Bryant's finger

[Real Deal]

Not going to expect much more, even in the playoffs, because of the way the ball is being shot.

 

It looks to me like Bryant is using his thumb a bit more in the shot. More balance because his index finger could be numb, or throbbing. This puts less arc on the ball, and also less distance if shot normally.

 

There's a reason why those two free throws both fell extremely short. They barely hit the front of the rim.

 

I busted my finger once, played through it and had the same problem. If you can't use your index finger shooting the ball, you have to rest it more on your thumb during elevation, and that alters your release.

 

Just to put it into perspective:

 

5-23 vs. Utah

8-24 vs. San Antonio

8-23 vs. Portland (today)

 

Last three games, which includes two missed free throws by Bryant at the end of the game (which has never happened in his career, I believe). He was clinching that finger near the end of the Hawks game, which was the game played before the three above, and also the game he injured his knee.

 

If Kobe does this in the playoffs, we're done. We won't even get to the Finals.

[Check my Stats]

Maybe he should adjust his shot selection when his shot isn't falling. This is my biggest complaint about Bryant. They have so much firepower offensively that Kobe doesn't need to shoot 25 times if he isn't going to make 10 of them.

[TheNextBestThing]

Not to mention, Kobe's shot hardly has any arc on it to begin with. Do you suppose his finger has a chance of healing before, say, the second round of the playoffs?

[Warren2ThaG]

Not to mention, Kobe's shot hardly has any arc on it to begin with. Do you suppose his finger has a chance of healing before, say, the second round of the playoffs?

 

No, maybe worse.

[Real Deal]

Maybe he should adjust his shot selection when his shot isn't falling. This is my biggest complaint about Bryant. They have so much firepower offensively that Kobe doesn't need to shoot 25 times if he isn't going to make 10 of them.

When do the Lakers have so much firepower? They are in the middle of the league offensively. On paper, you'd think they'd be top-ranked. Gasol doesn't shoot as much as he should when he gets the post-entry pass, and everyone else absolutely sucks shooting the ball. Take a look at Farmar and Brown today, Odom over his last 10 games or so, Fisher's 39% or less all season long, and Vujacic's pathetic shooting over 79-80 games.

 

Bryant was shooting 49% before injuring the finger. He was at 47% before re-injuring it. Now he's struggling, so that complaint wasn't valid for most of the season.

 

Not to mention, Kobe's shot hardly has any arc on it to begin with. Do you suppose his finger has a chance of healing before, say, the second round of the playoffs?

It hasn't healed for months, so I doubt it. He should've had the surgery.

[ChosenOne]

It is something he should have been smart about and taken care of when it happened, as time goes on it is only going to get worse. As far as his shot selection goes he is fine you really cant say he should stop taking the shots that he is taking because who else is going to take them? It is something that is just going to have to be played through, other like Artest, Odom, Bynum and especially Gasol are going to have to step up their play.

 

And on a side note I watched the Laker/Blazer game today and when Brown, Farmar, and Sasha are all on the floor together it is just pathetic. No one wants to make the extra pass or the easy pass they all want to make the big play and shine from the others. Both Brown and Farmar had easy wide open plays they could have made but insted they decided to chuck up some garbage. Farmar had an extra pass wide open Odom in the corner for the jumper or drive and Brown had Odom on a mismatch against Bayless down low, and shot a contested three ball. and Sasha is no longer a three point shooter.

Edited April 11, 2010 by ChosenOne

[The Regime]

Haha I just posted something similar in the Lakers/Blazers gameday thread. I haven't really been paying alot of focus on the way he is releasing the ball, but what I did notice from todays game was that he didn't get a lot of lift on some of his shots. That sore knee is having an impact on his shot. I've played with a swollen knee in the past, and let me tell you it definitly messes with your shot.

 

If I'm Kobe, rest for the last two games. I dont care if Orlando beats us out, we need you healthy for the playoffs and right now you are no where close to the Kobe we had last season.

Edited April 11, 2010 by Confidence

[alcstarheel]

He shot those frees different from his normal free throw routine. After the dribbles he spun the ball, which he never does. I think he was trying to get some feeling going in the finger. He did it on both attempts.

 

I don't think we have it in us as a team to win the 'ship. Kobe's finger is only compounding that issue.

