Oh and before I get into this, the endless stream of hatred, unadulterated criticism and just general weirdness in relation to a 5 time champion/future HOF never ceases to amaze and disgust me. But I digress...
3 of which he won, slowing down the most dominant player of his generation...
1) Bynum usually gets double teamed by opposing defenses, and usually, turns the ball over or forces up a terrible shot (I know, Kobe is the only one in history to force shots, but trust me, it happens)
The key word here is "usually". Didn't happen. Didn't even get a chance to happen.
With the Thunder, no they don't double him, and in the first half when they play straight up, he gets the rock. In the second half of almost every game, they start to front him with Perkins, with Ibaka behind him and the guards playing the passing lanes. It's a turnover waiting to happen if you try and telegraph a pass to him in that situation. If they reverse the ball, by this time the shot clock is on it's way down, and guess what happens at least 7-10 times a game. Somebody just chucks the ball to Kobe with about 5 seconds on the clock for a bailout. And The Mamba will oblige, no doubt.
Or you could go to him via a high-low, and get Gasol more into the game as well... Which granted, isn't going to happen around the middle of the 2nd when Bynum is on but spelling Gasol... But what's the excuse the rest of the time? When they could actually go to that as a serious route... Especially, when that's supposedly a major component of Brown's "system" which the Lakers as an entire team follow and a certain player never deviates from and does his own thing...
2) Yes, Gasol does touch the ball just as much if not more so than anyone else on the team, including Kobe.
1. He should, the guy's a facilitator.
2. I'm not even sure that he actually does... And he certainly doesn't when Kobe goes on one of his f***ed up solo spurts from seemingly nowhere.
This is Mike Brown's system, he's been on record as saying he encouraged Gasol to not only be more of a facilitator, but to also hang on the perimeter and hoist 3's whenever available:
Lakers coach Mike Brown said Gasol has "a green light to shoot the 3," and added, "as you could tell, guys trust him [shooting it],"
http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/lakers/post/_/id/25894/the-mcten-gasols-dagger-3-jolts-jazz
He should be more of a facilitator... Honestly, it's still not happening enough. Although personally I'd have him playing a little closer in around 15-20... Working high-lows with Bynum and flashing Kobe, and not have him step outside except for screen work and the occasional pick and pop.
Too much though that system isn't in place and you'll see Kobe clear out on the wing though.
So this mentality from Gasol has just as much to do with the system as it does his own natural inclination to defer. This is what Mike Brown envisioned, him out of the post in favor of Bynum and Kobe, which is why Bynum became an All-Star in the first place. How this is Kobe's fault is beyond me.
How am I blaming Bynum being an All-Star on Kobe?
But the main point is that Gasol certainly lost that game 4 just as much as Kobe lost game 2. I didn't see anyone rushing to Kobe's defense for those turnovers, why is their any defense for Gasol? Especially considering in Gasol's case, the game was tied.
Well your main point is dumb as dogs***.
Gasol made a single key turnover on an albeit dumb move looking to kick the ball out. Game 2, the last 7 plays which finished through Kobe he went 0-5 and had two of those turnovers. To attempt to apply equal blame on Gasol's singular error as Kobe's continued errors is flawed on what should be a basic and clear level to anybody capable of thinking of the matter objectively.
3) Using your logic, I also want to know why Lebron's shooters haven't been able to hit the broadside of a barn this postseason? Lebron passes to everyone, almost to a fault, so these guys don't have the excuse that they're being "frozen out" and yet, they're still missing consistently, why?
The Heat don't have a whole lot of ball movement or offensive structure to their game either... It's why they play best when they can get out in transition... Half court they generally stand around and watch while Lebron or Wade try to make things happen.
Guys like Mike Miller and Mario Chalmers have gradually gotten used to playing under that system, but shooting cold is... as I've said before... not an easy thing to do.
And that has hurt Shane Battier and his numbers this season, because he's accustomed to playing in systems which see legitimate ball movement as well.
