So bleacher report back at it again. Check the following article: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...hen-curry-slams-home-oldest-old-man-dunk-ever Even when they try to compliment the Lakers, it's always backhanded.
Kobe is sandbagging. He's got more in his legs now than he had last year when he came back, and he one handed dunked then. (not real high but not near as much rehab under his belt either) There will be a time where he will rise up and throw one down to make a point. You don't waste those in pre season at his age. Not as high as in his prime of course but he'll get it done and get a lot of "Oh Hell Yeahs" out of a lot of us.
He looks old right now. So does the rest of the starting 5. Where exactly is the improvement from the last game? There's a reason why Vegas has this team at 30 something wins this year. I have yet to see anything that would indicate otherwise. Hope I'm wrong or it'll be a loooong season.
Honestly don't have one do you? Our vets are mediocre. Rookies could burnout if too much production expected from them this season. Unless Kobe is capable of a lot more than we've seen so far we're probably in trouble. He's always tried to pick up the slack but he just can't do that regularly anymore without risking injury. Forget about Nash. Like I said I hope I'm wrong but are you seeing anything different on the court?
Keep calm and believe in Mitch (need that on a t-shirt) These games are painful, but don't forget the key players that are out with injury. Whatever happens, it can't be worse than last year.
It probably won't be worst than last year, but it still hurts to see the Lakers get outplayed as badly as they did tonight. I do believe in Mitch, it's others in the front office that worry me.
These games are going to have their highs and their lows but...keep the faith people! They need time to gel and if they don't, well then, we'll wait until we get some players that do. As a life long Laker fan, I've been through some ish. I just watch.
does he really look that bad so far? i haven't had the chance to watch any of the preseason games yet
No, but Kobe's not playing with guys as good as Curry and Thompson.....and the guys they are playing with. He's not being stupid and trying to go 1 on 3 like he would have in the past, especially in pre season. Had cold shooting night tonight but Kobe will be fine if he stays healthy.
Kobe had little to no lift in last nights game. Kobe hasn't played in year a half, his rust will be there for a while, and the timing won't be there for a while too.
I don't think he looks that bad at all. He hasn't played in a long time. I think the activity is there, but that doesn't mean the strength is back to 100% in his legs. He's going to tire quickly, and of course his explosion isn't there. Give it time. The man is 36 for Christ's sake. If he has help from his young crew it'll save him quite a bit.
He had an old man game last game for sure. Probably it was the scrimmage earlier in the day. He had no lift. But he was out there hustling at least. So far though in general he looks way better than I expected. But I have learned not to bet against him over these umpteen years.
I'm not being critical of Kobe. He looks terrific considering. But compared to Golden State we look like a D League team. We couldn't even appear competitive. I'm having a real hard time imagining our vets (except for Lin) improving enough to make us competitive against playoff teams, which means Kobe will really have to push himself. In my humble opinion, Lin needs to have an excellent season for us to have post season hopes. This is a real possibility and gives me some hope. Of course watching Randle develop will be really cool.
We're probably going to have trouble with young, quick, 3-point shooting teams. Don't forget that Golden State is an excellent team and a far better team than us right now. We've only played 3 pre-season games so I won't be alarmed yet. Also, I expect to see some games where Kobe has no lift and looks old throughout the season. That's basically because he's old. It's expected, but that doesn't mean that he won't be productive when the season is said and done.
He's got rust. He's coming off two injuries to his legs/feet. It's preseason, he's not going to go big for that.
He hasn't really looked bad, he just doesn't have the lift to get the jumpers that he is taking to drop. Could be for a variety of reasons, but we still have to remember he's only played like 6 games in the last year and a half or so. That's crazy time off. There is a crazy adjustment to getting used to the actual timing and pace of an NBA game again too. If we are able to gel and mesh at all it will probably be after some time struggling to understand one another's game. Hell, isn't this still the first chance Kobe and Nash have really gotten to play together? Throw Boozer in to the starting lineup and these guys are still all relatively new to each other's games. Only repetition and time will get us over that struggle and while some games we'll probably quick and be able to push the pace on some teams, it's probably going to be a little ugly for a while. The offense has also been as stagnant as I've ever seen an NBA offense be. People are standing around and not moving and are just focusing on whoever has the ball at that moment in the time. Again, could be timing and ignorance of the others game. Boozer might not quite understand the exact time and location Kobe wants an on ball screen and it could cause confusion. With the lack of 3 point shooting we also don't have much off ball movement and guys coming off screens causing switches and mismatches and wide open shots. All that will relate to when and where Kobe is able to score. Teams are still sending the double team at him, if not on the catch, after he makes his first move and he needs the rest of the team to step up and put themselves in a position to score as well as allow Kobe the space needed to operate. Kobe will pass when the player gets open on a cut or by being in the right spot. He's lead this team in assists for so many years for a reason. As far as the shots he's taking, he still seems to be able to get the types of shots he wants, it's just that they're ending up short.
