MVP, But Not Without Weakness
Early in the life of RespectKobe.com, reader Pipo made an interesting suggestion for a future article: Kobe Bryant’s weaknesses. I thought it was a great idea, because this website was created with the purpose of dissecting and debunking many of the false criticisms lobbied against Kobe Bryant — and as such, exposing Kobe’s weaknesses are not usually my priority. Let me admit one thing right up front: I think that Kobe Bryant has very few weaknesses on the court. But I firmly believe that there is no such thing as perfection, and that even the greatest — at anything — have weaknesses. And I think it’s important that my readers understand that I do not think Kobe is God. I do not think he can do no wrong. I mentioned Pipo’s idea to Matt at Hardwood Paroxysm, and he had yet another suggestion — or perhaps it was more of a challenge. Write the article immediately after Kobe Bryant won the MVP Award this season. Gauntlet thrown down; gauntlet picked up. Apologies to Pipo for taking 3 months to write an article I had promised “within the next couple of weeks.” Blame Matt for that! Kobe Bryant: MVP and Best Basketball Player Alive, But Not Without Weaknesses Kobe Bryant is good at most things on the court. He has, without a doubt, the most complete and well-rounded basketball skill set currently in existence. He is, and has been for the last half-decade, the best player in the world, and he is this season’s MVP — and he is completely deserving of that honor. But he is not without weakness, even on the hardwood court that he so thoroughly dominates. There will be time — very soon, I promise — to celebrate his MVP season. But right now, I want to focus on four of Kobe’s on-court weaknesses. In order of importance, here are the areas in which I’d like to see him continue to improve. Complaining About Fouls Kobe Bryant is well known for complaining about calls. He probably complains about plays in which he feels he was fouled more than anyone not wearing black and silver. (For the record, Tim Duncan is the only player I’m aware of that can actually receive the call, and still turn and complain to the referees.) Lakers fans and Bryant’s critics alike have often cited Kobe’s penchant for staying back and arguing with the refs while his team plays 4-on-5 defense, and this season he led the league in technical fouls and came very close to earning a 1-game suspension (automatic after a player accrues 16 technical fouls in the regular season). From a certain perspective, his complaining is fully justified. No player of Bryant’s stature — no, not even LeBron — absorbs more un-called contact on a regular basis than Bryant. (I’m sure James fans will disagree, but in the absence of any significant statistical data to settle any potential dispute, James fans and I will simply have to agree to disagree.) Now, don’t get me wrong. Bryant does get his share of star calls. It’s nothing like the special treatment Dwyane Wade has received in recent years, and nowhere near Michael Jordan’s level, but he certainly does get his share of superstar calls. I am not saying he doesn’t. I am simply saying that the non-calls easily outnumber the superstar calls. You know what? I don’t care. I don’t care if he never receives another “superstar call” in his life,” while at the same time continuing to absorb high amounts of contact that isn’t called. He needs to stop complaining. First, it’s important for Bryant to set a good example for his teammates. When he complains a lot, his teammates do the same. And if his teammates follow his lead in complaining constantly about the officiating, this Lakers team can easily become more focussed on what’s not going in their favor than they are on what they need to do. I’m a firm believer in the idea that officiating should never be to blame for a loss. And let’s get one thing straight: there will always be officiating errors. (Note: It’s not because the officials are bad at their jobs or because there is some grand conspiracy; it’s because it’s a ridiculously difficult job, and it’s not possible to do it perfectly.) Great teams overcome adversity, and that includes imperfect officiating. How do they do that? By getting over it, focusing on what they need to do to win, and executing their game plan well. Any team that spends too much time as a unit complaining about the officiating is worrying too much about external factors to be able to focus on what it needs to do in order to win. The fact is, I believe that hitting his own mute button would serve Kobe very well. I suspect that the sheer volume and tone of his complaining rubs the referees the wrong way, and that may be part of the reason for which he absorbs so many non-calls. In fact, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that if Kobe stops complaining about the officiating — and hell, maybe even applauds the refs from time to time — he will actually get the benefit of more foul calls than he does now. Now, a few things must be said in Bryant’s favor. First, he really had cut back on his complaining early in this season. It was something that coach Phil Jackson repeatedly emphasized with the entire team, and especially Kobe, throughout the entire summer. Unfortunately, he went back