Kobe: Stop Shooting 30 Times A Night
Kobe BryantRemember back when there was an underlying current of skepticism that always seemed to accompany high praise for Kobe Bryant: haters and respected NBA analysts alike detracted from KB’s accomplishments in the post-Shaq, pre-Pau phase of his career by questioning his trigger-happy, shoot-first mentality.
Well, Kobe’s been so good at spreading the wealth, scoring when he needs to, and getting the most out of his teammates for the last eighteen months that this banter has been largely silent, even after Andrew Bynum’s injury. We all knew that Bryant would try to compensate for the loss of Bynum’s 13-18 points a night by taking a couple extra shots here and there. If there were a couple extra shots available to the Lakers, why shouldn’t Kobe take them?
Though it makes sense for Bryant to shoulder a bit more of the burden, it seems as though he hurts his team when he does so. This season, the Lakers are 3-5 when Kobe takes 30 or more shots per game. It’s hard to find a stat that paints L.A. in a negative light, much less a stat that “determines” that the Lakers are playing under .500 ball when that instance occurs.
Two of those 30-plus shot games came the last two times that L.A. took the court – a 90-79 loss against Denver in which Bryant went 10-31 from the floor (0-6 from three) and then a 118-111 loss to Phoenix in which he went 18-38 (3-9 from three). He combined to average 39 points in these two outings – obviously nothing to complain about – but he did so at the expense of his squad. Bryant recorded four assists combined over the course of these games.
In fact, he’s averaging 3.6 assists in the games that he’s taking 30 or more shots. That’s a far cry from the 5 assists that he’s averaging overall this year.
Plus, Bryant’s been much worse from deep in these games. He’s shooting 13-44 from deep when he pulls that much, which calculates out to 29.2%.
This phenomenon reminds me of something that I heard during a 60 Minutes interview with Barack Obama’s election braintrust – his right hand man David Axelrod, campaign manager David Plouffe, senior aide Robert Gibbs, and communications director Anita Dunn. They explained that before joining Obama’s staff, he told each of them that (I’m paraphrasing) he believed that he would be his best campaign manager, he believed he would be his best communications director, and that he would be his best advisor.
On a basketball court, Kobe believes the same thing. You don’t need to ask him to know that he thinks he’s the best ballhandler on his team, the best defender, the best post scorer, the best you-name-it.
However, if he’s shooting 30 or more times per night – which averages out to about 30% of the Lakers possessions – he’s limiting himself from doing a lot of those other things. Bryant is at his best when he showcases the full arsenal, not when he’s constricting himself to one facet of the game.
(It shouldn’t be a surprise that the Heat are 0-5 when Dwyane Wade takes 30 or more shots per night. First of all, they’re nowhere near as good as the Lake show. And Wade does so much for them, their offense sputters when Wade shoots too much. That stifles their flow.)
But there’s still good news for L.A. To avoid losing three in a row, they’ve got the Grizzlies tonight. Maybe they can’t pull off a lopsided trade now that the deadline is over, but Memphis can always give them an easy win.
March 3rd, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Bruce says:
Shoot Kobe Shoot………….!
Him or LO, take your pick son!
March 3rd, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Kevin says:
I think your thinking about it the wrong way. I think Kobe would gladly shoot less than 30 if he could. Problem is, the nights that he shoots over 30 shots, its because the rest of the Lakers are having off nights or not playing well. And Kobe takes it upon himself to pick up their scoring slack and therefore shoots more than 30 shots. When the rest of the crew is hitting, Kobe passes more b/c he trusts them.
March 3rd, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Big Island says:
I want Kobe to shoot 90 times a game if it keep THE MACHINE’S hair on the bench.
March 3rd, 2009 at 4:14 pm
chaz says:
Kobe and Pau were the only two players playing with any kind of heart the past two games, no one else could generate points. Even if Kobe set his teammates up for open looks, the supporting cast has been shooting terribly as of late (Vujacic, Farmar, Walton). When these players are slumping as badly as they are, there’s no one other option to put points on the board besides Pau. Against the suns, he went on fire in the third, single handedly giving them the lead, so of course he was going to take 30+ attempts, especially when 48% of those shots go in. It’s up to the rest of the team to step their game up and prove that they can be reliable once again.
