meat. I'm sure by now Kobe has practiced that hand in the face technique with pretty much everyone in his neighborhood and family
Mix it up. We got two excellent defenders, so there's no point picking one over the other. Kobe is starting to get used to Battier's hand in the face (which is why he went to the post in the first game). Ariza's length changes it up a bit, and makes it a bit more difficult for Kobe.
I have a radical plan to defend cobe Bryant. First Bryant is a supremely talented offensive player who is one of the best at shooting CONTESTED SHOTS. I'd even go to argue he gets more kick out of shooting contested shots then easy ones. So we have to put Kyle Lowry on him and use his speed to bother him. This is because Kobe won't respect Lowry and just think his gonna own him but lowry can use his footspeed to stop him getting the ball because i think once he gets it its all over as proven by Battier's "hand in the face". I think Battier's hand in the face is a superb defensive tactic and one that should be adopted by all players as it is the best way in contesting shots but its just simply not as effective against Kobe. I've watched the last 10 games in which Battier's been guarding Kobe and Battier plays superb defense but Kobe hits so bs shots. I attribute this to the fact that Kobe has a big ego. Battier has recently been praised for great defence and perhaps even a Kobe stopper. So every time the Lakers play the Rockets he gets a huge kick from knowing he can show the national media see this guy here.. he can't f***ing stop me!! All in all even though Lowry's defence will suprise Kobe and cause him to have a bad game or too, in the end its still useless if we vs them in a playoff series because he is just too good and will figure it out. We just have to rebound like today and do everything like today and hope Kobe goes cold.
Everyone knew the crowd will affect Trevor tonight, especially after the ring. But did anyone notice that Trevor affected Kobe in more ways than one, all pun intended
What's your point, a lot of players can shoot 3's better then Battier. I was merely refering to the fact that he has hit 3's in playoffs to help.
I said yes but that would mean he would most likely suffer on the offensive end because of it. I would like to see them alternate to keep Kobe guessing.
