Lakers continue to play .500 basketball..
K. Bryant - 36 points
P. Gasol - 11 points, 9 rebounds
S. Nash - 12 points, 10 assists
D. Howard - 7 points, 14 rebounds
IMO, Lakers need to be a few games over .500 at the All-Star break..
Right now they are 15-16
ekff Wrote:Lakers continue to play .500 basketball..
K. Bryant - 36 points
P. Gasol - 11 points, 9 rebounds
S. Nash - 12 points, 10 assists
D. Howard - 7 points, 14 rebounds
IMO, Lakers need to be a few games over .500 at the All-Star break..
Right now they are 15-16
I agree.
Not too long ago they were 6 or 7 games back - so they're moving in the right direction.
But the only thing consistent about this team are Nash's assist numbers, Kobe gets up a lot of shots and Kobe racks up a lot of points.
They need someone to step up and be the #2 scorer on this team.
It's not Nash or MWP.
Dwight or Pau needs to decide who that is going to be.
Kobe said it best last night - "We are Old as Shit"!
^ I know Kobe is shooting a high %... But maybe he should try to be a playmaker...
He has 112 more shots than anyone else in the NBA..
Not just blaming Kobe tho... Nash needs to step up and at least try to play D.. And well we all know they don't have the right coach
How about those Sixers?!?!?!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
I have not seen the Sixers play yet this year, so I am unsure as to whether Andrew Bynum has been playing or not. Regardless of whether or not he is playing, one thing I will tip my hat to the Sixers for is that they have accomplished "more with less" over the past couple of years. The Lakers could learn some lessons from them.
ekff Wrote:^ I know Kobe is shooting a high %... But maybe he should try to be a playmaker...
He has 112 more shots than anyone else in the NBA..
Not just blaming Kobe tho... Nash needs to step up and at least try to play D.. And well we all know they don't have the right coach
Nash isn't going to be a defensive stopper by any means...
they knew what they were getting coming into that.
Kobe is putting up a lot of shots, scoring a lot of points and he's averaging 5 APG.
I know he's the leader - but IMO the Lakers are getting more production and efficiency out of Kobe than any of us expected this year.
They need Pau, Dwight and MWP to figure out their roles on this team. I know that their points are going to fluctuate some - but they're all over the board.
^ It's impossible to have a role on the team offensively because Kobe is not getting them involved. Kobe is putting up tremendous numbers. Not unexpected either! What is completely unexpected and is the complete downfall to any logic of saying those three guys need to figure out their role is when the LEADER is not LEADING! Everyone wanted to jump on Lebron's case for choking, but they guys is not about HIMSELF. Kobe is, and when you have Kobe dictating the points, unlike Lebron, then you have a team of misfits!
Michael got points. he got rediculous points, but his role when the team became a championship caliber team was to involve EVERY player on the team. MJ got his points only when needed and after he set the rest of his teammates up to have the confidence to contribute! MJ did not always hit the game winning shot. But his teammates would never had been able to make those game winning shots had it not been for MJ involving them throughout the game and instilling in them confidence that they COULD DO IT when called upon. Honestly, when has Kobe EVER done that? At the critical time of his career, he sure never learned any leadership qualities that MJ grew into! Kobe can go down in history as an assasin, but he will never be considered as a team leader.
I, zaga_fan, take an oath.
An oath to not read any post by Stardust in the NBA forums.
Stardust Wrote:^ It's impossible to have a role on the team offensively because Kobe is not getting them involved. Kobe is putting up tremendous numbers. Not unexpected either! What is completely unexpected and is the complete downfall to any logic of saying those three guys need to figure out their role is when the LEADER is not LEADING! Everyone wanted to jump on Lebron's case for choking, but they guys is not about HIMSELF. Kobe is, and when you have Kobe dictating the points, unlike Lebron, then you have a team of misfits!
Michael got points. he got rediculous points, but his role when the team became a championship caliber team was to involve EVERY player on the team. MJ got his points only when needed and after he set the rest of his teammates up to have the confidence to contribute! MJ did not always hit the game winning shot. But his teammates would never had been able to make those game winning shots had it not been for MJ involving them throughout the game and instilling in them confidence that they COULD DO IT when called upon. Honestly, when has Kobe EVER done that? At the critical time of his career, he sure never learned any leadership qualities that MJ grew into! Kobe can go down in history as an assasin, but he will never be considered as a team leader.
You make an excellent assessment about MJ. I have not seen Kobe play this year, but I would seriously doubt much has changed from the past few seasons in that he still lacks the ability to make good shot selections. The only shots that are usually shown by MJ on commercials or TV are the difficult shots he hit. In reality, 85% of the shots MJ hit were simple mid-range jumpers or lay-ups. He knew when to try to take control of a game, and when to rely on his teammates. That is what a great leader does. Kobe does not have that ability, as evidenced by the fact that he takes a lot of difficult, contested shots when he doesn't need to. Sure, he hits some of them, but if he played his cards right and took better shots I believe he could have shooting percentage well into the low 50s. Kobe is an amazing spot-up shooter, but very rarely do you see him take kick-outs from his big men. Five titles is very impressive, but with the talent Kobe has been given in LA over the years, he should have 7-8 titles.
Kobe is second best scorer the NBA has ever seen, but Dusty is right. Kobe's putting up 30+ every game but their still under .500. So whats that say about the team? You can say Miami started out slow all you want when the big three came together. They NEVER looked this bad. ANY and I mean any team that runs all night will have a chance against the Lakers. There is one team in L.A right now and that's the Clippers. The Lakers have the wrong roster for D'Antoni to work with and its showing and Kobe has came out and said it. Imo Why even have Dwight and Pau? Lakers WILL not make it past second round of the playoffs just like the last 2 years. This is turning into one big bust.
Kobe is an utter failure to be a leader, and its refreshing to see that others have enough sense to see it
