Extra! Extra! (3.31)

AK, how about when Mike T. props on his favorite player, Kwame, does it mean that he too will be in the Hall of Fame someday? Well, if he can continue dunking the ball the way he did in the 1st Q consistently all the way to OT, why not the D'League also needs a HOF'er?

"Every time Mike Teniente keeps a journal about a coach, that coach makes the Hall of Fame." LOL

That game embodies why I love this team. When they do play with effort, with intensity they can compete with anybody. And while last night resulted in a loss, you gotta admire the moxie in which they played.

Kwame Brown! That monster dunk off a miss...MAN! I've been waiting on that Kwame. And don't think we forgot that you're playing injured and still did an admirable job all game long and even in Yao (though he scored 32 I believe). Admirable effort Kwame, good job.

Ronny Turiaf, came to play like he always does. Did you guys see that set where he literally had like 5 blocks in one possession? Man! No quit on Braveheart for sure. He needs to be resigned most definitely. I question him not playing at all in the 3rd, when it was obvious he impacts our game that much...but no blames here.

Love this team, love the effort. Keep it up and wins will start racking up...Go Lakers!

Kwame, Vlad and Cooke for J. O'neal...

O'neal may not be the dominant player he's hyped to be but he can rebound and hit a short jumper.

Wes

Wes,

How's J.Oneal on setting moving picks? Apparently that's what it takes to win games these days.

Edwin Gueco,
You made me laught when you wrote to me...pump him up before you kick him out, that's good, i gues you are good marketing guy, haha. I don't know why Lakers hired 2 guys on Lakers radio, Michael Thompson and another guy 19 years old. They both said, Lakers shoud resign Luke, 6,7 mil a year, because NBA teams will sign Luke. Last season, MT said Lakers have to find somebody to stop Nash, who can stop Nash ? During the interview on AM 570, Jim Buss said Lakers are not afraid of Dallas and MT said, yes i don't see Larry Bird or Magic on Dallas team, he forget Detroi did not have Larry Bird or Magic either when they beat Lakers few years ago and win championship.Now they want resign Luke, i watch the game against Houston, i still think Luke is bench player. Lakers fan wants to see a show ? a show of what? These are tough games, with tough defense not a show, when Luke made a pass, some people will say,yes, you see, he is so gooood, we will win championship. Jim Buss reminds me of Maloof brothers of Sacramento, they and Sac players said before, we're not afraid of Lakers, yeah, right, Lakers keep on win championship and Sacramento did not win anything. When you talk big, you have to play big, man.

As i've said beore...
"We hit the freethrows, we win the game ."

Last night AGAIN, was a good example.

Freethrows made, we never get to OT!!!

FRUSTRATING!!!!!

Look, any great player can score 50+, 60+ if they are in a situation to jack up a lot of shots. Just like Gervin (63) and David Thompson (73) last game of the 1978 season competing for the scoring title, or David Robinson going for the scoring title in 1994 (71). David Thompson didn't even need 40 shots to get his 73! But most players aren't allowed to and realize it is horrible for the team, if they take that many shots and try to score as much as possible.

But Kobe just keeps jacking shots up at an incredible rate--5 of last 7 games 33+ shots!!! If ANY great player throughout history had done that, they would be scoring at LEAST as much as kobe. But most great players play to WIN and realize that if they take that many shots, the chances of winning diminish for the team. If Kobe wants it to just be about him, he can keep jacking them up. If he ever wants to win again, he will need to learn how to function within the team framework.

You Kobe fans don't seem to understand that the point of playing is to win, not for any one player to score the most points in any given game. Great players contribute in a number of different ways to win. All Kobe is doing is jacking up shots. ANY great player can do what Kobe is doing if all they did was jack up shots. It just isn't smart though from a team standpoint, and players realize that so don't play that way, and aren't allowed to play that way.

AK,
What Kind of 40 do you like to drink? O.E, 211, Mickeys??

