Not Good Enough

It would be too easy to Kobe bash today. 17 points in a must-win game 4? Blowing a 24 point lead? A team leader doesn't let that happen. Thing is, Kobe isn't a leader, isn't a good teammate. What he needs is a mature veteran - or even a mature young player, like Chris Paul, just a mature player who can LEAD the team and he can be the "star" the guy who strikes fear into the other team every time he gets the ball. What Kobe CAN'T BE and is INCAPABLE of being is the leader and the star.

What he needs tactically - in this series - is a big man who can bang around in the paint and get easy buckets when the teams start playing that all out, hectic, throwing my life on the line defense. Because it's hard to make jumpers when you're being physically assaulted by the best athletes in the world playing their hearts out. Really hard. It's even harder to create your own shots. What would be nice is to have a player who can fill both roles - a mature vet, who can bang in the paint, score easy buckets, and toss a little fear into Ray Allen when he drives to the hoop and can actually block out KG. Hmmm...there used to be a guy on his team like that. I believe his name was Shaq.

But Shaq is older now and conceivably you could split these roles. A guy like Bynum might fill the tactical role of the big man/easy buckets. Maybe Dfish or someone else fills the veteran role. I don't know.

But I do know this - Kobe tossed Shaq under the bus and then tried to do the same for Bynum. Which is fairly dumb considering he needs a guy in that mold to beat good teams.

But here is another point I brought up awhile ago about Kobe's bad passing. He's an okay/mediocre passer. He doesn't make a lot of turnovers, but he makes slow passing decisions and rarely puts the ball in position for his teammates to make easy buckets. This is especially concerning because he's such a great individual offensive threat, that the defense tends to overconcentrate on him, thusly opening up lanes, etc for teammates. Why can't Kobe set up his teammates?

My favorite type of player is the Chris Paul - Magic Johnson style of bballer, the players who seem to understand exactly where everyone is on the court at all times. They see lanes no one else sees and are able to find their teammates. These guys are geniuses and obviously not all players have this type of intelligence. Kobe certainly doesn't. He is a man of pure will. He is all work, no play, interested in dominating his opponent. I think the man lacks a certain empathy. Which is why he thought No meant Yes when it really, truly meant NO, and why he doesn't see or notice how his teammates react to his tantrums and yelling, doesn't realize he's busting up the morale of his team when he backstabs everyone. And also why he doesn't know where they are going on slash plays before they do - and why he isn't a good passer, which is what they need when he's being covered well. He needs to dribble into and find positions which break down the team defense and find the open shooter or slasher and score when it's available.