to his old ways as the season progressed, though it is not as extreme as it was in the last couple of years. (Note: This may be because he is so much happier, and enjoying himself so much more, than in recent years.) But I want to see him stop complaining for good. Second, it must be said that some of Kobe’s technical fouls — some say as many as half — have come when arguing with the referees on behalf of his teammates. That’s something else, entirely. I fully advocate Kobe Bryant standing up for his teammates. It makes them feel valued and boosts their confidence, and it’s part of being a good leader. I still think that he needs to be careful with it — he can’t allow it to get to the point where his teammates take on a complaining attitude. But as long as he doesn’t let it get there, he can stand up for his teammates all he wants. Despite all of that, he still finds far too much time to complain about the calls he doesn’t receive (and sometimes about those called against him). It needs to stop. And if it does, I’m predicting positive results. The Spin & Strip Kobe Bryant is a fantastic ball handler. It has been 12 years, but I am still awed every time I see him snake and squeeze between defenders, twisting in every direction and weaving his way through half-court traffic, finding a way to the basket where there had been none. His turnover rate is not particularly low, but it is not unacceptably high, either. True, he’s no Chris Paul when it comes to protecting the ball — that kid rarely ever turns the ball over — but Bryant and LeBron James averaged nearly identical turnover numbers this season. It’s how he turns the ball over that bother me. In February of this year, 82games.com published an analysis of the league leaders in various types of turnovers. At the time, the analysis showed that while Bryant and James had identical turnover averages, James was in the top 10 in the NBA in turnovers from bad passes, while Bryant was in the top 10 in “lost ball” turnovers. (Unfortunately, I don’t have up-to-date numbers, as 82games.com doesn’t regularly update these statistics; however, I think it’s safe to assume that a personal tendencies that had shown surfaced after 51/2 months probably hold true after 81/2.) These numbers tell us two things. First, it tells us that Bryant performs well, compared to his peers, with regards to passing turnovers, while lost ball turnovers are a weakness of his. Kobe and LeBron, in fact, seem to be exact opposites; they turn the ball over at a nearly identical rate, but LeBron needs to make safer passes, while Kobe needs to improve his handle. I have no statistical data that differentiates between varying types of lost ball steals, but from my own observation, I’d suggest that Bryant turns the ball over far more often by being stripped either after he spins or once he’s in the air than he does by having his dribble picked off. In particular, this seems to happen the most when he completes a spin move and then immediately elevates towards the basket. My assumption is that, while his back is turned, the defense seems to be able to track the ball and make a swipe at it before he gets his bearing and sees them going for it. The second thing these numbers tell us is that Bryant has an opportunity to really improve his turnover rate. His passing turnover are already at an acceptable level, but his lost ball turnovers account for 39% of his turnovers. If he were to reduce this number by half, it would improve his turnover average from 3.43 turnovers per game to 2.76 per game — an excellent number for such a high usage player. (For comparison, Chris Paul averaged 2.51 turnovers per game this year.) I’d like to see Kobe significantly reduce his tendency to be stripped of the basketball, thereby improving his overall turnover rate from “acceptable” to “excellent.” When Cold, Stop Shooting No, I don’t mean that when Kobe Bryant is not shooting well, he should stop taking shots altogether. To be more specific, when he’s not shooting well, Kobe needs to stop taking jumpshots. Every player has nights when they shoot poorly, and Bryant is no exception. When players of Bryant’s caliber have such a night, the color commentators often point out that just one or two made shots — even a couple of made free throws — can get them back on track again. (Recently for Bryant, it was a shove from behind.) With that in mind, it’s understandable that the best players, when struggling, will try to “shoot themselves back into the game,” feeling that if they can hit one or two shots, they can find their shot and “get hot” again. There is nothing wrong with this. But in these circumstances, when a made basket is the highest priority, it should follow that the player should attempt high percentage shots — and the highest percentage shots are free throws and those close to the basket. Those are the types of shots Kobe should be taking when he’s having a bad shooting night. And to get those kinds of shots, he needs to drive hard towards the basket, hoping for either a close shot or a foul. But too often, when his shot isn’t falling, Bryant tries to jumpshoot his way back into the game, and it’s a strategy that rarely works. When it comes to driving into the paint, getting high percentage