It's the achilles. I'd wager to say 70% of the drop off we're seeing now from the 12-13 season is due to the achilles. Yeah, kobe has taken these shots in his career but the difference is he no longer has the athleticism, explosions, threat of a driving ability, to create the space he needs to take these type of shots. These shots are heavily contested. In his prime, it didnt really matter if the defender was in his grill, he had the ability to create the space to get a clean look off.
I just tried this, and I got a totally different reaction from people in my office. Byron, you so crazy.
Anybody else notice Kobe kind of re-structured his shooting form a bit from 3 point land? A lot of times he's jumping forward when he shoots, landing 2 feet in front of the arc in this awkward pose with one foot planted way in front of the other and his shooting arm extended way the hell out in front of him. It's almost as if he saw the success Steph Curry had in the playoffs last year, and thought he could mold his 3 point form in a similar way and chuck up more attempts from that area with the same success. Only problem with that is the fact that Steph Curry has been honing his shot form like that his whole life (not 1 offseason), and has way fresher legs than Kobe at this stage of their careers. This isn't a similar scenario to 5 years ago when Kobe began mimicking Dirk's 1 foot fadeaways. The man doesn't have the legs to be shooting from that distance as often as he's been the past few games. He needs to get his a** closer to the basket, and out think these young guns in the paint with his intelligence and footwork, which are the only clear advantages he has over most defenders at this point in his career.
Definitely changed it, but I think it's because he doesn't have the lift that he used to have. He had a pretty classic looking jumper before. Now he's staying a lot closer to the ground so he uses a little more torque to get the ball to travel than the usual power/explosion he used to have.
Yeah, but it depends what you mean open. When he's wide open, I mean no one even near him, catch and shoot, he's been drilling them. If you mean "Kobe open" as in the defender is in front of him but not all up on him, then yeah he's missing those but really those are bad shots now at this stage of his career.
Let's not forget that jerk Dahntay Jones that intentionally sprained Kobes ankle that basically lead to the snowball that was the Achilles. Is that guy even in the league?
yeah, this is the really terrifying part of all this. all the talk of needing to take a step back--I didn't realize he was specifically referencing contested midrange jumpers.
That's Kobe's new definition of mid-range. Expect to see him unleash his new halfcourt/backcourt specials.
I agree with this. Kobe doesn't just take practice days off because he's mad at himself, never heard of that before this season.
Mike Bresnahan ✔ @Mike_Bresnahan Kobe Bryant has returned to the building, is here at Lakers' shoot-around. Byron: It was good for Kobe to "get away from it for a second."
I love Kobe, he's been my favorite laker of all time, I even made YouTube Kobe mixes back in the day.... But Kobe needs to really take a hard look in the mirror and realize he needs to retire, his body can't last. The league is evolving into this faced paced 3 point shooting league which is currently his weaknesses. If the development of these new Lakers is truly important to our FO then they'd advise Kobe to retire.
Kobe doesn't need to retire. Not yet anyway. Yes the game is faster and the league has changed, but one thing that hasn't is his ability to hit the mid range jump shot and post up. If he would just limit the contested three's he is fine. If the ball is put in Russ's hands he'll get some penetrate and kicks, he'll get some duck ins as will Randle and Hibbs. The guy can still play at a high level. He just needs to stop shooting contested three's. He's not Steph Curry.
-It's pretty much night & day watching on TV and then in person. At the arena, he looks quick, spry, getting to his spots, etc. He's getting good looks, they're just not hitting bottom right now. -The footwork is there, he can get his shot off. He doesn't look like an old man, at least on the offensive end. He's clearly frustrated out there, the body language, everything. Here's hoping he can find his way through it.