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Its about time for Kobe to call out his teammates on their lack of heart, effort and careless mistake as well as the hunger that this team needs for a repeat. I hope it worked.



http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=A ... &type=lgns

All around him, Bryant has reasons to be livid Thursday night: Pau Gasol(notes) missed two free throws in the final seconds. The frontline had been outmuscled everywhere. James toyed with Ron Artest(notes) for his 37 points, owning this night on a yo-yo. Phil Jackson left Bryant on the bench for all but five minutes of the fourth quarter, the coach refusing to treat these Cavs as anything more than another back-to-back when Bryant’s body needed to be protected for the long run.

there is enough blame to go around. why did phil keep him on the bench so long? the bottomline is their team punked our front line. there were quite a few possessions where neither odom or artest even put a hand up when lebron shot the ball. all in all it was still one game,and like phil i don't look at these guys as to much of a threat. i know alot of lebron fans will lie and say this proves his greatness over kobe,and this won him his second mvp.,but honestly who cares about regular season awards? this team is built for june,and last i checked we still had the best record in the league.

we need to toughen up, we're getting very complacent.

Ron's been bad, imho.

Even Galinari blew easily past him a couple of times.

Also, if they want to win, Kobe should give Pau the ball a lot more.

Yes, they need to toughen up too. What I hate the most in the world is to see Varejao getting all the loose balls and offensive rebounds. That's upsetting ! Bynum and Gasol must "punch" hard that guy a couple of times if they happen to meet in the finals to quiet him.

Also, why don't they get Shaq out of the paint through the pick'n roll as much as possible ? He's old, clumsy and slow already. But none of these weaknesses are exposed when Shaq stays put in front of the basket and pushes our bigs out of the paint. I hope Phil knows what he does and I'm OK as long as Phil is OK.

They'll be OK, though.

SashAlex wrote:
Yes, they need to toughen up too. What I hate the most in the world is to see Varejao getting all the loose balls and offensive rebounds. That's upsetting ! Bynum and Gasol must "punch" hard that guy a couple of times if they happen to meet in the finals to quiet him.

Ya I was amazed how Bynum itched out TWICE now against Shaq this year. Its like he either doesnt care anymore or he is scared of Shaq. I couldnt believe it. I thought he was at least going to play more aggressive with a little bit of heart so he can send a message out to Shaq. But both times he has B1tched out.

We'd be a better team with Ariza. Sigh.

TonyMontana wrote:Ya I was amazed how Bynum itched out TWICE now against Shaq this year. Its like he either doesnt care anymore or he is scared of Shaq. I couldnt believe it. I thought he was at least going to play more aggressive with a little bit of heart so he can send a message out to Shaq. But both times he has B1tched out.

Bynum didn't bitch out IMO...

He was trying to stay out of foul trouble but he was body-ing up Shaq pretty good... He even swatted him once... He caused Shaq to miss quite a few times. I think he did all right... But he was looking for help-D that never came or was late...

Gasol on the other hand might as well have been Shaq's welcome-mat to the basket... He'd half-heartedly body-up and then let Shaq walk to the front of the rim... It's at least the second time I've seen him do it too. Did he play on Christmass?

Odom was the helpless-D Defender... That guy never makes rotations... He didn't do it on LeBron and he didn't do it on Shaq and when he drove to the basket, he did't take it to Shaq's chest... He's 6'10" 230 for crying out loud... I know he could jump higher than Shaq... And Shaq ain't going to take the charge...

What's worse than playing Shaq weak though is playing LeBron weak... I know he's big and all but he ain't bigger than Odom or Gasol... Lay a body on the fool...

Magicontinues wrote:We'd be a better team with Ariza. Sigh.

Don't know if you're joking or not but for those that aren't...

I think Artest played LeBron pretty well... I just think you need good rotations from Odom if Ron gets screened... That wasn't happening...

I think LeBron is the kind of player that if you're going to try to beat him with physicality, he's going to rise to that occasion... But I think Ron did as well as anybody could against him...

It takes team D to limit LeBron though...

I thought LeBron scored most of his points when Odom rotated on him or when Ron Ron was out.

we're missing ariza's hustle, speed, and athleticism. IMO that is why we see a lot of farmar and brown combo at the same floor.

it's unfair to judge ron right now because hes injured. early in the season when he was healthy, it was clear the acquisition of him was an improvement. he shut down almost all our opponents best players.

but I still think we have not brought out the best in artest, especially on offense.

lol lebron lights up anyone you honestly think ariza can slow him down? If he makes his midrange then its over. Cut artest some slack.

