Phil getting frustrated with Kobe?

[AboveLegit]

"We get behind early on in the third quarter on some stupid plays -- poor passing, poor transition defense -- and then Kobe has to screw up the game and start energizing the team by going one-on-one and that takes the rest of the guys out as a consequence," Jackson said. "That didn't bring us back in, but it did give us a little run, we got the game back a little bit but we couldn't sustain it and we just went right back and made the same mistakes again."

 

"The game got to a point where we didn't use our strengths which is our inside players," Jackson said. "When we started off the game I think Pau got six out of our eight points and didn't score again in the first half. He ended up the game with 10. He got four more points in the second half. He's too good a player for a game like that."

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/columns/story?id=5983633

[Nitro]

Can be taken one of two ways:

 

1) Kobe's screwing up games by not playing within the offense and taking too many shots, which freezes out his teammates.

 

2) The team is falling behind in games which forces Kobe to go out of the gameplan and try to take over.

 

Both views have truth to them. I don't know if Phil meant it to have double meaning or it just came off that way, but I wouldn't look too much into it. Phil knows Kobe extremely well and knows how to handle him better than anyone, so he knows what he is doing. It's just the usual regular season Phil Jackson mind-[expletive] for when the team isn't playing well.

[Lkr]

He's not frustrated with him, he's frustrated with everyone else. Since they are playing so poorly, Kobe has to take over which he is too old to do now. He can't carry the team any more. By calling out Kobe, Phil hopes to send a message to the rest of the guys. Kobe knows this, which is why he didn't get upset with Phil's comments. He is 'screwing up the game' by taking over, something he HAS to do when the team is getting embarrassed at home by Memphis.

[*Swish*]

I'd consider that as bad news for the Lakers. Kobe is a strong minded person and might take that offensively. Hope this won't cause anything because it's no time to screw up chemistry as Tony said. Lakers doing bad this year so on the other hand, this might shake Kobe up to wake up his team and the fans

[Nestle Snipes]

PJ is just not used to losing and trying to fire KB up anyway he can.

[Makaveli]

He's not frustrated with him, he's frustrated with everyone else. Since they are playing so poorly, Kobe has to take over which he is too old to do now. He can't carry the team any more.

Umm, how is he too old to do that? That's exactly what he did in the 3rd against the Grizzlies and has scored 15+ in a quarter multiple times this season. Other guys just don't know what to do when Kobe is on the bench.

[Nitro]

Umm, how is he too old to do that? That's exactly what he did in the 3rd against the Grizzlies and has scored 15+ in a quarter multiple times this season. Other guys just don't know what to do when Kobe is on the bench.

 

That's his point. He can't carry the team for 4 quarters for weeks and months on-end anymore. His injuries and general decline in athleticism prevent him from being capable of doing that anymore.

[Makaveli]

That's his point. He can't carry the team for 4 quarters for weeks and months on-end anymore. His injuries and general decline in athleticism prevent him from being capable of doing that anymore.

I know, but Kobe can still put up big numbers offensively and take over quarters or even halfs. Lakers have Pau, L.O, Bynum and Artest to keep on pushing while KB's either taking a rest or just choosing not to go 1 on 1. I'm still sure Phil didn't take a jab at Kobe even though that's exactly what he said.

 

Lakers need to go back to the triangle, slashers need to cut when the time is right and shooters need to knock down their open shots.

[The Truth]

he meant what he said; Kobe went one on one and took other players out of the game. I watched the whole thing yesterday and Kobe was taking too many shots. he was trying to do it all alone and it screwed the team. Gasol only took nine shots the whole game, Artest took two, Odom took eight, etc. Kobe was taking most of the shots and missing the majority of the time. Kobe was 1-7 from three point land and he was playing generally carelessly.

[Nitro]

I know, but Kobe can still put up big numbers offensively and take over quarters or even halfs. Lakers have Pau, L.O, Bynum and Artest to keep on pushing while KB's either taking a rest or just choosing not to go 1 on 1. I'm still sure Phil didn't take a jab at Kobe even though that's exactly what he said.

