All things considered, I humbly think I might be one of the more impartial observers of the Kobe Bryant phenomenon you'll find. In the pre-title days, I was a huge fan of the kid's enthusiasm for the game. Like KG, you could see he was one of the guys who was really happy to play pro basketball. I particularly loved his performance in the '98 all-star game, when he tried to take MJ on mano-a-mano. At a time when everyone else crapped the bed when facing No. 23, that was just really impressive. On the court, Kobe was a live wire, prone to bad decisions, but awesome to watch with his crazy creativity, hops, and agility.
When the Lakers started winning championships, however, Bryant's demeanor changed. He became noticeably more arrogant, and was always taking too much credit for the Lakes' success, even though he was clearly Shaq's sidekick. I could not stand dude in those days. The change in Kobe translated over to the court, where he was not nearly as enthusiastic as he was in his younger days. Instead, he tried to be like Mike, all business, and his selfishness stood out on an otherwise unselfish team. He always seemed to want to take over the game at the wrong times, and it was in this period that he started to become the jumper-happy bomber that he sometimes lapses into today.
Post-Shaq, however, the pendulum has started to swing the other way. The losing has humbled Kobe a bit, making his off-court persona a bit more bearable. As a fan of the game, I enjoy watching Kobe, as he is the most skilled and creative scorer in the game by a country mile. What cracks me up though is watching every year the media crowing about how Kobe has finally changed his ways and learned to trust his teammates, only to watch Kobe revert to selfishness when it really counts.
This merry-go-round has been spinning each of the past three seasons, and this year has been no different, this time resulting in his getting the MVP. Kobe changed? Take that garbage elsewhere. Ain't nothing changed about Kobe. The only thing that changed this year was that Kobe got better teammates. Kobe the pragmatist realized that he can win some regular season games by moving the ball and letting Pau Gasol make plays every once and a while. Kobe even stuck with this MO in the playoffs, which worked well against the defenseless Denver and Utah squads. It even took care of_a_game (thanks, Fox censors!), but worn out Spurs squad, where Kobe played more aggressively and took over in the big games. But when push came to shove this season in the finals, when plan A stopped working altogether, where was teammate Kobe? The guy who "put his DNA into the team?" (Note: for a guy accused of rape, could he have had a worse choice of words?) Screaming at teammates on national TV and trying to win the finals by himself. I didn't know it was possible for a star player to lose his team (isn't that the coach's job?), but the eye-rolling and body language of the Lakers in the Finals told me otherwise.
It's still hard for me to digest, strategically, Kobe's performance in the finals. Boston used the same strategy in six games, and LA/Kobe never made the adjustment. The plan was simple: swarm Kobe on the catch and take away his driving lanes, thereby forcing him to shoot with a hand in his face or making him pass the ball. Now, as I see it, LA could have dealt with this in two ways. Because all five defenders were reacting to Kobe, quick ball reversals would lead to open jumpers and layups. This required Kobe to make a quick decision and pass the ball quickly after the catch. Yet he refused to do it except on rare occasions. The few times he did move the ball quickly seemed to always result in a good shot for Odom or Gasol. Why Kobe did not make the obvious adjustment and move the damn ball blows my mind. The only explanation I can see: Kobe wanted to win the game and be the hero by himself. AKA same old Kobe.
The other option for LA to combat Boston's D, which I NEVER saw them utilize, was to take Kobe off the ball. To free him up, the Lakers could have run Kobe off of screens off the ball, or even better, post him up (which woulda worked especially well against Ray Allen). Using Kobe in this way would have given him a fighting chance to beat the Boston D and get good looks. If Boston countered by doubling Kobe off of the ball, LA had the playmakers, with Gasol, Odom, and Vujacic, to capitalize against a 4-on-3 defense. The failure to make this adjustment may fall more on Phil Jackson's shoulders than Kobe, but that its so obvious to an internet blogger like myself really makes me wonder why the experts out on the court didn't at least give it a try. Hell, it couldn't have been any worse than putting freaking Chris Mihm in the game, right? But again, I can definitely see Kobe refusing to play a style which puts him in a more passive position, and doesn't let him be the hero, decision-maker, MJ-alike he wants so desperately to be, even if he doesn't admit it in interviews.
