NBA Basketball Sports News in Philippines: Kobe Bryant

Showing posts with label Kobe Bryant. Show all posts

Friday, March 8, 2013

NBA News 2013: Howard Could Have Missed Entire Season?

Washington Wizards v/s Orlando Magic February 4, 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Did Dwight Howard rush back into the Lakers’ lineup?

He had back surgery last April, was traded to the Lakers in August and started his comeback by playing two exhibitions in October. He tried not to second-guess it Tuesday a few hours before his 55th regular-season game.

“Looking back on it, I could have sat out the whole season until now and starting playing now, but I just felt like we had such a great opportunity,” he said. “Some of these guys, their windows for winning are very small, and I just wanted to get back and try to do whatever I can to help this team, knowing that I wasn’t in great shape. My body wasn’t all the way there yet.”

http://www.hoopsworld.com/howard-could-have-missed-entire-season/

Sunday, January 27, 2013

NBA News 2013: Kobe Unsure About Dwight's Future

English: Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers during a shootaround before a game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, New York City. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Kobe Bryant has made it clear that the culture of the Los Angeles Lakers and his personal leadership style will not change despite the presence of Dwight Howard.

"It's a matter of learning (for Howard)," Bryant said. "What I try to tell him is that it's not necessarily about what you (want), how you are as a person, or what's comfortable for you. It's really about what's going to help elevate us.

"So for us to have a team that's confrontational and on edge brings out the competitive spirit of everybody else, you know what I'm saying? If everybody is just relaxed and happy go lucky and this that and the other, then that's the personality we'll have as a team. And then you run into a team that's a confrontational team, and it's like a bus."

Bryant was asked if he still believes he can win a title with Howard.

"Yeah, for sure."

"It's a process for him," Bryant said. "He wants to be one of the greats of all time, and to do that you have to learn from the greats of all time – be it Bill Russell, be it Shaq. I mean Shaq was a moody, temperamental dude. So if you watch all the big men who have come before, you start to see a common denominator.

"Wilt (Chamberlain), God bless him, was phenomenal, but he didn't have (the same edge). Russell and (those) guys win repetitive – (Michael) Jordan, Magic (Johnson), myself. You've got a little (expletive) in you. I want (Howard) to be great, so I'm trying to push him."

Bryant insists Howard remains part of the Lakers' future.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/225801/Kobe_Unsure_About_Dwights_Future_Commits_To_Helping_Him_As_Long_As_Hes_Here

Sunday, January 20, 2013

NBA News 2013: Lakers’ Dwight Howard Unhappy?

Washington Wizards v/s Orlando Magic February 4, 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There have been numerous reports of unhappiness between Dwight Howard and Laker star Kobe Bryant, although both have tried to defuse that idea in their own way.

However, with the NBA Trade Deadline roughly a month away, there is a sense of uneasiness surrounding Howard’s future.

For Howard’s part his camp says he is happy and content in LA with the Lakers and he’ll likely re-sign there as soon as he is able.

If that’s genuinely true, he’s done a terrible job conveying that to the Lakers because while publicly they are talking up their confidence in keeping Howard long-term, there is still a sense that until he’s signed on the dotting line, Howard is just too unpredictable to bank on

http://www.hoopsworld.com/lakers-dwight-howard-unhappy/

Sunday, January 13, 2013

NBA News 2013: Lakers’ Kobe Bryant and wife, Vanessa, reconcile

English: Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lakers All-Star Kobe Bryant and his wife, Vanessa, have announced a reconciliation that will put an end to divorce proceedings that began in Dec. 2011.

Vanessa Bryant made the development official on her Instagram account.

“We are pleased to announce that we have reconciled,” she wrote. “Our divorce action will be dismissed. We are looking forward to our future together.”

The note was signed “Kobe & Vanessa.”

The couple has been married for more than 11 years and has two daughters. The Associated Press reported on Dec. 16, 2011, that Vanessa Bryant filed divorce papers in California, citing “irreconcilable differences.” In June 2012, TMZ.com reported that the couple was working on a reconciliation.

Bryant, 34, is in his 17th season with the Lakers. He’s earned more than $221 million in NBA salary over his career and is making $27.8 million this season. The highest-paid player in the NBA, Bryant will make $30.5 million next season, the final year of his current contract. Bryant also takes in an estimated $28 million in endorsements annually, making him the fourth highest earning athlete in 2012 — behind Floyd Mayweather, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods — and the top-earning NBA player, according to SI.com’s Michael McKnight. Reports indicated last year that a divorce could have cost Bryant as much as $75 million.