Flopping on a screen only to foul TMAC on a trey, and then travelling on your last possession. I haven't seen Kobe so boneheaded in close situations. 50+ is always good but that performance came with a noted loss.

LOL wesjoenixon,

that would be an awesome deal for us. But anyway I liked the 4th quarter and OT effort last night. Debatable call on that foul on McGrady by Kobe. But we can take alot of positives out of this game. We werent even at full strength

AK,

Do you guys see the Lakers practices? If so, then what does LO work on?

What exactly is his signature move? One where he knows he can go to and just kill his defender? I don't see it. I'm trying not to be tough on him cause he's having trouble on his outside shot since the injury, and I can tell he gets a little reluctant and the rim, but still.

Alex Im not saying Kobe should be shooting as much as possible but I steadfastly disagree that any great player could score like that...it just aint that easy

Jermaine oneal is a good upgraede pg kwame. If we can get him in the offseason then it will be great.

i saw his face when they lost again. he feels terrible. i think he will want to make a chnge of colors soon.

its either him or garnet. we need another allstar....

alex,

its just a stupid comment that because kobe is shooting 30+ a night is for his own glory... did it ever came to you that HE WANTED TO WIN AT ALL COST?

if kobe was beyond himself and the teams goal, PJ or Buss would have been nagging about him in the media... no because they themselves said that this was the gameplan heading into the playoffs... kobe to take over...

that in itself is a team plan... players know it has to be done,,,,

it would take another season for the other players to pick up, we dont have that time, its almost playoffs...

now if you want to keep losing for the sake of teamplay then fine. Its not ALWAYS the ballhoging thats the reason for losing... so dont overuse it...

a lot of factors contribute to a lost.

Alex,

You are so clueles, I feel like an idiot even responding to you. Any great player can do what Kobe is doing???? LOL. I'll name you some players that shot every time they had the ball: Jordan in the 80's, Dominique Wilkins, Elgin Baylor, T-Mac in Orlando, A.I. in Philly, and Wilt. Besides Kobe, only Wilt has shown he can score 50 consistently.

Nobody is saying we are going to win in the long run with Kobe taking 40 plus shots. This strategy is TEMPORARY. If you've been watching all the games, you would understand why Phil and the coaching staff are using this strategy. If you don't like the fact that we stopped a 7 game losing streak, and finally started to WIN, than you are obviously just a hater, and not a Laker fan. Once Kwame and Luke round into shape AND Lamar can start making some outside shots despite his shoulder injury AND Vlad/Cook/Evans return, Kobe will be back to fascilitating like he has been ALL YEAR LONG. This strategy might even benefit us in the playoffs, as Kobe will be getting even more attention. Once the coaching staff instruct Kobe to be the fascilitator AGAIN, than the other players should be even more effective than they were in the beginning of the season (assuming they are healthy). So if you want to blame somebody for winning 5 out of 7 games (2 losses decided on one play) after a losing streak, than blame the coaching staff for implementing this TEMPORARY, but WINNING strategy.

I'm not even going to respond to your claim that Kobe is not trying to win. Not even worth it. Please Alex, watch more than one game every month and maybe you will see the light brotha.

Mitchell

Come on Alex. That wasn't even about Kobe wanting it to be all about him. He just wants to win. We've seen Kobe most of the year trying desperately to get everyone involved. Sometimes it works out good and sometimes it doesn't. The Lakers needed him to score last night and he was trying his best to earn his team a W. If he's got the hot hand, why not shoot it? He's already walking a thin line of damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. So why not do what he can to give his team a fighting chance.
While I would rather have seen a win last night, I really liked Kobe's finish and the effort the team showed on defense last night, especialy Kwame on Yao.