As fun as skewering No. 24 has been, the last sentence gets into the real reason I'm writing this post. The universal message I've been hearing post-finals is that "see, Kobe really ain't no MJ." First of all, is this really a news flash? Did you actually believe the crazed proclamations of the pro-LA fanatics and press, who foam at the mouth uncontrollably when Kobe is brought up? Some writers also like to trot out the "if MJ played now, he'd average 70 billion points a game under these sissy rules." And this is where I have to really draw the line. That's right, it's time to defend the Black Mamba.
I'm not saying MJ wouldn't have handled Boston's D in a better, more unselfish way (gotta love the double negative, but it makes sense here). But what nobody seems to realize is that the rules of the 80's and 90's outlawed the type of defense Boston was playing in the finals this season! Boston was effectively playing a zone on Kobe Bryant, and zones were illegal in the NBA until earlier this decade. Nobody could force the ball out of MJ's hands like the Celtics did to Kobe, because it would have violated the arcane illegal defense rules of that time. And so instead you got MJ shredding single and occasional double coverage, because team D couldn't give any more help. Of course, MJ still could be deterred from going all the way to the basket for fear of getting gang-tackled, but he could still create space in the midrange without worry from being smothered by help defenders. Kobe didn't have that luxury. Not to mention that MJ never had to worry about anybody like KG roaming all over the court with those go-go-gadget arms.
Fact is, the MJ playbook doesn't have anything to deal with Boston's one man zone defense, so Kobe was left to his own devices, and we saw the result. Here's hoping that LA's main man learns from his mistakes of this season, and either changes his mindset or develops the off-the-ball skills necessary to overcome. Maybe then he'll become the team player that everyone is so anxious to anoint him every season.
Because I wanted to drop my 2 cents on the state of the NBA, I present to you the latest IM chat with my fellow NBA-savant Vic. This is lightly edited and a bit thin on the analysis side, but should provide you readers with some food for thought, provided you can understand our shorthand. As context, Vic and I have been going back and forth about Lamar Odom (he thinks Phil Jackson should be meowing a la Kwame Brown when LO walks by, I say he's just another guy a la Derrick Coleman, who doesn't like basketball as much as we'd like him to) and Kobe, as you will see. And by the way, J.A. Andade, I don't really think you're an ####. You just make me really, really angry when you say stuff like Manu Ginobili is more valuable than Tim Duncan in 2008 on the basis of one playoff game. Here's the transcript:
Guru: hey man, got your messages from earlier, odom should be killing the spurs V: i saw a stat too Guru: not playing with enough intensity V: he's shooting like low 60s or high 50s from FT for Playoffs. Guru: he's got to play harder for LA to win at least on the road V: yeah man 2-11? and 63% FT shooting in playoffs so far 2-11 you can have a really really horrible night being guarded by a euro and all and blowing layups but the FT shooting? at first i thought it was a poor sample size but he's shot 80+ in FTs the playoffs so far its all mental with that guy Guru: if you watch, he's driving right into traffic every time, flipping up a shot and trying to get a call, ironically V: what's wierd to me is how streaky is statline looks one night 8-12 next night 2-11 Guru: he was the man in game 2, it is odd I think he's more important to the Lakers than Gasol in this series Gasol has his hands full with Duncan Odom needs to play well for them to win they really shoulda lost game 1 also V: yeah gasol tried to play TD 1v1 didn't work though Gasol has length Guru: for spurs, TD needs to dominate like games 1 and 3 V: TD and one other player has to have big games it was manu the other night Guru: I did like how gasol attacked duncan though, he's got good touch on that jump hook I was surprised to see that gasol had 18 shots, he blew a bunch of layups too as for another big game, I dunno about that they probably don't need 30 from any one player if the role players hit outside shots they just need to make some threes to keep LA from collapsing on dribble penetration by the Spur guards V: lakers have home court advantage so if they