Last week, Bryant finally joined Twitter. He used the social networking service to share photographs of his wife and daughters over the holiday season using the @NikeBasketball account.

http://nba.si.com/2013/01/11/kobe-bryant-vanessa-bryant-no-divorce/

Thursday, January 3, 2013

NBA News 2013: Chris Paul doesn't focus on the what ifs

Los Angeles Clippers vs. Dallas Mavericks (Photo credit: sarahr691)

The what-might-have-beens don't enter Chris Paul's mind anymore.

As his Clippers prepare for the latest Los Angeles turf war on Friday night at Staples Center against the Lakers team to which he was almost traded back in December of 2011, the point guard who has transformed one of the worst organizations in professional sports into a legitimate title contender wouldn't have it any other way.

"Never, ever – ever, ever," he told USA TODAY Sports emphatically on Wednesday night when asked how often he wonders what life with the Lakers might have been like before commissioner David Stern vetoed the deal with New Orleans back then for those infamous "basketball reasons." "

And why would he?

Even with the Clippers' losses at Denver and Golden State that followed their franchise-record 17-game winning streak, they have the league's second-best record (25-8) and are nine games ahead of this Lakers team that so many expected to dominate this season. And while Kobe Bryant responded to the latest Lakers loss by declaring that age was to blame for their woes – "We're old as (expletive)," he told reporters after they fell to Philadelphia on Tuesday night – Paul has continued this improbable push to turn the Clippers into champions.

"You can't back up any talk in January or December or nothing like that," Paul said of the matchup with the Lakers.

The game itself will come with some consequence, though, even if Clippers forward Blake Griffin said it was "just like any other game." The Clippers, who beat the Lakers without Steve Nash on Nov. 2, don't want to lose a third game in a row. The Lakers, whose fans so often point to the title count between the two organizations (16 to zero) as their ultimate defense, need a win like this to keep momentum moving forward after winning six of their last eight games.

"It's a big deal for us," said reserve small forward Lamar Odom, the longtime Laker who was traded to the Clippers during the summer. "What's most fun is to be here and to really see the change in (expectations), as far people expecting us to come out and play at a high level. That's fun."

Said reserve small forward Matt Barnes, who signed the Clippers in the summer after spending his last two seasons with the Lakers: "Any time you play an old team, and it's the talk of the town – Lakers-Clippers - it's going to be a fun one."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2013/01/03/los-angeles-lakers-vs-los-angeles-clippers-chris-paul/1807855/

Saturday, December 29, 2012

NBA 2012: Lakers see a difference in their game with Steve Nash

English: Bryant hangs from the rim after one of several slam dunks during the pre-season game, Tuesday night, at the University of Hawaii. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With the way Kobe Bryant was gushing about what it's like to play next to the great Steve Nash after the Los Angeles Lakers 100-94 win vs. the New York Knicks on Tuesday, it was natural to wonder if Bryant ever caught himself watching his fellow future Hall of Famer with admiration.

"I ain't watching (expletive)," Bryant said with a laugh as he sat at his locker. "I'm looking to get open."

It's only two games with Nash and the Lakers at full strength, but what a difference a two-time MVP makes. Nash, who returned to hit a game-winner at Golden State on Saturday after being out since Oct. 31 with a left leg injury, followed up that 12-point, nine-assist outing with a 16-point, 11-assist effort in which his poise and presence were major factors late against the Knicks. One thing is clear already: Nash changes everything for Bryant and his teammates.

After so many years spent either being asked to carry too much of the offensive load or doing it of his own, Bryant finds himself with luxuries he has never had before. The options are many, chief among them a pick-and-roll with Nash and center Dwight Howard that has Bryant often left alone – no typo there – on the wing. And that, far more than a five-game winning streak that won't mean much if this season goes South again, is the part that should still scare Lakers' foes the league over.

"I get a rebound (and) I'm looking for him, running the floor," Bryant explained afterward. "If he's penetrating or whatever, I'm looking for an angle to back-cut somebody, or coming off a screen, I'm always just looking for crevices to get open because I know he'll find you."

