Where Does Kobe's Legacy Stand If Phil Comes Back And Wins Another Ring?

[aneed123]

crazy how Kobes nonplayoff year after Shaq left and playoff loses to Phoenix then him crying trade me cuz yall wont trade Bynum for Jason Kidd get overlooked.... yet dude had the nerve to boast about him kicking Shaq to the curb.... smh how u gonna break the team up so u can get all the shine only to cry about needing help once u find out it aint so easy being the man with Smush Parker and Kwame....

kobe didnt get rid of shaq, dr jerry buss did after he yelled that stupid shit about getting paid in a pre season game, then proceeded to be a bum against 6'8 ben wallace.....then we made a series of moves that landed us lamar, pau gasol, andrew bynum, trevor ariza, shannon brown, and derek fisher....probably in hindsight the greatest trade move the Lakers made as it directly led to 3 finals appearances and 2 championships.

Kobe disliked shaq no doubt, but he ain't the GM....kobe's contract was up and decided to re sign at that same time, thinking they would lose shaq but still use the money they have to put pieces around him...KOBE REQUESTED TRADE BECAUSE- he saw the lakers chilling on making moves, while he dropped 40-50 pts nightly, fans showed up, fans cheered, his jersey and merch sold....he wanted to win and saw the organization not making the moves to chase championships....MITCH told him relax, I have a plan...and BOOM delivered Pau gasol a few weeks later.

there is ya history lesson sir....u starting to sound like Jermajesty Bilfiger with you skewed stats and stories. Get it together my man, you're better than that.

no.... quit rationalizing what Kobe did and call it for what it is.... there video of his bashing Bynyum in that summer clip.... yet Bynum with Gasol was a huge part of their championships... Im not trolling just calling it how it is. Kobe wanted to be the man but it ended up being harder than what he thought..... so then it became I need help.... Jerry West helped yall with that steal of a trade but u cant front like u saw that coming way in 05/06 when Kobe was complaining....

 

[playmaker88]

blah ..blah ..blah shits tired

 

[P swayze166]

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/51438/now-at-the-rim-kobe-bryant

kobe bean killing the game.....what they saying now? lmao bilfiger soul burning hard

 

[Tommy bilfiger]

Lakers are 3-5 haven't beat one good team yet and this clown is glorifying kobes stats Lmao

 

[KeepOnPushing]

Hahahahah yo wtf

 

[blu197]

crazy how Kobes nonplayoff year after Shaq left and playoff loses to Phoenix then him crying trade me cuz yall wont trade Bynum for Jason Kidd get overlooked.... yet dude had the nerve to boast about him kicking Shaq to the curb.... smh how u gonna break the team up so u can get all the shine only to cry about needing help once u find out it aint so easy being the man with Smush Parker and Kwame....

kobe didnt get rid of shaq, dr jerry buss did after he yelled that stupid shit about getting paid in a pre season game, then proceeded to be a bum against 6'8 ben wallace.....then we made a series of moves that landed us lamar, pau gasol, andrew bynum, trevor ariza, shannon brown, and derek fisher....probably in hindsight the greatest trade move the Lakers made as it directly led to 3 finals appearances and 2 championships.

Kobe disliked shaq no doubt, but he ain't the GM....kobe's contract was up and decided to re sign at that same time, thinking they would lose shaq but still use the money they have to put pieces around him...KOBE REQUESTED TRADE BECAUSE- he saw the lakers chilling on making moves, while he dropped 40-50 pts nightly, fans showed up, fans cheered, his jersey and merch sold....he wanted to win and saw the organization not making the moves to chase championships....MITCH told him relax, I have a plan...and BOOM delivered Pau gasol a few weeks later.

there is ya history lesson sir....u starting to sound like Jermajesty Bilfiger with you skewed stats and stories. Get it together my man, you're better than that.

no.... quit rationalizing what Kobe did and call it for what it is.... there video of his bashing Bynyum in that summer clip.... yet Bynum with Gasol was a huge part of their championships... Im not trolling just calling it how it is. Kobe wanted to be the man but it ended up being harder than what he thought..... so then it became I need help.... Jerry West helped yall with that steal of a trade but u cant front like u saw that coming way in 05/06 when Kobe was complaining....

