Sure Ron is slow, but there is no way Wafer would guard Kobe. He would take him back to school. I don't even want to think about that.
The reason we keep Shane on Kobe is because Shane can still come down the court on offense and get open the corner. We need Artest to do what he did in the last game and take the ball to the hole. If he is locked down on Kobe the whole game he will be way to tired to rack up the points needed to win these games. Battier is very effective on Kobe and everyone knows if he goes off it won't matter who is guarding him. We can't afford to not have Artest's offense in this series. Monday seems like a month away. I can't wait.
Battier not close, He guards Kobe the best out of all-time. I hope Artest is ok with this, I hope and he should guard his former AAU teammate Lamar Odom.
I think we can certainly give him some different looks defensively. Shane should be option numero uno, though. Artest is best when he's guarding a guy that can be bullied out of playing well. That's not Mamba.
Battier is better at playing around pick n' rolls. He is also much more disciplined on defense than Artest. Artest won't be able to get steals on Kobe very often. He'll pick up unnecessary fouls. I think his physicality would be better served against Ariza and Odom. Wear those guys down some. I know he is a little short to play Odom, but Odom won't be able to isolate vs. him from the top like he can vs. Scola or Landry. Battier will atleast make Kobe make shots over him and will do a better job of staying in front of him and contesting his shot. Also Battier will do a better job of guarding Bryant off the ball. Lastly, Battier is smart enough to not piss off Kobe Bryant in the Playoffs by verbally attacking him. He has the ability to frustrate him on the court with his defense, but he knows not to insult Kobe by talking mess to him I'm sure RA will rather use both of them to give Kobe different looks, but I think he should try them both out on him in the first quarter and stick with the guy who does better on that particular day. However, I think Battier will start out on Kobe, then when he gets his break at the 2 minute mark of the first, Artest will take over on Kobe, and then they'll alternate from then on, depending on foul situation and Kobe's scoring. A defense I would like to see is to double Kobe occasionally. Make Gasol and Odom beat us. Make Ariza hit 3's consistently. We know kobe can beat us. Why let him?
ahhaha what a freaking JOKE.. T-mac? When did he ever play Defense lol! get out of here with that homer crap
I kind agree with that. Just it did not work last time. Put Ron on Kobe actually push Kobe to the edge ( a better scoring edge). Kobe is skilled type player, need a skilled defender like Battier on him all the time till the end of game, with Ron's assist ( if Odom is not on the court) On the other hand, LeBron James is power type player and Ron is a good fit to guard him with Battier's assist.
I say shane because when shane gets scored on by kobe, he wont try and turn it into a 1 on 1 game, due to his pride.....artest takes it personally and tries to mach kobe point for point when that is impossible
So far this poll is following form similar to the Brandon Roy poll: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=166882
Perhaps we should try Lowry on him. If you assume that Kobe is unguardable, it is a waste to put your best defender on him. Try to shut everyone else down. Lowry is quick and strong-has about as much chance as anyone else. Then Shane and Ron can double from time to time.