For all the attention paid to the Bryant-Howard pairing and all its similarities to the Bryant-Shaquille O'Neal days of old, Bryant-Nash is where it starts for the Lakers.

"It's like (Michael) Jordan having (John) Stockton, or (Scottie) Pippen, (a player who) can facilitate and allows him to do what he does. I haven't had that throughout my career," Bryant said. "I've played with some great off-guards like (Derek) Fisher and (Ron) Harper and so forth, but I've never played with a point guard of his caliber that can manipulate the defense and put you in positions to be successful and organize the floor. It's great."

Nash helped stave off a late Knicks run with a stepback jumper with 1:47 remaining that put the Lakers up 96-91 and would turn out to be enough. He missed a floater in the lane with 1:11 remaining that was followed by a J.R. Smith three-pointer which cut the Lakers' lead to 96-94, but the Knicks got no closer from there. After tallying a season-high 31 assists against the Warriors, the Lakers had 22 against the Knicks. For the season, they rank 20th in the league with an average of 20.9 per game.

"It allows me to do what I do naturally, which is put the ball in the hole," Bryant said. "At the end of the games, I've had to bring the ball up, initiate the action, get it back, then look to score. Now you put me in a position where I can put a lot of pressure on a defense because I'm in a striking position. So now when Dwight's rolling to the rim or Pau (Gasol) is rolling to the rim, I'm on that backside and they've got to make a choice...It just puts everybody in the positions to do what they do best. He's the best at organizing offense. I'm the best at scoring. Dwight does what he does. Pau does what he does. He just fits."

While wins vs. the Washington Wizards, Philadelphia 76ers, Charlotte Bobcats and Golden State Warriors had certainly been steps in the right direction for the Lakers, this was easily their most impressive win thus far. The Knicks (20-8) not only entered with the league's fourth-best record but with a need for a win after dropping two of their last four.

"It gives you a chance to win every night," Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said of Nash. "It keeps your energy up and calms everybody down.

"Everybody is getting the ball and getting into the flow. It feeds and it builds. Just like a snowball, it keeps getting bigger."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/lakers/2012/12/25/los-angeles-lakers-new-york-knicks-kobe-bryant-steve-nash/1791187/

Thursday, December 27, 2012

NBA News 2012: Jerry West: 'I've never worked a day in my life'

Jerry West ( NBA Logo) (Photo credit: prayitno)

Jerry West was one of the greatest Lakers of all time, helping the franchise win its first title in Los Angeles in 1972.

West was the team's general manager who brought Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant together in 1996. Now he's with the Golden State Warriors with an ownership stake and a team that is suddenly looking like a playoff contender.

Speaking to Investor's Business Daily, West said of his love of basketball: "I've never worked a day in my life."

Of course the opposite is true, even if his line of work represents a lifelong individual passion.

"You need lofty goals," said West. "Then cement it with a great work ethic."

West was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1979. His likeness can be seen in the NBA logo.

"I've always been someone who has been very driven," West said. "I think my circumstances, how I grew up, hard work and work ethic are absolutely vital to any success that people might have regardless of what they might be doing."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/lakersnow/la-sp-ln-jerry-west-never-worked-a-day-20121224,0,7592876.story

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

NBA News 2012: Rediscovering Pau Gasol

Pau Gasol (Photo credit: Keith Allison)

Perhaps the key question this year for the Lakers is whether or not Pau Gasol can fit into Coach Mike D'Antoni's system and play alongside fellow big man Dwight Howard.

Gasol's best years were alongside Lamar Odom but Gasol has gradually been pushed further and further from the basket with the emergence of Andrew Bynum (and now Howard).

In the Lakers' 118-115 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night, the first game under D'Antoni with Steve Nash in the lineup, the team went often to Gasol in the high post. The forward/center would watch for cutting players, looking first for the pass and then the shot (six assists total).

"It feels good. From the elbow, from the post, there's some movement. There's some action," said Gasol. "I will try to find the open guy and get easy looks from those positions."

It's a role similar to the one Chris Webber played in Sacramento when paired with center Vlade Divac. With Howard more likely to be in the low post, it could be the way D'Antoni gets the most out of Gasol.

"That's a way," said Gasol. "It's a good way for us to have good spacing, to have movement and to find easy looks or good looks at least on offense."

Kobe Bryant is confident in Gasol helping to quarterback the offense.