I'll tell you why, because passing the ball to someone wide open is only the right play when it goes in! The most overrated stat in Basketball is the assist, and the connotations associated with it. These are professional players, they made it to the NBA because of their ability to shoot. They aren't being "made any better" by getting the ball, they're just afforded easier opportunities to do what they do best.
Wow... A Kobe fan who thinks passing is overrated... That's something new.
And they're not "getting easier opportunities" because it was a general statement with no weight as to the kind of possessions they're getting... They're "getting more opportunities" because, funnily enough you can't shoot the ball when you don't have it. But even then the quality of those opportunities are not being addressed at all in the equation.
I agree with the comment regarding the assist being an overrated stat, though for different reason, particularly in regards to it's ability to determine ball hogs.
It has nothing to do with their mechanics, their release, rotation, nothing that has anything to do with actually making the shot. So Steve Blake isn't suffering because of playing with Kobe, he's suffering because he's been missing, period. Throughout the season he's gotten the ball plenty, he IS the PG after all, and usually did nothing with it. A running theme. So when it's crunch time and things are on the line, no, Bryant isn't going to be super excited about Steve Blake standing by the arc, whether he's wide open or not. If he needs 10 shots in order to be "in rhythm" then that really means he's just not that good of a spot up shooter. Just like if a Big Man needs a certain amount of touches to feel "engaged" to play defense and rebound, chances are, he's not that great. I guarantee you OKC isn't running plays for Ibaka or Sefolosha, and they still play hard and contribute. It's called professionalism.
He doesn't need 10 shots to be effective... Just to have the ball go through him in the offense and to actually play his role... since, as you yourself said, he IS the point guard.
Funny how professionalism doesn't run the other way when it comes to throwing teammates under the bus or freezing them out of the offence.
While guys SHOULD continue to play hard regardless of how much ball they see, people still tend to work harder when they actually get to play a part of the offence...
There's a reason for the maxim of rewarding the bigs when they run the floor, and it doesn't just stop at transition. When guys know that they're going get to be a part of the action they work harder. It's just the way things are. Same thing applies in life, people who know they have no chance of promotion in business will try to skate by on the bare minimum while guys who know there's a real chance of advancement and acknowledgement will work harder.
I just hate to hear about being cold, or out of rhythm, because by extension, this should apply to Kobe too. He should be out of rhythm if he continually passes to everyone else, but I guess it's ok to have your best player in a funk huh? Perhaps Lebron doesn't close games well because he spends too much time deferring and when it's crunch time, he's out of rhythm too. He doesn't get that excuse though, why should anyone else?
It does apply to Kobe too... And did particularly when he went through his ******* over-passing phase purely to prove a point some years back. But generally doesn't apply because he seldom let's himself go extended periods without taking shots.
Incidentally, the idea that Kobe closes games well and Lebron doesn't isn't statistically supported... You Kobe stat-monkeys know that, right?
PlayerFGFGAFG%3PM3PA3P%Ast'd%Ast'dBestWorstKobe3177690.412581850.314690.21846%39%LeBron3337140.466742310.320790.23755%42%
Incidentally, I'll put my favourite two clutch guys up there as well...
Melo1934470.43223720.319840.43552%42%
CP31874300.43523730.315220.11850%37%
Really, when ESPN and other dolts say "Kobe is the best clutch shooter in the NBA", it's akin to claiming Jason Kidd is one of the best three point shooters in NBA history purely because he's hit the third most ever.
Those numbers were Clutch since 2006, so I guess it doesn't really include Playoff ball where the stakes really rise... So Maybe we'll see if we can dig up the Playoff numbers...
Final 24 Sec (Playoffs since 2000)
PlayerFGFGAFG%3PM3PA3P%Ast'dAst'dKobe6210.286180.12510.167LeBron5120.417130.33310.200
Or...
Final Minute (Playoffs since 2000)
PlayerFGFGAFG%3PM3PA3P%Ast'dAst'dKobe10310.3232100.20020.200LeBron10200.500130.33310.100
Or...
"Clutch" (Playoffs since 2000)
PlayerFGFGAFG%3PM3PA3P%Ast'dAst'dKobe812030.39911410.268120.148LeBron701540.45517480.354100.143
Take your pick...