March 3rd, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Kermit the Washington says:
Good point, Andrew. But Kevin makes sense with his argument. I think Kobe shooting 30 shots is a RESULT of the way he sees the game going up until a certain point. If he doesn’t like what he sees from his teammates (right or wrong), then he will start forcing the action. Often this is a good thing, but often it puts him in a one-dimensional type of game, as you brought out.
The Lakers are at their best when the role players are playing the right way. If they start making stupid mistakes, then watch out. Kobe’s gonna go into “30 shots or more” mode.
March 3rd, 2009 at 4:19 pm
rlf says:
why is it so hard to understand, that when kobe takes 30 shots or more the team is struggling and kobe has to take over in order for them to win? sometimes he pulls it off, sometimes he doesn’t.
this was mentioned by phil yesterday, phil said the stat that’s going around about the team being better when kobe shots less, and things of that nature, are not true.
he said, a lot of factors go into kobe taking more shots or less. it mostly depends on how the team is performing.
if you would watch the entire game and how it goes, you would understand that he passes and they miss over and over again. like the other day that the team(not name pau or kobe) went a combine 1-30 something to that effect.
so this BS that kobe needs to ’shot less’ is a mute point, now, since he only takes more shots when the team is not performing well.
As long as the team is making their shots, kobe passes the ball, he leads the team with assissts, just FYI, for you guys.
go back to the game on sunday, the few last plays, kobe move the ball to trevor, he was WIDE open, for a long time, and he didn’t take the shot, he moved the ball and it was a turn over.
right now the bench has lost it’s confidence, it’s been going on for a while, kobe and pau(lamar sometimes) have pulled out wins, but the bench is just not there.
kobe, pau and lamar have tried over and over to pass to the other guys and they just give the ball back to kobe, fish said the other day that he was mad at the team for just giving the ball to kobe and not cutting for kobe to pass the ball to them.
so before you go on and on about kobe taking less shots, know the true situation of the team.
March 3rd, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Ian says:
dude he went 28-69 and u said nothing to complain about wtf?? ill take those 37 pts vs my team any day.
i call this the iverson effect
@ post 3
yup
March 3rd, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Ian says:
i think some of yall are talking a bit of bs sayin he only does that because he teams needs it apparently his team doesnt need kobe taking 30 shots also and who has the stats about how many shots kobe takes in the first half or the second half to determine if hes taking the shots after he finds out how his team is doing.
March 3rd, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Mamba says:
Watching Kobe and the Lakers as much as I have, he seems to bounce back and forth often between being the faciliatator and being the scorer. I thought in the Phoenix game towards the end he was shooting to much. Everything just stops and he is trying to go Iso or force a pick and roll.
He has way to much talent around him to break it down into Iso. I think this is a good discussion to bring up because I was thinking the same thing while watching the Phoenix game. I’m sure the Lakers are pressing a little now that the season is winding down and they are going for the top spot. It starts and ends with Kobe, he has to trust and empower those guys or it wont work, just like last June.
March 3rd, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Big V says:
Axelrod isn’t and never was his Chief of Staff.
March 3rd, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Kermit the Washington says:
@ Mamba…
I think this is more a result of what Phil draws up for those situations. I don’t see him drawing up plays for others and then Kobe just starts jacking up shots. I think that Phil hands him the keys and says “see if you can get us back in it” and the other players just fall back and hope he can. If you really watch him, he’ll hang around on the shot clock, and wait for some motion. If no one’s moving he goes for it.
March 3rd, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Michorizo says:
I can’t say a word about Kobe’s game…now his lady is a different story
March 3rd, 2009 at 4:33 pm
miamiVIS3 says:
Kobe’s response: “no”
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:02 pm
E$ says:
Telling Kobe to stop shooting 30 times, is like telling BET to broadcast in HD – it ain’t happening
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:31 pm
john says:
Why is it so hard for people to understand that this is a two way street? But of course, it’s Kobe, so it’s only a one way street: it’s HIS fault. You do realize that to say LA is 3-5 when Kobe attempts 30, so he’s doing bad is flawed? Have you heard of correlation not causation? This is where the 2 way street comes in: think about why Kobe does or does not need to attempt 30 shots. It’s his team mates. If they’re playing poorly, Kobe as the leader HAS to shoulder the load. Do you think it’s because of Kobe’s 30 attempts the last 2 games that LA has lost? No, it’s because the entire team hasn’t played well. But NOOOO, the entire media focuses only on the 30 shots without talking about the whole story: the rest of the team played like CRAP. Do you think Kobe wants to shoot 30 a night? To say he shoots “30 per night” isn’t even correct. He’s currently averaging only about 20, which is on par with Lebron and Wade, so don’t make it sound like Kobe’s jacking up shots. And are we supposed to ignore about 99% of Kobe’s other games where he’s shooting 15, and criticize him for the 1% of games where he has to try to save his team by shooting 30?
