To live and die in LA with Kobe

[Yerstem]

This is so annoying. Kobe shot the ball 27 times in GSW game, the whole team shot 91 times. One out of every 3 was shot by Kobe, and it was not going in. 2 out of 10 behind the arc. This is insanely ridiculous. Some Kobe statistics:

GSW Loss 11/27
ATL Loss 11/33
ATL Win 13/27
TOR Loss 10/32
MIA Loss 8/25
DEN Loss 11/26
PHI Loss 14/29
GSW Win 16/41 ( 41 times!!!)
WAS Win 9/29
HOU Loss 14/31
ORL Loss 12/27

Let's cut it here...

A player shouldn't shoot 30 times a game if there is Kobe, Gasol, Nash and Howard on his team. I don't give a *** if he's Bryant, Nash or Dwight or we get a win in the end. Because it will only work and get you a win a few times. It can't be a general strategy.

Kobe tries to be everything on the team. He will be the playmaker, he will be the go-to guy. Other than that he's not satisfied. It's so sad to see the most skillful team of the NBA go down the drain like that.

Of course, he is not the only one to blame. Nash and D'Antoni are chickens. They are too afraid to confront him. You can say lots of things about Dwight, but he's the only one who told the truth loud but he couldn't keep his position.

I really wonder what's going to be next year. If Kobe plays and behaves like this, they will repeat what they've been doing. But I hope some guy will convince him to step aside and take a lesser role. Everybody can accept a one year loss but two disaster years in a row, that can cause serious trouble for Kobe. They chose him over Shaq and they will choose Dwight over him.

It's a huge disappointment. This is maybe the biggest disaster of expectations in sports. Our record is 36 to 35. In the beginning I thought this team would be a juggernaut and win 73 games, break all the records. Now we are the 8th seed. We are Charlotte Bobcats in another dimension.

D'Antoni is not strong enough to keep Kobe in check. Phil would do it much better.

I have no good or bad feeling for Kobe or Nash or Dwight or Pau. If they play well, I'll applaud them but I'm not a member of any player's fan club. I can't continue supporting them if they play for their own egos and this *** ego is against the mutual benefit.

Kobe had to see Dwight, Nash and Pau as his equal and think that he's no more important than them to the team. This was the key to the success, but he couldn't do it...

[Rasho_libre]

But but I thought he was based god

[Dr Aki]

kobe's back is too old to carry this team for an entire season

[kblo247]

And you lived that whole,month he got us back over 500 and in 8th so sit down

[stunnar0b]

If it wasn't for Kobe we wouldn't even be in the playoffs./greenfont

[stunnar0b]

Kobe's back is too old to carry this team for an entire season

Why does he feel the need to carry it though??? Aw whatever this season is doomed so it doesnt even matter

[Slava]

No one was complaining when he shot the same amount against Toronto and New Orleans and lead us back from double digit deficits. Even yesterday until he started taking desperation shots at the end he was shooting a good % and had the Warriors in the penalty in the 3rd.

It goes a long way when you think Curry and Thompson were throwing the ball into the ocean and still Kobe looked like the best player on the floor.

You guys will be the first to complain when a nondescript shooting guard would be passing up shots in 2 years time after Kobe's done.

Fickle fanbase is fickle.

[GeorgeDillion]

No one was complaining when he shot the same amount against Toronto and New Orleans and lead us back from double digit deficits. Even yesterday until he started taking desperation shots at the end he was shooting a good % and had the Warriors in the penalty in the 3rd.

It goes a long way when you think Curry and Thompson were throwing the ball into the ocean and still Kobe looked like the best player on the floor.

You guys will be the first to complain when a nondescript shooting guard would be passing up shots in 2 years time after Kobe's done.

Fickle fanbase is fickle.

[Kilroy]

Kobe's fine... But he needs a team built around him to facilitate his game better... He's still our best player even at this stage in his career. I know we want to look toward the future and I like the Dwight signing, but until Dwight is the best player on the floor every night, he needs to fit into a team built around our best player.

We needed perimeter youth to help mask Kobe's deficiencies especially on D but also from distance. MWP and Nash aren't the best fit in the starting lineup.
Clark helps, but I think we still need a quality starting SF.

Am I happy that Kobe's still our best player at this stage in his career? No. I had hoped Dwight would be outshining him by now. I hope by the beginning of the season, there's no question about who should be dominating the offense. And at that point, this team will need to be retooled to work around Dwight.

My point is, it's unrealistic to expect Kobe to be something he's not, if he's still our best player. And it's unrealistic to build around Dwight until he's dominant enough to eclipse Kobe. It shouldn't be a matter of Kobe forcing the ball inside to Dwight. It should be that Dwight is so dominant that it's natural for the ball to find him first.

This is a tweener team... And it shows.

[Admiral C]

Can you people stop listing Pau Gasol as a positive?

