22 replies to this topic

[KobeWillReturnTriumphant]

I think it's telling when people start to condemn Kobe for all that ails the team. "He shoots too much." "He is a ball hog and kills the offense." "He is a bad team leader...." BLAH BLAH BLAH. I am not going to pay 3 dollars to get to the Philadelphia Inquirer to post a story where Meeks says that playing with Kobe has been great and that he is a great leader. Look at his impact upon the people he has played with on the Olympic squad, and couple that with what CDR had to say last week. Simply put, the problems thtat plague the Lakers are not all a result of Kobe Bryant. The guy shoots fifty percent, has five assists, and five rebounds night after night. On a night when MWP plays like last season, and the two 7 footers getted tooled by Spencer Hawes a Kwame Brown some things should be obvious. I think there are a littany of issues that make this team hard to watch, but Kobe killing it at 34 isn't one of them.

[Piston Honda]

Kobe is on a tear offensively, but his perimeter defense is atrocious at times. Don't bother to point to his SPG average as it's a result of his center field approach, which occasionally produces a steal in the passing lane or a backdoor cut/open 3 for the opponent.

[Goku]

How many players are there that produce 30-5-5 and play great defense at the age of 34?

[BasketballIQ]

People talk about kobe's defense and it's OBVIOUS that they are watching only a few plays.

Kobe has been our BEST perimeter defender this year. Even better than Metta, who has been in the perimeter and post as a defender.

Kobe had the flu one day and for about 3 games he played defense that was sub-par. But who are we comparing him to defensively..Are we comparing him to the SGs that give up 30+ to him night after night? Are we comparing him to the Shooting guards in our division, Klay,Tyreke, Willie Green? Are we comparing him to Meeks and Morris and Duhon?


Kobe 's defensive IQ is obvious whenever he ISN't on the floor, because you see all these dumb fouls, and overall poor plays defensively...

[LakersChamps243]

People just try to point to the fastest excuse they can come up with, it's as simple as that. To say Kobe is not to blame at all would be riding his dick way too much. He without a doubt shoots to much at times and makes bad decisions and messes up defensively at times. However, he is also the heart and soul of this team and without him we would have absolutely no chance at even making the playoffs, let alone contending for a title. The only other guy who comes close to bringing it each and every night on our team is Jordan Hill. Sometimes the complacency of this team is so high (like last night) that people try to pin the blame on the best player. Not fair whatsoever.

[Projekt]

You know this is the same forum that had people defending him shooting 41 times a couple weeks ago right?

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

Kobe is on a tear offensively, but his perimeter defense is atrocious at times. Don't bother to point to his SPG average as it's a result of his center field approach, which occasionally produces a steal in the passing lane or a backdoor cut/open 3 for the opponent.

What a surprise. Not using a stat because it doesn't fit your agenda.

[West Coast]

Again, I don't see the issue with criticizing Kobe. He doesn't get a pass from criticism. Is he causing the team to lose? No of course not, but its the same story every season for the last few years, the more Kobe scores, the better chance the Lakers will lose. The less Kobe scores, the better chance the Lakers will win.

Sometimes his teammates are just not cutting it so he needs to do more, but thats not the case all the time like some fans treat it. I'd say more times than not, it's Kobe doing too much which kills his teams rhythm.

Defensively, I won't even get started on that. He's a good defender when he wants to be.

[Piston Honda]

What a surprise. Not using a stat because it doesn't fit your agenda.

What's my agenda? Please don't tell me it's to hate on Kobe, because I'm far from a hater. But I'm not a homer either.

I'll recognize that Kobe has great basketball IQ and sneaks into the lane for a steal, but he also leaves his man alone for an open shot too. The former shows up in the box score while the latter does not.

[Goku]

Kobe shoots that much because he doesn't see any aggresiveness from his teammates.

just watch the Denver game.