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:32 pm
George W Kush Sr says:
ha ha ha
I would like to know one thing from Laker fans, is there anything, anything at all that Kobe does wrong at any point during a game? You’d think he’s the image of God the way these people defend every single fucking detail of his game.
Paul Gasol has been shooting at least 50% or better the last 2 losses, so someone else was playing good, he scored 30 against Phoenix. Odom didn’t show up.
The way the team is built now its better when Kobe doesn’t go out on a shooting rampage, whether if they’re losing or winning, they play better when he’s not hogging. His all around game Trumps his one-player mode style, the proof is his shooting percentage, its not like he was having a great game either. The point is he still shouldn’t have shot so much. Still an incredible player, but he has flaws just like anyone else.
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Iannyb says:
Finally that blog was long awaiting.The nerve of some people tryin to justify Kobe shooting 30 shots per game.No way is Phil Jackson endorsing this.Kobe just proves that he’s as stubborn as ever.What a knucklehead.Soon nobody is gonna want to play with Kobe.With such a supporting cast he should be racking up double figure assists.And that my friend is the difference between Jordan Lebron D-wade and em.He shoots the ball too damn much.His shooting is actually disrupting the offense and is doing the team more harm than good
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Jwill says:
It’s like what everyone else has said, sure we can say we don’t want Kobe shooting 30 times after the game is over….but when he went off in the 3rd quarter for like 17 points in a matter of minutes, then what do you say? Stop shooting Kobe? If you give someone the green light to shoot you into a game or get you the W, you have to deal with the chance that once in a while he might shoot you out of it. He’s the best player in the league, but contrary to popular belief, he is human. If the team is slacking offensively, he tries to hit shots. Most of the time he does, but sometimes he doesn’t. It’s that simple.
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:40 pm
aj says:
This is part of the reason why I feel the Lakers usually beat the Spurs. They gear up to stop Kobe and give the role players better looks. My thought is just shut down the guys you know you can shut down by staying home on D (Sasha, D-Fish, Walton, ect) and let Kobe go into jack-mode cause his guys ain’t open, ain’t hitting shots. Kobe only passes the ball to his teammates besides Pau if they’re wide open.
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:43 pm
hucklebuck says:
I admire Kobe’s game, and to me I think LeBron is a better player because he is a more consistent all-around player from game to game. here is my argument tho about Kobe shooting 30x-
I think he should stick to the 18-23 range. I believe another factor is the QUALITY of shots he takes. He needs to make his offense as effecient as possible by not exerting so much energy by putting on a dribbling clinic when the shot clock winds down 2-5x a game.
what he should do is come off screens harder, pull up for a jumper (ala Ray Ray). or off a flare or curl shoot more straight jumpers. I don’t like when he starts dribbling in circles and causes his teammates to stand around. that extra energy he could be using for an extra defensive stop or rebound. he doesn’t have to exert so much one on one cuz he has good players around him and an offense that can allow him to make the game more simple for himself.
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:46 pm
hucklebuck says:
he once said in an interview that he doesn’t want to be the next MJ, but the next Kobe Bryant.
yet, so many people link them up cuz of the way Kobe copies MJ mannerisms and moves, and he seems to play like he wants to take some MJ moves and add some spice to them.
just make simple fundamental moves and the game would get easier for Kobe.
March 3rd, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Mike C says:
To be fair, he was gunning late in those two games to get his team back in the game. You can’t expect him to keep passing to Luke Walton and Fisher when they keep hoisting bricks all night long.
