Kwame did a great job yesterday. He did what he was asked to do. At the beginning of the season no one would have believed that he could do this. He is the only center we have now. He was sacrificed for the good of the team. To stop Yao, we needed to double team him, but our strategy was to stop the other guys. No open jumpers for Luther etc. Did you notice that Kwame was in the game only when Yao was in? As soon as Yao was rested, kwame was taken out to save energy and fouls for Yao.
Yao has had dominant performances since the all star break, and Kwame slowed him down, did not get into foul trouble, and wore Yao down in the second half, when the game was decided.
Kwame took one for the team and executed the game plam.
Go Lakers!!!
Go Bruins!!! Tonight is #12
Roky

To Ceasar,

Who cares about ref and who cares about respecting refs. Refs think they know all but in reality..they dont know jack. If I were Kobe, I would have punched the ref nose and bleed him to death.

Well, Shaq just stole Kobe's thunder. He just lashed out at the refs and Stu Jackson

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5469942

I wonder what kind of $$ penalty he will get. These guys are at a very high competitive level and they speak for their team. Still, I agree that Kobe should behave himself until we are in 6th. Rasheed has the luxury to be able to sit down 1 game, but not our Mamba.

I like the idea of signaling the rookies, but's let be honest, the refs aren't going to get anywhere near the bench warmers, so they'd never have a chance to rip into them.

I present that it's Phil's job to stand up for his superstar, and he's been sorely lacking in that department. There's been several of Kobe's T's where I think Phil should've stepped in and been the one to get the Tech - Phil (and the rest of the coaching staff) need to do a better job of protecting Kobe out there (and Lamar too), I think they've left both of them high n' dry on more than one occasion.

Kevin McK,

It's simply up to Devin, Ronny, Socks and Von to use their "outdoor voices" and make sure the refs hear them. Plus, Ronny can do one of his little dances while yelling. That ought to catch a ref's attention. And all 7'1" Bynum needs to do is lean in towards the court while bitching. Even if Socks is on the bench, with that length, he can reach a ref's ear no matter where the guy is.

AK

Nice post... except kobe didn't get the last T for talking...

OK AK, you're right, just some good elevated voice levels from the bench might be enough. Does anybody else on the team speak Italian? Maybe Kobe could do his cursing/complaining in Italian and then someone from the bench could secretly translate and yell the english version for the officials to hear. Of course they'd have to be discreet b/c if they figured out it was just a translation of Kobe, they'd probably still give him the T.

Maybe you're right, maybe hand signs are the way to go. I just worry about someone giving the signal to steal 2nd base by accident and we end up with Lamar sliding into the key during a fastbreak or something.

Sasha played in italy (i'm pretty sure) so he speaks italian. I agree it's a great idea to get them to talk back to the refs instead of him...my only thing is he's the captain and what happens when they're robbing LO, or Smush, or Kwame and he gets a tech, or there's like one of those stupid (I agree with Stu...most of the time those are questionable) double tech calls. Plus there's a fee when you get techs right? So maybe they can't or don't want to spend that kind of money...maybe Kobe needs to set up a pay for it system...lol. Of course all these are just me thinking out loud..lol ;-)

I love Kobe's intensity on the court. Perhaps, though, the reason Kobe isn't getting calls others do is the officials perceive this intensity as disrespectful to them. Officials need to be in charge. Not players or coaches. Agree or disagree, officials need to control the game. I'm of the opinion that great officiating is transparent. No tickytack fouls, no flamboyant calls. Let em play, call the real stuff. Problem is that officiating is subjective. By its very nature, that means that sometimes the subject calls attention to itself. If an official believes a player is the type that reaches in, then they'll be looking for it, and they'll find it. I'm not so upset that Kobe doesn't get calls every time he goes down the court. Lord knows he gets hacked nearly every time. Just be consistant on both ends of the court. Other than that, I don't have any solutions.

Actually, I'm surprised the push with the ball didn't get a fine, too. If he had instead pushed the official with his hand then he would have been suspended for a game or two. I would much rather see Kobe turn his frustration into aggressive play. This is what prompted 62 in 3q. He was smacked in the face, and he went off.

Unfortunately, in this case, wasn't he being called for an offensive foul? It has to pretty frustrating for a player to be hacked like he is when he drives the lane and not get a foul called. It has to be even more infuriating to get called for an offensive foul. The refs have forced Kobe into jump shots. We saw this again in the San Antonio game last Thursday. Kobe still needs to turn the frustration into Offense and Defense.