shots, and drawing fouls, Kobe’s among the best in the league. When his shot isn’t falling, that needs to become his primary strategy. Inconsistent Assisting This may be a small thing, but I’ve noticed that often times, Bryant’s assists come in bunches. Early in the season, it seemed that he would regularly tally between five and seven assists in the first half, but then only one or two in the second. Sometimes, he’ll register four or five assists in under four minutes of game time, picking his opponents apart (see: Utah, Game 4, final 3:59 of regulation). But sometimes, when he plays that way, I find myself wondering why he doesn’t do so more often, and more consistently. Now, I’m quite certain that it’s all about keeping the defense off balance. Whenever they focus too much on Bryant, he finds his teammates. When they play off of him, he punishes them by scoring on his own. As a result, the defense is never able to get comfortable; they’re always kept guessing. Nonetheless, I wonder what would happen if Kobe focused more on being consistent in passing and seeking to set his teammates up for easy baskets. That said, I do want to make one point: assists are not what matters, and they do not tell the whole story. We cannot get a complete sense of a player’s passing simply by looking at the asssist totals. And frankly, I’m not concerned with Kobe’s assist numbers. I’m talking about his passing, and in particular, his ability to set his teammates up for easy baskets. If it results in higher assist totals, that’s great. If it doesn’t, that’s fine, too. Now, I may be stepping beyond my bounds with this one. Certainly, Kobe knows much better than I do how to exploit the defense, keep them on their toes, and create easy offensive opportunities. Phil Jackson has said that Bryant excels at feeling out the flow of a game. There is no player better at reading defenses and setting up his teammates to exploit weaknesses. I’m also a large advocate of the Triangle Offense, and on more than one occasion I have explained that the Triangle, and the exquisite passing that it fosters, prevent one player from dominating the ball — including in assists. I also know that the Triangle Offense is designed to allow players to play off of Kobe Bryant, and that depends on him being a lethal scoring threat. Nonetheless, I’m curious to see what would happen if Bryant made setting his teammates up his primary focus for a significant period of time — we’re talking games, not quarters — much like he did with defense for Team USA during the FIBA tournament. Not Perfect There you have it. From my perspective, those are his weaknesses. If you were expecting to see his attitude, his supposed selfishness, or his less-than-perfect behavior in the press, you’re probably disappointed. To be frank, I don’t consider those weaknesses. (Don’t worry — those are all things I’ll get to, in time.) But he’s not perfect; no one is. These are the areas I consider his weaknesses. They are few, but they exist, and they are areas in which he can improve to become an even better all around player. What do you think — have I missed something? Let me know in the comments, below. |
Filed Under Kobe Bryant, Lakers, LeBron James, MVP, Statistics, Teammate, assists, complaining, officiating, poor shooting, referees, turnovers, weaknesses |
Yet another great piece.
I think you pinpointed Kobe’s greatest weaknesses very well, except for the "Inconsistent Assisting" part. I, too, wonder how Kobe would do playing the point role in an offense like those the Hornets and Cavs run (albeit how easy to adjust to those defenses are). But it’s precisely his ability to dish in bunches that keeps defenses guessing and allows him to put up the crazy scoring numbers he’s still doing, without shooting 20+ shots a game.
Even now, I’d still take Kobe shooting 18-22 shots a game than have him shoot 10-14 a game and dish the rock more. He’s just that much better than his teammates (seriously, all of a sudden the haters are calling Gasol a superstar and "the real Lakers MVP" when he was stuck out in hell, leading AND playing poorly for the Grizzlies).
I’d like to point out two more things that Kobe may want to work on, especially with the Lakers team as it is now. One would be a certain aspect of his defense, which is closing on outside shooters. The other is boxing out and more rebounding.
Closing Out
He’s always been a fantastic man-on-man defender (when he wants to be), but when he plays help D and his opponents kick it out to open shooters, he needs to work on recovering and a) getting a hand in their face and b) effect their shot without fouling.
He’s had alot of his fouls (though he doesn’t get defensive fouls often) closing out on three-point shooters both this and last season. Either that, or 50% of the time he’s late or completely absent on close-outs. He does exceptionally well closing on mid-range jumpers, but it’s the beyond-the-arc shots that he either doesn’t try to contest or fumbles. He does a great job of recovering and staying in front of his man if the guy fakes the shot and attempts to drive, but if it’s a jump shooter from range (guys like Peja, Bowen, even Okur and Korver in the current series), he gets burned alot due to late close outs.
