Kobe had a great season and was proven to be the MVP this year but in the West he does not have to work as hard as his position on both ends of the floor. Look at the playoffs. In rounds 2 and 3 he guarded Ronnie Brewer and Bruce Bowen in back to back series.
Look what Paul Pierce had to face. Joe Johnson, Lebron James and Prince taking him to the post. It seems like the players who give Kobe the most problems and make him work are the wing players out East. Even if there not scoring a lot of points, there at least making his legs tired where he shoots a bad percentage on the other end.
Pierce
Lebron
Wade
Ray Allen
Michael Redd
Joe Johnson
Gilbert Arenas
All of the guys above are capable of having big games against Kobe, but in the West there are not many players Kobe has to worry about dropping 30 or more on him or making him work on defense. He can kinda kick back and play rover like a safety in football and cheat on everyone else like he did in the 1st half of the Lakers vs Celtics Game 4. Once Doc Rivers put in Eddie House where we could not cheat off the PG Kobe then switched to Pierce and it was a big struggle. Not the same as guarding Brewer and Bowen.
Also look at what Lebron did to Kobe. He has beat him 4 out of 5 times and outplays him in head to head matchups. What helps is Kobe only plays him twice and not 4 or 5 times. What if they played 4 or 5 times? The same with Pierce, Joe Johnson, Arenas who dropped 60 at Staple Center last season.
Would Kobe be exposed if he played in the East?
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Would Kobe be exposed if he played in the East?
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B-Scott
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Miami's Finest
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ToffBosh wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
So let me understand this... Because he's struggling in the finals that would determine that he would struggle and suck in the East.
No I never said that and didn't make this thread but you said he would dominate the east more than the west yet he always sucks in the finals which happens to be east teams.
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ToffKobe
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Miami's Finest wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
No I never said that and didn't make this thread but you said he would dominate the east more than the west yet he always sucks in the finals which happens to be east teams.
Yes he plays east teams in the finals. Before the Celtics the last team he played against in the finals was the Pistons. Both teams happen to be great defensive minded teams. So the fact that he's struggling now and in his last finals appearance would suggest he would pretty much struggle if he played in the East. Not taking account how well he played against every other team in the East. Great logic on your part.
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Miami's Finest
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ToffBosh wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
Yes he plays east teams in the finals. Before the Celtics the last team he played against in the finals was the Pistons. Both teams happen to be great defensive minded teams. So the fact that he's struggling now and in his last finals appearance would suggest he would pretty much struggle if he played in the East. Not taking account how well he played against every other team in the East. Great logic on your part.
I know my logic makes sense but if you want to take into account every other team in the east just to continue to try and make a point over a dumb issue here it is...
Against the West, Bryant averaged 29.3 ppg. Against the East, it's 26.7.
Bryant has a 48% FG% against the West, and 44% against the East.
So it appears even by your logic he's dominating more against the west, what logic lead you to say he would dominate more against the east. I don't think he would be much different but like I said using this and past finals as an indication (which was confirmed by his stats against the east vs. west) I def. wouldn't expect him to be more dominant.