Kobe's injury hurting the Lakers?

[Geoff35]

Could just be me. But it seems like Kobe has been forcing the issue shooting-wise ever since his finger to kind of prove he's not effected by it, when obvious the shooting % slump would say otherwise. Not to take away from anything else he's doing, but do you guys think that his excessive shooting, when at an obvious disadvantage from his finger, is at all a detriment to the wellbeing of the team? Just wanted thoughts from the Laker crowd...

[MindGames]

Yes. Hell yes.

Kobe is hurting the Lakers. 31 shots on a broken finger won't get it done but I am amazed this year by Kobe's shot selection especially with the talent he has around him. It seems to me that he shoots the majority of his shots on 1 on 1 situations instead of off off-ball screens and cuts.

I know many people might give the reason that Kobe shoots a lot when his team isn't playing well, but I think the opposite is true. His team doesn't play well when he takes many shots. It seems recently that whenever he is in the game, the ball movement stops, with the exception of the first 3 quarters of the Dallas game in which he intentionally tried to be a facilitator.

In short, I think the coaching staff should hold Kobe accountable just as they would if any of the other Lakers were costing their team wins by shooting as much as he does and missing as much as he does. Even if he were making his shots, I think this type of 1 on 1 play is detrimental to overall team development. I think that he should go back to the more hands off, team game approach he took after his Olympic experience.

I'm not trying to say that all the recent struggles have all been attributed to Kobe. And I am not a Kobe hater. I still think his overall skill set are the best in today's game, but to quote Scottie Pippen: “Sometimes a player's greatest challenge is coming to grips with his role on the team.”

[crazytown]

He should've had the surgery a month ago. The Lakers are good enough to hold the ship until he returned.

[laduane1]

Kobe having surgery in the middle of the season. Now that will never happen.

[chefy]

yes

[MikeyMike]

He's hurting more than he's been helping. The guy needs to relax for a few games, and when he does come back try to fit in more as a facilitator than a scorer.

He needs to focus on scoring less and creating for his teammates more. Running around, moving without the ball.

[Joe Kleazy]

While I think alot of this falls on kobe, not all of it does. The team is just not hitting on all cylinders yet. That is not such a bad thing with only 10 losses, since it leaves room for growth. Guys need to play with more confidence and look kobe off occasionally. If they are playing just as bad as he is offensively then of course he will take over too much.

We haven't been able to get Pau and Ron into a groove due to missed games and nobody else seems to want to step up. Bynum is back and forth and would probably do better off the bench. This would get odom into a flow and force Pau to play physical ball more often at the center spot.

The last five games have been important games whether they were tough teams or trying to get revenge for a loss so these things tend to happen. Either way after the allstar break we should come back rested and more focused on defending this crown.

Lets just ride this thing out and sew up this road trip with a winning record. Kobe tends to know when to pull back on the reigns, at least for these last 2-3 years.

[magic1fan]

it is hurting the lakers somewhat,but soft play from two 7 footers is what is killing us the most along with our defense. kobe has shown that when other guys show up he is more than willing to pull back. we need bigs that aren't scared of shaq and big z. we need role players that play tough nosed defense.

[Kobay]

Part of it. But I doubt there was any other way of scoring when others are crap, he had to force some crappy shot. most of it due to Cleavland being able to play defense but us after years still not able to play defense. We simply need a trade, a little change in the roster and starting line up.

[H00PDREAMZ]

I really wish he would have just got that finger taken care of earlier this season he would have been back to form by now. Seems that this move to play through the pain backfired so far. You can motivate the other players by doing what is best for the team too.

Kobe is forcing shots and this irritates me to all heck. Odom once said if Kobe was a PG, Center or Forward he would be the best one no matter the position. He can play them all now he says. So why can't he just be the best facilitator in the league till his finger gets fixed?

[chefy]

anyone has an update to his injuries?

[crazyeights]

Kobe having surgery in the middle of the season. Now that will never happen.

That kind of thinking is just **** dumb, and it's that kind of stuff that puts our team in jeopardy.