What kind of stupid remark is this, and I quote "You 'Kobe fans' don't understand that the point of playing is to win." You really think that Kobe doesn't want to win. I'm damn proud to be a Kobe fan. He gives us the same hope and excitement that he gives the NBA every year. I suppose you've drunk the kool-aid and also have Kobe 3rd on the MVP list behind Dirk and Nash. Why not just sit back and enjoy history being made in your lifetime and appreciate what Kobe is doing? Why is there always someone there that has to be a hater when something good is happening?

Ok, two things to address here after going thru some of the post-game comments:

1. Edwin Gueco, et. al - I'm not sure if you under-
stand this or not, but this is NOT your personal
blog. It's the LA Times', and the K Bros. In
other words, you don't get to decide who is and
is not a 'real fan,' and who needs to be 'ostra-
cized.' That's the problem with you Kobe
Apologists - you live in FantasyLand. But we
non-delusional fans understand - if we had to
try to come up with more and more excuses
to cover for the Lakers' sorry state under
Kobe's 'leadership,' we wouldn't want any
'threatening,' 'dissenting' opinions, either.
That's what happens when you're on the
losing side of an argument. It's cool, we all
understand the desperation and fear implied in people's calling for 'censoring' certain bloggers. No problem.

2. To Mitch, etc - Again, you (willfully) have it
backwards - it's NOT 'well, this team sucks,
Kobe only does what he has to" BZZZZZTTTTTTT!!!! INCORRECT ANSWER. What is the team's record this year without Kobe? If you answered 'substantially above .500,' you would be correct. Like I said to Edwin, you Kobe Pawns don't have the facts on your side, and your skies are getting gloomier by the day. I really feel bad for you guys, until I read some self-righteous 'we're the real fans, censor the fake fans' garbage. After that, I'm content ot watch the lot of you go about setting yourself for further humiliation.

It's a question of perspective, like the classic picture of the two women where you can only see one woman at a time, depending on how you look at the pic. For the apologists, Kobe is the 'burdened hero' who's saddled with a mediocre team. And with nothing to compare that to, that perspective might seem valid. But once you take into consideration how the team played without him, that perspective loses its validity.

And this is what us real fans have been trying to get across to you Kobe Apologists - ANY way you slice it, our team SUCKS under Kobe's watch. There's no way around that, period. No hoping or wishing on your part will change that. And that's why you want to silence people. Reality is slowly boxing you in. And five years from now, you will be saying "Yeah, KG was good with Kobe, but if only we had gotten 'X,' THEN we could have really contended."

Unlike you all, I'm done waiting. I'm glad Kobe was a great sidekick for Shaq and he helped us win 3 titles as a #2 guy, but as top dog, uh-uh. The movie is just repeating at this point.

I once mentioned the word 'groupthink' on here, and what Edwin is childishly asking for is the right to be left to his and the Apologists groupthink. It's really quite sad and pathetic, and if I didn't care about the franchise, I'd be happy to accomodate you, Edwin, in your quest to 'bubble' yourself off from reality.

However, I like the Lakers, and as long as Cancer Man is hurting my team, I feel the need to speak truth to Apologists and fake Lakers fans. Let's try this again: This is NOT - I repeat, NOT - a Kobe board; it's a Lakers board. And it will be approached in that manner by myself, and many other REAL Lakers fans. If the Apologists don't like it, get to steppin.' YOU will be censored for putting Kobe above the team on a TEAM board.

That's it. Think before you mindlessly post, people. Your positions, you Kobe Apologists, are so damn untenable it's just ridiculous. Step into the light of logic. Please. For those of us who are losing IQ points by the sentence from reading your posts.

Props to Kwame Brown for a gritty performance against Yao Ming and the Rockets. Solid defensive work in the last minues of the game. I'm starting to see why Mike T. is high on this guy. If only he can become a monster on the boards and be more consistent on D, we will have a Ben Wallace on our hands.

EtitsKoMalaki...you are a damn fool. Crass, low-class, no-taste fool. I hope you get banned from this blog.