[Real Deal]

He shot those frees different from his normal free throw routine. After the dribbles he spun the ball, which he never does. I think he was trying to get some feeling going in the finger. He did it on both attempts.

Wow, you're right. I didn't notice that. Just checked the DVR.

 

He's had the same free throw routine forever now.

[ManOnTheMoon]

He needs to rest these last few games, the chance for our repeat is a slim outlook for me right now.

[Real Deal]

An avulsion fracture doesn't sound like a cover-the-eyes circumstance as far as its definition — a small fragment of bone gets pulled off by a tendon — but Bryant's finger is more than a boo-boo.

 

It's so swollen that TV analyst Kevin McHale stopped mid-sentence and pointed it out while interviewing Bryant during a recent segment that went live on NBA TV. Viewers saw what is often hidden behind athletic tape and bandages — a grotesquely enlarged finger that might require surgery after the season.

[The Artesticle]

Kobe is done this year if he can't play through the injury. He's playing with two broken fingers, of course it's going to hinder his game. That's why it's absolutely idiotic if he decides to play for Team USA this summer. He needs to get rest and surgery/treatment for his injuries. If he plays for Team USA it'll be the same thing all over again next year. He needs to let his fingers heal. Last year, he played well with one finger injured, he didn't even let that finger heal up. Now he's playing with two finger injuries, and the injuries have caught up.

 

Please rest and get treatment this summer.

[Real Deal]

Kobe is done this year if he can't play through the injury. He's playing with two broken fingers, of course it's going to hinder his game. That's why it's absolutely idiotic if he decides to play for Team USA this summer. He needs to get rest and surgery/treatment for his injuries. If he plays for Team USA it'll be the same thing all over again next year. He needs to let his fingers heal. Last year, he played well with one finger injured, he didn't even let that finger heal up. Now he's playing with two finger injuries, and the injuries have caught up.

 

Please rest and get treatment this summer.

Yeah, I agree now. Earlier, I wanted him to play this summer...but after what I saw today, enough is enough.

[Check my Stats]

Bryant was shooting 49% before injuring the finger. He was at 47% before re-injuring it. Now he's struggling, so that complaint wasn't valid for most of the season.

 

I don't know the exact time frame of Kobe Bryant's injuries but I do know how horribly inconsistent he has been this year with his jumper. What I also know is that the most shots Kobe has taken in a single month is also the month he shot his lowest percentage. I find it odd, looking at his stats, that he shoots more when he is missing, logic would make you think it would be the opposite but I guess not. I am not trying to hate or anything, but it seems like Kobe forces his shot and takes jumpers even when it isn't falling.

 

After that HORRIBLE month of January, he shot solid in February, then really good in March, and now he just seems to be slumping again. My only problem is that he shoots so much when his shot isn't falling. Well not my problem, but more your guys' problem.

 

They say the sign of a great player is how they affect the game when their shot isn't working, come playoff time that will have to apply to Kobe Bryant, because with his finger the way it is Kobe Bryant is not going to be the Kobe we have come to know and love (and hate lol). Kobe is going to have to find other ways to be dominant.

Edited April 12, 2010 by travesy3

[Real Deal]

find it odd, looking at his stats, that he shoots more when he is missing, logic would make you think it would be the opposite but I guess not.

He actually takes more shots when we're losing, to get us out of the hole we get in when Phil Jackson decides to sit him for the first five minutes of the fourth, or play Sasha instead of Ron when we need him most (like today, near the end of the game), or when he sticks Kobe in there with Mbenga, Powell, Brown and Farmar and expects Kobe to play SF and score the ball all the time.

 

Bryant kicked in a chair and was screaming at Phil the other game. Jackson is playing weird lineups, and it's putting a roadblock on Kobe's game and what he wants to do.

 

While I don't like some of the shots Kobe takes, it's also evident that he's the only one that turns it up and tries to win, and he should be taking those shots when nobody else wants the ball.

[Real Deal]

Kobe Bryant WILL NOT PLAY in the final two games of the regular season due to the avulsion fracture of his finger.

@LakersReporter

[Warren2ThaG]

Cut tha finger off and quick

[The Regime]

Good, he needs to rest for a week.