Agree with everything you said. The only thing I feel differently about is any coach running Kobe into the ground. I thinks it's more about not letting Kobe run himself into the ground. But agreed that that would still be on the coach.
And to be clear, when I'm critical of Kobe (for his shooting percentage, usage rate and FGA), it's because I'm a huge Kobe fan and don't like to see him hurt his numbers like that and ESPECIALLY don't like to see him give reasonable fodder for everyone else to pick on. But it's sad for me when the criticism of him ventures from the historic BS ("Kobe shots to much") to genuinely accurate critiques.
Yeah it's been a pill to swallow that's for sure. I think @lakerjones hit it on the head: will Kobe finally give in to the system a little more? Nick Young got plenty of shots for himself in this offense... It'd be nice to rely on Kobe more than relying on Ellington to create looks, but THAT is the lane that Kobe needs to adjust to at this point in his career. He needs to move the ball in the offense more. He doesn't have to have every point and every assist. Sometimes it's fine to make the extra pass and let Wesley Johnson find someone on a back door cut. We'll see what happens. I'm inclined to think he'll make a conscious effort to keep the flow alive, but I'm not sure if he'll actually capitulate or not to Byron's system (or vice versa honestly...)
Well, I gotta go against the grain a bit and say that I think Kobe will be fine and this is being overblown. I loved how we played last night, but its going to take several more games for me to be convinced that last night wasn't just us playing out of our minds. The biggest concern I have had with Kobe and Byron was how many minutes he was playing. i think Byron finally cutting his minutes and resting him some games will solve a lot of issues. His legs should be fresher, those end of the game shots will start dropping, and some of these criticisms will fade away. I have always hated how the other guys are able to give less than 100% effort and then somewhat hide behind the fact that Kobe will get most of the blame. I want to see them play at that same level every night. Kobe has shown time and time again throughout his career that he will make the right the basketball play. Despite some games where he definitely went hero mode, he is still leading the team in assists. I would like to see the other guys continue to move without the ball and not just stand around and watch him. I also want them to show the same level of energy they played with last night on the defensive end. I'm hoping the extra rest will help Kobe's defensive effort as well.
HA!! I still remember his nearly first "move" in his first Olympics against Spain in the final and Pau, with whom he had already bonded and come to love on the Lakers team that lost to Boston in the finals first year of their "BRO" relationship. He ran right through Pau on a screen Pau was setting to knock him flat on his butt to send a message. You know Kobe. Wouldn't surprise me to see them "quick hug" or "BRO" acknowledge each other prior to tip off, then do something like that again especially since he lobbied so hard to keep Pau and Pau took less money to go to a better team.
I hope Kobe plays a different game tomorrow night. No more 8/30 shooting...37% season FGs is embarrassing! It has to stop.
Man. I think most of us saw this coming with how many minutes he was playing, but it still sucks. I definitely thought he would come out and play well tonight.
Well whatever... I feel much better seeing him sit because he needs rest than because of another injury. Get the rest you need then come back when you're ready and play smarter. Not even Kobe's biggest fans want to see him play if he's going to suck. That's just painful.
