94 replies to this topic

[mikel24242]

Way too funny. selecting a few plays and coming to a conclusion based off of that. Sorry, ive had statistics 101 and understand that your sample size is skewed. Let me collect a highlight of peyton manning throwing picks and then say he cant throw... thats basiclly what just happend.

And to whoever was saying ignore the stats, that we were biast for saying he plays good D based off the seasons numbers. But your wating to influence my opinion with someones youtube video? ??? backwards...

[GCMD]

He's playing bad right now but he's got the ability to be a lockdown defender.

[lakersince75]

He's playing bad right now but he's got the ability to be a lockdown defender.

Nobody is a lockdown defender at 34 years of age at the shooting guard position, Especially not one that plays 38 minutes per game. Not even Jordan

[iDreamShake]

Nobody is a lockdown defender at 34 years of age at the shooting guard position, Especially not one that plays 38 minutes per game. Not even Jordan

and adding to lakersince75 , no sg at 34 years old who plays 38 mins a game and exerts as much effort on offense as kobe does, can be a lockdown defender..

but, what i was going to contribute to this thread was only - I CANT BELIEVE KOBE LEFT FOYE OPEN FOR THAT 3 AT THE END OF THE UTAH GAME,,,,,,this roaming ish, not enough good comes from it,kobe, you suck at it, stop it

[Real Deal]

Well, aside from Kobe, Michael Jordan, Reggie Miller, John Havlicek, and Hal Greer (five players)...you won't find another 34-year old SG who has played 37.4+ MPG in a season.

Jordan (28.7 PPG) and Kobe (28.6 PPG) have the two highest PPG averages among all 34+ year old players (any position) in NBA history...just a fun fact that doesn't have anything to do with defense, lol.

[mikel24242]

Well, aside from Kobe, Michael Jordan, Reggie Miller, John Havlicek, and Hal Greer (five players)...you won't find another 34-year old SG who has played 37.4+ MPG in a season.

Jordan (28.7 PPG) and Kobe (28.6 PPG) have the two highest PPG averages among all 34+ year old players (any position) in NBA history...just a fun fact that doesn't have anything to do with defense, lol.

It kind of does have to do with Defense. I was just reading the bill simmons article in which he is talk about bill russels leadership style. In the article it was saying he did what he felt his team needed. He would study the teams weakness and then try and provide that for the team. It then went on to say russel spoke with kobe, kobe was asking all kinds of questions about that same thing. Kobe is going out scoring 30 a night because our teams offense is rusty at best right now.

How it relates: He senses in the game that the offense isnt working, and chooses to expend most of his energy on that end. He is 34 and leading the league in scoring and damn near doing it in Min. What more do you want? Its sad to me that hes getting called out, when no one else on this team is playing D or offense, with the exception of D12. and Mettas 3s...

Edited by mikel24242, December 11, 2012 - 11:32 AM.

[FranklinPeanuts]

I'm not diggin his defense... But he's handling the ball more, scoring 34ppg and running... All on 16-17 years in the league, 34 yrs of age, over 50 thousand plus minutes... Is that excuse? Some could argue yes or no... I think it's a team issue.. If they (Lakers) were locked in defensive as a team..... Things could be different.

[Real Deal]

It kind of does have to do with Defense. I was just reading the bill simmons article in which he is talk about bill russels leadership style. In the article it was saying he did what he felt his team needed. He would study the teams weakness and then try and provide that for the team. It then went on to say russel spoke with kobe, kobe was asking all kinds of questions about that same thing. Kobe is going out scoring 30 a night because our teams offense is rusty at best right now.

How it relates: He senses in the game that the offense isnt working, and chooses to expend most of his energy on that end. He is 34 and leading the league in scoring and damn near doing it in Min. What more do you want? Its sad to me that hes getting called out, when no one else on this team is playing D or offense, with the exception of D12. and Mettas 3s...

Well, right...I was merely speaking on the statistic side of things (the points per game), which I thought was pretty amazing. Of course, we all know those two (KB and MJ) are going to pull that off, at that age...Kobe's longevity is nothing short of spectacular.

Defensively, yes...but I think people are expecting Kobe to take less of a role on offense because we have Dwight Howard, so in a way, it hurts the argument that his offensive production (what is needed) is hurting his defensive play. However, Dwight isn't going to score 30...teams aren't going to let him, just like they didn't allow Shaq to average 30 (never did in his career, despite being arguably the most unstoppable player in NBA history)...and without Nash running an offense that is designed for him to run, Kobe has to take matters into his own hands.

We don't have the shooters to make up for it. If we had Ray Allen, Kyle Korver, and Steve Novak...we'd see more production along our perimeter, and both Dwight and Kobe would have more opportunities to score.

Like defense, an offense works in two directions: big men and scoring threats will collapse the defense, while shooters spread the floor and draw them out of the paint. To succeed, you have to have both. You can't put five three-point shooters out on the court...makes them easy to defend...and you can't stick post players out on the floor, or major scoring guards, without shooters, because teams will then just wrap you in a tight zone defense.

