On Kobe Bryant

[Eugene]

How good is Kobe Bryant right now? Is there anything he's not done this season? Is this post going to be just made up of questions? Is it?

Kobe Bryant, a well-known gym rat, locked himself in the gym and hit the weights hard over the off season, like he does every off season, and put on 15 pounds of lean steely muscle. Where he used to look like a lean cheetah with his wiry muscles, now he looks like a jaguar, still lean, but more fiercely powerful.

And I knew, from the start of the season, that the extra muscles were going to let him get more rebounds. His strength could now be used to bang people down low, to post up, play rough defense. If he could find a dedication to setting up his teammates, I knew he was going to get numerous triple doubles.

He has 5 triple doubles so far in the season. Many more times he was an assist or rebound away from it.

He's averaging career highs in minutes, steals per game, assists per game, rebounds per game, three point percentage and achieved the highest scoring average with 28.2 points per game since his 2000-01 season, when he averaged 28.5 points per game.

He's the main reason, although Shaq also plays a big part, for the Lakers finding themselves at .500 currently on a 4 game winning streak, the longest winning streak right now (that's not really important, is it?).

Kobe has averaged just under 40 points per game in the last four games.

But that's all just numbers.

Just watch him play, and you'll see the difference in mentality and maturity.

He still plays the same dogged defense -- I really don't think it's a coincidence that Doug Christie doesn't shoot well when he's playing the Lakers -- but now has the star status that lets him get away with bumps and grabs.

His jumper has come a long way. Kobe has great extension on his jump shot that allows him to get the shot over the top of just about anyone. Michael Jordan never had such extension on his jumpshot. Combined with his jump ability and body control, his floater, lethal to 15 feet out, is for all intents and purposes, unstoppable.

That floater is a central part of his game. He gets to the paint, then he can use that floater, or spin either way, although he prefers pivoting on his left leg, or dish it off for a short jumper, or in Shaq's case, a big dunk.

His arms are long. That's really the reason why he gets great extension. Now with the added power, he can shoot a three pointer at a dead stop.

Sometimes, and maybe even too often, he settles for the 18 to 20 foot jump shot. Great when he's hitting, but... The game against Sacramento, Kobe drove the ball relentlessly. I've not seen any more of his games since then, but I imagine he's continued that.

His added bulk allows him to take a hit in the air and finish around the basket.

He has the double pump reverse with the left or the right hand, like Michael Jordan, but Kobe doesn't have Michael's hand size. The result, Kobe's moves going left are a little more out of control.

His passing game has improved so much, not only from making better passes, but from the willingness to make better passes. He doesn't discriminate (most times) who he passes to, as long as their open. Now, he'll make the pass that leads to the assist. He realizes not every pass has to be an assist. That being said, he's also added to his repetoir the jump-pass. You've seen it at least once or twice a game. He jumps as if to shoot, then fires a laser beam (not just a bullet, a laser beam) to a cutting Horry or Fox. You need a replay to make sure that he didn't pass the ball through somebody. His entry passes into Shaq are likewise accurate and solid.

Too often, Kobe will dribble more than is necessary then make a bad pass or take a tough shot. When it goes in, or the pass is successful, you ask, how did he do that? When it doesn't work, you ask, why did he do that? Hopefully, he'll grow out of it. What made Michael so effective was he only took 4 or 5 dribbles at the most before shooting or passing. Kobe's dribbling too much.

Kobe has the same dedication, will, fire, courage, whatever you want to call it, as all other great winners do. And, he's matured into a leader. He knows he has the star status and acts accordingly. He's become a team player.

As good as he is, he's still getting better, and that to me, is nearly inconceivable. But it's still his character, his motivation that makes him one of my most favorite players in the league.

All the best,

Eugene

[Dert]

And when he passes gas, it smells like a fresh spring mourning...

He craps bars of gold...

He can get your woman pregnant just be looking at her...

Too bad he can't makes his team mates better....

[Boyk]

How good is Kobe Bryant right now? Is there anything he's not done this season? Is this post going to be just made up of questions? Is it?

Kobe Bryant, a well-known gym rat, locked himself in the gym and hit the weights hard over the off season, like he does every off season, and put on 15 pounds of lean steely muscle. Where he used to look like a lean cheetah with his wiry muscles, now he looks like a jaguar, still lean, but more fiercely powerful.

And I knew, from the start of the season, that the extra muscles were going to let him get more rebounds. His strength could now be used to bang people down low, to post up, play rough defense. If he could find a dedication to setting up his teammates, I knew he was going to get numerous triple doubles.

He has 5 triple doubles so far in the season. Many more times he was an assist or rebound away from it.

He's averaging career highs in minutes, steals per game, assists per game, rebounds per game, three point percentage and achieved the highest scoring average with 28.2 points per game since his 2000-01 season, when he averaged 28.5 points per game.