March 3rd, 2009 at 6:14 pm
doug says:
Yall are hilarious you praise bron for shooting 30 plus shots and say he’s developing the “killer instinct” but when kobe does it he’s stubborn and that’s why lebron is better. Bron has to be the worst shooter at super star status i’ve seen in quite some time, he misses clutch free-throw after clutch free-throw, throws up knuckle balls, shoots with his elbow out. I’ve come to the realization that there are a small group of people out there that are going to go at Kobe regardless of what he does he shoots too much, he’s not shooting enough…ridiculous. LeBron gets handed games and he blows them case and point that weak foul call against atlanta an he clangs 1 of the free-throws, stop crowning this cat, it won’t be respected until it’s undisputable among his PEERS that he’s the best player in the L not sheep like his fan base,sponsors,marketers and Rick Kamla. If the guys your playing with still think Kobe is the best in the L, than that’s what it is the jury has spoken. The funniest thing I ever saw was the point counter they put on the screen when Bron supposedly”went off” in Milwaukee for 50 something points,like dude was about to go Kobe and put up 81.lol.it was hilarious because it just confirms how bad the sportscasters and media want to make him the next best thing.Nothing that dude does amazes me besides his dunks, Kobe does that in his sleep and yall ridicule him for that, Bron does it and yall trying to make a statue of this cat. Kobe has been doing 40,50,60,80 points games his career and yall scoff at it. It’s like I’ve been saying Kobe’s been so good for so long that yall sleep on him, your desperate to jump on the next best thing because of your hate for Kobe. Deal with it.
March 3rd, 2009 at 6:17 pm
doug says:
blog 21 exactly people want to stick to there ignorance Mike C stop confussing the sheep with all your facts and truth. Dude goes on a tear of 17 points in the 3rd puts them up by 5 points and d.fish,farmar,walton start doing stupid things and they lose now it’s Kobe’s shots that are the reason they lost.Man..please.
March 3rd, 2009 at 6:24 pm
doug says:
y does that cat George W Kush even blog anymore…man i thought you were gone for good ur blogs are a magnet for ignorant bloggers on the net he’s like the pacer car he just keeps the ignorance at a nice and steady pace. Any topic I see you blogging about I usually avoid like the plague because i know what kind of crowd ur blogs draw…a highly suspect and moronic crowd.
March 3rd, 2009 at 6:55 pm
George W Kush Sr says:
You gonna for 81 comments defending Kobe again?
Do you even think about what you’re typing or does Kobe’s sperm automatically drip out of your mouth all day?
I didn’t praise or mention Lebron James, you’re the one ranting and comparing the two off topic, what the fuck does Lebron have to do with the way Kobe’s team is playing and what they need him to do to be successful? They’re 3-5 when Kobe shoots 30+, you cant argue that it a winning strategy because he loses more than half the time.
You’re a confused one, too ignorant to even realize how stupid you sound, why do you comment? Everyone shits on your opinion anyways, go home and kill yourself
March 3rd, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Ian says:
well the last 4 post were expected
doug why do u bring up bron?
March 3rd, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Ian says:
sorry not the last 4 i meant dougs 3
March 3rd, 2009 at 6:59 pm
doc says:
Doug nobody brung Bron up.U put it on anyone else but I think u cant talk about Kobe without bashing Bron and justify that by flipping the script in your head like somebody bashing Kobe for critiquing his game.That dude aint perfect playas fuck up.That cat was jacking but who has the balls to tell Kobe stop jacking.The only person I ever saw do that was Shaq and his ass got shipped off for it.
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Ian says:
doug
the thing is that kobe shooting 30 times doesnt work and if u guys are defending him saying hes just bailing out his team mates from bad games then why not try gasol shooting 30 times?? since kobe doesnt work.
btw u defended kobe with things off topic u went lebron and best player which are not the things being talked about here
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:05 pm
doug says:
Fall back all yall please refer to Blog #19…damn. Like i’m just bringing up bron and the articles about Kobe.
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:08 pm
doug says:
Yall can say what you want Kobe plus 30-shots he’s stubborn an ball hogging under 30 he’s old and he’s losing his swagger…Kush, Ian, Doc please see blog 19, we’re 48-12 at the end of the day with, yes that’s right Kobe shooting 30 plus shots…wow.
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:10 pm
doug says:
try gasol 30 times????Ian you know thats a spurs motivated comment as it will gaurantee us a sure losing skid our offense is run through Kobe.
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:11 pm
doug says:
“Do you even think about what you’re typing or does Kobe’s sperm automatically drip out of your mouth all day?”see this is what I mean Kush grow up man, real sophmoric we don’t need to know your preferences it’s a blog session man…real disgusting man…grow-up.
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:13 pm
doug says:
DOC u make a good point, about telling Kobe to stop shooting.
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:15 pm
George W Kush Sr says:
This guy’s life is so emotionaly revolved around Kobe that any comment made about the guy is like a threat to doug’s whole purpose in life. I can picture this guy fiend’n for Kobe like Chappelle’s Tyrone Biggums.
