and above guy i believe KOBE needs a big guy next to him to take a win, he Won 3 NBA championships with SHAQ and now he has GASOL and ODOM and BYNUM which are 3 big guys on the court who can play D and offense.i mean when it comes to putting points on the board KOBE does that easily no questions asked but when it comes to DEF he has GASOL and BYNUM who have that height to easily rebounda and Post Def.

I still say it was the shot they should be taking because Iggy got a good look and his defender didn’t get up high enough to bother him. He also realized that it’s the shot nobody expects him to take, making the Lakers less ready to defend it well.

As for Kobe, sure he makes those on the regular. But he’s also missed a lot of shots like those over his career. Everybody expected him to take that fade, and it was well defended. A bad shot is a bad shot, regardless of who takes it. Just because Kobe gets away with it doesn’t make it a good shot.

Are you honestly telling me that for all his basketball genius, Phil Jackson -aided by Tex Winters- could not draw up a better play than a 1-4 isolation with Kobe taking a bad shot? Time was on their side too; Kobe didn’t need to SETTLE for a fadeaway 20 footer.

They were giving him a back pick for cryin’ out loud. What if he missed that shot trying to go 1 on 5 or waving off the screen or not getting anybody else involved in the play when he had the time to do so? It’s more than about him, you know.

This is exactly why Kobe is hated by so many people- he wants to do it on his own. More than a ballhog, he’s a glory-hog. He needs to be the hero all the time. When he wins it’s just him- all on him, and when he loses it’s the fault of those around him.

“My point is, try being objective once in a while and just present the facts for what they are.”

I wasn’t saying that Iguodala is better than Kobe in the clutch(which even I wouldn’t debate), I’m saying maybe it’s not bad luck based on the numbers to back it up.

And in my next post I mentioned that AI2′s first couple years in the league, the team was dominated by AI, so not sure why you felt like you had to remind me when I was aware of it in the first place.

Stat geek? That ish took me all of 2 mins to put together, so the next time you try and reply, you should learn how to read and interpret.

Idiot.

Nuff said..

you cant compare that to Kobe’s shot decisions and you cant compare him to Kobe at all (mister stats up there with %’s).. Kobe hits big shots all day everyday.. Iguodala has trouble even being considered the option to win the game because he is inconsistent.. maybe he only has 22 so far Dennis because they have had better options for perimeter shots.. dont forget he played Allen Iverson and Kyle Korver..

a 24-25 ft 3 with the other teams 2nd best perimeter defender on him?? hey if it falls it falls..

But like i said it was a prayer..

lol i love it..

So doesn’t AI get some credit for probably realizing this and pulling up?

Also, according to 82games.com, yes Kobe has 14 game winning shots out of 56 opportunities from the last 6 regular seasons and 5 postseasons for a success rate of .250.

AI2(who wasn’t in the NBA in the 03-04 season), has hit 8 game winning shots out of a possible 22 opportunities, giving him a success rate of .364. He’s also shot a better percentage from the line in those situations than Kobe, but that’s irrelevant to this discussion.

So, yes Kobe’s had more opportunities, but AI2 has done more with less than Kobe has. My point is, try being objective once in a while and just present the facts for what they are.

(Game Winning Shot Opportunity = 24 seconds or less left in the game, team with the ball is either tied or down by 1 to 2 points. )

Actually, that is a much better shot. Kobe takes and makes those shots in the context of a game regularly.

And second of all, anyone who has ever played knows that a player’s decision to pull up and take a shot happens long before the defender gets their hand in his face. Ariza was on AI – he just didn’t jump with him. When Iguodala pulled, Ariza could have gotten off the floor and gotten a hand in his face. Andre doesn’t deserve credit for taking a more “open” shot because Ariza stayed on the ground.

- ak