Lmaoo @ bynum bein a "huge" part, Odom and the bench (when we had one the best benches in the nba) was more important than Bynum during those title runs, I don't remember a damn thing Bynum did in those runs (especially in the playoffs) besides Bein hurt most of the time, he started to progress in '11 the year we got swept but Odom was still more important (he was 6th man of the year) niggas tryin to overvalue Bynum now??? Smh

 

[aneed123]

crazy how Kobes nonplayoff year after Shaq left and playoff loses to Phoenix then him crying trade me cuz yall wont trade Bynum for Jason Kidd get overlooked.... yet dude had the nerve to boast about him kicking Shaq to the curb.... smh how u gonna break the team up so u can get all the shine only to cry about needing help once u find out it aint so easy being the man with Smush Parker and Kwame....

kobe didnt get rid of shaq, dr jerry buss did after he yelled that stupid shit about getting paid in a pre season game, then proceeded to be a bum against 6'8 ben wallace.....then we made a series of moves that landed us lamar, pau gasol, andrew bynum, trevor ariza, shannon brown, and derek fisher....probably in hindsight the greatest trade move the Lakers made as it directly led to 3 finals appearances and 2 championships.

Kobe disliked shaq no doubt, but he ain't the GM....kobe's contract was up and decided to re sign at that same time, thinking they would lose shaq but still use the money they have to put pieces around him...KOBE REQUESTED TRADE BECAUSE- he saw the lakers chilling on making moves, while he dropped 40-50 pts nightly, fans showed up, fans cheered, his jersey and merch sold....he wanted to win and saw the organization not making the moves to chase championships....MITCH told him relax, I have a plan...and BOOM delivered Pau gasol a few weeks later.

there is ya history lesson sir....u starting to sound like Jermajesty Bilfiger with you skewed stats and stories. Get it together my man, you're better than that.

no.... quit rationalizing what Kobe did and call it for what it is.... there video of his bashing Bynyum in that summer clip.... yet Bynum with Gasol was a huge part of their championships... Im not trolling just calling it how it is. Kobe wanted to be the man but it ended up being harder than what he thought..... so then it became I need help.... Jerry West helped yall with that steal of a trade but u cant front like u saw that coming way in 05/06 when Kobe was complaining....

Lmaoo @ bynum bein a "huge" part, Odom and the bench (when we had one the best benches in the nba) was more important than Bynum during those title runs, I don't remember a damn thing Bynum did in those runs (especially in the playoffs) besides Bein hurt most of the time, he started to progress in '11 the year we got swept but Odom was still more important (he was 6th man of the year) niggas tryin to overvalue Bynum now??? Smh

one of the biggest part of yall winning was your length on defense and rebounding which Bynum was a part off..... u couldn't get layups with he and gasol at the rim.... when Odom was in with them it was 3 7 footers out there clogging the lane and going over the back for rebounds.... quit trying to diminish Bynums role in the championships....

 

[P swayze166]

bynum played like 10 min a game due to his injury, he wasnt a huge part, he was a small solid role....not until he started being a big part were the lakers out in the 2nd round 2 years in a row

 

[saracenwire]

Actually Bynum was a complete non factor in the lakers first championship. He was an average big guy in the second win. 8 points and 7 boards.

They won those titles on the backs of Kobe, Pau, and Lamar. The moment Bynum became a focal point of the offense, pau fell off a cliff and the Lakers lost in the 2nd round back to back years.

 

[The Lonious Monk]

On the contrary, I think it's more of a knock on Phil's career. He basically only coaches teams that are almost ready made for a championship.