 

Lakers need to go back to the triangle, slashers need to cut when the time is right and shooters need to knock down their open shots.

 

I agree that his teammates need to get better, but Kobe not being the same player he's been the last few years, along with certain glaring weaknesses (Fisher/Artest) and the fact that the Celtics/Heat/Spurs are so strong will make this year's title run very, very difficult.

[Lkr]

Umm, how is he too old to do that? That's exactly what he did in the 3rd against the Grizzlies and has scored 15+ in a quarter multiple times this season. Other guys just don't know what to do when Kobe is on the bench.

It is the first time he has done it efficiently, but the fact remains, he was only able to carry them during that stretch. Back in 06, Kobe could have carried a team to a win.

[Makaveli]

I agree that his teammates need to get better, but Kobe not being the same player he's been the last few years, along with certain glaring weaknesses (Fisher/Artest) and the fact that the Celtics/Heat/Spurs are so strong will make this year's title run very, very difficult.

True, true. Kobe is playing only 33 mpg to keep his body strong for the playoffs. Oh yea, it definitely will be. But the regular season is long from over, anything can still happen with the Lakers, C's, Heat and Spurs.

 

It is the first time he has done it efficiently, but the fact remains, he was only able to carry them during that stretch. Back in 06, Kobe could have carried a team to a win.

Yeah, but back in 06 Lakers didn't have Pau Gasol. Pau needs to man the hell up and play like he's supposed to. LA can't keep on relying on Bryant to bring them back every damn game.

[The Truth]

Yeah, but back in 06 Lakers didn't have Pau Gasol. Pau needs to man the hell up and play like he's supposed to. LA can't keep on relying on Bryant to bring them back every damn game.

actually, Kobe's the one who screws it up for them sometimes. he's still a little more selfish than people like to think. rather than getting it to Gasol or someone in the paint, he'll take low percentage shots from outside. Kobe doesn't slash nearly as much as he used to, but he still wants to score. so, what he'll do is take 18-25 foot jumpers rather than letting his teammates get better looks.

Edited January 4, 2011 by HOV

[Makaveli]

actually, Kobe's the one who screws it up for them sometimes. he's still a little more selfish than people like to think. rather than getting it to Gasol or someone in the paint, he'll take low percentage shots from outside. Kobe doesn't slash nearly as much as he used to, but he still wants to score. so, what he'll do is take 18-25 foot jumpers rather than letting his teammates get better looks.

What? Kobe was offensively pretty much a non factor against the Grizzlies in the 1st half. He let everybody else do their things and wasn't really looking to score. Then after the half-time other guys looked just lost and Kobe decided to keep the Lakers in the game.

 

Gasol really hasn't done [expletive] ever since Drew came back. They feed Gasol in the paint, who steps away from the basket to take a contested jumpshot. Then the guards feed Drew in the paint, who keeps on backing up til he's triple teamed and takes some really difficult hook shots because he's pretty much unable to pass the ball to an open teammate.

[The Truth]

What? Kobe was offensively pretty much a non factor against the Grizzlies in the 1st half. He let everybody else do their things and wasn't really looking to score. Then after the half-time other guys looked just lost and Kobe decided to keep the Lakers in the game.

 

Gasol really hasn't done [expletive] ever since Drew came back. They feed Gasol in the paint, who steps away from the basket to take a contested jumpshot. Then the guards feed Drew in the paint, who keeps on backing up til he's triple teamed and takes some really difficult hook shots because he's pretty much unable to pass the ball to an open teammate.

but after the first few minutes of the third quarter, he was taking bad shots. he was ineffective the whole game pretty much; 10-22 shooting, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 turnovers. he was taking contested outside jumpers while he teammates just stood there watching. the whole team was horrible last night.

