Kobe's minutes

[ROballer]

WTF is going on?Phil's rotations are crappy as hell...it's unacceptable that your superstar is being benched 6 mins in the 4 quarter in the **** playoffs

Kobe's playing only 35 mins per game,after he was rested during the RS and was played 34 mpg....the guy rarely practiced with the team this season,he gets career low minutes as a starter only to be kept fresh for the playoffs right? wrong......he sees similar minutes as in the regular season

Phil rode Jordan as a horse in his Bulls days,never keeping him under 38 a game even at age 35 (in the RS) and he never played under Phil less than 41 mpg in the playoffs....

I would understand less minutes if we had a solid backup SG,but he have Shannon freakin Brown, a chucker.....

[semi-sentient]

Agreed. Kobe needs to be brought in sooner as he seems to be the only one that can create for others or get a score when we absolutely need it. When Brown and Barnes are out there our offense looks, well, unstructured as all hell. I'm not saying that Kobe is Mr. Play Within The System, but he makes things happen.

At the same time, the Mavs had their two big guns in the game to start the 4th (Dirk and Terry), whereas Kobe and Gasol were riding pine until the lead had all but vanished. We should have had our guys in there to at least weather the storm. Then the whole Gasol on Dirk fiasco to close things out. Just some horrible decision-making from the coaching staff, players. Everything that could have gone wrong did.

[Atmanne]

Not only Kobe, but Gasol's playing one less minute per game than he did in the regular season. I'm not sure what Phil's doing here.

[Pablo Escobar]

Not only Kobe, but Gasol's playing one less minute per game than he did in the regular season. I'm not sure what Phil's doing here.

Pau has been playing crap so it's understandable why he's on the bench, but Kobe needs to start getting his usual 38-40 mpg because our bench is GARBAGE

[Kilroy]

Kobe doesn't need to play more... He needs to play smarter.

And Phil needs to tighten up his rotations.

[stunnar0b]

phil's playing it right, he wants kobe to be as fresh as possible for the last two rounds. you guys all remember the 6 for 24 in game 7 when kobe was completely gassed..

[magic1fan]

i am on the fence about this one. it's obvious we need kobe to play long minutes because pau can't really be counted on like last year. at the sametime stuunarb brings up a good point. kobe was gassed in game7 last year. no way we can win with him playing like that on the road.

[Doormatt]

I'd like to see more kobe--brown late games.

I think he actually plays with some sense of intelligence with Kobe, and is about as knockdown of a shooter that we have. I like his athleticism on Terry/Barea/Kidd as well. IMO we need to speed up the tempo, and get easier shots late in games. Too much slow it down and everything Kobe. I think that is more on Phil and the coaching staff than kobe. I have no problem with the Kobe iso/clearout for the last minutes/final seconds, but it shouldn't start at the 6 minute mark.

[TheHartBreakKid]

^ THIS. Especially if we aren't going to burn people for playing guards on Ron. If Ron was going to post up on the Guard he's up agaisnt, there is no need for this, but if ron is standing around the three point line (possibly rightfully so, because I for one don't feel safe with ron having the ball in the post in the last 2 minutes of a game), we might as well have Blake or Brown in there, since they could chase the little guards around more effectively and their shot is more reliable. As for the topic, I think Kobe coming in at 8 minutes instead of 6 would have gotten us the W and cost us the loss, and a loss in the playoffs could very easily cost us the season. As for Pau's minutes, Drew has been deserving of the minutes he's getting. Its a small knock on Pau, but mostly praise for Drew. Though Pau did play good ball in the first quarter 2 days ago, but Phil stuck to his rotation and took him out with 5 minutes in the first, that took Pau out for the rest of the game. Pau played a decent game minus his eff ups in the last 30 quarters. Just some stupid decisions and plays that cost us a game we imo should have had.

[Doormatt]

I see no reason for kobe to play under 40 minutes (unless it's a blowout) for the rest of the series. 4 minute rest to start the second and take him out with 2 minutes left in the 3rd and back at the 10 minute mark of the 4th. That's the pattern I would use, but it obviously can change game to game.


If at any point Kobe is on the bench with the game being within 5 (either way) in the 4th, i think I'll break something.