I had a nightmare last night. Kobe Bryant was an octopus, a purple one. I'm not particularly afraid of cephalopods. In fact, I might like to own one some day. But regardless, Kobe as an octopus scared me a great deal. It scowled, and it took every shot in a pick-up game in which we were teammates. Every shot! (We were playing against Mark Madsen and Ed O'Bannon, if you must know.)With the score 18-3, I finally asked Kobe The Octopus why he would not occasionally pass me the ball. A final, fatal question, it turned out to be. All I remember from then on was a flurry of tentacles and scowls and more tentacles. It was terrible. I woke up (with bruises), turned on Game 2 and Lo! there were Kobe's tentacles again!
Please pardon if Kobe has my tongue in riddles. When I watch Lakers games for work or pleasure (ha!), I typically like to focus on the other moving parts of the L.A. attack. Andrew Bynum. Lamar Odom. Trevor Ariza. Pau Gasol. Kobe gets plenty of ink -- I find the Bean canon is quite full, perhaps overly so.
But on occasion of Game 2, I decided to follow Kobe. It's an exhausting experience, as Mickael Pietrus and Jim Gray can attest. My particular goal was to see just how invasive Kobe's tentacles have become -- how frequently the Lakers can pull off a possession without Kobe's wresting the ball away and making a play for himself or a friend.
The Game 2 storyline from the Lakers' perspective is rather basic -- Kobe took over at the end, the Magic self-destructed in overtime, L.A. wins. But the level to which Kobe ramped up his assertiveness at the end is really, really something to behold.
Take a look.
The Lakers offense struggled through the first frame. It just so happens Kobe was wholly uninvolved in the shot creation process in the first quarter. Kobe created or executed seven of the 22 Laker shooting attempts in the first. By created we mean assisted ... even if the eventual shot was missed. (So if Kobe kicks out for a spot-up Derek Fisher three, we still say Kobe created the shot. If Kobe drops a pass to Pau, who immediately gets fouled going up, that's a Kobe-created shot.)
By the second quarter, during which Kobe rested 4-1/2 minutes, the balance between Kobe and The Field had tilted toward Bean. Of 12 shots during his 7-1/2 minutes in the period, Kobe created or executed six. Three of those were assists, coming off Kobe penetration or, in one case, absolutely terrible Magic defense.
In the third quarter, with the score close, Kobe's tentacles got fidgety. He took or assisted 12 of 22 shots. In the fourth, Kobe was involved in 10 of 18 shots. In overtime, Kobe used four of six Lakers shots. (Note that I didn't incorporate loose ball fouls inside the penalty or intentional fouls in this study.)
Separately, those numbers may not intimidate. But look at the last 13 shots spanning the final nine minutes of the game (including overtime) for L.A. specifically. They read like this, from the Kobe-focused perspective: Fisher misses a three off what would have been a Kobe assist, Kobe free throws (one of two), Kobe free throws (two of two), a short missed jumper for Kobe, a short made jumper for Kobe, a Gasol lay-up off a Fisher assist, the Block Heard 'Round the World Or At Least Asia Minor, a long missed jumper for Kobe, Gasol free throws off clear-out post isolation (two of two), a missed Ariza three off a Kobe feed, a short made jumper for Kobe, Fisher free throws off penetration, a flawless Gasol-Bryant pick-and-roll resulting in a two AND ONE for Pau.
That is a whole lot of Kobe! I think the beautiful thing (if octopi can be beautiful, to which there remains much disagreement in the scientific world) is that Kobe's ball dominance hasn't come at the expense of his teammates. The last non-intentional foul possession for the Lakers is a terrific example: Kobe giving it up to Gasol on the pick-and-roll. Involved, vitally involved. But not greedy. Not flying solo.
Of course, if Courtney Lee would have made that lob lay-up to end regulation, our memory of Kobe's Game 2 would be far different. It'd be that Hedo Turkoglu block from behind, with Odom standing wide open on the left wing begging for a pass from the triple-teamed Bryant. That memory is a bit more problematic for Kobe. Whether it's a more honest assessment of Kobe's on-court attitude than the closing pick-and-roll ... well, that's for you to decide.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
GO LAKERRRRRRRS!
You're a moron,,,,period.
Kobe was as off last night as he was game 3 in Utah. That was Orlando's one and only chance to steal one. The odds of Kobe having 2 games like that in a 7 game series are zero. (and he still had 29)
Your statistical analysis is a reasonable, although somewhat simplistic, attempt to examine the impact a great player has on the game. It is simplistic for the following reasons:
1. The assist is a relatively artificial statistic. You get an assist if you pass out to a player at the three point line who makes an incredibly difficult shot and don't get an assist if you pass to a player who takes one dribble before dunking the ball. Hockey is much more lenient with assists, seemingly giving an assist to anyone who touches the puck within 3 minutes of the goal. So to analyze a player using the relatively arbitrary definition of an assist will lead to similarly arbitrary results.
2. Moreover, whether Bryant touches the ball or not, his presence on the court has an impact on just about every play, as he generally attracts the opposing team's best defender.
3. Bryant's effectiveness increases when his teammates well and decreases when his teammates play poorly. Yesterday was a good example. Bryant was not playing that well, both because he was not real accurate with his outside shot and because many of his teammates tossed enough bricks to build a large part of the Great Wall of China. The failure of his teammates to shoot well from outside allowed Orlando to pack the lane with defenders, thwarting many attempted drives to the basket by Bryant. (This also made life difficult for Gasol.)
Basketball is truly a team sport and just as Bryant's job (and Gasol's job) is to play well enough to attract a double team, the other players on the team have the job of hitting the open shots. And when they don't do that, it affects everyone, including Bryant.
P.S. Tom - If you start making those outside jumpers, Kobe will start passing you the ball.
I think Kobe should of been MVP NBA and now he also has time to show the world what he can do without the real superman. My boy about to get his 4th ring and plus he'll be the finals MVP Kobe all the way.
Kobe came close to being the Goat in game 2 .He treid to score with 4 people on him with his laker team mates open all over the place. Lucky for Lakers Lee missed last shot and lakers won in overtime.Kobe made bad decision and hopefully learned from it.Kobe attracts all the attention needs to let his teammates help in those situations have faith they will come through.