Phil: "Kobe had to screw up the game by going one on one"

[andrewww]

for all you geniuses at realgm phil essentially clarifies that his comments weren't meant in a negative fashion like many of you are trying to pin this on kobe at the very first opportunity.

http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/lak ... yants-game

Given the stir his comments caused, that Jackson was asked to clarify Monday in El Segundo wasn't surprising. "When a game starts getting out of hand- rightly so- Kobe will crank it up, not screw it up. I used that term "screw it up," but not in terms of being an error or a mistake," he said, "but crank it up. He'll go to another notch to try and get us back in the ballgame. That's something we do in the fourth quarter. That's our fourth quarter action, that's how we win ballgames. And to have to crank it up and do it in the third quarter, we didn't have much left in the gas tank after that."

[tsherkin]

He shot inefficiently. He started shooting more because the other guys weren't doing anything at all when he was shooting 16% FG% and his post players combining for 48% FG%? Anyway, I don't think the way a team plays in the first half is a valid rationale for a player shot-hogging for pretty much an entire quarter... and leave his team in an even deeper hole - both in terms of score and momentum.

He didn't shoot much and let the game go through the other players, who didn't accomplish much of anything after the first few minutes.

The reason I'm talking about the first half is that you keep saying Kobe took the team out of rhythm after he finished... but since they were bunk even before that, it dispels the notion entirely. Given how poorly everyone but Bynum played (remember, 8/24 between those 4 guys), it wasn't a valid point.

Huh? Because he ended the first half with waht? 7 points in 6 shots? Why are you pretending that he scored a lot better than his teammates in the first half? It's bizarre.

I'm not? I'm saying that the team wasn't playing well in the first half, so Kobe's choice to shoot more in the third was a sensible one, especially given how badly outpaced they were getting because of all of the turnovers and fast-break points.

A pure distortion of the facts. It seems you're trying to say: "well, he was the only one playing well in the first half, so that justifies his attempt to take over the game even though it resulted in an ever larger scoring deficit". Not only it's a bad reasoning, it's sustained in a fiction.

No, and it's not my fault that you can't see the difference between that nonsense and what I actually said. I said the team as a whole was playing poorly, so what they were doing didn't work and so they needed to change something. So he did. But clearly, they needed more from others that they didn't get in any of the other 3 quarters and they needed way better defense from everyone, which they didn't get. What you're talking about, I've no idea.

- why do you believe the Lakers played bad defense?

Did you WATCH the game? They got turned upside down and butt-sexed by the Memphis fast break and their bigs...

- what the heck has bad defense to do with more FGAs for Memphis?

BWA? They were making careless passes that led to transition opportunities...

They didn't force many turnovers but that's not what Los Angeles defense is about.

Not what I was talking about. I was talking specifically about their horrendous transition defense.

[Giacomo]

Screw, crank, gas in the tank!?

What is he now, a mechanic? Bill Walton?

Thinking about the Machine?

The guy is clearly senile, and has lost control and trust of his team.

[tsherkin]

Bryant said he'd heard Jackson's comments, and appeared totally unbothered. "He was right. I totally broke the offense, but I did it intentionally because I felt like we needed to get something started. Because what we were doing, it just wasn't working, so I tried to kick start it. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. But that's my responsibility. When it works out, great. When it doesn't, you take the criticism for it, but I have thick enough skin to be able to do that."

Kobe then hit at the heart of the constant push-pull between Bryant and Jackson, when it comes to his offensive game. "Phil doesn't really care how many shots I take, he just wants me to take shots in our offense."

There you go.

[LLcoleJ]

Bryant said he'd heard Jackson's comments, and appeared totally unbothered. "He was right. I totally broke the offense, but I did it intentionally because I felt like we needed to get something started. Because what we were doing, it just wasn't working, so I tried to kick start it. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. But that's my responsibility. When it works out, great. When it doesn't, you take the criticism for it, but I have thick enough skin to be able to do that."

Kobe then hit at the heart of the constant push-pull between Bryant and Jackson, when it comes to his offensive game. "Phil doesn't really care how many shots I take, he just wants me to take shots in our offense."

There you go.

[ChuckTheD]

Yeah, there was a 3rd quarter stretch where like 7 or 8 straight possessions were just Kobe isos. The problem with it wasn't even the offense, because he scored on over half of them but the rest of the team just lost all rythm on both sides. They were getting killed defensively, so as soon as Kobe started missing, the rest of the team had to jumpstart from scratch with like 15 minutes left in the game. That's a recipe for disaster.

[iamworthy]

http://www.nba.com/lakers/video/2011/01 ... index.html

[RocketPower23]

droponov, for the sake of accuracy, Kobe shot 2-6 from the field in the first half.

[Mamba Venom]

IB Phil is a master Zen Master, he is just zenning atm

Today screwing it up is cranking it up... How funny.

Watched the comment live and had to hit the rewind button I was shocked. But Phil didn't correct when he paused.

I wonder if Phil plans on saying those things OR it comes out and he is smart enough to process it that quickly, weigh all the fallout options in a split second and THEN decide whether to correct himself or not.

Phil is a very sharp guy. He is either very very quick and almost never misspeaks or a better actor than most of the guys in the stands.

[GopherIt!]