Lamar does a great job at closing on outside shots (hand high contesting shot, hand and forearms blocking shooter’s view) without fouling. Likewise for D-Fish, and even Sasha. But Walton, Farmar, Radmonavic, and even Gasol (to a lesser extent) are all very poor at this (I can’t even begin to count the number of times Walton, Farmar, and Rad-man would fly by the side of a shooter without even affecting their shot).
The Lakers play alot of rotating help-d, and alot of our guys are poor on closing-out to the arc defensively (we got burned by a lot of 3-pt shooters this year, especially those losses to the Hornets, which could be critical to championship hopes this or following seasons).
If Kobe gets better (or just puts in the effort) at it, I believe the Lakeshow would cut at least 3 points off our opponent’s scoring averages, just by working on that one part of his rotation defense. That would have put this year’s team at a whopping 10 ppg win differential, which could (theoretically) have thrown ‘em up towards a 65+ win season.
Rebounding
Not saying that Kobe’s a poor rebounder. In fact, we all know that, if he wants it, he usually gets it, even against a guy he’s giving up almost 3 inches and 30-40 pounds to (LeBron). IMHO, it’s that he leaks out for the fast break too much, especially with the way the team is now (no Bynum).
However, I’ve noticed that Gasol tends to leak out on the break, or fail to box out his man. He relies too much on his length to grab rebounds (whereas Odom uses both, though Lamar is just too thin compared to alot of the bigs in the league). This isn’t just a knock on the rebounding problems in the current Lakers-Jazz series, but has been a big problem ever since Gasol got here. Turiaf does a great job defending the paint and boxing out, but he can only do so much.
Instead of leaking out for the fast break along with Fisher and Sasha / Farmar / Walton / Radmonavic (or whomever), I would love to see Kobe work harder on the defensive boards, and help box out on Boozer, Krilenko, and any of the other SF’s and PF’s we’ll be facing in the Conference Finals and the Finals (Lakers in June baby!). Just by finding a guy and boxing out would be huge, especially against teams like the Jazz, Hornets, Cavs, and Celtics.
Even if he doesn’t get the rebound, he’d help Pau and Lamar get theirs, and I’d still take bets on all comers that all three could beat their guys to the other end on a break if need be. This is a wild guess, but I think it would increase the Laker’s defensive rebounding by a huge margin (especially because it allows Pau to avoid the bruising and use his length to grab a extra couple boards per game). Even if it’s 2-3, that’s another 2 ppg or so off an opponent’s points via putbacks.
Incidentally, 12 ppg would be roughly heaven for Kobe…a chance to tie or exceed 72-10 =)
@JTbatahk,
Thanks. Yeah, like I said, I may be overstepping my bounds with the “inconsistent assisting” part. In reality, Kobe probably is just keeping the defense guessing, and he does it exceptionally well. At the very least, I’m still curious to see what would happen if he played that role for an extended period. Say, 10 games. I’d just be interested to see the results. Maybe I’d be wrong.
I agree with you on closing out on 3-point shooters, but not so much on rebounding. I, too, have noticed Kobe’s tendency to go flying at a 3-point shooter… and then finish by flying into them. It’s definitely something he could improve on. I don’t think there’s much more to say on that, because I think you said it all pretty well.
Regarding rebounding, he’s actually an exceptional rebounder for his position. In the regular season, he was 2nd among shooting guards and 3rd among all guards in rebounding, with 6.3 rebounds per game. Only Jason Kidd and Mike Miller out-rebounded him at the guard positions. Jason Kidd is obviously a triple-double, rebounding freak of nature, and Mike Miller has at least 4 inches on Kobe.
In the post season, only Kidd and Tracy McGrady have out-rebounded Kobe at the guard positions. So, again, he’s 2nd among shooting guards and 3rd among all guards.
Furthermore, whenever he plays small forward, he averages double digit rebounding numbers.
Now, it is true that if he made it a focus, boxing out for rebounds instead of leaking out on the break, he could have higher rebounding numbers. However, this is not a Kobe issue, it’s a Phil Jackson issue. The fast break and early offense are things that PJ has incorporated into his triangle offense this year, and they have served the Lakers really well. In a fast-paced offense that gets out and runs a lot, the guards obviously lead the break (and with regards to offensive rebounding, the guards need to get back because they are the first line of defense against their opponents’ fast break). To tone down the break, slow down the game, and make Kobe more of a rebounder would be up to Phil Jackson, as it would be a fundamental change in the Lakers’ style of play.
