He looked better than I thought he would. Let's hope he stays healthy. The difference between our team being competitive and our team being lottery fodder hinges on Kobe (and Nash)'s health.
Interesting point actually. I never thought about how it could help him that he "rested" so to speak.
Grant Hill is another perfect example. After all those ankle injuries he looked completely done. Went to PHX, let those magicians do their thing and he looked better than he had in years. Kobe isn't going to get more athletic, but the time off definitely could prolong his career.
I'm also hopeful. Kobe will really be the second athlete that I've followed throughout their playing career. The first was Andre Agassi, and when he retired, it was terrible!! Tennis never felt the same. Not looking forward to Kobe leaving the game. Any additional years that he plays will be amazing!
^^ Wow, that's pretty revealing. Who was playing on Thompson when he was lighting it the hell up? Because the guy shot about 70% through three quarters.
^^ Ouch. I saw one sequence that Wes played on Klay where he bothered him with his length. But one play is not impressive when the guy shoots 70%. Wes has really got to step on D. That's all our coaching staff is asking of him. And he should be capable of it.
I don't blame Wes necessarily. I know I'm a supporter of his, but if I saw him playing really bad defense I'd call him on it. I think there was a few instances where Thompson (and others) froze him and all it took was a jab step. Wes needs to just get his hand up regardless of the situation. If these guys drive, then so be it. I'd rather they get a dunk than a three (this team anyway, most teams I wouldn't say that). But our wings were getting the crap kicked out of them on screens. Kobe, Price, Lin, Wes, all of them. It's a well designed offense for this team. Kerr is doing his job on that end.
I've got to agree the screens. Seems like most play there were multiple screens for their shooters. Tough to get around. And yeah, I was a little skeptical about Kerr - only in his personality vs. Jackson who is very charismatic and inspirational. Kerr is pretty bland in that department. But for X's and O's, his dad was a coach and his mentor is Phil, so he's got the know how. Their offense looks a lot better than what I've seen in the past. Less one on one and much more movement. They look improved. I think we'll make adjustments on Sunday. If we don't, it's trouble. They might not come out as red hot of course, but we need to impose more of a defensive will on them. We had a little of the deer in the headlights going on.
I'm still skeptical on Kerr right now just because for a new coach the guy comes on the scene and gets paid like a veteran... Doesn't necessarily sit well with me. But so far so good on his offense. He's got these guys moving well and finding their spots with ease. For sure Byron needs to keep getting on them defensively. We start out really well, but end up faltering to close out possessions. That's just not going to cut it. There were a bunch of times when we played great defense for 20 seconds then lost it at the end.
Kobe looked so much better than he did when he came back last season. Seeing him move and play how he has in the preseason has me feeling he came back from the injury early last year. I noticed his gait was off last season and at times it was as if he was dragging his repaired leg behind him.
Regarding the lift ... i'm not so worried about that and also his drives. He got a bit better into the lane last game against the Warrios and I guess it will get better each game. With his fadeaway and the high release I was kind of expecting something different this season. He always experimented with the one footed fadeaway and it's falling pretty good. To me his body looks much better than I expected. There are still a lot of articles out there questioning every step of him but if you just look at how he's moving I'm really impressed. There will be a lot more to come and we are still in preseason. I anxious to see how he can get up if he really has to (on a drive etc.)
I included the halftime report graphic with the log from tonight. Golden State (Oct. 12, 2014) Halftime Report:
Kobe: “We practice really, really hard.” Implied guys are worn down, didn’t have legs. Also praised GSW, who he said are excellent. Kobe: “We haven’t started tapering down yet.” Thinks guys will be more fresh ahead of the regular season. Focus now has been work. Kobe on his performance tonight: “Oh it was (expletive deleted), obviously.” But again, “we’re not as bad as we looked.” From Mike Trudell's twitter. I'll link it later.
Kobe on his performance tonight: “Oh it was (expletive deleted), obviously.” But again, “we’re not as bad as we looked.” I love Kobe but don't much pay attention to what he says anymore. You are as bad as you look until you prove differently consistently in game situations against playoff caliber teams. We've seen about as bad of a laker product as we've ever seen for an extended period of time now. Kobe needs a lot of help and we can't depend on our rookies to provide it. Jeremy Lin is going to have to be excellent this year (forget about Nash as an impact player) and our vets a whole lot better if we're going to have any chance of getting into the post season. These guys gotta show some pride.
I've paid close attention to this and he usually only brings it up to that point so that he can dump it off to a point guard or the perimeter man opposite and start the offense. He hardly keeps the ball in this situation.