[AboveLegit]

"When a game starts getting out of hand -- and rightly so -- Kobe will crank it up, not screw it up," Jackson said. "I used that term 'screw it up' but not in terms of it being an error or a mistake, but 'crank it up.' He'll go to another notch to try to get us back in the ballgame. That's something we do in the fourth quarter, that's our fourth quarter action, that's how we win ballgames. To have to crank it up and do that in the third quarter, we didn't have much left in the gas tank after that."

 

Bryant admitted Jackson's assessment was not off base, but said it is his role on the team to bear the brunt of the scoring load from time to time.

 

"[Jackson] was right, I totally broke the offense, but I did it intentionally because I felt like we needed to get something started because what we were doing just wasn't working," Bryant said. "So, I tried to kick start it and sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't but that's my responsibility. When it works out? Great. When it doesn't? I'll take the criticism for it, but I have thick enough skin to be able to do that. ... You just have to take the good with the bad. That's part of my job in the seat that I sit.

 

"I was trying to win the damn game. We were playing like [expletive], we all were, so I was just trying to get something going, trying to pump a little energy to us and it just didn't work out. But Phil doesn't really care how many shots I take, he just wants me to take them inside of the offense. [sunday] was one of those days where I was like, '[Expletive] the triangle, I need to get myself going and try to save this damn game,' and it just didn't work out."

 

Bryant did not take offense to the message.

 

"When you've been around Phil for as many years as I have, we all understand that he likes coaching publicly and I think it's important for the new guys to understand that -- Ron [Artest], Pau [Gasol], guys who kind of have issues with that," Bryant said. "You see myself, you see Fish [Derek Fisher], we understand that's how he coaches so it's fine. You just let him do his job and you go about your business."

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/news/story?id=5985885

 

Nice to see Kobe speaking on this topic and Phil clarifying what he said.

[Real Deal]

Kobe went one on one and took other players out of the game.

Haha, what other players? You can't "take anyone out of the game" if they were never in it to begin with.

 

Kobe was taking most of the shots and missing the majority of the time.

I don't think you watched the game, then. If so, you'd know that Bryant went 6-11 in that quarter, 5-6 from the FT line (that's not missing most of the time).

 

The Lakers were down by 13 after the first 35-40 seconds of the quarter. Bryant basically did everything he could to close the gap and bring them within two points, but it wasn't going to matter because everyone else was playing like garbage, as bad (or even worse) as they were in the first half.

 

During Bryant's third, Gasol made a dunk, Fisher was blocked by Marc, Drew put in two, Fisher missed an easy floater, Fisher missed a jumper, Drew missed a hook, Odom missed an oop, Odom missed a jumper, Blake made a shot, and Brown missed a three.

 

Bryant was 6-11 in the third, the team was 3-10.

 

In the first minute of the third, Rudy Gay came up with two steals, against Gasol and Artest.

 

For the first six minutes of the quarter, the Grizzlies were held to just 8 points. In the last six, they scored 23 points.

 

Fisher and Artest are playing like they don't have to defend anyone. Artest has been a poor player for us this year, and he and Fisher are also shooting terribly.

 

If Phil Jackson wants to criticize what Kobe did in the third, he can also say something about his team's garbage play in the first half, when Kobe wasn't shooting the ball (1-3 in the first quarter, 1-3 in the second).

 

In fact, sad enough, the team was down by two in the first quarter when Jackson pulled Bryant. They were down 34-27 when Bryant came back in during the second. Bryant immediately threw an assist to Fisher for a three, then hit two free throws, followed by a three of his own, to bring them within three. At that time, Conley and Randolph decided they were going to destroy Fisher and Gasol.

 

Apparently, Phil didn't watch the game, either...too busy sitting on his high chair, thinking about retirement.

[Lkr]

Yeah, but back in 06 Lakers didn't have Pau Gasol. Pau needs to man the hell up and play like he's supposed to. LA can't keep on relying on Bryant to bring them back every damn game.

That is what I am saying! If his teammates weren't playing like poop, he wouldn't need to do this. As a result, he has to take over the game, something that can't fly anymore

[The Truth]

I don't think you watched the game, then.

yeah, I lied about watching the game.