"Oh, he's great at it. He's the best big in the league at it," said Bryant. "We run the offense through him a lot and he makes plays for a lot of people, makes a lot of guys better because of that. Dwight can feast off of that."

Gasol looked uncomfortable earlier in the season. Some of that had to do with tendinitis in both knees but he was admittedly searching in his initial role, trying to play as a stretch four. It's still a work in progress but some rest (and the return of Nash) may help rejuvenate Gasol's season.

D'Antoni was happy with how his offense ran late in the game against the Warriors, despite Howard's foul trouble.

"A little bit better, better, much better," said D'Antoni. "We're going to have some bumps. We're still not there. We're running better. Again, Steve's the best at running any offense you can design. It had to get better."

Bryant said he's happy to shift to a role of scorer/finisher instead of the team's primary offensive initiator, a role he had to take on while Nash sat out seven weeks with a leg injury.

"You saw me and Steve in the last game, I just slid right off the ball and let Steve do what he does best," said Bryant.

The Lakers have resisted the urge to trade Gasol, instead opting to give this team's core a chance to prove itself. Nash is another fan of what Gasol brings to the floor.

"I think that's something that should become a huge part of our team," said Nash of Gasol's play in the high post. "His size, his ability to pass and shoot should be deadly in the elbows and at the foul lines. Hopefully we can find a rhythm and timing together where he can really exploit that position where he's catching the ball with people trying to recover to him."

So far much of the Lakers' 13-14 record was the result playing through injuries. Now that the team is nearer to full strength, D'Antoni has the opportunity to mix together a talented squad of players.

It's still not clear if the Lakers have the perfect combination of players. Gasol is still playing far from the basket and will be relied on to hit jump shots instead of playing in the low post.

Defensively the Lakers have size but lack in speed and quickness, even if Howard is far more agile than Bynum ever was. D'Antoni is still searching for a rotation to offset the team's flaws.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/lakersnow/la-sp-ln-lakers-rediscovering-pau-gasol-20121225,0,1630300.story

Sunday, December 23, 2012

NBA News 2012: Is the Lakers biggest problem really Kobe Bryant? No.

Kobe Bryant (Photo credit: Boixoesnois)

While Steve Nash and Pau Gasol were out, Kobe Bryant has carried the Lakers. He is leading the league with 29.5 points per game, scoring more points per game than he has since before Pau Gasol arrived as a Laker. Back when Kobe had to carry Kwame Brown and Smush Parker (remember they both started).

But the Lakers have struggled to a 12-14 record — and that is after a three game win streak.

It has led some people to say, “Kobe Bryant is shooting too much.” He is back to being a ball hog and that is what is holding the Lakers back.

I think those people are wrong — Kobe is playing as many minutes but taking fewer shots per game than either of the Lakers most recent title years. With Nash out, the playmaking has to fall to him because you can’t let Chris Duhon do it. But that is different than being an inefficient gunner.

Still you hear it — “Kobe is shooting too much.” And it’s not just fans. This is an assistant coach from another team, speaking to Chris Broussard if ESPN (the story is behind their pay wall).

Thing is, who else on that roster (with Nash out) do you want to handle the ball? Darius Morris?

I think this scout hits the nail more on the head.

“Watching the Lakers play the Knicks this year was hard to watch because the other Lakers were just so bad. It was like Kobe was trying to do all he could just to keep that game close. And hey, if Dwight’s not going to try his butt off and if other guys aren’t going to try their butts off, then I’m going to give the ball to the guy that’s going to go for it, and that’s Kobe. I don’t think it’s that Kobe doesn’t trust his teammates; it’s just that he trusts himself more. A questionable shot by him still might be better than a good look for one of those other guys.

That has always been Kobe — he trusts himself to make plays more than he trusts anyone. If other guys are not knocking down shots early he will do it. The only question was always was he hitting shots and efficient or was he a gunner? This season has been his most efficient in a long, long time.

But it is no different than Kobe from any of the Lakers title years, particularly the most recent. He is who he is.

Let’s see what Kobe and the Lakers look like with Steve Nash in the lineup, then we can discuss what needs to change. But through it all, Kobe is not.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/12/19/is-the-lakers-biggest-problem-really-kobe-bryant-no/

Saturday, December 22, 2012

NBA News 2012: Nash explains the Lakers' struggles in D'Antoni's system

Pau Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers, Spain (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For weeks everybody but Steve Nash has had a say on how he will change things for the Los Angeles Lakers once he finally returns from a broken left leg.

