RealGM

Offense Positives - Best scorer I've ever seen. His degree of difficulty on his perimeter shots is unprecedented imo. His ability to pump fake mutliple times and still make shots under pressure is amazing. He can finish with either hand in variety of ways; hook shots, floaters, dunks etc he can do it all. He has great handles; could start for the And1 team. He has very good passing skills, able to get the ball to teammates for easy looks on lobs and cuts. He can see the floor very well anticipating what the defense will leave uncovered. Does the "superstar" thing in the 4th quarter better than anyone else in the NBA.

Offense Negatives - Takes some of the worst shots I've seen. Will heat check anywhere no matter the situation. Doesn't penetrate early in the game choosing to start off from the outside. I would love to see Phil mandate Kobe have to get a layup before he attempts any outside shot. When Kobe does penetrate he seems to lose the ball with a lot of contact (which may be why he doesn't penetrate as much). His ability to make the spectacular pass is matched by his inability to make the simple play.


Defensive Positives - Plays All NBA level man to man defense. Really gets up for other elite players of the NBA; wants the challenge. Reminds me of Doctor J/Tayshaun Prince at "tracking" players on the fastbreak and blocking shots at the rim. Good rebounder and ball hawk for his position.

Defensive Negatives - Plays a lot of "safety" type defense when he doesn't respect his opponent. Doesn't play very good help defense. I can't remember the last time Kobe drew an offensive charge by stepping in front of someone. Can get backdoored a lot by players that constantly stay on the move ie Kevin Martin. Can't really defend those bigger SF's that he is sometimes matched up against ie Lebron, Pierce, Bonzi. Needs a Pippen for that. Doesn't always get back on defense and exposes the rest of the Laker defense.


I think Kobe is the best player in the game but I wanted to put out there what I thought his +'s and -'s were. I think Kobes negatives come out a lot more when he has to carry the team so we'll see what happens while Pau is out........

We really need our other players to step up and match shots for shot with the opposition.

We have no interior defense anymore.

Mbenga Turiaf and Odom just dont scare anyone. Its back to Kobe chuck alot mode which got us to the playoffs for the past two season.

I sometimes think kobe is too predictable when he plays without a 2nd guy scoring.

Alot of times when you look at him, you could tell that he is not looking for anyone and putting the ball in the hoop is his only focus.

Other times when he tries to appear not so much of a ball hog, he is just trying to get the ball passed.

I would like to see kobe to be not so "tunnel visioned" and hope we can see him play some penetration and kickouts with derek, famar, sasha on the receiving end.

You're looking at specific examples to make summary judgments. Nobody's perfect, nobody's made every shot or made the right defensive play.

"Heat check anywhere no matter the situation" - really? By anywhere do you mean "three-pointer"? No matter the situation? He'll take tough shots with the clock winding down, yes. Will he take tough shots double teamed from halfcourt? No.

Kobe does play a lot of perimeter in the early game, but that's due to design. He has to play the guard spots in the triangle, and facilitate the offense. This is also why his shot attempts are much fewer in the early game, since he's trying to get his teammates into rhythm.

Kobe has an inability to make a simple play? That's strange, since he's made a lot of simple plays with Gasol, Fisher, Vujacic, and Farmar. I don't think his 5 assists a game are all spectacular passes. And Kobe has been very patient this year with moving the ball.

Defensively, he doesn't get back on defense when he's arguing calls. That's a defect that has seemingly been addressed, markedly, in the past couple games. He does play safety defense at times, for the purposes of helping out. It's funny how you say Kobe doesn't play good help defense, because that's clearly not true. Logically, if he's playing safety defense, he is looking to help out on his teammates, and Kobe is one of the best secondary defensive guards in the league. Kobe doesn't draw a lot of charges simply for the fact that he's usually guarding the opponent's best guard. He's chasing them, he's hounding them, not stepping in front of them.

It's funny you mention the Kevin Martin play, because that was a defensive miscommunication. Kevin Martin was forced baseline, but Kobe was expecting help. Considering that's a common defensive strategy, forcing players baseline and trapping them, I wouldn't necessarily say that was a lapse in his defense.

He can't defend Lebron, Pierce, Bonzi? First of all, Bonzi? What?

Second, it's tough to stop Lebron and Pierce, just like it's tough to stop Kobe. But I'll tell you one thing, it's usually Kobe that rises to the challenge of guarding the opponent's best player and shouldering the scoring burden for his team.

No other player in the NBA has such heavy responsibilities.

G35 wrote:Offense Positives - Best scorer I've ever seen. His degree of difficulty on his perimeter shots is unprecedented imo. His ability to pump fake mutliple times and still make shots under pressure is amazing. He can finish with either hand in variety of ways; hook shots, floaters, dunks etc he can do it all. He has great handles; could start for the And1 team. He has very good passing skills, able to get the ball to teammates for easy looks on lobs and cuts. He can see the floor very well anticipating what the defense will leave uncovered. Does the "superstar" thing in the 4th quarter better than anyone else in the NBA.