I think Artest played LeBron pretty well...

37 Points is not by any stretch of any normal persons imagination playing him 'pretty well'

Phil kept kobe on the bench because the team on the floor had cut into the lead..

It is just another game.. We played well enough to keep it close.. if not for the Paus blocked shots and missed free throws the result would have been different

For me Bynum continues to disappoint in games where he must perform.. Artest i am not sure what to make of him a lottery who hopefully comes though in the post season..

Others have shown their caliber by winning the ring..

LeBron toyed with Artest.. and Artest's defense has been noticably worse lately, but supposedly he has been dealing with plantar fascitis and some other nagging injuries

Eh well in regards to Danilo blowing by Ron, Danilo does that to everyone. He's the best 3 point shooter in the league and he's got great handles for his size. His first step is slow as molasses, but you have to respect his shot so much and he takes such long strides its impossible to always take away the longball and the drive at the same time.

As far as Ron on Lebron, Ron will do better. Kobe definitely would've done a better job than Ron against Lebron like Kobe did last year. Kobe has the defensive IQ to take things away from Lebron's game and once you limit Lebron a little bit the Cavs can't match up with us. If we meet in the finals I'd like to see Kobe start off the game guarding Lebron so Lebron doesn't get any rhythm. Just imagine having to face Kobe when he's focused on defense and then having to face Artest right after.

Can't believe I'm about to say this, but Kobe is responsible for our recent struggles. He has been playing like its still 2006. It looks like he's gunning for the scoring title/MVP. Kobe needs to show his leadership he displayed in 09 again, feed the ball to the post, move the ball, take good shots. Kobe can do that and did. So sick of his 30+ attempts on 3x% shooting, absolutely sickens me

Asianiac_24 wrote:Can't believe I'm about to say this, but Kobe is responsible for our recent struggles. He has been playing like its still 2006. It looks like he's gunning for the scoring title/MVP. Kobe needs to show his leadership he displayed in 09 again, feed the ball to the post, move the ball, take good shots. Kobe can do that and did. So sick of his 30+ attempts on 3x% shooting, absolutely sickens me

ugly truth yeah +1

Tough to be hungry for a title when you just won last season and everyone has fat contracts. I called this before the season. They are all professionals but its natural to have a lull when you are on top. Only the great ones have a desire and work ethic to constantly stay on top.

Kobe is doing the right thing and calling a spade a spade. Better to call everyone out now then come playoff time.

SApuro_ wrote:Tough to be hungry for a title when you just won last season and everyone has fat contracts. I called this before the season. They are all professionals but its natural to have a lull when you are on top. Only the great ones have a desire and work ethic to constantly stay on top.

Kobe is doing the right thing and calling a spade a spade. Better to call everyone out now then come playoff time.

+1

Magicontinues wrote:

I think Artest played LeBron pretty well...

37 Points is not by any stretch of any normal persons imagination playing him 'pretty well'

Yeah but he didn't score all those points one on one against Ron...

He scored in buckets when Odom switched onto him... Late in the Second, they started running high screen and rolls for him with either Hickson or Varajao and Odom would clumsily switch and play way off Bron... And bron straight exploited him...

Again, you have to play TEAM D against the superstars in the League... There was no help....

Bron would have deflowered Ariza... He was just devoted to playing physical and there's no way Ariza could hang with that if Ron couldn't.

And I still say Bynum had a pretty good game... He held his own defensively with single coverage, but he too needed help from Odom and Gasol... Didn't happen... So he got into foul trouble and sat... That's when Shaq started taking it to us and Lebron started attacking the paint.

chefy wrote:

Asianiac_24 wrote:Can't believe I'm about to say this, but Kobe is responsible for our recent struggles. He has been playing like its still 2006. It looks like he's gunning for the scoring title/MVP. Kobe needs to show his leadership he displayed in 09 again, feed the ball to the post, move the ball, take good shots. Kobe can do that and did. So sick of his 30+ attempts on 3x% shooting, absolutely sickens me

ugly truth yeah +1

+1

He wants our team to care? Try giving them some responsibility. AKA shots. The past few weeks they just pass to Kobe and watch. Pau's missing time early in the season completely screwed up the dynamic of this team. It gave Kobe the green light and he just hasn't adjusted.