Alex writes "But Kobe just keeps jacking shots up at an incredible rate--5 of last 7 games 33+ shots!!! If ANY great player throughout history had done that, they would be scoring at LEAST as much as kobe."

Ummmmmm, gosh, your buddy Mike had 7 game stretches of averaging over 33+ shots. Guess what. He didn't score as much as Kobe in that 7 game stretch, um, EVER. Want data:

MJ: 11/26/86 - 12/6/86 (During his 9 game 40 point streak)

FGA/gm = 34.6
Av Pts = 41.28
FG % = 43.8%

KB24: 3/16/07 - 3/30/07

FGA/gm = 34.7
Av Pts = 49.14
FG % = 48.15%

There you go Alex. YOU ARE WRONG! Not only can ANY great player NOT match this, but even the GREAT MICHAEL JORDAN couldn't score AT LEAST what Kobe did with essentially the same FGA/gm.

Oh, and Kobe scored 8, yes 8, more points per game with the same number of FGA. And no, the difference was not in free throws. Essentially equal amount of FTA/gm also. Just more efficient during that stretch. You can't refute that.

Oh yeah, Team records during those 7 games:

LAKERS 7-2
bulls 1-6 (ouch)

Alex = MJ's whipping boy

Congrats to Kobe on one more record of "only player not named Wilt" to accomplish. Yeah, that means Mikey didn't do it.

Average of 40 pts/gm for month

p.s. I'm actually surprised MJ didn't ever do this?

(response to stuff from last thread):

Wondahap, you're an idiot. There's really no other way to say it.

I never proposed Ray Allen for Kobe, sorry to sink your little ship. That wasn't me, moron.

I know more baskteball than you will ever know. I've played, I've coached, I've watched for three decades. Let's try this again, and this time I'll speak more slowly for the Apologists:

When a team plays like the Lakers have been playing, that is, with Kobe getting half the FGA, guys do not look for shots, and that's why they look inept when The Guy Who Takes All the Shots is not on the floor. This is the 'effect,' NOT the cause. Don't confuse the two. All you need to do is look to the start of the season when the Lakers weren't in this putrid offensive mindset, and they performed so great without Kobe. But right now, they're all sleepwalking because The Man wants to take all the shots. It's called 'habituation,' which is why I am so strongly against this type of gameplan - it makes guys not ready to step up when The Man shoots 26%. Result - you lose to the worst team in the league, at home.

To restate: YOU'RE MAKING MY ARGUMENT FOR ME, AND YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW IT.

Please, stop while you're behind. You are doing what's known as 'arguing from a position.' That is, you have already made your mind up that Kobe is all that is right with the Lakers, and that is the premise you take into every discussion. And you guys wonder why I don't take you seriously.

See, someone could say that I'm arguing from a position about Kobe, that I hate him, etc. Fine.

...Until you look at the objective measures that tell you that the Lakers are mediocre at best under Kobe, that Kobe 'led' the team to its worst home loss in 47 years, that Kobe gave up a 3-1 series lead and quit in game 7 against the Suns, etc.

I have the facts on my side. You don't. Believe me, I didn't start this way 3 years ago. But slowly, little by little, I had to accept the reality of the situation. Kobe is not a leader, Kobe is not a winner. He's a cancer and a baby. As long as he's our #1, we're not winning anything. There is absolutely nothing in the last 3 years that has occurred to make me feel that opinion is not valid.

David, etc -

Someone has posted at least twice as me.

You know where I'm coming from, so if you see some "Kobe Apologist" drivel coming from my name, take it for what it is - an Apologist who is desperately trying to deflect attention away from his fallen Saint.

Also, you'll notice a...um...vast...difference in the writing style and quality. If you look at it that way, there won't be any problem telling who is and who isn't me.

Basically, if you sense an Apologist is using my handle because he can't refute my arguments and doesn't have the intellectual horsepower to try to hang with me, and he is doing so with broken grammar and syntax, chances are that's an Apologist. :)

But I'm flattered. If you can't beat them, and all.