hold par and just win their home games as they have been they'll be fine but i think its more likely than not that this series goes to game 7 and it ends up being whether SA has enough gas to gut out yet another tough road game Guru: perhaps I like the spurs chances better in this series though V: as compared to the NO series? Guru: yeah, kobe aside, I think the hornets were a mentally tougher team then LA V: as I’ve been saying, spurs are most capable of winning it all question is do they have enough gas? spurs can take it to a higher level lakers, aside from kobe, can’t Guru: yeah, I guess the playoff this season have shown, you can't count out the old guys in SA the play of Finley, Thomas, Horry has been the most suprising to me I thought those guys were done yet it seems that in every series, there's been a game where Finley has made some huge baskets at crunch time to turn the tide game 1 phoenix, game 7 NO but we'll see V: yeah, they somehow muster up the energy but i can totally see them running out of gas these long series they probably have the toughest road Suns, NOs, lakers, east talk about murderer's row Guru: I was gonna say though, if Kobe's the Jordan-calibur player you think he is, LA could very well pull this series out V: i don’t think he's jordan at all i think he's the closest thing to jordan for all of the "next jordans" small, but significant difference Guru: that's a fairly non-controversial statement V: well yeah Guru: though the LeBron camp may take issue with it, but LeBron is too different I think V: Lebron has more god-given talent than kobe but it's comparing apples to oranges with lebron vs. jordan, or lebron vs. kobe Guru: I agree lebron is a forward/supersize guard more akin to magic and bird than jordan V: yep Guru: there was an interesting article today about the cavs, questioning whether the cavs #### offense is lebron's fault or Mike Brown's fault I never thought of it that way, but perhaps Lebron is more to blame? V: i dunno man lebron desperately needs a playmaker baron would actually be insane for him a playmaker PG would be optimal i dont know if the offense is either one's fault Z? big ben? wally world? joe smith? cavs aint exactly stocked with much more than role players and lebron Guru: hey man, some of those guys are better than you'd think V: lol Guru: z and joe smith can both shoot and post wally can hit open jumpers and move off of screens I'm not saying that they're main options but you could run some plays for them from time to time V: wally and Z in particular need the ball someone like jamison for example a scorer w/o needing to touch or dominate the ball Guru: well, minnesota used to use wally like a quasi-reggie miller/rip hamilton, running him off of screens off the ball, that's how he was a 20ppg guy V: yeah but reggie wasnt playing with a fool like lebron man i guess what i'm saying is that lebron needs opportunistic "junk" scorers hey dude put him on the hawks man Guru: guys who don't need plays run for them V: that'd be an awwwwesome team lebron, Joe Johnson and a bunch of athletes? i'd be scared scared scared of that team Guru: yeah, I think Lebron is better suited for an uptempo style too the transition game is where he's truly unstoppable but back to reality, I don't think that lets him off the hook, if indeed he is the reason, instead of the coaching staff, that the Cavs offense is so 1-dimensional V: he's probably better off in a free wheeling motion offense, with room to improvise i don't think its him or the staff i think its the GM Guru: personnel is a problem, but you think it's ok for him to play that way, even with the squad he has? V: i dont know for one he's not a PG he's a marvelously gifted passer but he's probably much better off being a guy who dumps the ball off of a double team rather than being the guy who tries to set things in motion to set up another Guru: yeah, but what the article points out is that maybe he takes on primary playmaking duties because he wants to make all the decisions because it's his team, etc V: he's still the best PG they got right? and really west, Z, wally, wallace none of then are playmakers west can dribble penetrate a bit, but i haven't seem him be a PG Guru: maybe it is academic, because it's true, none of the cavs "pgs" are true playmakers, but isn't all you need out of those guys is to bring the ball up and get the team into it's offense? that would allow lebron to work off of the ball a bit, set up and then kick out of