How will he make Pau Gasol better? How will he make Mike D'Antoni's offense flow? How will he ease the burden on Kobe Bryant?

Fixing just one of these issues would help tremendously because while he's been out, it's been hard to even find where to start diagnosing exactly what ails the Lakers.

But with his return now in sight, potentially as early as Saturday against the Golden State Warriors, Nash has opened up a little about what he's seen while watching the Lakers play these past six weeks without him.

Hint: It hasn't been a pretty sight.

"We got in a rut there where we lost our confidence and we weren't playing with any fire or spirit or energy," Nash said Tuesday morning. "We weren't a proactive team defensively and our defense slipped. But when you're going through this transition with a new coach and new players and no training camp, we get a little down when we didn't play well and I think we lost our energy defensively."

At the offensive end it hasn't been much prettier. D'Antoni often speaks about looking for "energy" on offense, that if his system is being run correctly, the ball should move freely and find the natural weaknesses in the defense. His tone is usually philosophical, like he's speaking in a language only he is fluent in right now.

Tuesday Nash expounded on all that, and offered what is quite simply the best explanation I've heard for how and why the Lakers have struggled to implement and adjust to D'Antoni's system so far.

"The wings have to get to the corner to create space," Nash said. "The bigs have to run their man to create separation, and when they can get out quickly to create separation, when they can get a piece of their guy and get out quickly to the basket and when we create an advantage and that point guard is guarded by the big, then the flow opens up.

"But if we don't get any separation from our men, we don't set good picks, and we don't get off the pick quickly, then they can just slide through and cover us and we're back to 5-on-5.

"I think that's a dangerous position for our team because we don't create easy shots for each other and we have to take long, guarded shots which ends up killing our defense because then they run out on them. We need to get it going downhill a little bit, open up their defense and make them scramble a little bit to make room for our bigs down low and our point guards."

Yeah, there's a reason D'Antoni's been jonesing to get this guy back.

http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/lakers/post/_/id/35095/nash-explains-the-lakers-struggles-in-dantonis-system

Friday, December 21, 2012

NBA News 2012: Lakers' future hinges on Howard

English: Los Angeles Lakers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with Boston Celtics Robert Parish and Kevin McHale late 1980s (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Decade after decade, generation after generation, there have always been certain things Los Angeles Lakers fans could count on. They know their ownership is trying to win, win now and win big. And as 16 championship banners will attest, the franchise knows how to get there, and money will not be an obstacle.

The Lakers have risen and fallen during the Kobe Bryant years, as almost any franchise will do over the course of 17 seasons. But you can judge a franchise by its peaks and valleys. For Los Angeles, that's meant five more titles at the apex, and a floor of a single sub-.500, non-playoff season. In terms of their association with sustained, high-level team success, the only peers Bryant has in contemporary professional sports are Derek Jeter in baseball and perhaps Tom Brady in the NFL.

Now 34, Bryant has spent half of his natural life in a Lakers uniform and 17 years into his career he's carrying as heavy a load as ever, and doing it well. Despite the early struggles of his controversy-plagued team, Bryant leads the NBA with a 29.5 scoring average that only begins to tell his story.

Bryant's PER is the highest it's been in five seasons and is at a level he's reached in just three other seasons. He's putting up a career-best .602 true shooting percentage while using a third of the Lakers' possessions, and he's doing it while playing the most minutes in the league. It's a level of volume and efficiency that few players ever reach, and he's doing it after 17 years of pounding up and down the hardwood.

Current evidence to the contrary, Bryant can't keep going like this forever, not at this level. Oh, he can probably play for a long time to come if he wants to just exist or to chase Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's career scoring record, but as he eventually enters his mid-30s, it's impossible to imagine Bryant easing into an elder-statesman, glue-player role like Jason Kidd has filled in recent seasons. And then there is the specter of Michael Jordan in a Wizards uniform to serve as a cautionary tale. No, when Kobe can no longer be Kobe, he'll walk away. He's suggested that will be the case.