But we shouldn’t make fun of Doug or his limited intelligence, poor dude was on life support when Kobe was on trial in Colorado, he also recovered from a heart attack last summer when the Celts took the chip, and now is suffering from Dementia even since the All Star game.
Dont worry Dougie, I’ll stop picking on you lil buddy
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:18 pm
doug says:
nah Kush you can tell by the real inappropriate and juvenile comments that you make that your emotions are wrapped around bashing Kobe, that’s the only reason I could think of someone writing that stuff man, unless you talk like that all the time, real stupid man…like I said grow up. Your not going to draw me into your ignorance I’m keeping it on the up and up.
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Ian says:
doug dont take the gasol thing like that u know that i meant try something else and no u dont have that amazing record with kobe shooting 30 times u have a 3-5 record him doing that
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:20 pm
K Dizzle says:
@ Ian
If Fish and Lamar and the bench were hittin their shots, Kobe wouldn’t have to jack it up 30 times. For example, in the win against Phoenix, everybody in the startin 5 scored double figures and Kobe took thirteen shots…
I look at it like this. Team is 48-10 and Kobe really only jacks when the team is down. Why? Cuz he knows he’s the best and his confidence to step up to that challenge means laker fans take the good with the bad.
Kobe can’t win. if he jacks, we get stupid articles like this, if he passes, like he did to Ariza in that game vs the Spurs(you know the one with the “travel call”), EVERYBODY wonders why he didn’t take the shot.
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:21 pm
doug says:
“I can picture this guy fiend’n for Kobe like Chappelle’s Tyrone Biggums.But we shouldn’t make fun of Doug or his limited intelligence, poor dude was on life support when Kobe was on trial in Colorado, he also recovered from a heart attack last summer when the Celts took the chip, and now is suffering from Dementia even since the All Star game.”LOL.{CLAP}Somebody laugh at this cat so he’ll stop telling the weak jokes.E-Murphy Raw on the blog session..hardly boss your not funny and like all poor comedians I’m clapping before you finish your joke so you’ll get off the stage and spare your self more embarrasment and dry air, not clapping or laughing for your performance.
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Ian says:
k dizzle
that is what i want to check out with the box scores divided by quarters when does kobe really starts gunning because if he starts his shit early he doesnt give the others a chance
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:25 pm
doug says:
okay how’s this for a season stat Ian? We r 1-0 and with Kobe going for 60 points or more(Knicks)………..do you see how silly and skewed those stats are it doesn’t matter if Kobe has to shoot 30 shots more times than not it’s because his team isn’t stepping up and they need that. Man I’m telling you the things people keeps stats on sometimes are real ridiculous, when Kobe sits 5 times in a game and his wife is in the crowd the team is 0-10 this season,y’all stats are just for number crunching nerds theres so many intangible things that stats don’t capture.
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Ian says:
k
u can also say then that kobe win because he has a great team not because of him if i want to start something with laker fans right?
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Ian says:
im not a stats person i hate when someone tries to explain to me how good someone is and shows me stats and has nothing else
but somethings u cant ignore APPARENTLY the lakers play better with him shooting less
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:39 pm
method526 says:
hate to say it, sasha should be jacking more tres.
LO, walton, farmar, and fisher should be going for open looks.
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Nito says:
Or does he shoot less when they play better?
March 3rd, 2009 at 8:15 pm
George W Kush Sr says:
You write “y’all stats are just for number crunching nerds” but in pure hypocracy you talk about my juvenile comments?
I have yet “bash” Kobe so I dare you to show me a post where all I did is “bash” him. But I can show you like 100 posts where you make absolutely no fucking sens.
How are going to counter a 3-5 record with 1-0 record when going for 60 points? Are you too stupid to recognize that you cannot use one sample to make a stat? 3-5 is eight games, if you lose 5 games before you win 3 you go home in the playoffs. What you bring up is so stupid I cant believe you actually think you make any sens at all.