Gives you a pretty good idea where the Apologists fragile psyches are these days. A truly sad state of affairs. It is tough to watch, as the winds of reality smack their straw hut into shreds.

Oh well. That's what happens when you back a loser. Some of us prefer winners.

Oh, and V-Man, give me a break about the 'star power' crap. I don't give a BLEEP about star power, I want to win.

And the Bulls' guys? Oh, yeah, they're WAYYY back in the East race, all of 2.5 games or so after beating CLE last night. Yeah, my bad. What was I thinking? You apologists, what a joke! Never let the facts get in the way of your misguided illusions.

I would take Deng, Hinrich and Thomas over Kobe in about half a second. It wouldn't even be a thought. Go do some research. learn something. It can only help.

Oh man, I made it to the extra extra content. Now I'm kind of big time. LOL!

Congrats to PJ on the Hall of Fame nod.

mike

Fakerz,

You are such a boring twat. You ignore what everyone argues and just repeat yourself day after day. You should change your name to The Ground Hog. The reason I don't take you seriously is because you make your analysis by watching ESPN. You posted on last week's blog and ranted your BS about the game, and than you later admitted you didn't even watch the game. You look at the box score and jump into this blog with your pathetic ammo arguing the same bulls**t. We real fans are on to you, so stop perpetrating you sorry Suns fan.

I'm sorry mitchell if I hurt your feelings for being so intelligent.

I have another trade for Kobe that nobody can argue with. Kobe for Shaq strait up!

Oops. I just wet the bed. gotta go

http://www.nba.com/dleague/news/farmar_070331.html?rss=true

Farmar in the D-League.

LakerTom and other Bruins fans,

I hate to gloat but I'm thrilled about my Gators being in the national championship. It was more of the same this year. Our great frontcourt dominated the game and our VERYunderrated backcourt generally made smart plays and hit open threes.

Now I'm looking forward to my Gators trying to beat the Buckeyes for a 3rd time in a row and the second time in basketball.

It's great to be a Florida Gator!

Mike T.

Congratulations on making it above the "Comments" line! Can't mention PHil without mentioning the man that took his career to the next level.
THumbs up!

fakerz you are a real phony and know nothing of basketball......kobe a great leader but he is surrounded by srcubs...................the real fakers

fakerz you are a real phony and know nothing of basketball......kobe a great leader but he is surrounded by srcubs...................the real fakers

Forget the Gators just ask Hibbert what he thinks of Greg Oden. And not to mention that Conley and Lewis are like Dee Brown and Daron Williams (jazz player) that played for Illonis that one year. BUCKEYES BABY and we owe the gators one

Congratulations Xodus and your Alma Mater. Hope you win all the way.

PS. TO LAKERVILLE

These Trolls or kids are playing mind games. You know their names by now. Please continue Ostracism Campaign. They don't deserve any iota of respect and attention. Thanks.

Man Farmer should have gotten more minutes this year. Its to late now and thats probably why he was demoted but he was playing with alot of energy beginning of the year

Xodus

Is the rumor true that they might add an academic curriculum at Florida next year or will it still be just football and basketball?

Congrats, it's actually refreshing to see kids stay in school and play another year. I did like the quote by one of the Gator players about John Wooden "Oh yeah, isn't he that old dude?"

bluesky,

Let us see what will happen at the end of the season. The sad thing is that the Lakers cannot acquire any F/A without trading their players. If you don't re-sign the tradeable guys then you lose them just like DGeorge. If you re-sign them w/o any destination, you're stucked with them up to the end of their contract. So it is really a balancing act. All teams undergo this kind of scenario, what makes it dificult to imagine how Suns, Dallas, Spurs and Pistons continue to attract good players when they already within the salary cap.

What's the exact contractual status of Jermaine O'Neal? Can he opt out after this season?

