Kobe puts the team on blast

[Be Like Mike]

Kobe on Metta.....

 

"He's the one guy I can count on, night in and night out, to compete."

 

He didn't say ONLY guy but Im glad he said it, maybe i'll light a fire under their azz.

[Real Deal]

@SHowardCooper

Kobe Bryant, asked if teammates matched his heart tonight: "No. Of course they didn't."

And Shaq threw down on Bynum after the game. Damn.

[Flash]

Bynum has mentally checked out at this point it seems.

Edited May 11, 2012 by Flash

[Be Like Mike]

And Shaq threw down on Bynum after the game. Damn.

 

More shots fired. I love it, hope the front office is listening. I heard that bit on shaq too.

[Real Deal]

Bynum has mentally checked out at this point it seems.

And all after running his mouth about how close-out games were the easiest.

 

Even McGee found effort to discuss that after Game 5, saying that everyone in the Denver locker room was paying attention to the comments, and that they came out to prove Drew wrong.

 

Drew is a dumbass.

[JYD]

Lol I honestly thought this series was over just like Bynum did.

 

Oh wait Bynum still thinks the series is over

[Check my Stats]

What a professional.

[Real Deal]

What a professional.

Is MJ one of your favorite players? Jordan would have already slapped the shit out of Drew, and called him out during the game, in the huddle, for the cameraman to catch.

 

That's just how it goes, though. People would say that Kobe couldn't get it done without Phil and Fisher because he's not a leader, can't say what he needs to when it comes to his teammates, doesn't call them out, etc. But when he does say anything remotely close to calling them out, he's just as bad for doing it.

[EastCoastNiner]

He needs to shut up and just play.

Edited May 11, 2012 by BeeBeeSee

[The Regime]

Gasol has been ever worse if thats even possible. I'm losing confidence in this team to be honest, we'll win game 7 against Denver but will more than likely gets our asses handed to us against OKC.

 

Significant changes need to be made this offseason if Kobe wants to win his 6th.

[Real Deal]

On Ron's return for Game 7:

 

KB: Well, I expect him to come out and play with the tenacity that he's known for. He's the one guy that I can rely on night in and night out to compete and play hard, play with a sense of urgency and to play with no fear, so I'm looking forward to having that by my side again.

Sad that I can't wait for him to come back and play. In December/January, we were discussing the amnesty on Ron, because he was playing so bad on both ends of the court. His last month has been pretty good, and Kobe is money with what he's saying.

 

Very few Lakers fans are disagreeing with any of this, even Kobe's reaction to it, and that includes some notorious Kobe haters on TLN (which surprised the hell out of me). We have watched 66 regular season games, six playoff games, and every second of those...and we have been waiting for the Phil Jackson moment coming out of Kobe. This is it.

 

These last two games, this team is no better than the 2006 team with Parker, Kwame, and Walton...ironically, the one that gave up the 3-1 lead over Phoenix and lost in the first round.

[Lkr]

Gasol has been ever worse if thats even possible. I'm losing confidence in this team to be honest, we'll win game 7 against Denver but will more than likely gets our asses handed to us against OKC.

 

Significant changes need to be made this offseason if Kobe wants to win his 6th.

One bad game and people act like Pau isn't a good player

[Real Deal]

One bad game and people act like Pau isn't a good player

I'd say two bad games. Aside from pulling down boards (something that Reggie Evans can do), Gasol was horrible in Game 5.

[EastCoastNiner]

Let's just keep acting like Kobe's FG% is amazing during his playoff career, and this year.........

 

You can claim he's defended differently, but those are just excuses for his play. He has a pretty poor FG% compared to other elite players during the post-season.

 

I'm not going to say he's turned into a glorified chucker, but..........

Edited May 11, 2012 by BeeBeeSee

[Real Deal]

Let's just keep acting like Kobe's FG% is amazing during his playoff career, and this year.........

 

You can claim he's defended differently, but those are just excuses for his play. He has a pretty poor FG% compared to other elite players during the post-season.

 

I'm not going to say he's turned into a glorified chucker, but..........

He's shooting 46.4% in the playoffs, post-Shaq (since everyone likes to credit Kobe's rings to O'Neal, might as well use the post-Shaq version of him). LeBron's career playoff shooting percentage is 46.1%. What other elites should we compare him to? Richard Jefferson has a career post-season FG% of 47.2%...so that must be significant if we're pitting him against the likes of Kobe and LeBron, correct? Jason Richardson is at 46.5%. Dirk is higher than LeBron's, even though he plays like a guard most of the time (and LeBron is at the rim far, far more).

 

FG% really doesn't hold much weight, dude.

[Check my Stats]

Here's my whole thing, I just don't like when a guy, especially your best player, complains about other players to the media. It is just bullshit to me honestly.

 

There is no excuse for Bynum behaving like that, I'm not saying that. But at the same time, if you were in Bynum's position, how would you feel? You have Kobe Bryant shooting minimum 25 times a game, when if he is HOT, he is maybe shooting 55%, meanwhile you get 11 or 12 shots despite the fact you are your team's most efficient scorer? Then you are also expected to lock down on defense, be the anchor, hold the responsibility for losses, but then back on the other end number 24 is probably jacking up a contested 17 footer? I'd be pretty annoyed too.

