Saturday, March 24, 2007
Kobe's Excessive Scoring Not Good For the Lakers
Yes, Kobe's historic scoring as of late (4 in a row with 50+ points) is damn impressive. But I think this amazing feat actually has a negative impact on the Lakers. Kobe trying to score as many as he can will not work against the elite teams in the West. And who cares about moderate regular season success if that doesn't translate into any playoff success?
Let's take a look at the quality of teams the Lakers played in their last four games, during Kobe's scoring surge.
Kobe scores 65 and the Lakers beat Portland by 5.
Kobe scores 50 and the Lakers beat Minnesota by 7.
Kobe scores 60 and the Lakers beat Memphis by 2.
Kobe scores 50 and the Lakers beat New Orleans by 6.
The Lakers might get away with Kobe shooting about 40% of the team's shots against the bottom-tier teams of the West, but there is no way this philosophy will work in the playoffs, where every team is a quality team. The Laker's figured that out last season, when Kobe got his teammates involved more so than he ever had in the past, and subsequently averaged 27.9 ppg, well below his 35.4 ppg average during the season. The result? They were a single game away from upending the Phoenix Suns. They couldn't get that elusive 4th win, and eventually wound up losing the series in 7.
Even though the Lakers lost in the first round last year, they could have and should have won. And the point that needs to be noted is that Kobe, Phil, and co. realized that rather than Bryant shooting over the double-team, he could instead use that defensive attention to his advantage, by unselfishly providing open and easy shots for his teammates.
The fact that Kobe has scored fifty his last four games against below average teams and the Lakers have barely managed to win manifests the fact that Kobe won't be able to single-handily beat the elite teams in the West, who not coincidentally are also the best defensive teams in the NBA. Thus, rather than shooting the ball 40 times a game now, Kobe should be practicing a playoff-style offense, one in he shoots less, and creates for his teammates more. This is the only plausible way the Lakers can win in the playoffs, and unless they begin implementing this mindset in the regular season, the Lakers will have to wait at least one more season to find post-season success in a post-Shaq era.
11 Comments:
Kobe shooting so much also stunts the growth of players like Farmar and Bynum.
Outside of Odom and Walton, most of the other players on that team aren't hitting their shots or playing consistent enough defense to keep them in games they ought to win.
So Kobe has to turn it into a shootout to make sure the Lakers can get a playoff seeding to their advantage; hell, even keep them in the playoff hunt. If he doesn't turn it up and play like that, we're looking at a possible 11-straight losing streak, and those are the streaks that knock teams out of the playoffs.
How is it not good for the Lakers? They have won all the games he dropped 50 in!
Kobe has dropped a fair number of points on "elite" teams...Dalls memories? So, he can score but you are right he can't do it for the stretch that would be needed to carry the playoffs. However, at this point, he is doing what needs to be done. This team needed to be pulled out of a slide and to feel confident that they can score on anyone, anytime and that the first half of the season can happen again in the post-season. Keep it up? Doubt that though he loves history and being linked to Wilt but ultimately he wants to win at least a round in the play-offs...and if that round is against Utah, I think they could do it either way.
This is kind of the same thing as last year's regular season... Kobe scored a ton, and then in the playoffs he deferred more and they took Phoenix to the edge. This year he has been deferring more all year, but now is once again picking up the scoring. Interesting to see how the rest of the year will play out.
Either way, I'm not sure it matters what he does during the playoffs... I don't think the Lakers will be good enough to get by the Mavs, Suns, or Spurs in a 7 game series.
Field Negro,
Sure they have won the four games when he has sciored a lot but those aer against bad teams. he wont be able to consistently do that against good teams. he will need to get his teammates involved.
The Lakers aren't going anywhere is a best of 7 format...if the NBA playoffs were like March Madness - 1 and done - then YES, the Lakers would be formidible
In the past 4 games, Kobe has shot 54% from the field and is scoring 1.6 points/attempt. Both of these numbers are great and it's not like there are better players on the team than Kobe.
As a Laker fan, I'm a bit worried that Kobe may be playing a few unnecessary minutes to try and hit these milestones when he should be resting for the playoffs.
Also, these games are pivotal to stay in that 6th spot. The match-up vs. San Antonio is much better than vs Phoenix
MC, I agree with you that Kobe has been extremely efficient in his last 4. However, against the solid, upper echelon teams, I don't expect that to be the case. And yes that #6 sport in the West is a crucial one to maintain. I just think that with Lamar and Walton back they can win against the mediocre teams in more than one way, and one of those ways is the way they will be required to play like in the playoffs. Might as well try to perfect it now.
Kobe is not human
First off, let's start by saying Kobe is one of the most talented players I have ever seen.
Before Kobe put up these numbers, the team had lost 7 straight, a record for Phil Jackson. They've won the last four games.
Look at the assist totals. In the last 4 games, the team has been averaging assists in the mid 20s, in the losses the assist totals were around the same, slightly lower. The difference is that in the losses, Kobe was the leader in assists. He would pass the ball off and other guys would score, and they would get blown out as a team. In the last 4 games, Kobe has dropped his assist totals, is shooting a high percentage, is playing 45+ minutes, and the team is winning. They are clearly trying to get into the playoffs and they also have guys who are coming back from injury, like Odom and Kwame Brown (who sucks). These guys are getting their feet wet on the floor and Kobe is taking on the load while they get back in game-shape.
Oh by the way, a significant amount of Kobe's points come from the free throw line, and his percentage is phenomenal in the last 4 games. In the last game, he was 16 for 16 from the line and shot over 50% from the floor. Clearly, for right now, the Kobe show is best for the Lakers.
Nobody can guard him. When teams start gearing towards just him, other guys will be free and he can dish it off. Then those guys start to get more established and the ball can go back to Kobe a little bit more.
The problem isn't the teams scoring, it's their defense.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home