J from Berlin

Alex,
Kobe has demonstrated throughout his career that he will share the ball. He did it consistently last year ( including the playoffs where the two faced critics said he should have shot more ). He did it this year earlier when people would actually occasionally knock down a shot. In fact he would have had far more assists if he had more talent around him. Phil finally told him to take over when it became obvious that the others were not getting it done and the team was in danger of dropping out of playoff contention. Granted Kobe is now going overboard and shooting too much. He definitely needs to find the right ratio of scoring and assisting. Kobe cannot win either way. This team is just not that good. When the Lakers give him more to work with, his assists and the Lakers victories will increase dramatically. Kobe is without a doubt one of the best of all time but he doesnt have a prayer with this underachieving supporting cast. Kobe is not blameless, but he is the least of this teams problems. If you think MJ could do anything significant with this squad, you are hallucinating and in denial. Give Kobe more talent to work with and he and the Lakers will contend again. Keep things status quo and this team is doomed to mediocrity.

Posted

Everyone that loves to bash Kobe. Wake up. This team is mediocre at best with him. When he is on , they may win. When he is off, they will lose. Without Kobe on this team, it is easily the worst in the league. Until this organization surrounds him with a decent supporting cast and he is able to rely on his teammates consistently, this team is going nowhere. Kobe will give up the rock if he has faith that it will result in more wins, but this group he is surrounded with is woefully inadequate, and they have demonstrated that most of the year especially before Kobe took matters in to his own hands and willed these underachievers to a few wins. It is obvious to all of us that this new strategy is flawed, but it should be painfully obvious that this team was sinking faster than the Titanic before Kobe started taking most of the shots. It is easy to make Kobe the scapegoat, but your ire should be directed at Buss, Kupchak , and Kobes underachieving teammates

Alex, Fakerz, Judith and every other Kobe basher,
There is not a single GM in the NBA that would not take Kobe in a heartbeat. Anyone with any basketball IQ knows that Kobe is the least of the Lakers problems. But of course all of you rocket scientists know so much more than the GM's and coaches in this league. Thank you for your expertise. Misery loves company and obviously so does ignorance.

Fakerz or whatever your name is, I made a simialar point about the rest of the lakers a few weeks back. Who on the lakers has improved since the start of the season? I dont care about injuires, every teams has injuries.

There is no question about Kobes offensive scoring on an indivual basis, its amazing and fun to watch but it wont work long term even Kobe and booster boy ( Phil) have said that. So yes Kobe thrives to try to win these games and you cant question his effort or skill.

But I want to see other guys stepping up and making plays in the clutch and I dont see it happening. One game Lamar has 4 points the next Luke has 4 points. Does that mean they are terrible? Of course not Lamar was on the dream time for heavens sake and starting. Luke is a nice player who makes some great passes from time to time but he is a role player at best and not a scorer.

I am sure you have played and coached and understand that playing with anyone who takes alot of shots, some forced is not easy to do UNLESS everyone knows their roles. At the same time if I was wide open and Kobe was jacking up a shot against 3 defenders I would not be happy. It does make me wonder why these guys arent getting more o-rebounds but that is another discussion.

You are correct as well, the lakers had a good record with kobe playing more team ball earlier in the season, albeit against a soft schedule. Either way everyone knows it takes a team to win in basketball, look at Florida in college, They have some nice players but not one superstar and they are really tough to beat because they can win when one or more guys has an off shooting game. In the current offense, if kobe shoots poorly it will take a miracle for the lakers to win.

I have other thoughts on kobe as a leader and good teammate but thats enough for one night.

AK/BK Is it me or have I noticed Kobe doesnt stick around after games to talk to the media? Instead I see FSN talking to Ronnie and Odom. Whats the story?