 

[P swayze166]

Phil was lazy no doubt, but lakers had a new squad that last year and due to Kobe's knee it didn't allow him to practice with the team, practice has always been a staple of Phil's teams....I give Phil and the lakers an incomplete due to Kobe's injury

 

[DR. JEK]

Kobe is the biggest front runner in the league. This nigga has played with all the dominant big men in the league the last 15 years outside of Duncan (Shaq, Bynum, Gasol, and Howard).

I mean just once i would like to see this nigga lead so so talent out the first round or elevate the talent around him to greatness. Oh wait he can't, he is just a ball hog that gets carried to rings by dominant big men.

You do know that when you call him a ball hog yet he's pretty much above league average careerwise AND last season Relative to other active shooting guards IN ASSIST(4th last season)you basically make a fool outta yourself right?

 

[Maalik]

crazy how Kobes nonplayoff year after Shaq left and playoff loses to Phoenix then him crying trade me cuz yall wont trade Bynum for Jason Kidd get overlooked.... yet dude had the nerve to boast about him kicking Shaq to the curb.... smh how u gonna break the team up so u can get all the shine only to cry about needing help once u find out it aint so easy being the man with Smush Parker and Kwame....

kobe didnt get rid of shaq, dr jerry buss did after he yelled that stupid shit about getting paid in a pre season game, then proceeded to be a bum against 6'8 ben wallace.....then we made a series of moves that landed us lamar, pau gasol, andrew bynum, trevor ariza, shannon brown, and derek fisher....probably in hindsight the greatest trade move the Lakers made as it directly led to 3 finals appearances and 2 championships.

Kobe disliked shaq no doubt, but he ain't the GM....kobe's contract was up and decided to re sign at that same time, thinking they would lose shaq but still use the money they have to put pieces around him...KOBE REQUESTED TRADE BECAUSE- he saw the lakers chilling on making moves, while he dropped 40-50 pts nightly, fans showed up, fans cheered, his jersey and merch sold....he wanted to win and saw the organization not making the moves to chase championships....MITCH told him relax, I have a plan...and BOOM delivered Pau gasol a few weeks later.

there is ya history lesson sir....u starting to sound like Jermajesty Bilfiger with you skewed stats and stories. Get it together my man, you're better than that.

no.... quit rationalizing what Kobe did and call it for what it is.... there video of his bashing Bynyum in that summer clip.... yet Bynum with Gasol was a huge part of their championships... Im not trolling just calling it how it is. Kobe wanted to be the man but it ended up being harder than what he thought..... so then it became I need help.... Jerry West helped yall with that steal of a trade but u cant front like u saw that coming way in 05/06 when Kobe was complaining....

Devean George's not in the league anymore. Chris Mihm? Sasha Vujacic? Smush Parker? Laron Profit? Aaron Mckie? All out of the league.. Brian Cook scored 3 points a game last year. Kwame Brown? Too easy. That was the Lakers 2006 roster. 2007 was just as garbage.

Why wouldn't Kobe be asking for help? Bynum aint really start showing signs of being able to dominate til early last season and he's still a fucking headcase, what you think he was like 6 years ago. Jason Kidd looked like a way surer bet. Use common sense bruh...and even when we won in 09/10, all Bynum really bought to the table was a big body. Having two skilled 7 footers created problems for most of the league but, it wasn't like Bynum was putting up 30 points a night...

 

[ATTS]

If kobe can win a ring without phillip....it would improve his legacy....

Soooo many things on d line, nash first ring...dantoni out to prove he can win....jamison first...howard first...gasol third....

 

[saracenwire]

The 2007 lakers were much worst than the 2006 Lakers. That was the year they started 26-13 and everyone was calling Kobe the MVp before lamar and Luke got hurt. Luke was their 3rd best player that year that's how he got that 30 million.

 

[P swayze166]

Kobe, the most efficient scorer out on the floor and all that...

cue bilfiger's soul burning

Kobe Bryant is on fire. But it’s not the whirling, twisting fadeaways that have Bryant near the top of the league in every shooting statistic.

What's different seven games into this season is that whether because of improved health, a new mindset, the Princeton offense or something else ... he has cut down dramatically on those inefficient long 2-point shots, while loading up on a massive diet of shots at the rim.

