http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/ ... story.html
Byron Scott:
The texts are exchanged on almost a nightly basis. Sometimes they go back and forth until 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning. The wounds from the losses the Lakers have piled up this season find a way to keep stinging Kobe Bryant and Byron Scott long after they leave the arena.
“It’s not easy after the games,” said Scott, the first-year Lakers coach. “I think people in LA can tell you. They know it’s not easy after a loss.” “I think anybody who’s been winning, who’s won championships, when you lose, it should hurt,” Scott said. “I know No. 24 hurts.”
Maybe try improving the D by starting Ed Davis? Perhaps the pain will ease a little?
Kobe:
Bryant, at 36 years old and with 19 years in the league, is a transformative player aware that he is in his twilight, but he also wants to prove he can still dominate at the highest level.
“I’m a true competitor,” Bryant said. “When I say that, I mean, when things are difficult, I compete even harder. I don’t run from that. That’s not OK.
“You can’t be competitive [only] when things are going well. When things are going bad, you have to be equally competitive, if not more so.”
With this guy on board, it'd be hard to be bottom 3 in the league.
Kobe's PT:
Monitoring Bryant’s minutes is its own struggle for Scott. The season is still young, and Bryant hasn’t shown many signs of wear, but balancing the desire to preserve his superstar for the entire season with that superstar’s own desire to be on the floor is delicate for Scott.
“He’s telling you, ‘Whatever you need me to do, Coach,’ ” said Scott. “But you know in the back of his mind, he wants to be out there. So it’s hard sometimes to kind of pull those reins back because you know how competitive he is and how competitive I am, as far as wanting to win games.”
Gotta be careful.
Scott losing in the first year:
“Their question was, ‘Any coach that we hire, it’s going to be rough the first year or two, you do understand that and you’re able to deal with that?’ ” Scott recalled. The answer was easy. Scott told them, “Of course I am. I’ve dealt with it before.”
His first head coaching opportunity came in 2000-01 with the New Jersey Nets. That team had four rookies (including Kenyon Martin and Stephen Jackson), lost 56 games, and finished next to last in the Atlantic Division. The next two years, they won the Eastern Conference championship.
He left New Jersey for New Orleans before the 2004-05 season. The Hornets went 18-64 his first season. The next summer, they drafted Chris Paul, and three years later they were a 56-win team.
So I guess there's no hope this season?
Kobe's retirement:
“If I want to play, I’ll play,” Bryant said. “I tend to make my own decisions. If I don’t want to play, I won’t play, no matter what.”
The decision, Bryant said, may come down to weighing whether he’s willing to put himself through the work it takes to run the NBA gauntlet for 82 games.
“If I want to go through the process that I go through now of getting ready every single day — the amount of commitment that it takes — it’s nuts,” Bryant said. “If I want to continue to do that, then I will. If I don’t, I don’t.”
Conclusion:
In the meantime, they’ll get through this year. There will be more losses, more late-night texts in which they vent all their frustrations.
“I finally text him and say, ‘Go to bed,’ ” said Scott, “because I’m hurting just like he’s hurting. That’s the thing that I love about him.”
To tank or not to tank? Improve the D?
*I'm basing the format on viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1356872
Hope it's OK.
