12/2 Lakers VS Magic - PT.1 - 6:30 p.m

[madmaxmedia]

The thing with Hill is, he doesn't have to score a lot to be a significant contributor. This is less (if not absolutely) the case with Pau. To be fair, they also have different roles on the team and different things are expected from each.

[madmaxmedia]

If you say in post-game interviews that you lost because of poor effort/hustle/teamwork and say that the team needs to 'man up', with the implicit or explicitly stated assumption that once they do the wins will come- isn't that ironically a sign of overconfidence?

I wondered about this watching player interviews after last night's game. Is it potentially a mental roadblock? Because when something like the Lakers' current struggles happen, it's just really weird to see how a team has such a hard time 'snapping out of it'. Problems with offensive flow, spacing, personnel, etc. can happen no matter what. But the Lakers seem to have a hard time of putting together even a couple of games in a row where they just go out and work harder (win or lose) than the other team. Rambis and Worthy talked about this last night.

But if on any given night you think you have the more talented team (even if it's true), I think it can be hard to go out and flat out out-hustle the other team. And if you get off to a bad start like the Lakers have this year, then it can really mess with your mind. Because now fear and doubt can enter the picture, and those are enervating and can make it even harder to out-hustle your opponents.

I don't think it's a matter of being professional or not, it's a human thing. Kobe is so cold-blooded that none of this matters, but most other homo sapiens can benefit from some leadership that helps them focus in times of struggle.

[bigmac(rexdale)ghetto]

Watch/download it here

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http://bigmacsays.blogspot.com/2012/12/02122012-orlando-magic-los-angeles.html

[GreenRiddler]

Could somebody highlight plays for me that show Kobe was getting burned far worse than everyone else on the team.

1:46 No WCF this yr

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G62wF3Gu6jw[/youtube]

[Father Time]

Could somebody highlight plays for me that show Kobe was getting burned far worse than everyone else on the team.

1:46 No WCF this yr

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G62wF3Gu6jw[/youtube]

So he hit some shots on Kobe, some on Metta, scored easily past everyone in transition, and made some free throws. Can't place all of that blame on Kobe, Metta looked lost on some of those plays.

[Doormatt]

lol actually most of afflalo's points came against metta and ebanks it would seem. although he burned kobe a couple times to put the blame entirely on kobe for afflalo going off is pretty ridiculous since he clearly was guarding reddick for a bit.

[b shaw20]

lol actually most of afflalo's points came against metta and ebanks it would seem. although he burned kobe a couple times to put the blame entirely on kobe for afflalo going off is pretty ridiculous since he clearly was guarding reddick for a bit.

the point is Affalo had what seemed like a career night against us and all Kobe had to do was hold him in check and we probably win. I think kobe's mentality has always been "i am just better than you, so I will just outscore you."

He does not take pride in playing defense and its evident in how he play and lets too many guys go off on us. IF he really wanted to set a tone as the leader of this team, he could conserve some of the energy he uses on the offensive side of the court and spend it focusing on defense. Others would have to follow his lead and at least try harder. As a leader, he can't hold anyone accountable on defense when he is just as bad. It doesn't work that way.

To be fair to him, historically kobe has benn asked to carry a big load on offense and to expect him to be a lock down defender may be asking too much. Especially when he has always played heavy minutes.

But now, with the team that surrounds him he could take a HUGE step in changing the mentality/culture of the team by sacrificing some scoring for more wins. Much the same way that KG did for Boston.

I am not holding my breath though since its extremely hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

[Father Time]

lol actually most of afflalo's points came against metta and ebanks it would seem. although he burned kobe a couple times to put the blame entirely on kobe for afflalo going off is pretty ridiculous since he clearly was guarding reddick for a bit.

the point is Affalo had what seemed like a career night against us and all Kobe had to do was hold him in check and we probably win. I think kobe's mentality has always been "i am just better than you, so I will just outscore you."

He does not take pride in playing defense and its evident in how he play and lets too many guys go off on us. IF he really wanted to set a tone as the leader of this team, he could conserve some of the energy he uses on the offensive side of the court and spend it focusing on defense. Others would have to follow his lead and at least try harder. As a leader, he can't hold anyone accountable on defense when he is just as bad. It doesn't work that way.

To be fair to him, historically kobe has benn asked to carry a big load on offense and to expect him to be a lock down defender may be asking too much. Especially when he has always played heavy minutes.

But now, with the team that surrounds him he could take a HUGE step in changing the mentality/culture of the team by sacrificing some scoring for more wins. Much the same way that KG did for Boston.

I am not holding my breath though since its extremely hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

To be fair, this is his 17th year in the league. To expect him to be the team's premier defender when most of his lateral explosiveness and quickness is gone is a bit much IMO. Again, not saying he can't play better defensively or that he doesn't deserve some criticism.

[Doormatt]

if this team needs to follow kobes lead to be motivated to play defense, we are in very big trouble.

[b shaw20]

if this team needs to follow kobes lead to be motivated to play defense, we are in very big trouble.

If Kobe truly is a leader, he'd do whatever it would take to motivate. He sometimes tries with words (eg - Big boy pants) but although this makes good press, it can backfire in the locker room. Kobe's work ethic is one thing, but his on court displays is another. Teammates can see when he doesnot get back on defense because he is complaining about a call he didn't get. We see that.

Leaders have the ability to influence players to play a certain way. KG did it for Boston. Sure Tibs was the mastermind, but KG led on the court and the entire team took pride in hard nosed defense in 08-09. Nash/cP3 have influenced much the same way on the offensive side of the ball by making others play less selfish. Magic/Bird too were great leaders in that they didnt ask others to do something they were not willing to do themselves.

IMO, Nash is more of a natural leader than Kobe. But the fact remains, its kobe's team until he is willing to share it. This means letting Nash run the offense, not always leading fga, contributing in others ways (facilitating/defense), etc. If he truly wants to win, he has to share the spot light. Like Kareem did with Magic, like KG did with Pierce, Wade did with LeBron.

We need Ray Lewis on the team is all I am saying.

[Father Time]

How has he not shared the spotlight this year, I don't understand. He's shooting less than he has in a long time, and has taken on the primary facilitator role in Nash's absence. He's still arguably the team's best player, so him leading in FGA is really no problem. He made it clear to Dwight that the team is his in a couple of years, and that he wants to help Dwight push his game to another level while he's here.

Kobe hasn't called out Pau's defense, he's called out his mental toughness and willingness to adjust his game. Both of these things are Kobe has shown an ability and willingness to do. Kobe said it himself, he's playing more pick and roll than ever this year, and when Nash was healthy he was playing off ball more than ever. He's never been accused of being soft mentally, and he tries to instill that same toughness in Pau.

[b shaw20]

Saying that he's shooting much less than historically is rich. I will admit he has been a model citizen in taming himself early on. But he seems to go away from what has worked so well.

If this boxscore doesn't jump out as him trying to impose himself on offense, then we are done discussing this.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400277964

[Father Time]

Those games have been the exception this season. That is all.

His FGA's per game are the lowest they have been in 9 years.