As a result, he's one of the most efficient scorers in the league, which has not been his M.O.

HoopData reports that Bryant is attempting just 2.6 long 2-pointers per game, down from a staggering 7.7 just last season. Those gorgeous jumpers that go in about 40 percent of the time have been replaced by something mundane and utterly effective: layups.

Bryant is making 4.6 layups per game -- twice as many as he made over the course of last season and second this season only to James Harden among guards.

That 4.6 number would have led the league last season.

And while he’s shooting more at the rim (6.7 attempts), Bryant is also taking fewer shots altogether. As a result, shots near the rim now account for 39.9 percent of Bryant’s field goals, up from just 16.2 percent in 2011-12.

Bryant is also taking fewer 3-point attempts. But when we factor in that he’s taking five fewer attempts per game overall, it turns out that Bryant is actually devoting more of his offense to those high-value, long-range shots.

Fewer long 2s and more emphasis on shots at the rim and from 3 -- factor in a blistering 91.7 percent free throw shooting and you have the makings of the hyper-efficient Kobe Bryant stat geeks always wanted to see.

So how’s he doing it? And can it last?

Subjectively, there seems to be a little more pep in Bryant’s step than there was at the end of last season. His long first lunge to the basket looks slightly quicker, and it also seems that Bryant’s intentions have changed. The Laker offense may have been the stated reason Mike Brown was fired, but it’s clear from the film that Bryant had already mastered ways of finding efficient shots within L.A.’s modified Princeton.

Of particular note is how little Bryant is shooting off the dribble. Here’s something we’re used to seeing a couple times a game: Bryant, all alone on the wing, goes into a mesmerizing sequence of dribble fakes and footwork, often with the aim of creating space to squeeze off a pull-up jumper. While Bryant has as much skill as any player, that’s just an extremely tough way to score.

When Bryant attacks from the wing this season, he seems focused on attacking off of close outs, when the defense is at a distinct disadvantage, or with the aid of a ball screen. In both cases, Bryant uses the skill of his teammates to help get loose rather than taking it all on himself.

That isn’t to say Bryant’s one-on-one game has deteriorated, just that he’s been more selective. He’s been absolutely dynamite in isolations and post-ups, the two scenarios that accounted for nearly half of all of Bryant’s shots last season. Bryant still does a great job of running down court for early post-ups when there is no defensive help and has almost completely avoided going for difficult fadeaway jumpers over multiple defenders.

If Bryant keeps this up at age 34, it would rank among the finest offensive seasons of his career. Given his age and the way stats work -- time and reps bring lots of amazing trends back to earth -- it’s exceedingly unlikely that will happen. But he can still have his best season in terms of true shooting percentage (a stat that accounts for free throws, 2-pointers and 3-pointers). Bryant is currently posting a 66.2 percent -- his best over a full season to this point was 58.

If he can do that, it would be a sign that the game is coming easier to Bryant than in recent seasons, most notably in 2011-12, when he posted the worst true shooting percentage of his career (52.7). You might remember Bryant also got off to a hot start last season before the grind of a lockout-shortened campaign began to erode his efficiency.

Bryant should have more rest this time around, though the Lakers still don’t have much in the way of a backup that might allow him to play closer to 30 minutes a night than the 36 he’s playing now.

It’s also worth wondering whether he’ll get these same opportunities after D’Antoni installs his pick-and-roll offense. Will Bryant continue to see the steady diet of mid range post-ups? The answer to that question may be a foregone conclusion, it’s hard to picture Bryant unable to get his touches.

The real question is, when he gets those chances, will he continue to muscle his way to the paint? Even if Bryant misses more as the season goes on, so long as he’s getting to the paint at his current pace he’ll continue to draw extra defenders and help the Lakers maintain their league-leading offensive rebounding.

Bryant has admitted to altering his game as his athletic capabilities diminish. So far this season, his mindset has made him the stat geek dream.