 

by 'taking bad shots,' I meant he took low percentage shots. about half of them went in, but they were pretty bad looks, and they weren't working inside out.

[GamerGuy]

yeah, I lied about watching the game.

 

by 'taking bad shots,' I meant he took low percentage shots. about half of them went in, but they were pretty bad looks, and they weren't working inside out.

Most of his shots were inside the three point arc during that third quarter stint though. And they weren't working inside out because Pau was too busy getting owned by his brother and Randolph.

[Real Deal]

yeah, I lied about watching the game.

 

by 'taking bad shots,' I meant he took low percentage shots. about half of them went in, but they were pretty bad looks, and they weren't working inside out.

 

Most of his shots were inside the three point arc during that third quarter stint though. And they weren't working inside out because Pau was too busy getting owned by his brother and Randolph.

Now you know why I questioned you. It's easy to say he took bad shots just by looking at his three-point percentage (because that's what you brought up), but the rest weren't.

[Real Deal]

And, yes Kyle...Marc knows how to defend Pau, probably better than anyone else in the league, it seems.

[Nitro]

It's easy to say he took bad shots just by looking at his three-point percentage (because that's what you brought up), but the rest weren't.

 

Well, when 1/3 of your FGA's are 3 pointers (in Kobe's case, 7 of 22), and you miss 6 of them...that's not exactly good shot selection. Not saying guys like LeBron don't have those kinds of nights, but it's still poor shot selection.

[Real Deal]

Well, when 1/3 of your FGA's are 3 pointers (in Kobe's case, 7 of 22), and you miss 6 of them...that's not exactly good shot selection. Not saying guys like LeBron don't have those kinds of nights, but it's still poor shot selection.

How many of them were open threes?

 

And, five of his six misses were in the second half of the game, AND three of those five were in the third.

 

He didn't take any bad shots in the first half of the game, and the Lakers were losing big. In the third, when he shot 6-11, three of those misses were threes...and I don't care because if it wasn't for him going nuts, we would've been blown out by 30+ points.

 

So, two threes in the fourth quarter (both misses) were bad shots? Both happened when we were down 18 points.

 

I don't like playing the boxscore poster. Those threes weren't necessarily bad shots. Two in the first half (one that he made), three misses in the third when he was the ONLY player doing ANYTHING for our team, and two misses in the fourth when the game was out of reach. I don't see the problem.

[Nitro]

How many of them were open threes?

 

And, five of his six misses were in the second half of the game, AND three of those five were in the third.

 

He didn't take any bad shots in the first half of the game, and the Lakers were losing big. In the third, when he shot 6-11, three of those misses were threes...and I don't care because if it wasn't for him going nuts, we would've been blown out by 30+ points.

 

So, two threes in the fourth quarter (both misses) were bad shots? Both happened when we were down 18 points.

 

I don't like playing the boxscore poster. Those threes weren't necessarily bad shots. Two in the first half (one that he made), three misses in the third when he was the ONLY player doing ANYTHING for our team, and two misses in the fourth when the game was out of reach. I don't see the problem.

 

You have to look at the bigger picture...7 shot attempts beyond the 3pt mark, 1 make. That means he was 9-15 inside the 3pt line. His stubborness to continue to shoot that 3pt shot, when he was making 2pt FG's at a 60% clip, brings me to the conclusion that he had pretty poor shot selection.

 

I don't even need to watch the game to know what happened...I've seen it from Kobe for years, from T-Mac for years, and to a lesser extent LeBron and Wade. They start to feel it, get on a streak, then go for the homerun. When those homeruns fall through, it's a major demoralizer for the opposition. However, if it doesn't fall through, it can kill momentum, lead to long rebounds and often times fastbreak opportunities for the opponent, leading to 5 or 6pt swings. Either way, when you're shooting 14% from 3 and 60% from 2, taking 7 3pt shots doesn't qualify as smart shot selection.