double teams V: Lebron is ultimately the Cavs PG man. Guru: ok, so you're saying lebron has to have a true pg to win? V: not at all for one Guru: lots of teams have won without that kind of true pg V: they got the the championship round last year with a bad team second, they took a good celtics team to 7 games i'm saying that Lebron is limited by not having a true PG beside him. and he's being thrust into being the PG now is that his fault? or is that because they dont have a true PG? i say its more of the latter than the former Guru: yeah, but being the main playmaker of your team doesn't mean that you have to go 1 on 5 every time down the floor that's not what all of these teams that won without a conventional point guard has done well, if you watch, what was happening was that invariably lebron would bring the ball up in the middle of the floor, the other guys would clear out and stand around, while lebron tried to take on the Celtics D by himself V: well that's certainly not right Guru: the C's forced him into a bad shot almost every time V: that article just sounds like puffing up something small and trying to create something out of nothing fact 1 -cavs have a crappy lineup. Guru: well, Mike brown gets criticized to hell for the cavs' predictable offense V: fact 2 - i dont think anyone expected this current cav team to get anywhere very far fact 3 - just taking celts to 7 games and beating pistons last year would be, my most accounts, overachieving Guru: and if that is Lebron's fault, not the coaching staffs', well then that's interesting V: i mean damn man its like ignoring the big fat elephant in the room get bron some HELP YOU FOOLS i'd leave for jersey too or NYC #### cleveland has a cash cow and can't get their #### together? if so, they don't deserve him Guru: but I don't think lack of talent excuses playing the game the wrong way I mean yeah, cavs are ultimately not as talented as the top teams in the L V: i see it as just criticizing to criticize. Guru: its valid, if that is what's going on V: for all the cavs faults, that'd be the least of my worries they have a host of problems Guru: well, coaching may be one of them V: poor defensive team, poor offensive team, short on talent, coaching i'd address the talent one first you fix that i guaranfreakingtee you the others will be improved too wasn’t doc a much maligned coach until this years celts? Guru: he still is maligned in circles, and rightfully so V: probably would not have been if the celts swept through the east Guru: that cavs-celts series was one of the worst coached series I've seen in a while V: he was getting many kudos prior to the playoffs Guru: they might have swept through, if he wasn't such a ####kup with his lineups V: exactly so now he's getting exposed but it just goes to show how much talent can hide Guru: to the casual eye, yes V: for one i think the casual eye overrates this celtic team the 66 wins was an aberration Guru: they overachieved, because of Garnett's manic intensity, perhaps also because of the weakness of the east too more because of intensity V: they played playoff-type bball all year Guru: on defense especially V: but i remember when i first started watching them more seriously towards the end of the season and remarking dude they're a jumpshooting team who's going to take over in crunch? they're going to rely on Js? thats a huge flaw IMO Guru: one thing with the celtics, their offense is rather disorganized V: it's screen and pop for the most part Guru: if their guys are playing unselfishly, then they move the ball well and can get open looks from the perimeter but in cavs series, a lot of guys started playing 1 on 1 and the whole thing bogged down that's why ray allen has struggled so much he got no touches in the cleveland series because pierce, rondo and KG were all getting their points essentially playing 1 on 1 or 2 on 2 Guru: #### detroit though...what the #### no excuse for starting the game asleep in game 3 they were down 11-0 to start the game V: I was very suprised to see that they had lost at home i thought they were trying to make a statement by winning a game in boston WHUPS Guru: honestly, sheed and chauncey are the main problems rip has played hard every game tayshaun, I love him but on offense he has lamar odom syndrome I think he even shot 2-11 for good measure V: i am always surprised every time he backs his man down and posts him up. wtf? is he like incredibly dense or something and actually weighs 330 and doesn’t look