He's the main reason, although Shaq also plays a big part, for the Lakers finding themselves at .500 currently on a 4 game winning streak, the longest winning streak right now (that's not really important, is it?).

Kobe has averaged just under 40 points per game in the last four games.

But that's all just numbers.

Just watch him play, and you'll see the difference in mentality and maturity.

He still plays the same dogged defense -- I really don't think it's a coincidence that Doug Christie doesn't shoot well when he's playing the Lakers -- but now has the star status that lets him get away with bumps and grabs.

His jumper has come a long way. Kobe has great extension on his jump shot that allows him to get the shot over the top of just about anyone. Michael Jordan never had such extension on his jumpshot. Combined with his jump ability and body control, his floater, lethal to 15 feet out, is for all intents and purposes, unstoppable.

That floater is a central part of his game. He gets to the paint, then he can use that floater, or spin either way, although he prefers pivoting on his left leg, or dish it off for a short jumper, or in Shaq's case, a big dunk.

His arms are long. That's really the reason why he gets great extension. Now with the added power, he can shoot a three pointer at a dead stop.

Sometimes, and maybe even too often, he settles for the 18 to 20 foot jump shot. Great when he's hitting, but... The game against Sacramento, Kobe drove the ball relentlessly. I've not seen any more of his games since then, but I imagine he's continued that.

His added bulk allows him to take a hit in the air and finish around the basket.

He has the double pump reverse with the left or the right hand, like Michael Jordan, but Kobe doesn't have Michael's hand size. The result, Kobe's moves going left are a little more out of control.

His passing game has improved so much, not only from making better passes, but from the willingness to make better passes. He doesn't discriminate (most times) who he passes to, as long as their open. Now, he'll make the pass that leads to the assist. He realizes not every pass has to be an assist. That being said, he's also added to his repetoir the jump-pass. You've seen it at least once or twice a game. He jumps as if to shoot, then fires a laser beam (not just a bullet, a laser beam) to a cutting Horry or Fox. You need a replay to make sure that he didn't pass the ball through somebody. His entry passes into Shaq are likewise accurate and solid.

Too often, Kobe will dribble more than is necessary then make a bad pass or take a tough shot. When it goes in, or the pass is successful, you ask, how did he do that? When it doesn't work, you ask, why did he do that? Hopefully, he'll grow out of it. What made Michael so effective was he only took 4 or 5 dribbles at the most before shooting or passing. Kobe's dribbling too much.

Kobe has the same dedication, will, fire, courage, whatever you want to call it, as all other great winners do. And, he's matured into a leader. He knows he has the star status and acts accordingly. He's become a team player.

As good as he is, he's still getting better, and that to me, is nearly inconceivable. But it's still his character, his motivation that makes him one of my most favorite players in the league.

All the best,

Eugene

FINALLY THE TRUTH IS SPOKEN!!!
Man we should start calling you "The Truth" instead of paul pierce lol.

You always have a quality post Eugene and i enjoy reading them.
Kobe is making that Lakers team better, its obvious, only the blindness of a Kobe-Hater wont see it.

[mkool8]

He has improved a lot, and hopefully will continue to improve. The only thing that really needs to work out on is the consistency with his jumper. Sometimes, his jumpers are still flat rather than always having an arc to it. Most of the shots that he misses badly are the flat jumpers. This usually happens to him when his farther away from the basket. And yes, he does dribble a lot. He said it himself before as a comment to comparisons to Jordan. He said that their games are different because Jordan's game evolves more around footwork, and Kobe's is more dribbling.

[.]

Kobe is making that Lakers team better, its obvious, only the blindness of a Kobe-Hater wont see it.

I hate that kind of people

[scubilete]

Kobe is making that Lakers team better, its obvious, only the blindness of a Kobe-Hater wont see it.

I hate that kind of people

You shouldn't hate them, you should laugh at them cause the only thing they show is how bad they feel that the guy is that Damn good.

[Electrifyer]

Kobe is statistically a great player, but if he was really as good as everyone bills him to be, then he shouldn't have allowed LA to slip to such a horrible record when they were without Shaq.

[scubilete]

Notice that you can't do it all alone. Nobody is saying he can take on 5 guys, he had no help from the other guys at that time. It's like any other player with no support, you won't score 100 points to get the win.

[Clinton]

Great post Eugene as usual. I have seen the change in his game from last year and it is like you are watching a completely different player.

Too bad he can't makes his team mates better....

I really love it when someone says that. Why is it Kobe's responsibility to make his teammates better. He worked his arse off all offseason to get himself better, does he have to work out for them too? You can only do so much with limited help.

Kobe is statistically a great player, but if he was really as good as everyone bills him to be, then he shouldn't have allowed LA to slip to such a horrible record when they were without Shaq.