Now, that could potentially solve some problems for the Lakers. Clearly, rebounding has been a weak point, so far. However, that’s an issue that Phil Jackson, not Kobe Bryant, will need to address.
Interestingly, I think that with the return of Bynum next year, both of these issues will be largely addressed. His shot blocking and overall presence will significantly improve the interior defense, while at the same time relieving Gasol from having to guard bigger (read: heavier, stronger) centers. In turn, with increased confidence in the interior defense, the perimeter players will be able to guard the perimeter with more confidence.
I think rebounding speaks for itself. Bynum and Odom are both double-digit rebounders, and Bynum’s presence will likely also make it easier for Gasol to rebound — again, he’ll be fighting shorter guys for rebounds, rather than taller, heavier, stronger centers. His height and length will help him a lot.
Given all that, the return of Bynum next year could very well lead to a very impressive record. Above the 70-win mark? Maybe, maybe not. But if Bynum can stay healthy, I’d say they can easily reach the 65-win mark.
(For that matter, the Lakers were 25-4 with Gasol in the lineup this year. That’s a .862 winning percentage, which translates to… 71 wins. Perhaps all we need to hit that mark is for Gasol to remain healthy. Add Bynum to the mix, and who knows what can happen?)
Good article, Josh.
I agree with all your points except for the rebounding one, like JT, and also with JT’s point on closing out three-point shooters.
Kobe Bryant’s weaknesses on the court are genuine, but there’s a silver lining–none of them are due to inability. In other words, Kobe can fix these weaknesses easily just simply by deciding to fix them. What makes Kobe amazing is his ability to do anything and everything. In contrast, many players have weaknesses because of their inability–Shaq’s inability to hit free-throws with a decent percentage, for example.
Now, even though Kobe can do everything well, he can still improve on them to make him one step closer to being a basketball god. For example, imagine if Kobe can hit three’s like Peja? I honestly think he can, but what prevents him from shooting a high-percentage shot, although still good, from behind the arc is that he’s often flustered emotions and thoughts when he takes them (my assumption). At this point, it’s all mental-psychological, not physical. If Kobe finds a way to enter the "Zen" at will (this, by the way, is different from getting hot. Getting hot derives from confidence that is sponsored by good emotional momentum. Getting into the "Zen" means inducing focus and confidence at will), he will be an even better ball handler, shooter, passer, and defender.
You know Josh. And I think I can speak for JTBatahk.
Over at Foxsports.com, there is a lot of Kobe hate. I guess you can say that there is a lot on every mainstream NBA blog.
Since the Lakers are in the Western Conference Finals now.
Out comes the Jordan comparisons once again.
They cant compare Kobe to Lebron anymore. They cant say he hasnt been thee best player in the league for the past 5 or 6 years. So they have to bring up Jordan.
I bring up the fact of not what the two did with future "Hall of Famers" on there team, I bring up what they’ve done without them.
Jordan 5 seasons - 1 playoff win 5 losing seasons .443 winning percentage. Playing with everybody from George Gervin and Charles Oakley to Jerry Stackhouse, Christian Laettner, Richard Hamilton, Larry Hughes, and of course Kwame.
Kobe 4 seasons - Western Conference Finals, with Pau Gasol. Dont have the winning percentage right now, has 12 playoff wins, and we all know what his team consisted of before February of this year. No Shaq. No Hater excuse.
But my point is not what you can do with a Hall of Fame cast. Its what you can do without one. Jordan could NEVER do it without one. In fact he has been terrible without one. Kobe HAS done it so far.
What do you think?
Once again, excellent article!
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Correction on my previous comment:
I agree with all the points made by Josh and JT except for Josh’s assist-consistency one and JT’s rebounding one.
@MV,
Good point about Kobe’s weaknesses not being due to inability. (Though I disagree, somewhat, with your assessment of Shaq’s free throw failures — though I don’t think he could ever have been an 85% or 90% free throw shooter, I think if he actually had a work ethic, he could have been at 70% to 75%. That would have been enough to end Hack-A-Shaq and leave him on the court more often at the end of games.)
Three-point shooting is certainly an area in which Kobe can improve — not because he’s bad at it, but because he could be among the best. However, there’s a big difference between “weakness” and “room for improvement.” Kobe’s 3-point shooting is not a weakness, at all. This year, he shot .361 from beyond the arc. That’s equivalent to shooting .542 from inside the arc — pretty damn good.