Basketball is a team game. Ok. Whatever you do, be the most athletic guy on planet, score 60+, it doesn't matter if your teammates do not come to play. There is no player that can win a game by all by himself (maybe except 05/07 Kobe and Jordan) and it doesn't happen too often. Kobe is averaging 39 mins a game in his 17th season. Do you know why he plays that many minutes? Because he has to. Without him on the court we are pathetic most of the time and we can't find any basket with or without Nash. Howard is not even close to his best. Pau is just embarrasing to watch. Ron has been consistent but his defense isn't what it used to be. Nash was hurt most of the time. Kobe is carrying the load since the beginning. Just think about it a minute and let it sink. 17th season. 39 mpg. Best field goal percentage of his career. He has 1.391 point per field goal attempt.- highest in his career - I don't know what else to bring. These are no excuses. These are facts. Dude has logged 50k minutes, had several injuries, most of the players check out mentally before going through the hardships Kobe had gone. So think all these and re-evaluate again. What do you expect from a guy into his 17th season, coming back from a career ending injury with a miracle treatment? Kobe, right now, is overachieving, maybe the story of his career. His body doesn't allow him to play consistent defense. He can't penetrate to the basket at will. He can't dominate the game like he used to. But he still averages 30-5-5 with career best efficiencies. At some point, you have to ask. What are his teammates doing that Lakers are 15-16? Pau, Dwight, Nash... Are they giving their best? Those 3 are the best players after Kobe and they are either injured or underperforming - or both.


Kobe is the last player that needs to be blamed for the situation Lakers are in. And even then he takes the responsibility for his actions like TOs.

[LakersGAFan]

17 seasons
7 Finals
5 Rings
5 Scoring titles
1 MVP
30,000 points
14x All Star and ALL NBA Team......

And some fans are still worried about "Kobe Haters"

Edited by LakersGAFan, January 02, 2013 - 12:53 PM.

[Lords of the Rings]

Kobe shoots that much because he doesn't see any aggresiveness from his teammates.

just watch the Denver game.

Basketball is a team game. Ok. Whatever you do, be the most athletic guy on planet, score 60+, it doesn't matter if your teammates do not come to play. There is no player that can win a game by all by himself (maybe except 05/07 Kobe and Jordan) and it doesn't happen too often. Kobe is averaging 39 mins a game in his 17th season. Do you know why he plays that many minutes? Because he has to. Without him on the court we are pathetic most of the time and we can't find any basket with or without Nash. Howard is not even close to his best. Pau is just embarrasing to watch. Ron has been consistent but his defense isn't what it used to be. Nash was hurt most of the time. Kobe is carrying the load since the beginning. Just think about it a minute and let it sink. 17th season. 39 mpg. Best field goal percentage of his career. He has 1.391 point per field goal attempt.- highest in his career - I don't know what else to bring. These are no excuses. These are facts. Dude has logged 50k minutes, had several injuries, most of the players check out mentally before going through the hardships Kobe had gone. So think all these and re-evaluate again. What do you expect from a guy into his 17th season, coming back from a career ending injury with a miracle treatment? Kobe, right now, is overachieving, maybe the story of his career. His body doesn't allow him to play consistent defense. He can't penetrate to the basket at will. He can't dominate the game like he used to. But he still averages 30-5-5 with career best efficiencies. At some point, you have to ask. What are his teammates doing that Lakers are 15-16? Pau, Dwight, Nash... Are they giving their best? Those 3 are the best players after Kobe and they are either injured or underperforming - or both.


Kobe is the last player that needs to be blamed for the situation Lakers are in. And even then he takes the responsibility for his actions like TOs.

"At some point, you have to ask. What are his teammates doing that Lakers are 15-16? Pau, Dwight, Nash... Are they giving their best? Those 3 are the best players after Kobe and they are either injured or underperforming - or both."


D12 and Gasol went....3 for 19 FGs? And Kobe must trust his teammates?
Metta and Nash had their chances and bricked
As a matter of fact Nash had more chances to score....but deffered too many times last night
Blaming Kobe is a Cliche' at this point

[gque24]

What's my agenda? Please don't tell me it's to hate on Kobe, because I'm far from a hater. But I'm not a homer either.

I'll recognize that Kobe has great basketball IQ and sneaks into the lane for a steal, but he also leaves his man alone for an open shot too. The former shows up in the box score while the latter does not.

ur a clown piston whats your usual real name that you got banned from using?