"On a team with Nash, Dwight, and Gasol x shouldn't be happening" "On a team with 4 HoFs"...just stop. He shouldn't be included with the other guys in his current form and he certainly shouldn't be used as a basis of why Kobe should take less shots

Make your arguments without that stupidity

[Rox_Nix_Nox]

Seriously offended saying Kobe should give more to pau and dwight. LOL watch some games, they just throw valuable possessions away

[stunnar0b]

Yeah I was praising Kobe for his ridiculous shot against raptors and hornets but I also stated that it shouldnt have got to that point. Now my stance on Kobe has been the same since the 2010-2011 season right after that horrible game 7 in the finals, if it wasn't for mwp rebounding all of kobes misses and laying them back in no doubt we lose that game.

Its just hard to comprehend that a team with Kobe Howard pau and Nash are this bad, even considering the injuries. at some point blame has to fall Kobes way, after all he does handle the ball 99.9 recent of the time. for example why did Kobe feel the need to average 30 points to start the season knowing we have all these great weapons when their used in unison. Don't you know that building chemistry is allowing everybody to eat. And not differing from the gameplay when things aren't going your way or seem too easy.

But whatever in realgm its an unwritten rule that one must not talk ill towards Kobe so I get it

[Slava]

There's no unwritten rule anywhere in RealGM but pointless criticism is about as unfair and useless as hero worship. I say this to the Kobe haters, Nash doomsayers, Jim Buss critiques as well as the anti-Howard brigade.

[Father Time]

I don't get this "unwritten rule" crap. To Kobe fans he's one of the most hated players on realGM. To haters or those who "don't care for him" (including Lakers fans), you apparently can't say anything bad about him. How is this possible? Which one is it? Personally, I see a lot of criticism toward Kobe from blogs like Grantland and SSR, from the GB and a healthy amount from this board when he deserves it (and even when he doesn't). We have some very vocal Kobe bashers among our fanbase.

[Sedale Threatt]

Kobe is an unbelievably polarizing figure. There's not a lot of room in the middle. Almost two decades of unbelievable success, and I'm still not sure how much I like him. So much of what he does runs completely counter to the way I think basketball should be played. And I say that knowing full well there's about a 2 percent chance the Lakers are going to have someone better than him before I die.

[GeneralNash]

Can you people stop listing Pau Gasol as a positive?

"On a team with Nash, Dwight, and Gasol x shouldn't be happening" "On a team with 4 HoFs"...just stop. He shouldn't be included with the other guys in his current form and he certainly shouldn't be used as a basis of why Kobe should take less shots

Make your arguments without that stupidity

Yes this is true. Pau is a 5, not a 4 however. Pau needs to come off the bench bottom line or else he just goes from being a solid C to a very poor PF. The team needs to stretch the talent out there. It is more Mike's fault for giving way to Kobe at this point and starting Pau. You cannot fault Nash...because one he's not the coach and has no authority to decide rotations, and two this is his first year with the Lakers...he doesn't have the weight that Kobe has when it comes to deciding who is in and who is out. At this point it seems like Kobe is deciding everything.

The easiest plan is to go back to the same rotations this team was doing when we had that good stretch to get over .500 - Dantoni failed to realize that Clark's perimeter defense was more valuable versus the Golden State's game than Pau's non-existing offensive game at the 4.

[stunnar0b]

There's no unwritten rule anywhere in RealGM but pointless criticism is about as unfair and useless as hero worship. I say this to the Kobe haters, Nash doomsayers, Jim Buss critiques as well as the anti-Howard brigade.

fair enough

And your right it is pointless criticism on my part because after 17 years Kobe is who he is. I just wish phill would come back and coach because we all know that that's one man who knew how to manage Kobe and keep him in line. for the most part.

[stunnar0b]

I don't get this "unwritten rule" crap. To Kobe fans he's one of the most hated players on realGM. To haters or those who "don't care for him" (including Lakers fans), you apparently can't say anything bad about him. How is this possible? Which one is it? Personally, I see a lot of criticism toward Kobe from blogs like Grantland and SSR, from the GB and a healthy amount from this board when he deserves it (and even when he doesn't). We have some very vocal Kobe bashers among our fanbase.

Whatever dude I've said numerous times that Kobe is one of my fav players. he's the reason why I picked up a basketball at an early age, my whole game is model after him.

having said that I feel its my right to critique him whenever I see fit and people on laker board just aren't having it for whatever reason.

[Optms]

Kobe's been "fairly in line" this year.

One bad game and its the end of the world. Same old story, same old thread. There are probably hundreds of threads on this board with posters posting the same thing .

His shooting is down, his playmaking is up and overall he's been a stud on the offensive end. He's having an amazing year in comparison to last season. So stop whining about things others have been whining about for 17 years. Take the good with the bad and leave it at that.

[stunnar0b]

I've only been "whining" about it for the past two years but I said my peace and now I'm out