In the same light, on the other end of the floor...you can't have five on-ball defenders without helpers, and vice-versa. LA has two helpers: Howard and Kobe. Why? They are the two smartest defenders on the team, top ten in the NBA (defensive IQ). Your on-ball defenders, like Ron Artest, may have the hands and the physical presence, but they don't have the speed to keep up. Morris, who has the speed and sometimes the physical advantage, doesn't have the defensive IQ. Gasol, who has length, doesn't have speed or physicality.

It would be nice for everyone to understand just how things work. Orlando didn't play much defense, aside from Howard...but they did know how to lead their man to him, and they had speed. As one of the slowest teams in the NBA, possibly the slowest, we just don't have it...we don't have the speed, the defensive IQ (aside from our two superstars) and the physicality (aside from Artest and Duhon)...and where our strengths lie, their weaknesses are glaring (see the Artest and Duhon duo...physical, but slow as a snail).

We need defensive strategies for multiple teams, and that's our problem right now. What needs to happen? We need to improve our offense by getting Nash back, and we need to trade Gasol and bring in someone who can play second-tier defense or greater (like a Josh Smith or Derrick Favors).

[GCMD]

Nobody is a lockdown defender at 34 years of age at the shooting guard position, Especially not one that plays 38 minutes per game. Not even Jordan

He doesn't have to be a lock down defender for 38 minutes. All he has to do is try to stay in front of his man. Dwight will do the rest.

If the Lakers play average on-ball defense, they'd be in the top 5 in the NBA defensively, mainly because of Dwight.

At 34, he's got to know his limitations. He doesn't have the athleticism he once had which would allow him to cheat and easily recover. Knowing that, he's got to play conservative on the defensive end...especially when that's our REAL issue right now.

True LEADERS do what they have to to make the team better...not just what they want to. We need Kobe to be a playmaker and solid defender. He wants to score and gamble on defense.

You do the math.

[Notorious Arab]

He doesn't have to be a lock down defender for 38 minutes. All he has to do is try to stay in front of his man. Dwight will do the rest.

If the Lakers play average on-ball defense, they'd be in the top 5 in the NBA defensively, mainly because of Dwight.

At 34, he's got to know his limitations. He doesn't have the athleticism he once had which would allow him to cheat and easily recover. Knowing that, he's got to play conservative on the defensive end...especially when that's our REAL issue right now.

True LEADERS do what they have to to make the team better...not just what they want to. We need Kobe to be a playmaker and solid defender. He wants to score and gamble on defense.

You do the math.

Exactly. He wants to score and gamble. Those gambles are killing our D b/c it screws the rotations.

[lakersince75]

Exactly. He wants to score and gamble. Those gambles are killing our D b/c it screws the rotations.

UUUUUUh. He gambles because he thinks he has help and it doesn't happen. Kobe has been gambling on D for over 10 years; now all of a sudden it's a problem. UNBELIEVABLE!! As an ex-athlete (not someone who watches and gives an opinion) I will tell you, it's not about knowing your limitations, your mind is on autodrive 99% of the time. To change something you've been doing for over a decade is extremely tough, that's when good coaching comes in

[Notorious Arab]

UUUUUUh. He gambles because he thinks he has help and it doesn't happen. Kobe has been gambling on D for over 10 years; now all of a sudden it's a problem. UNBELIEVABLE!! As an ex-athlete (not someone who watches and gives an opinion) I will tell you, it's not about knowing your limitations, your mind is on autodrive 99% of the time. To change something you've been doing for over a decade is extremely tough, that's when good coaching comes in

He's leaving his man wide open who are knocking down 3's and getting wide open cuts to the basket. Lets see if Kobe keeps it up tonight. Watch him closely tonight.

[GCMD]

UUUUUUh. He gambles because he thinks he has help and it doesn't happen. Kobe has been gambling on D for over 10 years; now all of a sudden it's a problem. UNBELIEVABLE!! As an ex-athlete (not someone who watches and gives an opinion) I will tell you, it's not about knowing your limitations, your mind is on autodrive 99% of the time. To change something you've been doing for over a decade is extremely tough, that's when good coaching comes in

LOL...you can't do the same things as you get older...at least, not as well. If that were the case, we would NOT be discussing Kobe getting beat on multiple assignments and not even attempting to contest the shot AFTER his teammate rotated to HIS man as help.

Wisdom SHOULD come with age. Great players adjust to their limitations. Jordan didn't keep attacking off the bounce from the perimeter as his athleticism faded...he went to the post.

If Kobe wants to be considered greater than Jordan, he's got to do something completely different from what he has done most of his career: he HAS to adjust to his age, athleticism and teammates.


Kobe has to approach this as a new challenge...figuring out this puzzle. Instead, he's handing out roles and asking everyone to "memorize their lines" while he improvs.

The team needs to depend on each other to do what they are supposed to do on defense. If you have one player doing one thing and the rest of the team doing something else, you can NOT be successful in the NBA. Most coaches and assistants will exploit that every time. And that's exactly what's happening...I would do the same.

[JGuez]

http://www.nba.com/v...ump-block-c.nba

[gque24]

he is not going to be a lockdown defender in yr 17 when he also has to be PG, SG, & save the team routinely from huge defecits. thats why we need to play the younger atheltic players on the team more mins who give effort. ala Hill, Ebanks, & Clark. gotta find a way to get them more mins. but this season Kobe defense has been sub par & very lazy from gm to gm.

thats understandable since he has to do so much but its not forgiveable