Again an issue of having no help. If his teammates were playing as good as they are now at the start of the season they might have got a few more wins. Kobe is only one player, as good as he is he can't win games by himself. He tried and had some great games, but had noone backing him up.

[JJcoolL]

clinton

i've always thought u were a little queer, thanks for confirming it

[Andrew]

Unnecessary. This is your first and last warning.

[Clinton]

I really care what you you think about me. Really I do.

[Rens]

Too bad he can't makes his team mates better....

I really love it when someone says that. Why is it Kobe's responsibility to make his teammates better. He worked his arse off all offseason to get himself better, does he have to work out for them too? You can only do so much with limited help.

I really love it when someone says that. What most people agree on, is that good players get great stats, great players get great stats while actually leading their team to greatness, 99% of the time by making their teammates better. For example, see Larry Bird who took his sucky college team to the finals. If you don't agree with the statement about the good/great players, I guess we disagree on that matter and it won't be possible to convince you otherwise or you'd have the same opinion already. But I doubt you disagree with that?

queer ( P ) Pronunciation Key (kwîr)
adj. queer·er, queer·est
Deviating from the expected or normal; strange: a queer situation.
Odd or unconventional, as in behavior; eccentric. See Synonyms at strange.
Of a questionable nature or character; suspicious.
Slang. Fake; counterfeit.
Feeling slightly ill; queasy.
Offensive Slang. Homosexual.
Usage Problem. Of or relating to lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, or transgendered people.

Only one is offensive who knows what he meant.

[Andrew]

Only one is offensive who knows what he meant.

Considering Clinton's avatar is one featuring Shaq in an awkward position with Danny Ferry, I think it's pretty clear what he was insinuating.

[Rens]

JJcoolL didn't choose that avatar though... it was Clinton's own choice. A prett strange choice.

Odd or unconventional, as in behavior; eccentric. See Synonyms at strange.

[Matthew]

"If I could be like ben..."

As for Kobe.. he has developed and totally changed his style. And to say he hasnt helped his teamates sounds like a lot of hating. From what I've seen when he is on the floor the rest of the lakers play alot harder and are more confident. Kobe.. is the best in todays game. That hurt to say.

[Andrew]

No, but it was a personal attack that came as the result of Clinton posting that picture as his avatar...not unlike Stilt's attacks on Shane for posting that picture of his friend as his old avatar.

[Andrew]

Good idea actually, I did not intend to disrupt another well-appreciated post by Eugene with moderation.

Too often, Kobe will dribble more than is necessary then make a bad pass or take a tough shot. When it goes in, or the pass is successful, you ask, how did he do that? When it doesn't work, you ask, why did he do that? Hopefully, he'll grow out of it. What made Michael so effective was he only took 4 or 5 dribbles at the most before shooting or passing. Kobe's dribbling too much.

I read something to that effect a while back, while the Lakers were still struggling to reach .400, let alone .500. The writer (whose name escapes me at this juncture) suggested that aspect of Kobe's game continues to disrupt the triangle, and as you said when it works, fine, when it fails, it's exposed as a problem. One on one, Kobe's ability and willingness to take defenders off the dribble can be an asset, but it doesn't work effectively in the triangle.

[Clinton]

it was Clinton's own choice. A prett strange choice.

Why strange? I think it's pretty funny.

"If I could be like ben..."

[Rens]

Ah the hidden moderator returns. Good to see you think you know me, can you please tell me what food I'd like to eat tonight? Or what's my favourite color? What's my mother's maiden name?

If Kobe made his teammates that much better, I doubt they'd have been that deep at the bottom when Shaq was out. I never said he isn't a very good player, but he doesn't make his teammates any better, it's the space that Shaq creates for them that does.

[Matthew]

Alot of what I've seen Kobe does play within the triangle. He will take his man, or attempt to, one on one when he is feeling it or at the end of the quarters. Kobe has changed his game alot... he is playing very similar to Mike did in his last days as a bull... Not quite as good tho

[Rens]

it was Clinton's own choice. A prett strange choice.

Why strange? I think it's pretty funny.

Strange since you know it can lead to reactions. The picture isn't offensive but the reactions could be...

[Clinton]

Why should there be offensive reactions if its not an offensive picture?

[Matthew]

Hidden? Lol who said I know anything about you? Lets not jump to conclusions now Ben.. sorry, Rens

And Kobe does make his teamates better. Not quite on the same level as Kidd does, but he does lift their confidence when he is on the floor.

[Rens]

I said could... and people get killed for accidentally bumping into others, that's the clearest (and quote a bit bigger) example I could think of on why something non-offensive can lead to something offensive.
This is more a case of semi-provocation I'd say though. but hey you want the avatar you can have it