Quote:
> It goes beyond Kobe's performance in any one game. Even if Kobe hits
50%
> in a game, its still disruptive to the team if he's taking too many
> shots, or not taking them in the context of the offense, or not
working
> with his teammates. If Kobe's teammates are getting fed up with him
(yet
> again) and I suggest they are, this has far reaching effects...team
> chemistry..team defense..attitude etc etc etc.
Well, regardless what you think of how Shaq and Kobe are getting along,
Shaq did stick up for Kobe when Sabonis "helped" him to the ground.
Though Kobe's taking alot of shots this season, this year is kind of
different. In the past, he did alot of dribbing and one on one. He
really hasn't been doing that as much this season. Instead, he's been
doing alot of catching and shooting. So it's somewhat different this
year. The Bucks game for example, 10 of his 31 shots were 3pters. He's
also pulling up for more jumpers off fastbreaks ala Van Exel.
Quote:
> Shaq has been hurt but is still the most *** player in the game,
> though he isnt putting up last years numbers just yet. Possibly this
is
> due to injuries, possibly its due to his decision to shoot less and
get
> his teammates involved more, possibly its due to bad team chemistry--
> being pissed at chemistry, griping at each other etc, which makes it
hard
> to operate at a peak level.
He's injured. Phil said it, that Shaq wasn't getting any lift in his
shots, that's why his shots are coming up short. When Shaq is missing 2
footers consistently, you can't blame that on chemistry.
Quote:
> Kobe can score 51 points and the Lakers can still lose. Its not about
> Kobe scoring points, its about the Lakers playing as an unselfish
team.
> You seem to be hung up on scoring only..ie if Kobe scores lots of
points
> at 45%-50% FG% then everything is okay.
The GS game was a unique situation. Of course if Jamison does't go
ballistic and score 51 himself, the lakers win that game. The lakers
were in control of that game until late when GS went on a run. The
thing is, the lakers were winning 11 out of 13 with Kobe scoring 30+. I
think Kobe's in a situation he's never been in before. Last year Kobe
wasn't shooting as much so when he had a bad game, it didn't hurt the
team as much. This year, he's been shooting more and because he and the
team were successful, at least for awhile, he didn't know how to react
when his shots weren't falling. He was basically used to shooting more,
and he continued even when they weren't falling, that's why they lost
to Seattle and Milwaukee. Also this year, the lakers only rely on 2
guys, Shaq and Kobe as opposed to the big 3 last season. If Shaq or
Kobe has a bad game, the lakers have a problem. Kobe plays poorly
against Milwaukee, Shaq plays poorly against Portland. They lose both.
If you look at when Kobe first started to shoot more, it was coincided
with Shaq's first horrible game of the season, which I think is when
Shaq was injured. Shaq averaged 34 points in the first 4 games of the
season. Then the Houston game came along. Shaq played well in the first
half, but missed almost every single shot he took in the 2nd half. He
ended up 8-19 for 24 points. Almost all of those misses were in the 2nd
half. Lakers lose that game. Kobe took only 16 shots in that game. The
next game against SA, Shaq once again continued the poor shooting, only
5-13. That's when Kobe's shot attempts really increased. And for the
rest of the season, his shots went up. I think he felt he had to pick
up the slack for Shaq who wasn't 100%. The next game after that, Shaq
was only 6-14. When has Shaq ever played 3 bad games in a row? I don't
ever recall that happening. You begin to wonder, what's wrong with
Shaq? They finally revealed that he was injured after that game. He
played better after that, but watching him on the floor, he wasn't the
same player. There's been 10 games this season where Shaq shot 50% or
less. That's not very Shaq-like.
Quote:
> I agree. Unless Rider is being disruptive in the locker room, showing
up
> smelling of weed etc, Phil should give him some major minutes and let
> Rider show us all how he can or can't help the Lakers.
Tonight, without Shaq, they could use his scoring. We'll see if Phil
uses him. Or maybe he'll do to Rider what he did to Rice in Game 3 of
last year's final when Kobe was hurt.
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