Why dont you go back to my fist post, the one that made you piss in your pants and do something you’ve never done, point out some of Kobe’s human flaws? You’re so in love with him you wont be able to properly critisize your favorite player. So Dougie, are you saying Kobe is perfect in every sens or are you going to actually critisize something about Kobe’s game? Lets see it happen
March 3rd, 2009 at 9:07 pm
penske1 says:
Wow, this is so embarassing for a couple of you… Maybe you shouldn’t open your mouth about teams/players you don’t understand. Aside from some extreme homebodys, Laker fans defend Kobe because THEY ACTUALLY WATCH HIM PLAY ON A CONSISTENT BASIS AND KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT. Anyone who actually saw the last game would know that every Laker besides Kobe and Pau were ice cold…the Lakers were down…Kobe stepped up and brought them back from a large deficit…then he ran cold and admittedly started jacking toward the end in desperation. Honestly, at that point he was the only chance they had. 38 shots was out of necessity, and was blatantly obvious if you had actually seen the game.
Walton, 2/6, 3 TO, 4 PF
Odom, 2/5, benched with early foul trouble
Fisher, 1/7
Ariza, 3/8, 5 PF
Farmar, 0/3
Sasha, 2/6
Pau was hot, and did get 18 shots. Could have gotten more, but I’m sure he was fatigued after all the minutes he has been logging lately.
Educate yourselves before you sound like ignorant Laker/Kobe haters. The baseless bashing is old.
March 3rd, 2009 at 9:14 pm
kb241 says:
couldn’t put it any better than penske1! well said!
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:21 pm
UncheckedAggression says:
Man, penske didn’t make any compelling arguments. Yeah, you Lakers fans are the only ones that understand your team, huh? Go put a bunch of worthless stats up there to try and prove your point.
The only thing those stats suggest is that none of those players got enough shots to show whether they were “ice cold” or not. None of them even got 10 shots!
I don’t know how many times I have started a game 0/3, 2/5, 2/6, or even 1/7 but still finished shooting 50%. Every now and then you die-hard Kobe fans just go crazy at the thought of someone disrespecting your boy. Katz was just pointing some things out that most people agree with. Deal with it.
And BTW, not all Laker fans are as clueless as some of you outspoken individuals. Not all of them rush to his aid when people point out that he shoots too much. So calm the fuck down.
March 4th, 2009 at 12:14 am
Big Freeze says:
That statistic you mentioned is misleading. You’re claiming that the Lakers are 3-5 because Kobe takes 30+ shots, but it could be that Kobe takes 30+ shots in those games because the Lakers were playing shitty and Kobe took it on himself to lead his team.
March 4th, 2009 at 1:34 am
MaseBthe1 says:
Some of you guys (Katz) are looking at the stats blindly and not watching 48 minutes of the games in which KB shoots 30 to see why the shots are being taken in the context that they are. This is not Kobe of 2004 taking 30+ shots a game, this is when their bench and supporting cast are in fact still taking their share and shooting less than 30% and somebody has to try and keep the Lakers in the game. Else if he doesn’t, I’m sure the same critics will chastise KB for shooting too little and letting an off-night by the others lead to a loss, therefore not fulfilling his attempt at being the best or however you folks and BSPN like to put it nowadays. Pathetic hypocrisy.
March 4th, 2009 at 1:57 am
JHov says:
This argument is so much deeper than stats! It’s easy to say when Kobe shoots 10-31 that he took too many shots but why doesn’t anyone call out VC(5-20 fg tonight) or Allen Iverson(for his selfish play)?? Yes Kobe sometimes takes too many shots..but so do alot of superstars! At the end of the year if a sg shoots between 45-50% he had a good year(Kobe is at 47% right now. When KB wins a title..ppl will say he held the trophy to long too! lol!
March 4th, 2009 at 3:08 am
gertie says:
Thanks John (#15). Whether the other Lakers are shooting well or not, when the Lakers are way ahead, Phil sits KB for a lot of the 2nd half. So it might be that it isn’t ‘When Kobe jacks a lot of shots, the Lakers lose’ but ‘When the Lakers are losing, Kobe shoots a lot.’
March 4th, 2009 at 4:07 am
Me says:
Here’s what I posted elsewhere. I wish I could use italics in this comments section, because capitalizing words rather than italicizing them, makes them look unnecessarily dramatic:
He takes shots because he wants to be the hero. It’s not because he doesn’t trust his teammates, it’s because HE wants to get the credit. Period, point blank.
And that’s always been my problem with Kobe. He has all the talent in the world. I honestly think he might be more talented than MJ, but what’s stopping him is that I never really feel like he’s playing just for the win. That’s why I think that “killer instinct” quality he always gets credit for is overrated. Yes, he does have it, but it’s not really a killer instinct to win, it’s a killer instinct to be known as the greatest. Now this is helpful, because obviously you can only be known as the greatest by winning. So his ego helps his game a lot, but it’s also to his detriment.