Kobe isn't God. If he had an injury that would require surgery, then yes he'd have it.

Let's not get carried away. Is he going to play through pain? Yes. But is it getting to the point where it's just about Kobe's goal of playing 82 games? Hell yes. It doesn't help the team to be out there on nights when he obviously is too hurt to play.

It's egotistical and childish.

Regardless of his injury, however, Kobe is taking too many shots. It might have flown when Gasol was out with injury. But now we have the "full" roster and he needs to get his shot selection down to where he can hit nearly 50%. That's what helps our team. And that's how we win.

[microfib4thewin]

Are you guys forgetting something here? He could have taken the surgery for his pinky in the offseason, but he decide to ignore it. I do know his other fingers got hurt during this season, but the point is he didn't choose the best way to get himself taken care of, and his reckless attitude at playing through injury is starting to hurt us. This year Kobe is taking more shots since 2006, and even with the injuries I don't think anyone can say we are a bad team, so why do we keep letting Kobe try to bail us out? Having him shoot 20-30 times a game should be a thing of the past. It's not something this team should rely on unless it's an absolute must. We get people complaining that other guys don't step up, but how could they get in rhythm when Kobe takes so many shots in the first half?

[crazyeights]

After watching the Knicks game tonight, Kobe's hand disgusts me.

He couldn't even hold on to that wide open dunk and had to bobble it in for a layup. He was bailed out by fouls a few times late in the game when he had zero control with the ball.

Luckily he can make freethrows, but having to catch on the move, he just doesn't have the grip. Not sure I want our playoff hopes resting on one hit to his shooting hand. I get last year, it was his pinky finger...but his right index?

No reason he's getting so many touches. Our offense is all isolation and he only seems to pass just as a means to get his dribble back. Couldn't be more disappointed in Phil for letting this **** fly. I've attested in the past that since PJ came back he's had little control over Kobe. Luckily until this point we haven't had to rein him in...but now might be the time.

[minikobe]

I dont think so

[magic1fan]

He should've had the surgery a month ago. The Lakers are good enough to hold the ship until he returned.

this is the lie that has people blinded. this team is not strong enough to hold the top spot with kobe gone. even with a bad hand he draws alot of attention. we would have no one to break down defenses,and who helps when our frontline get's punked like they did in cleveland?

[JonathanZ]

The Lakers are better off with a healthy Kobe in the playoffs even if it means slipping to the 2nd or 3rd seed in the West than they are with THIS Kobe and the top seed in the NBA. Phil and the Lakers management needs to tell Kobe he's sitting because Kobe is too competitive to take himself out. This falls squarly on Phil.

[H00PDREAMS]

Looks like Phil will finally have something to say about Kobe and his mounting injuries. DNP for the Mamba? Yes, Kobe take a break driver eight... Umm number 24.


http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archi ... y_jackson/

http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/lak ... kle-update

http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/lak ... square-one

[Sedale Threatt]

He should've had the surgery a month ago. The Lakers are good enough to hold the ship until he returned.

this is the lie that has people blinded. this team is not strong enough to hold the top spot with kobe gone. even with a bad hand he draws alot of attention. we would have no one to break down defenses,and who helps when our frontline get's punked like they did in cleveland?

Yep, if you sit Kobe, you forgo any opportunity to get home court overall, perhaps in the Western Conference too.

That said, home court won't make any difference if Kobe is significantly less than 100% in the playoffs. We're taking a huge, huge risk here. One I support, but huge nonetheless.

[semi-sentient]

We'd be stupid as hell not to put Kobe on the injured list right now and sit him for two weeks (he can come back against Boston). That would let his ankle and other nagging injures heal (except for the finger), and it'll give him some much needed rest.

Denver probably won't have Melo Friday night and it's a home game. We can win that without Kobe. We'll lose to Portland regardless, and if we lose against SAS and UTA then so be it (a win against either would be spectacular). We'll still be able to take GS, so that's a 2-3 record with Mr. Bryant which still keeps us in the lead. Heck, even if we lose all those games it'll still be worth it.

Phil has got to take charge and do the right thing here.