That said, Kobe has the ability to continue to work on his 3-point shooting and elevate his efficiency to shooting anywhere from 38% to 40%, or even better. It would make him frighteningly dangerous on the court, and would probably open up the mid-range and close shots for him even more. But I didn’t include it in this article because this was an article about weaknesses, and 3-point shooting is not among Kobe’s weaknesses.
BTW, speaking of 3-point shooting: Kobe’s 3-point shooting was terrible in the Jazz series, and in fact, in the Playoffs in general. He shot .286 from three in the first round against Denver. However, two things worth pointing out:
I also have to disagree that Kobe’s shooting percentage is due to “flustered emotions.” I think it’s simply a skill that he’s continuing to improve on. If you take a look at his career stats, you’ll see a pretty consistent upward trend in his 3-point shooting.
You’ll also notice that his best year from long range was 2002-03, by which time he had taken over the “top dog” role previously owned by Shaq. However, it’s worth noting that he had those numbers while playing with Shaq, who commanded a lot of attention and certainly gave him better looks.
Why do you think players like Peja Stojakovic — or the Lakers’ own Derek Fisher or Sasha Vujacic — shoot such high 3-point percentages? A lot of it has to do with the fact that they don’t command the most attention. Chris Paul and David West command the most attention on the Hornets, not to mention Tyson Chandler, and that gives Peja some really great looks. He also doesn’t create for himself; others create for him, and he just catches and shoots. The same applies for Fisher and Vujacic, who benefit from the attention that defenses give to Kobe, Lamar, and Bynum/Gasol.
Kobe doesn’t enjoy any of those benefits. Defenses are keyed in on him, first and foremost. Often, when he’s shooting threes, he’s having to create his own shots. Yet, despite all that, he’s still shooting a very solid percentage (36%), and consistently improving.
But to get to my point about playing with Shaq — how do you think Kobe shot from beyond the arc after the Lakers acquired Gasol? In March, he shot .363, and in April he shot .408.
If I was to make a prediction, I’d say that (a) playing an entire season with Gasol, (b) adding Bynum back into the mix, and (c) his continued individual improvement will result in even better long distance efficiency next year.
@xrism,
Where is this Kobe hate on FoxSports.com? I couldn’t find it… got a link?
Meanwhile, J.A. Adande is driving me crazy. Could someone else cover the Lakers for ESPN.com, please? Adande is disguising it pretty well — using backhanded compliments and subtle digs rather than coming right out and bashing on Kobe — but he takes every opportunity to criticize Kobe that he can find.
My personal favorite Adande quote (click here for the full article):
Of course, that makes lots of sense. Phil Jackson is not one to hold his tongue, so since he’s not saying anything negative about Kobe right now… it must be that he’s afraid to hold Kobe accountable, right?? It couldn’t possibly be that he didn’t have any significant problems with Kobe, right?
And of course, the reason he calls out Kobe’s teammates is because, again… he’s scared of Kobe. It couldn’t be that his teammates actually did disappear and leave it to Kobe to win the game for them, or that the bench actually did suck… could it?
Seriously, can we have someone else to cover the Western Conference Finals, please?
Now, about your thoughts on Jordan and Kobe. I think you might be going overboard a little bit with Jordan’s first 5 years. Nonetheless, he was statistically and individually very impressive, but could not translate that into wins for the first 5 years, or championships for the first 7.
I think it might be more relevant to look at how many years it took each player lead a championship contender built around him. Jordan took 7 years. If the Lakers win this year, it’ll be 4 years.
I think your underlying point — that with comparable supporting casts (be they terrible or very good), Kobe has always had equivalent or even better accomplishments than the great Jordan — is much more relevant. What will follow in the next few years? Only time will tell.
Also, another thing you might be getting at is the “Kobe has never won without Shaq” argument. No one has won without help. Without help, LeBron has not been able to win a championship. Jordan never won without Pippen (a Top 50 All Time player) and a very solid supporting cast. Magic didn’t win without Kareem and Worthy. Russell, Chamberlain, Shaq, Duncan… same thing. NONE OF THEM ever won it alone, as the only quality player on his team. So they “Kobe has never won a championship without Shaq” argument is completely invalid.
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Yeah, I’m not a fan of Adande’s at all. Like you said, that article, particularly that quote, he wrote was bogus. He completely twisted the situation, and decided to take Phil Jackson not critizing Bryant for Jackson fearing Bryant or the orginization.