Offense Negatives - Takes some of the worst shots I've seen. Will heat check anywhere no matter the situation. Doesn't penetrate early in the game choosing to start off from the outside. I would love to see Phil mandate Kobe have to get a layup before he attempts any outside shot. When Kobe does penetrate he seems to lose the ball with a lot of contact (which may be why he doesn't penetrate as much). His ability to make the spectacular pass is matched by his inability to make the simple play.


Defensive Positives - Plays All NBA level man to man defense. Really gets up for other elite players of the NBA; wants the challenge. Reminds me of Doctor J/Tayshaun Prince at "tracking" players on the fastbreak and blocking shots at the rim. Good rebounder and ball hawk for his position.

Defensive Negatives - Plays a lot of "safety" type defense when he doesn't respect his opponent. Doesn't play very good help defense. I can't remember the last time Kobe drew an offensive charge by stepping in front of someone. Can get backdoored a lot by players that constantly stay on the move ie Kevin Martin. Can't really defend those bigger SF's that he is sometimes matched up against ie Lebron, Pierce, Bonzi. Needs a Pippen for that. Doesn't always get back on defense and exposes the rest of the Laker defense.


I think Kobe is the best player in the game but I wanted to put out there what I thought his +'s and -'s were. I think Kobes negatives come out a lot more when he has to carry the team so we'll see what happens while Pau is out........

Tell us something we didn't know....

Rox_Nix_Nox wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Tell us something we didn't know....

Someone sounds envious.

Kobe has definitely lost his and1 ability since the olympics.

Kobay wrote:Kobe has definitely lost his and1 ability since the olympics.

funny you mentoin that i was thinking the same thing, its been a while since ive seen some of his circus and 1s


do you guys think this will be a trend that continues?

"His ability to make the spectacular pass is matched by his inability to make the simple play. "

miles already commented but i'd like to add my 2cents.

i don't think anything could be further from the truth. i see the complete opposite. kobe makes the easy pass, hardly ever spectacular. heck, luke is a lot more spectacular than kobe when it comes to passes. kobe is either kicking out for the open 3 or finding the pick n roll man with a nice bounce pass or pass over the top. nothing fancy.

Sroek wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



Someone sounds envious.

Really? How so?

Everything he said is pretty much what we all know about Kobe and have known.

G35 wrote:Offense Positives - Best scorer I've ever seen. His degree of difficulty on his perimeter shots is unprecedented imo. His ability to pump fake mutliple times and still make shots under pressure is amazing. He can finish with either hand in variety of ways; hook shots, floaters, dunks etc he can do it all. He has great handles; could start for the And1 team. He has very good passing skills, able to get the ball to teammates for easy looks on lobs and cuts. He can see the floor very well anticipating what the defense will leave uncovered. Does the "superstar" thing in the 4th quarter better than anyone else in the NBA.

Offense Negatives - Takes some of the worst shots I've seen. Will heat check anywhere no matter the situation. Doesn't penetrate early in the game choosing to start off from the outside. I would love to see Phil mandate Kobe have to get a layup before he attempts any outside shot. When Kobe does penetrate he seems to lose the ball with a lot of contact (which may be why he doesn't penetrate as much). His ability to make the spectacular pass is matched by his inability to make the simple play.


Defensive Positives - Plays All NBA level man to man defense. Really gets up for other elite players of the NBA; wants the challenge. Reminds me of Doctor J/Tayshaun Prince at "tracking" players on the fastbreak and blocking shots at the rim. Good rebounder and ball hawk for his position.

Defensive Negatives - Plays a lot of "safety" type defense when he doesn't respect his opponent. Doesn't play very good help defense. I can't remember the last time Kobe drew an offensive charge by stepping in front of someone. Can get backdoored a lot by players that constantly stay on the move ie Kevin Martin. Can't really defend those bigger SF's that he is sometimes matched up against ie Lebron, Pierce, Bonzi. Needs a Pippen for that. Doesn't always get back on defense and exposes the rest of the Laker defense.


I think Kobe is the best player in the game but I wanted to put out there what I thought his +'s and -'s were. I think Kobes negatives come out a lot more when he has to carry the team so we'll see what happens while Pau is out........

Fantastic post imo

kobe cant guard bonzi wells?!?! kobe doesnt play very good help defense?? LOL do a search on youtube and you will find hundreds of examples where kobe shuts down bigger players and bails out his teammates on defense..

milesfides wrote:You're looking at specific examples to make summary judgments. Nobody's perfect, nobody's made every shot or made the right defensive play.