[Piston Honda]

I just said that Kobe tends to roam on defense. That makes me a clown? Sorry for not drinking the Kool-Aid.

[KobeWillReturnTriumphant]

To clarify, I am not worried about the Kobe haters, just was amused after all he has done that people still berate him..without him, Lakers of 1994.

[LakersChamps243]

17 seasons
7 Finals
5 Rings
5 Scoring titles
1 MVP
30,000 points
14x All Star and ALL NBA Team......

And some fans are still worried about "Kobe Haters"

Why would we be worried about it? We understand there will always be Kobe haters. What we do not understand is why most people on here (who are Laker fans) don't appreciate Kobe enough. That's embarrassing and I honestly feel sorry for each and every one of you that applies to. Your missing out from fully enjoying a once in a lifetime player. Instead, you take the coward way out and blame him for everything instead of using your brain a little more and take a closer look at what is going on with this team.

Edited by LakersChamps243, January 02, 2013 - 02:57 PM.

[last stand 2.0]

Blindly defending Kobe is as ignorant, stupid, and annoying as blindly hating Kobe

[LakersChamps243]

Blindly defending Kobe is as ignorant, stupid, and annoying as blindly hating Kobe

No one on here is blindly defending him. Everyone who defends Kobe on here including me aren't saying he's perfect. We know he takes bad shots and messes up. Some games are worse than others. Some games are better than others. I have absolutely no problem saying he is one of the main reasons we lost last night, but guess what, there were a lot of other reasons we lost as well, from Pau and Dwight having no energy or heart to D'Antoni's [expletive]ed up lineup quirks. Look at it this way: Jordan and Kobe are very similar. But Jordan's teammates were able to adjust to his game a lot easier, whereas Kobe's teammates seem to have much more difficulty with that. So is that Kobe's fault? Absolutely not. They are the SAME player. So how can you blame Kobe for taking over games or taking more bad shots when Jordan would have done the same thing if his teammates played with the kind of lackluster effort that Kobe's play with? Imagine how much better Kobe's legacy would be if his teammates helped him out more... we're talking two more titles, another MVP, two more finals MVP's, maybe less injuries since he wouldn't have to exert himself so much, etc.

Edited by LakersChamps243, January 02, 2013 - 03:11 PM.

[gque24]

I just said that Kobe tends to roam on defense. That makes me a clown? Sorry for not drinking the Kool-Aid.

no your not a clown for that statement alone!

[GCMD]

Kobe is not above reproach...

I see the excuse of "his teammates aren't cutting it" and as a lifetime POINT GUARD and FLOOR GENERAL, I find that preposterous. As a great player, if your teammates aren't being aggressive, the best way to get them involved is to get them EASIER shots...you don't do that by taking harder shots.

If your teammates aren't hitting those easy shots, you have to be willing to live or die with that. That's how you build trust and chemistry.

This team is doing entirely too much guessing on the floor. They need to know what they are going to do as a TEAM on any given possession.


When Nash dominants the ball, everyone knows to keep their hands ready and they will get a chance.

When Kobe dominants the ball, everyone knows he's going to shoot and you're SURPRISED when he passes it, which makes it really hard to be ready to shoot.


But it doesn't matter. Kobe's "legacy" makes him "untouchable". As a real basketball head and as one of the few people to have watched REAL ShowTime, I'm appalled at what this team is at times...and frustrated by what they could be in the future.


We have many issues...some of them dealing with Kobe but he's not the ultimate cause for this team's lack of success.

The real reason we are losing is because the top 4 guys in charge are not on the same page. Nash and MDA are trying to get everyone to buy into the offense. Dwight wants ANYONE to listen to him about defense. Kobe just wants to shoot.

Until they sit down and get on the same page, nothing will get done.




And for future reference in another thread, this offense was designed to get the MOST out of ANY TEAM, not just young athletic teams. As long as we PASS THE BALL, it doesn't matter if we're old or tired.

Edited by GCMD, January 02, 2013 - 03:35 PM.