Wow.
The strangest thing about Kobe is that he is so good, to the point where “less is more” with him. His maximum potential is so high that he understandbly doesn’t know his own limitations. He actually plays better when he ratchets it back and doesn’t test those limits. It’s like a great golfer who’s constantly going for the green, instead of laying up (the safe play, for you non-golfers). Tiger Woods is a great example for Kobe to follow. There are times that Tiger could attempt a difficult shot, just as there are times where Kobe could split a double, but Tiger plays it conservative, plays the odds. People sometimes scoff at the notion that Kobe has better handles than MJ, citing Kobe’s turnovers. But Kobe does have better handles, he just tries to go through traffic more. He’s a gambler. But when he stops gambling, and plays the percentages correctly, he can have those nice stats (higher FG%, less TOs). Instead, it seems he likes to push those limits, and so do his fans (this includes me, I will admit). But Game 5 against Utah was a great example of what he could do if he dialed it down a notch. He was forced to because of his aching back, but it might behoove him to look at that game and see what he can do “playing it safe”.
Man, after games like tonights, I feel like “Kobe has no weaknesses”.
Glad to see you back at it Josh, keep the articles coming but Imma have to disagree with you alittle, I know Kobe is not perfect and that to me makes him human and Kobe just like every basketball player will do something bad in a game so turnovers will happen so I really I’m not too worried about him having turnovers because they will come even CP3 has atleast a turnover a game. As for Kobe complaining about fouls I do think he should tune it down for next season but I also feel refs should get the call right and players should have the right to complain and something should be done when refs make bad calls. Kobe’s inconsistent assisting, I don’t think it’s inconsistent I just think it’s how the flow of the game goes and at the end of games Kobe is the Lakers closer so he becomes the recipient of assist. And I don’t consider him shooting when he’s cold from FG a weakness because as a shooter they say the best way to get out of being cold from the FG is to keep shooting and I guess thats what Kobe was doing but I do believe that for every shot he takes and misses that there should be an assist to cover those misses.
Mainly two people on ESPN.com cover the Lakers Hollinger and Adande, I can read some of Adandes work but Hollinger to me is the worst.
@Xrism
kb24overrated.com
That site is bologna, garbage, especially when it gets down to the Lebron should be 2008 MVP, they are entitled to their opinion and I know we all can’t be on the same page and we all can’t agree on the same things and I admirer their thoughts but that site is way out of line. The site should be called Lebrick James is overrated .com, it is just another site that fails to fully make an complete agruement.
Josh,
If you ever get time I’d like to get your take on the supposed league conspiracy to set up a Lakers - Celtics Finals. Some people seem to believe that David Stern wants the refs to rig the Conference Finals games so they can get big ratings. Of course, I’m sure Stern would love the ratings boost a Boston - LA Finals would bring, but he’s never seemed to be the guy who would undermine the integrity of the game as some fans suggest.
Point is, since some fans believe in this theory, that Kobe won’t get the credit he most assuredly deserves for the Lakers’ success this postseason. I recently read a comment by a particularly determined fan that said: ”The league will give Kobe anything he wants, as long as the Lakers win the series. I’m sure Stern is pulling his hair out right now after Detroit beat Boston in game 2.” The comment was in response to Kobe’s so called “push off” against Bowen on the game clinching basket in game one.
Anyway, would be interesting to get your point of view. I know it’s slightly off topic, and you surely have better articles you need to write first, but if you do get around to writing one it would be appreciated.
i want to talk about kobe turnover issue you guys are sayin that kobe is gettin strip when he drives to the cup in spin moves or when he elevates . My point is that when kobe drives the defense colaspe to him as he goes in to the painted area ,so when he goes up thats the moment when the help comes and strip him theirs noting he can do to prevent that ,cuz every time he is at the rim he as already beaten is defender thats not his fault if somebody comes to help before he goes up
sorry for my english that is not my first langage peace
kobe the best player in the world point blank
Hey Josh, I only started reading your articles tonight, and can I just say I’ve become a fan
Anyway, I wanted to ask what you think about Kobe’s defense. Sure, he is the most potent defensive weapon in the league as well when he wants to be. However, we normally see him playing “not serious” defense for the most part of the game because he wants to save his energy for his defense in the 4th, and his offense throughout the game… your thoughts on that one? Would you prefer him to play consistent defense throughout? haha