NBA to go on strike starting Sunday morning, says the L.A. Times. This comes as a result of the two suspensions on all star Kobe Bryant. The players have decided to go on strike and demand that Bryant be given the MVP award by the league to make up for the unwarranted suspensions.
The unofficial statement was leaked by a yet unknown source but reported by a yet unidentified L.A. Times reporter to the L.A. Times lakersblog on the eve of the strike. All details regarding this will be fully revealed as facts about the strike become official. Also, no word out on whether this strike is just an April fools joke.

twoone7 or faith,

hey could you tell me the address of the other lakers blog. This one sucks now with all the people taking jabs at one another. I miss the blog, and how used to be! You know, when it was the place to get all the best info and have the best disscussions. Not what it is now, a battlefield for endless arguments about one player!

please drop the dime on this one!

fakerz--

Man you are relentless. You sure have a way with making up stats to support your argument.

You said "What is the team's record this year without Kobe? If you answered 'substantially above .500,' you would be correct."

Let's take a little closer look.

Kobe has not played in 5 games this season and the Lakers record is...3-2. If that is your definition of "substantially above .500", than I guess you made your point? We also beat the suns the first game of the season, by your logic we should of put Kobe on the DL right then and we'd be a few games up on the number one spot in the west...Wow, who would of thunk it.

You (and others who seem to be having fun getting a rise out of some) also bring up your "stats" about how many shots Kobe is taking this season. He's averaging 22 shots per game (down from 27 per game last year). By the way the Lakers finished 49-33 last yeat with Kobe jacking it up five more times per game.

And since you and the boys keep on harping on the difference between Kobe (and I'll just say for the argument ya'll been trying to make) and the next scorer on the team--and comparing him to MJ lets look a little bit deeper...

Jordans second season he averaged a career best 37.1 points per game while taking 28 shots per game. The next best scorer on the team was (using your game show effects)---BBBZZZZZ you took to long. That would be Charles Oakley who averaged 14.5 per game while taking a mammoth 12 shots per game. The Bulls finished 40-42 that year.

Next year ('87-'88) Jordan averaged 35 points per game and took 24 shots per game to get them. The second highest scorer, ya you probably guessed it this time was Charles Oakley who averaged 12.4 per game while somehow finding a way to take 9 shots per game. The Bulls did finish with a 50-32 record, so the shooting despairity seemed to be working.

In the next few years Jordan averaged 22-23 shots per game, and this guy named Scottied Pippen became the number two scorer (they traded Oakley for Cartwright) and they won a few rings with a very talented group around your Airness.

So lets's bring this thing around full circle. You and your buddies (Alex, Dave and who ever else I'm missing) keep saying Kobes shooting the ball at a much higher pace than MJ was, and that in turn is taking away shots from other players on the Lakers current roster. Sorry but the stats just do not support your argument--especially this year (see the above stat where Kobe is taking 22 shots per game this season).

If you want to compare MJ and his perfect shot selection with Kobe and his reckless gunning you have one season to do it. Kobe last year averaged 20.8 more points and 15.5 more shots than the number two on his team. In '86 MJ averaged 22.6 more points and16 more shots than the number tow on his team.

Oh yeah the only other year we can look at "Kobe the ball-hog-gunner's" stats are two years ago when he shot the ball 7! TIMES more than the number 2 guy who was........I'm sure you guesed it as you are a big Laker fan--you've told us this ad nauseum. (Caron Butler).

The cast Kobe has around him is just another chink in your bogus argument when it comes to Kobe shooting the ball too much.

If you think the Lakers would have been beter off with Shaq and not Kobe, just have the nards to say it. I'm sure Shaq playing 40 to 50 games per year with NO superstar to bail out the Lakers (in a loaded western conference) would have you all giddy...

Your argument about Kobe shooting the ball more than anyone else in history is just nonsense, and I can go ahead and rip it apart all day long, but I think I've made my point (not to you I'm sure).

fakerz is fake :)

hes Deng in a laker uniform hehehe

here the deal flaky, if you think your "boys" will bring LA the title, then they should atleast survive detroit or miami...

because as far as i know, the east is a walk in the park compared to tge west... I could just imaging spurs, mav, suns eating them alive...