 

Listen, I don't watch the games as often as you guys so obviously you know better, and I'm not trying to bait anyone or piss anyone off, and I'm not even defending Bynum for being a little bitch, but that doesn't mean it is okay for Kobe to whine to the media. If Kobe ripped him a new one on the bench, fine, by all means, no problems here with that. But to go and bitch and moan to the media? Nope, not a fan at all.

 

Bottom line: Andrew Bynum has the potential to be the number 1 offensive option on LA (or a 1 a/b type thing), we all know it. He clearly wants it, and they need to give a little to keep the kid happy. You give him touches, he's going to play harder on defense, be more invested in the game.

 

Kobe has to hand that torch over eventually, and him being reluctant to do so might honestly kill this team. Like I said, I don't watch the games often, and I am going mostly off box scores here so I could be totally off base. But still, no excuse for Bynum's behaviour, but I don't like what Kobe did either. It's a bitch move as far as I am concerned. Talk to him yourself.

[Check my Stats]

On a side note, how hilarious is it that we give no accountability to Mike Brown either in this situation? Mike Brown is such a little bitch, honest to God it is almost pathetic.

Edited May 11, 2012 by Check my Stats

[kingfish]

Both of you just stfu already (bbs and check my stats)

 

Kobe is being too soft with them, he needs to call them out more explicitly.

Edited May 12, 2012 by kingfish

[Real Deal]

Bottom line: Andrew Bynum has the potential to be the number 1 offensive option on LA (or a 1 a/b type thing), we all know it. He clearly wants it, and they need to give a little to keep the kid happy. You give him touches, he's going to play harder on defense, be more invested in the game

No, Drew doesn't have the potential to be a #1 option. You would think, but do you know why Denver is now caught up with us? It's because they are double teaming him like CRAZY. Drew has gotten plenty of touches in this series, but he's having to pass them back out, frequently, because of the double...and if you only saw just how bad he handles these doubles, you'd agree that SOMEONE has to call him out.

 

Game 4 or 5, don't remember which...Drew caught the ball a bit out of the post (because guys are pushing him out of it), and then was immediately doubled. He turned his body, traveled (left uncalled, but it has been called a few times on him), and then literally fell with the ball, to his knees, and turning it over.

 

Keep in mind that 10 shot attempts doesn't mean 10 touches...it just means that Drew wasn't doubled a few times, and he grabbed a couple of offensive boards and had putbacks (or, he was ignorant and shot a 12-foot baby hook over McGee and Faried).

 

There's a reason that Shaq is calling him out live on TNT. There's a reason why Kenny Smith said he wouldn't want him to be his teammate. There's definitely a reason why Kobe is finally calling him out, and why Mike Brown said he needed more production and effort from his #2 and #3 options out there.

 

Not only that, but Drew himself said that he needed to play Game 7 "as it it were his last game."

 

On a side note, how hilarious is it that we give no accountability to Mike Brown either in this situation? Mike Brown is such a little bitch, honest to God it is almost pathetic.

All Brown knows how to do is hand the ball off to a superstar, and pray that he does something good (speaking in regards to an offense). Kuester is really the guy behind the offense that we run, and the truth is, it's a poor decision.

 

-------------

 

Not going to try and make it sound too complicated here...but Drew and Gasol as "twin towers" won't work. Why not just change it up? Well, we can't jump from our current offense, to a double post motion (just using one as an example, of course). Not with just one practice. There are far too many restrictions in an offense like that, and too much movement.

 

For example, in the double post motion, if JaVale were to front Bynum, Gasol would flash to the ball side elbow, initiating a post pin and a high low play. If McGee is behind Drew, Gasol breaks to the weak side elbow, Drew forces a double, and the pass goes to Gasol for the jumper, or a kick out to a shooter.

 

I mean, we actually try and set this up, but we don't begin that way. In that particular offense, both of our bigs are in the low post, opposite sides, and our three perimeter players stay outside.

 

We probably avoid this, though, because a team like Denver has no problem sticking one guy on Kobe while he's 25 feet from the rim. They have the help D to recover and contest anything he tries to take inside of the three, all while being long enough to stick with their man in the process.

 

The truth is, Bynum cannot facilitate (doesn't have that ability, but he shouldn't be trying to in the first place). I've said it for a while now. With this crew, on this team, in this offense...he can't. He has to score once he gets the ball...no waiting for doubles. It would help if Gasol was a threat, because then Pau can drag his man anywhere on the court, given his range (like Duncan was doing in San Antonio), but his lack of aggressive play is an issue as well.

 

Bynum has to play the correct way. Once he gets the ball, he has to make a move, immediately, and score. He's not Shaq...and that's why so many people are angry with him right now (not to mention he's a big mouth bitch that talks trash, then fails to back it up, giving Denver bulletin-board material for the series comeback...as Karl, McGee and Lawson admitted).

[Makaveli]

Let's just keep acting like Kobe's FG% is amazing during his playoff career, and this year.........

 

You can claim he's defended differently, but those are just excuses for his play. He has a pretty poor FG% compared to other elite players during the post-season.

 

I'm not going to say he's turned into a glorified chucker, but..........

Kobe: 31.2 ppg, 44.9 FG%

LeBron: 27.0 ppg, 47.8 FG%

Durant: 26.5 ppg, 44.5 FG%

 

This year in the playoffs so far. Not that much of a difference at all if you ask me.