I think it's because Kobe clearly looked tired. More exhausted = higher chance of an injury. High minutes (38 or something) is a bit understandable, but Byron played Kobe all but 4 minutes in that game. Out of the 4 quarters, Kobe played the entire quarter for 3 of them. Kobe was also clearly not playing smart. This was probably his worst game this season. He was angry and just chucking shot after shot, not even looking for his teammates. Imo, Byron should have talked to Kobe and taken him out for a few minutes to let him cool down.
Yeah, I think Byron needs to reign it back in. Last night was a mistake. He fell into D' Antoni and Mike Brown mode out of weakness because he wanted to get a win, but it kind of backfired. Sure, Kobe could have played a few more minutes than he has been but 44 was dumb. And Kobe played dumb for some of those extra minutes - going for a suicide steal backcourt to have his guy come down and nail a three on the other end, chucking some terrible shots and ending up shooting a lousy percentage (what did he make about a third of his shots?). It wasn't pretty and it doesn't do anything for the offense that they are trying to run. He was more patient in the first quarter and I liked how he was playing better. Then he just went into take over Alpha Dog mode but it wasn't very pretty. It's still astounding that he can do the things he does, but becoming a volume shooter just isn't good for anyone.
Why shouldn't we be up in arms about it? It started with Mike Brown who Kobe ran all over; I still remember very vividly Kobe playing 53 mins in a double overtime game in Memphis and then another game in the high 40's in New Orleans. He went on to average about 38 minutes a game. The following year we get D'Antoni who Kobe again didn't respect and he decided to take it upon his shoulder until he injured his Achilles. Then he had the surgery and only played in 6 games last year. He starts training in April shortly after the season and works relentlessly almost obsessively to get his body back into peak basketball form at the age of 36. Then we hear about Kobe and Scott discussing a restriction on his minutes; Scott emphasizes that he's not deviating and won't risk Kobe's career. This game flies in the face of all that, IMO. 44 minutes after two major injuries, one of which has ravaged basketball players careers, and Scott is playing him 44 minutes? Yes, I'm up in arms. I'm sick of it.
Yeah, my concern is also on injury. I didn't see the game so I can't speak on Kobe's frustration, but the 44 minutes played definitely got my attention. We are already playing bad. No Kobe and we could end up in the NBA history books.
The jumping over the fans to save the loose ball was a scary moment as well. Don't know about anyone else but that freaked me out for a minute there while he was recovering. Just not smart. I'll say this, though, yes this one was on Byron. Kobe is like a fighting dog, he doesn't know how to quit. He will go at it to the death. He doesn't know any other way and he wouldn't be who he is if he did. It's up to the coach to reign him in. 44 minutes was pretty irresponsible.
Agreed. It just isn't worth it. I don't want to see him injured again. And I don't think overplaying him helps the team in any way. It was weak.
Watched every second of that game and Kobe was a liability again for the most part defensively. He was clearly frustrated. He was clearly upset. He was also clearly gassed out of his gourd. Kobe and Byron let their competitiveness get ahead of themselves. I know they've got an excuse built in that he's got a bunch of time off, but that's only okay if he makes it out of the game intact. If he gets hurt in the 43rd minute of that game because he's tired and his body can't react fast enough, no excuse is going to matter at all. Kobe taking 37 shots is unacceptable. I know there's nobody else to score, I get that. But I'd rather see that the entire team shot 25/60 than see Kobe hoist up that many shots. I can understand 27 shots, but 37 is too many. Not just because it means he's doing too much, but because it's just not good for team flow. It's not ALL his fault. Part of that is on Byron for keeping him in there. Part of it, maybe a large part of it, is on the ineffectiveness of his teammates. If they were willing and able to make shots maybe Kobe doesn't have to take that many, but it doesn't matter. Kobe's minutes and shot attempts should never reach this high again this season or really for the rest of his career unless he's on his way to a 50 point game or some other ridiculous feat. To put up 37 shots for less than 40 points is a failure on all parts.
I completely agree with therealdeal. I hate commenting on a game based on the stat sheet without having actually seen it, but in this case I think the numbers really do speak for themselves. 37 shots and 44 minutes is a recipe for disaster. I have always thought it would take a bit for Kobe, Lin, and the rest of the team to really get into a flow. So I expect some of these issues. But 37 shots is only going to make the other guys more complacent and more likely to just stand around and watch Kobe. The ball has to move and Kobe is going to have live with these guys mistakes and limitations. Byron and the staff are also going to have work on offense that gets the other guys good looks. If they miss them, then so be it. We all know they aren't great players. But Lin is good enough to create some easy shots for the other guys and so is Kobe. Also, as much as we harp on the mistakes of guys like Wes, Boozer, etc, we are seeing some good play out of Davis, Hill, and Ellington. We need to keep working with those guys and helping them improve.
I was at the game and you can clearly see how tired he was. You're totally right. He made a lot of mistakes and I think it was fatigue
Lakers coach (Byron this time) needs to realize that he has to save Kobe... from Kobe. I hope Scott gets this... im sure Pop and P-Jax would ;-).
'I know the Lakers are 0-5, but they are playing exciting basketball and Kobe is worth the price of admission.' On Magic's twitter.
'Kobe should also be in the early MVP talks with LeBron, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Anthony Davis, Carmelo, Curry, Thompson and Rose.' Again from Magics twitter.
This. We've made our beds, it's time to lie in it. If that means losing because Lin can't shoot effectively then so be it. It's better than killing Kobe to get one win five games into the season.
He should be suspended for unnatural basketball acts.... Since when does Kobe repeatedly bend down to touch toes? Oh yeah, when he's exhausted and about to hurt himself like he was doing in the GSW game he tore his achilles. Mr. Vitti please stand up and say get him out of the gain and earn that paycheck. Kobe could have easily dropped 50-60 points last night, but missed 4-5 layups, missed the rim completely on a floater and overall missed a lot of easy shots. I wonder why? He was dead tired, he was huffin' and puffin' coming out of a timeout. Byron Scott please stand up and get him out of the game and earn your paycheck. 5 days of rest doesn't fix 18 years of wear and tear and two season ending injuries in the past two seasons. 5 games into the season vs. the Suns and this crap is being pulled. You don't work somebody that hard with his history, you just don't. Stick to the gameplan, we still suck with Kobe on the court for 48 minutes or for 30 minutes, don't put him at unnecessary risks for getting injured.
fair enough. But imo we didnt lose the game by Kobe chucking shot after shot. We lost the game by all our missed free throws (Kobe a large part of that) and because our defense could never get any stops down the stretch without giving up a lay-up or fouling and putting them at the line (i.e. Bledsoe when he came in late in the 4th)
Yep everything you said, he doesn't know how to "quit". Which is why he also did the INCREDIBLY STUPID AND RISKY move of leaping over the front row. He didn't even have a chance at saving that ball.
I agree, 37 shots simply isn't a recipe for success. It's tough though because I'm sure Kobe is frustrated when he watches Boozer airball 5 foot hook shots but he can't do it alone anymore, not with this team and not coming back from a major injury, and dammit he shouldn't have to. Nick Young can't come back soon enough!
Kobe only knows how to play one way, play hard. He shouldn't have taken 37 shots but as horrible the team is, can't blame him. At this stage and age in his career he needs to play smarter and more efficiently, not harder. He was playing frustrated and with tunnel vision, which resulted in 39 points on 37 shots. The blame falls on Byron in my eyes. Maybe the team would play better if he was a better coach, so I won't fault Kobe too much although...with his experience, he needs to know when try to get everyone SOMEWHAT involved. Ugh, it's too early in this season for this BS (pun).