[Rerisen]

In watching Phil for many years, he uses words carefully. And while I would not take his comments as blaming Kobe for the loss, he also could have worded his comments much more clearly if he desired. That he came out and corrected his comments to damp down any trouble the next day, doesn't mean he might not be silently content that a small firestorm blew up in the interim.

Either way you slice it, he isn't happy when the team has to go to Kobe-ball (pre-clutch time) no matter who initiates it or why.

What he said seemed to be a good way to shoot across the bow of everyone on the team, not blaming Kobe, but also not excusing him.

[andrewww]

In watching Phil for many years, he uses words carefully. And while I would not take his comments as blaming Kobe for the loss, he also could have worded his comments much more clearly if he desired. That he came out and corrected his comments to damp down any trouble the next day, doesn't mean he might not be silently content that a small firestorm blew up in the interim.

Either way you slice it, he isn't happy when the team has to go to Kobe-ball (pre-clutch time) no matter who initiates it or why.

What he said seemed to be a good way to shoot across the bow of everyone on the team, not blaming Kobe, but also not excusing him.

i couldnt agree more.

[doozyj]

Bryant said he'd heard Jackson's comments, and appeared totally unbothered. "He was right. I totally broke the offense, but I did it intentionally because I felt like we needed to get something started. Because what we were doing, it just wasn't working, so I tried to kick start it. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. But that's my responsibility. When it works out, great. When it doesn't, you take the criticism for it, but I have thick enough skin to be able to do that."

Kobe then hit at the heart of the constant push-pull between Bryant and Jackson, when it comes to his offensive game. "Phil doesn't really care how many shots I take, he just wants me to take shots in our offense."

There you go.

[schematics]

nothing to think about. pretty self explanatory. #8 is mainly concerned about himself n trying to chase something that he can never replace....MJ, lol...smh this clown will never learn!

I rememeber a couple weeks back when he was hot doggin somethin serious n the reporters asked Phil how he would feel if he was out there playin with #8 n phil said "once he gave me the ball i would not give it back to him", lol dayum shame. i cannot wait for dude's karma to kick in soon n see him out the league asap already

[RamonSessions7]

nothing to think about. pretty self explanatory. #8 is mainly concerned about himself n trying to chase something that he can never replace....MJ, lol...smh this clown will never learn!

I rememeber a couple weeks back when he was hot doggin somethin serious n the reporters asked Phil how he would feel if he was out there playin with #8 n phil said "once he gave me the ball i would not give it back to him", lol dayum shame. i cannot wait for dude's karma to kick in soon n see him out the league asap already

Who's number 8?

[Prince12]

Pau seems to be getting pretty tired of not getting enough touches this year.

He made some other little suttle comment after the SA game reffering to not getting the ball.
Kobe is Kobe though he will continue to play this way but IMO Pau is now the best player in this team. Interesting to see how it will go down if Gasol does voice his frustration.

[Blame Rasho]

Lets call it what it is.... Kobe has left alot to be desired with his on the court play and Jackson has left alot to be desired with the X's and O's.

[Bruh Man]

Pau seems to be getting pretty tired of not getting enough touches this year.

He made some other little suttle comment after the SA game reffering to not getting the ball.
Kobe is Kobe though he will continue to play this way but IMO Pau is now the best player in this team. Interesting to see how it will go down if Gasol does voice his frustration.

Pau is far from being the Lakers best player, sure he played amazing to start the season but he has struggled ever since(especially on defense). The Lakers defense has looked better with Bynum at C, I expect them to improve as Andrew gets his rhythm and conditioning back.

[schematics]

nothing to think about. pretty self explanatory. #8 is mainly concerned about himself n trying to chase something that he can never replace....MJ, lol...smh this clown will never learn!

I rememeber a couple weeks back when he was hot doggin somethin serious n the reporters asked Phil how he would feel if he was out there playin with #8 n phil said "once he gave me the ball i would not give it back to him", lol dayum shame. i cannot wait for dude's karma to kick in soon n see him out the league asap already

Who's number 8?

The dude who got drafted by the hornets n basically pouted n forced them to trade him to a bigger market team (lakers)...him aka daniel san

[schematics]

Pau seems to be getting pretty tired of not getting enough touches this year.

He made some other little suttle comment after the SA game reffering to not getting the ball.
Kobe is Kobe though he will continue to play this way but IMO Pau is now the best player in this team. Interesting to see how it will go down if Gasol does voice his frustration.

Pau is far from being the Lakers best player, sure he played amazing to start the season but he has struggled ever since(especially on defense). The Lakers defense has looked better with Bynum at C, I expect them to improve as Andrew gets his rhythm and conditioning back.

He is not? lol, let ya boy #8 give him the rock more n see how much better he can be but oh wait, lol maybe that's why he is not touching the rock so much

Yeah that same soft center that basically saved the lakers from losing gm 7 last season...him

When pau gets a good amount of touches and gets in the flow of the whole game
(not parts of it when #8 passes in bailout situations) dude is pretty good!

BTW, for all the folks throwing salt on fish n artest's names, please knock it off! they are playing the same way they were last year n i clearly remember both of them including pau doing some pretty good things to save yall in some series, ijs! Fish has made some incredible shots for the lakers year in n year out but folks stay being salty (i am probably the biggest non fish fan of all btw). yall should be more appreciative...just like yall trade away the machine when dude came in last finals n practically ice cold n hit two of the biggest free throws of the whole playoffs, smh!