I wonder what the punishment a player would get for passing it hard to an official, instead of handing it off, or passing softly?

May Kobe find inner peace for the next few games.

--James

Roky,

If holding an opponent to 33 points on 64% shooting and 16 boards is "slowing someone down" and "did a great job" then I should look for a contract this season because I would have a decent shot of holding someone to those numbers. Yao is a hell of a player so I'l give Kwame some slack, but he was lit up.

According to Babelfish, it would sound something like this:

Kobe: "Che cosa? Come potete mancare quella chiamata? Lo ha colpito di destra qui sul mio braccio! Sul mio braccio!!"

Ref: "What did you say?"

Kobe: "Oh nothing, I was thinking about the big pasta dinner I'm going to have after the game."

On a serious note kobe need to be careful and not let the queens take our spot. lol. go florida!

i wonder how much money kobe has lost in the season due to technicals...must be a lot. anyways i think brown did slow down yao i mean that big body leaning on yao all game has to wear him out at some point, and in some ways it did, yao wasn't the same player in the second half as he was in the first...so good job kwame...

Go Lakers...

AK, how bout an interview with an incognito ex ref about whether or not anyone he knew was ever influenced by a player's complaint? It's like asking a magician how he did that... no way.

It's got to be hard playing full tilt, come off some super human move without the foul called and then back off to a reasonable tone in discussing the last play with a guy that's been running the floor all night, making calls as well as he can, and getting booed and ridiculed every time he blows the whistle. Certain athletes can go McEnroe and get away with it, the NBA is not an arena where that works 'cause the ref can play the "eject" card and the game still goes on. Slide away, Mamba.

Murph,
Funny indeed!!! Who won the game?
Roky

Kobe's been fined something like $20,000 already this year for his technicals. I believe that was the number I read.

Keven you are so right about Brian Cook: He is no true Power Forward. Maybe it's bad luck that he is more of a shooting guard trapped in a Power Forward body. Who knows? I don't think we can acquire Boozer, we can through trade but there are some financial restrictions involved. Wilcox is gonna become a free agent this season so unless the Sonics resign him, he's a great possibilty. So our current options are Mihm or Kwame. Kwame has played great in the center position so I think we wanna keep him that way for a while. And since Mihm has a pretty descent jumper and can shoot free throws better than most big men, I think with defensive training and quickness, he can be a good Power Forward. He has the size, he just needs the defense and agility. Until he gets those two things, the best bet would be Wilcox.

Brandon

I think it's missing Yao Ming.

Andrew Z.,
You are missing the point, At the beginning of this season everyone wanted to trade Kwame, now you expect him to be Ben Wallace. This is an expectations issue not Kwames play.
By the way Yao would have lit up Ben Wallace yesterday if he was playing him one on one. Yao has lit up every opponent since the all star break. He was making difficult shots outside of his comfort zone in the first half, many of which he missed in the second half due to fatigue. He only had 13 points in the second half compared to twenty in the first.
By not doubling Yao we were able to lock down the rest of the team and get an easy win.
Roky

I would rather see Kobe get that technical in last 2 games and missing the next game. Probebaly use that in game against Suns so Refs don't give unnecessary adv to suns. Team should play better without him. Though Guy gets 40 points for them, I think they can get that many without him too agaist low opponent. They just need to know that before playoffs.

Brandon, I think beside ocho you also have to consider brand, parker, shaq, and odom.

Brandon:

SI should have included Stephon Marbury as MVP candidate for drama.

AK:

Congratulations, you got your revenge against the Bruins. However, it could have added more candor if rivalry ends when the glory of our City is at stake.

Mike T.:

That was a fantastic run, we'll be back!!!

Go Lakers, this is an important week for a strong finish.

I just cannot understand why the refs are bagging on Kobe.

Robert Horry argues with the refs way more than Kobe does, yet how many technical fouls does he have?

Rasheed Wallace constantly argues with the refs. His fouls are worthy.

Kobe only yells at a ref when he is actually fouled. Yet these refs never seem to get it.

WATUP WATUP
BRANDON

SI has been there for a long time and THATS the ONLY reason why they're STILL there. those PICTURE before TV was there and a SPORTS magazine before ESPN. NOT because of their predictions or RIGHT choices. they had DENVER NO.2 and LAKERS NO.10 in their predictions before the SEASON so FrenchConnection(FCUK) SI.

LOL yeah right it's missing Yao.. and maybe shaq...LOL.. the pers can do what ever they want.. i'm just glad we had kobe in this lakers squad not one of them..