"Heat check anywhere no matter the situation" - really? By anywhere do you mean "three-pointer"? No matter the situation? He'll take tough shots with the clock winding down, yes. Will he take tough shots double teamed from halfcourt? No.

Kobe does play a lot of perimeter in the early game, but that's due to design. He has to play the guard spots in the triangle, and facilitate the offense. This is also why his shot attempts are much fewer in the early game, since he's trying to get his teammates into rhythm.

Kobe has an inability to make a simple play? That's strange, since he's made a lot of simple plays with Gasol, Fisher, Vujacic, and Farmar. I don't think his 5 assists a game are all spectacular passes. And Kobe has been very patient this year with moving the ball.

Defensively, he doesn't get back on defense when he's arguing calls. That's a defect that has seemingly been addressed, markedly, in the past couple games. He does play safety defense at times, for the purposes of helping out. It's funny how you say Kobe doesn't play good help defense, because that's clearly not true. Logically, if he's playing safety defense, he is looking to help out on his teammates, and Kobe is one of the best secondary defensive guards in the league. Kobe doesn't draw a lot of charges simply for the fact that he's usually guarding the opponent's best guard. He's chasing them, he's hounding them, not stepping in front of them.

It's funny you mention the Kevin Martin play, because that was a defensive miscommunication. Kevin Martin was forced baseline, but Kobe was expecting help. Considering that's a common defensive strategy, forcing players baseline and trapping them, I wouldn't necessarily say that was a lapse in his defense.

He can't defend Lebron, Pierce, Bonzi? First of all, Bonzi? What?

Second, it's tough to stop Lebron and Pierce, just like it's tough to stop Kobe. But I'll tell you one thing, it's usually Kobe that rises to the challenge of guarding the opponent's best player and shouldering the scoring burden for his team.

No other player in the NBA has such heavy responsibilities.

Now I coud have posted this.

G35 wrote:Offense Positives - Best scorer I've ever seen. His degree of difficulty on his perimeter shots is unprecedented imo. His ability to pump fake mutliple times and still make shots under pressure is amazing. He can finish with either hand in variety of ways; hook shots, floaters, dunks etc he can do it all. He has great handles; could start for the And1 team. He has very good passing skills, able to get the ball to teammates for easy looks on lobs and cuts. He can see the floor very well anticipating what the defense will leave uncovered. Does the "superstar" thing in the 4th quarter better than anyone else in the NBA.

Offense Negatives - None, it's Kobe

Defensive Positives - Plays All NBA level man to man defense. Really gets up for other elite players of the NBA; wants the challenge. Reminds me of Doctor J/Tayshaun Prince at "tracking" players on the fastbreak and blocking shots at the rim. Good rebounder and ball hawk for his position.

Defensive Negatives - None I said it was Kobe!

I think Kobe is the best player in the game but I wanted to put out there what I thought his +'s and -'s were. I think Kobes negatives come out a lot more when he has to carry the team so we'll see what happens while Pau is out........

Ok when I said that Kobe doesn't make the simple play doesn't mean he doesn't make simple plays it's just that when it calls for a simple play he sometimes goes for the complicated. Particularly dribbling. I have noticed many times Kobe will lose his dribble trying to shake his defender by trying to cross him. I wish that Kobe would just go right past his defender ala Wade/Lebron instead of getting fancy with his dribbling. Also not so much in the half court Kobe is pretty good at making the pass to the open man but on fast breaks Kobe (and a lot of other Lakers ie Fisher, Sasha, Lamar) will make an easy 3 on 1 into some sort of turnover. I think he may overpass at times trying to facilitate.


Now the Kobe vs SF's thing. I'm not saying he can't guard them but he's not going to be as effective as when he guards a Jason Richardson or Monta Ellis. Lebron outweighs Kobe by 40lbs, Pierce is 30 lbs heavier, Bonzi also looks like he has put on even more weight. Off the dribble Kobe does a good job, but when they post Kobe up he gets into foul trouble. In the 2 games this year Kobe has gotten 4 and 5 fouls trying to guard Pierce. Both losses.

Lebron, thank God hasn't really developed a consistent post up game, but if you're going to be honest Kobe wore down at the end of the 2nd game. Trying to carry the Lakers offense and trying to stop Lebron is too much for anyone. Especially when Lebron has that weight advantage.


Now the safety defense that Kobe plays is good but I don't agree that Kobe can't pick up any defensive charges because he's always chasing the best perimeter player. I'm not saying picking up charges on his own man. I'm saying picking up charges on his teammates man. Like Steve Nash does all the time. I'm sure Nash realizes he can't defend well, so he does the next best thing by taking advantage of the rules. If teams go into a game knowing that Kobe isn't going to give up his body by stepping in and taking charges what does that mean? And that addresses something Kobe said about the Rockets and their 21 game streak,

Bryant said Los Angeles should study how the Rockets are winning