This was never been made more clear than toward the end of the last game against the Celtics, when he took that stupid ass fadeaway 3 pointer, with Paul Pierce right in his face. Just dumb, and totally encapsulates everything that’s wrong with Kobe. Everyone takes bad shots sometimes, but with Kobe it’s almost always motivated by his need to be known as the killer. In the example I provided, it’s not like it was at the very end of the game, and he’s the franchise player, so he figures he has to take the shot. There was time left, and he was just taking a stupid ass shot because HE wanted to be known as THE player who broke the Celtics backs.
He does sh*t like that constantly.
I think this is why people complain about his chucking. It really gets at something deeper with him.
In fairness to him, I get why he’s like that. He’s constantly being compared to Jordan, and that’s basically how he views his measure of success, while Jordan’s success was measured almost strictly by winning. In that sense, I think Kobe has had the wrong priorities for awhile, and part of that was pushed on him by the media. However, it’s up to him to be smart enough to change that. The sad thing is, that if he could have let that go, he actually could have been the greatest ever, in my opinion. If he were strictly about winning, and let his ego get out of the way, I really think he had the potential to be the GOAT. Like I said, he certainly had the talent.
Anyway, as to my last point, this is why I think LeBron does have the potential to be the GOAT. Being known as great is obviously important to him, but he hasn’t let it be to his detriment. The way he plays his game, he seems more in the Jordan-mold, in terms of really getting his joy from winning, rather than from wanting the accolades.
March 4th, 2009 at 4:49 am
Me says:
Oh, and just to be clear, I wasn’t bringing up LeBron to spark a debate about LeBron vs. Kobe (I have no real horse in that race, though I appreciate LeBron’s play more).
I mentioned it in my post because in the topic that post was originally posted it in, people were asking why Kobe gets sh*t for shooting a lot, when LeBron’s FGA aren’t far off.
March 4th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
hucklebuck says:
is it safe to say the only thing that everyone would agree upon is the Kobe is the most hated/loved player in the NBA?
I haven’t seen anyone in the middle of this discussion. its either I hate Kobe for jacking up shots or I love Kobe and he needs to shoot more.
March 4th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
LakeShow84 says:
Get over it Andrew..
Its been happening for ten years.. Rings, MVP’s and scoring titles allow you to occasionally go on a scoring binge..
We lost in Denver because our subs got outplayed badly..
We lost in Phoenix because Pau couldnt handle Shaq..
Plus both were road games..
March 9th, 2009 at 10:41 am
GQue24 says:
3-5 when he shoots 30 shots hey. So what. Thats 8gms all season and they lost 5 games. He shot almost 30 shots 4 a season and had 30 losses. Who cares if he shoots 30 times a game. I’d rather Kobe shooting then LUke or Lamar. Stop with the hate and useless articles trying to nitpick Kobes production. Kobe does whatever the game makes him do at that certain time. If the game requires him to shoot 30 times to try to win, than best believe he will do it. If it doesnt then he wont. Kobe is the ultimate competitor and winner. He does whatever the challenge presented requires him to. I want the best player in the world to shoot anytime he wants to becuase it normally gonna go in or setup easy put back opportunities for players who cant create their own shots.
March 9th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
SagJism says:
You guys are funny, I bet none of you have ever picked up a baskbetball in serious competition. WOW
March 9th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
SagJism says:
BTW: Great Job Penske1
March 9th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
SagJism says:
So let me get this right, the Lakers are 5-12, but are 3-5 when Kobe shooots more than 30 times. But Kobe is jacking shots?? somethings wrong withthese stats because if Kobe is jacking the hsots as everyone is saying and they have a losign record (305) when he does, what about the other 55 games?
March 9th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
SagJism says:
So let me get this right, the Lakers are 5-12, but are 3-5 when Kobe shooots more than 30 times. But Kobe is jacking shots?? somethings wrong withthese stats because if Kobe is jacking the hsots as everyone is saying and they have a losign record (3-+
5) when he does, what about the other 55 games?
March 9th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
specialguydurr! says:
Kobe is a dick. Odom is a major DICK. Trevor Arriza is a cheap dick. Phil Jackson can suck my dick. Sasha is a swishy dick. Pau looks like a dick. Props to Farmar for actually checking to see if Rudy was okay after he got cheap-swatted by arriza. THE LAKERS ARE DOUCHEBAGS!!!!!