him? wtf? Guru: hey man it works that lefty hook is lethal V: i'm surprised sometimes that he doesnt snap in half Guru: prince is surprising, they always said he needed to put on weight that was part of the reason he slipped in the draft V: so far it doesn’t look like he has he also wasn't your typical run jump athlete i recall him being a good shooter at KY Guru: he might have put on a little bit of weight since uk days, I think he looks more toned now yeah, he did post at UK V: he's probably up to a what Guru: he was a 4 in college V: bulky 209 now? Guru: something like that, 210-215 V: clearly a freight train in the post eh? Guru: hahah right I guess maybe he's too agile to dislodge down there? it's hard to say V: i dunno perhaps yeah so maybe he's too much of a threat to do a spin and go around you so guys are hesitant to lean on him too much? i dunno Guru: yeah, it's just frustrating to be a fan of this team sometimes they really needed some change after last season's debacle hopefully Flip has the balls to bench chauncey if he's playing like #### again in game 4 V: i heard he was injured Guru: with stuckey around and playing so well, it's inexcusable to leave billups in and have him hurt the team V: ah how has billups been hurting the team Guru: just being lackluster really he has no explosion going to the basket, so he's reduced to being a jumpshooter he allowed rondo to get into the lane on defense 1-6 shooting, 4 assists to 2 TOs V: ouch that hurts Guru: just did not get it done he still played 27 mins though btw, tay did shoot 2-11 V: ouch Guru: the odom comparison is pretty good actually, I always read stories about how flip is begging him to shoot more V: i'm wondering if flip is too lackadaisacal and not lighting a fire under their #### Guru: he is, for this group V: how about the challenge of beating a hyped up celtics team? if you cant get up for that then i dunno Guru: it sticks out, especially compared to larry brown brown didn't give a ####, he would bench guys if they weren't playing well it would #### off billups all the time, but they were more successful for it V: yeah brown does have a rep though 3 yrs then teams tune him out V: so i dunno if even having him would help this current team Guru: tru dat V: and to be honest, i'm confused as to why the pistons are so laissez faire about it. they won one champsionship Guru: but I wonder if they had more of a leader as a coach, it wouldn't make a difference V: they are more like the buffalo bills than the dallas cowboys if i was the latter, i'd be cocky, but not really the former Guru: the running analogy is that they're the atlanta braves of the nba V: ah yeah close, but not always on top Guru: yeah, it's stupid like I said, it's coming from their "leaders" sheed and billups Guru: even when they lose they're cocky like right after they lost to the cavs, you have quotes like "we still feel we're the better team" true perhaps, but wtf? V: yeah after getting booted in the playoffs you'd think they'd be more humble... if they had won like 2-3 in a row then lost i could see it but it's been a while since they won Guru: it's just sad really, those guys were in their mid-late 20's when they won their ring they really coulda made a dynasty of this team but they ####ked themselves with their arrogance V: starting to look a bit old man Guru: if you look, their playoff losses in each of the last 3 years can be traced to their attitude yeah, they don't have much time left V: after 3 yrs they have gotta say ok maybe its US Guru: exactly you would think Guru: actually, I wanted to go back to what we were discussing a while earlier so you don't think Kobe's as good as jordan, but you still think he's one of those #1 guys who can carry a team to a championship, right? is he in the same tier? (as you imagine, I say no, based on his record up until now) V: hehehe i'm not surprised it remains to be seen with kobe. he certainly has a good shot this year Guru: his stage is set I don't think they beat the spurs without him having at least one of those crazy games Guru: OMG, why do I even read espn anymore, I should really know better Andade is a freaking #### to say ginobili is more important to the spurs than duncan absolutely an #### of course we knew that already, but damn V: LOL yeah man i read that and i was like WHHHHAAA? that's like saying kobe was more important than shaq but are essential but one is clearly more valuable than the other. V: i'm gonna head out of the office ttyl
