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Kobe Thread


Kevin Greene

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I guess Kobe must have read this article that came out last week...good for him.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7649571/nba-kobe-bryant-not-money-think-espn-magazine

IF THERE WAS one takeaway from February's All-Star Game, one thing fans could agree on, it was this: LeBron James should not have forced the pass that led to a last-possession steal. Even in meaningless exhibition games, passing is taboo in macho crunch time. And bad passes are unthinkable. There's a reason that even James, a man well-practiced at defending late-game gaffes, was quick to express regret for this one. Nobody respects the crunch-time passer. He's an affront to the game -- the game of hero ball.

Perhaps you've heard of hero ball. Maybe not. That would hardly be a surprise, as its practitioners like to pretend it doesn't exist. But even though hero ball looks suspiciously like basketball -- it's played on the same court and uses the same rims, same ball and at least some of the same players -- it differs from basketball in one key respect: The goal of hero ball is not necessarily to outscore your opponent. The goal of hero ball is, instead, appeasing egos, saving coaching jobs, kowtowing to talking heads and mollifying idiot owners sitting on the floor. If hero ball is tangentially about winning basketball games, it's about winning them only through the least efficient, most predictable means of doing so.

The first (and only) rule of hero ball: Big-name scorers must always take the last-minute shot. That the numbers now exist to prove it doesn't work is, curiously enough, beside the point. In the world of hero ball, when Bryant -- by the numbers, the least efficient clutch-time go-to scorer in the league -- barks at James at the end of an All-Star contest for not jacking up a low-percentage shot, Kobe is praised, LeBron is vilified and the world mouths along with the Laker yelling: "Shoot the f--ing ball!"

Apparently, it's not just Kobe "haterz" who point this out.

Who else hates hero ball? Apparently, Bryant's teammates. This season, when shooting out of crunch-time isos, Bryant has averaged roughly 0.5 ppp. If the Lakers offense worked that miserably for 48 minutes, the team would score fewer than 50 points a game. Still, Bryant easily leads the league in crunch-time iso attempts. Why?

"I don't know, man," says Bryant's teammate Andrew Bynum, with a dejected shrug, after this year's All-Star Game. He calls it stating the obvious to say the team's late-game offense is a problem. Bynum, a 54% shooter, is one of the Lakers' most efficient offensive weapons. Gasol, at 50 percent, is another. But the two bigs almost never have late plays run for them. Bynum's guess? "Because some guys get paid big bucks to hit shots, so that's what they've got to do."

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opinions are like assholes...everyone has one!

highest 4th quarter scorer in the league

Great, we know he likes to shoot - what's his percentage in the 4th quarter?

82games.com shows that Kobe is shooting an impressive .279 in situations this season where there are less than 5 minutes remaining and neither team ahead by 5 points or more, and that was through 2/15.

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Assists?

Let's see. Kobe is a shooting guard and averages 4.8 assists per game.

Likewise Paul Pierce is a shooting guard and averages 5.1 assists per game.

For instance Mr. triple double Lebron averages 6.6 assists per game.

A true Point like Chris Paul 8.4 assists per game.

Kobe is right where he should be. Hate on.

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why do lakers fans always have to throw the rest of the team under the bus to defend kobe

Pointing out Fish's best days are behind him isn't throwing him under the bus. It's just the unfortunate truth. I would love to see Fish balling, but it's just not going to happen...

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Tell me how many titles did Jordan win without Scottie?? Or does it not work both ways??

LMAO at people comparing Scottie Pippen top Shaquille O'Neal. One was the most dominate center since Wilt Chamberlain and the other was....... Scottie Pippen.

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