A Theory on the Kobe-Face

Kobe and I are roughly the same age. I am actually a couple months older than him. I've played competitive team sports my entire life. The longest hiatus was the beginning of film school where for about 1.5 years I only played sparingly. But other than that, since age 5, I have been on a sports team. Recently, I too can feel myself making facial expressions on the field that are different and new. It doesn't really make sense, and I didn't realize it at first, but I am now aware of these slightly different facial expressions. Mine are not a psycho-rapist underbite like Kobe, but they are different than I can remember making before.

And I know what they are. AGE. They are father time showing himsself. I feel it in subtle ways on the field. The bounce in my legs is not what it used to be. In the last couple years, I know I lost a step speed wise. But there's something else - bounce. I should be in pretty damn good shape given I've been playing twice a week the entire year plus running, biking, jogging, and hiking as well. But my legs aren't perky. They are heavy and they often hurt. Hurt in ways they didn't before. Before, they felt like they were recovering and tired. Now they sometimes feel like jeans that got too thin and have a hole. There is no recovering those jeans. They are done.

I can still play. I'm a much smarter player today than even five years ago. I know positions and spacing much better. I have good vision from around the field. I recognize what other players want to do quicker and counter it with smart positioning as opposed to before when I'd basically try to use my speed and quickness to advantage. But all that doesn't change the fact that my legs are working against me on those difficult full field runs. And I know Kobe feels the same when driving to the basket. His legs are screaming at him - no mas. I don't care how great a shape the man is in. Legs have an odometer, like a car, like a pair of jeans, like anything. Wear and tear. And that's what the stupid underbite is - even if Kobe doesn't know it yet - it's his insides coming out and saying: FUCK YOU ASSHOLE. Quit doing this to yourself.

DIFFERENT ISSUE: Tonight's game. I only saw the last few minutes. Again, Kobe gets bailed out by the refs when he lunges into Howard who plays damn fine defense on the play. He get two free throws and misses. Then he gets the ball stolen (because he's too damn predictable), then he hucks up and clanks a three. If you ask me - that's 0 for 4 when it matters. Add it to his 25% shooting percentage when the game is on the line. Anyone who calls Kobe the best closer in bball is an idiot.

Finally the Magic figure out their best line up at the end of the game - Alston, Turk, Lewis, Howard, Pietrus. This is their best 5 and they actually match up pretty well with the Lakers best 5 - Fisher/Alston (adv. Alston), Kobe/Pietrus (adv. Kobe), Odom/Lewis (adv. wash), Turk/Ariza (adv. Turk), Howard/Gasol (adv. wash). The Lakers really only have an advantage with Kobe vs. Pietrus and even that can be minimized if Howard plays good help defense. You could argue Odom is capable of outplaying Lewis, which is true, but you could also argue Howard is capable of outplaying Gasol. (although both those cases, the opposite is also true, ie Lewis can outplay Odom - he did in game 2 and Gasol can outplay Howard - he did in game 1 and 2).

But there's another way to look at this game, the Magic shot 63%, the best shooting percentage EVER in the NBA finals and only win by 4 points. Not a good sign for the Magic. Although, you could look at the finals another way and call game 1 a fluke and say the Magic weren't ready. And you could say the Magic should of won the last 2 games and maybe are actually the better team. I don't know. I guess it remains to be seen.