And yeah, your a moron ;)

hahaha kobe for shaq :p

that says it all!!

that it! youre a SHAQ APOLOGIST!!!

*holding the "L" on the forehead

Mitchell,
Interesting stats on MJ and Kobe. Nice post. Of course, we both know that nothing will ever stop the Kobe bashers like Alex, Fakerz, Judith, and Bob from trying to blame him for this mediocre squads performance. If Kobe ever gets some CONSISTENT support, we will contend again.

Fakers you are neither objecive nor particularly intelligent.Truly intelligent people can see the gray in almost any situation which is something you fail to do.Considering Kobe,Shaq and all the things you speak of is a partiulalry contentious situation where there is alot of gray and many ways of seeing things. The mere fact you THINK you have an answer qualifies you as arrogant,unobjecitve and of average intelligence at best.Sure theres plenty of people unable to read between lines in this world and see all the angles but those people donht consider themselves intelligent as you obviously do....All you are is a guy with a point of view you are tyring to argue...the more you argue it the more vested interest you have in it's success and the less objective you become.

YOu enjoy your own writing syle? so what? theres plenty of people able to write well but it makes them neither of any great intelligence nor objective and if youve ever read any newspaper about sports or otherwise...even journals or books by academics with PHD's you will see that the ability to write and being 'intelligent' is no guarantee of objectivity.In most cases these people are arguing a point and trying to back it up just like you.It means nothing.

You are not even arguing your point with any intelligence .Your arguments are weak and I could blow them apart in two seconds flat.I mean you point out game seven and one game where the lakers lost badly but you refuse to look at other games or events.There is plenty of evidence that SHaq was never a great leader and kobe filled in alot of gaps.His performances closing out playoff series in the past dispute your arguments and there are numerous examples of Kobes toughness.The phoenix series? there is another way of looking at it altogether and that is the suns were a more experienced and proven team there shouldnt have even BEEN a game seven.

You can think what you like about Kobe.Your opinion is your opinion.I am not a Kobe apologist and have my own opinions but nothing change the fact that you are simply an average person.Oh and writing is an important part of what i do for a living....I dont write perfectly on here becasue I dont have the time.Im sure there are many others in the same position...apparently you do have the time...when all you are doing is making weak arguments and being miserable.Jokes on you pal

also fakerz...I think the other guys have had plenty of opportunities to step up this season.Nobody thinks Kobe taking so many shots is the best way to play but we had lost 7 games in a row...its arguably the best way for now.I say 'arguably' becasue there are many ways to look at the situation but you are only seeing it one way.

For the record I agree with Steve Kerr 100% on the Jordan vs Bryant debate. Kobe is more skilled but as of now lacks Jordans leadership and results.There is still time...I think its often overlooked that Jordan was the centrepiece of his team for 7 years or whatever before his teamroke through while Kobe is still learning the nuances of being number 1.

ve seen Kobe make decisions at the end of games the last couple of seasons that jordan would never have made from about 1989 onwards...but its a process

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/04/01/blog/sports/20_06_891_6_07.txt

Sigh...Im so sick of this crap.The one on the left is just grossly misinformed and plain wrong....I dont even know where to begin..from the lack of understanding about the lakers offense to the diferent positions and goals of the laker and heat.....the writer on the right is is taking one angle but it is certainly only one small part of the argument.Obviously anything real or basketball related was not a strong point of this persons knowledge.

just totally amateur...it amazes me how little information these people posess...its fine I mean not everyone takes such a keen interest in the goings on of basktball,Kobe or the lakers...but not everyone writes articles about it either.

Vman,

Considering we won yesterday's game I won't be upset about your sour grapes, haha. BTW, the academics at Florida are fabulous we're a top 40 institution as well as an athletic powerhouse.

Although I must say that my academics may take a bit of a hit this week since I may not be able to make it to class Tuesday! haha.