The Lakers' story this season really centers around Bryant. One title short of matching Michael Jordan, he's the one with the most at stake if the Lakers' season doesn't turn around.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8758641/nba-kobe-bryant-sake-lakers-make-work-dwight-howard

Thursday, December 20, 2012

NBA News 2012: Kobe's ego is Lakers' big problem

Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers drives to the basket against the Washington Wizards in Washington, D.C., USA on February 3, 2007 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The return of Pau Gasol and Steve Nash to the lineup is likely to mask most, if not all, the symptoms afflicting the underachieving Los Angeles Lakers. But the perennial all-stars will do nothing to address the disease lurking deep inside the foundation of the Lakers, the malady that will prevent the high-priced collection of veterans from getting past the Thunder, Spurs or even the Grizzlies come playoff time.

The disease isn’t bungling, overmatched executive vice president Jim Buss. It’s not bungling, overmatched coach Mike D’Antoni.

The root cause of the Lakers’ dysfunction has been consistent for 15 years. It is Kobe Bryant’s ego, his desperate pursuit of Michael Jordan’s legacy. L.A.’s Dwight Howard experiment is going to explode and implode in spectacular fashion unless someone in the Lakers organization is bold enough to kill Kobe’s Michael Jordan avatar so that Howard’s Bill Russell avatar can emerge and lead the Lakers.

You follow?

The wrong player is driving the Lakers. Dwight Howard is the second-most talented player in the league. He’s the single-most gifted defensive player the NBA has seen since Bill Russell. On a properly functioning, championship-chasing team, Howard cannot be a sidekick, a No. 2, Scottie Pippen. Can’t happen. The Heat tried it with LeBron James in Year 1 of the Big Three, and we know how that ended. Dwyane Wade is an awesome basketball player and a terrific leader, but he had to surrender the soul of the Heat to LeBron in order for the Heat to win a title.

Kobe has to let go and let D12. Has to.

Kobe has to accept that he is not the 34-year-old Michael Jordan. You see, at 34 Jordan was taking his final victory lap in Chicago, completing his second three-peat, securing his sixth title, winning his fifth MVP award and 10th scoring title. Kobe wants to duplicate that feat. He’s putting up MVP-like numbers. He leads the league in scoring. He’s shooting a career-high 47.8 percent from the field. He’s averaging five rebounds and five assists. He’s knocking down 38 percent of his 3-pointers. Oh, the numbers look great. The results? The Lakers stink.

You can blame that on the injuries to Gasol and Nash. You can blame it on the incompetence of D’Antoni.

I blame Kobe. He’s the guy stopping Howard from eating. Kobe is the guy giving Howard room to lose himself in his immaturity and hide. Here’s what Kobe has never understood about the Los Angeles Lakers. It’s an organization built to house and nurture giants. From George Mikan to Wilt Chamberlain to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Shaquille O’Neal, the Lakers function best when the once-in-a-generation big man the organization acquires is allowed to be the man of the house.

Kobe emasculates his big men. Andrew Bynum politely admitted this week that Kobe stunted his growth.

“I think Dwight is a great player, but he’s going to have to get accustomed to playing with Kobe and not touching the ball every single play,” Bynum said.

The problem is deeper than touches. It’s a mentality that a big man must have in order to lead his team. Dwight Howard must enter every NBA arena with this mindset: “If I don’t hunt and kill, no one eats tonight.”

That’s Kobe’s mindset. But at 34, having played 1,186 regular-season games and 220 playoff games, Kobe doesn’t hunt and kill as effectively as Howard. Kobe isn’t the same as a 34-year-old Jordan. At this stage in his career, Jordan had played 873 regular-season games and 158 playoff games. Jordan was still a force of nature. Don’t get fooled by Kobe’s numbers. He’s not Kevin Durant or Carmelo Anthony, and Kobe damn sure isn’t LeBron James.

James, Durant and Melo can impose their will on the opposition. Over the course of a seven-game playoff series, they can mentally bludgeon an opponent into submission. We saw James do it to the Pacers and the Celtics in last year’s playoffs. Kobe is smart. He can be efficient. But he’s trying too hard right now. That’s why he leads the league in turnovers with 97. Kobe’s days of imposing his will in a playoff series are over. Howard’s days should just be beginning.

But Kobe’s ego is in the way. Howard can’t be the man of the house with Kobe sitting at the head of the table eating the biggest plate of food. As long as everything revolves around Kobe, as long as Kobe is on TV sitting across from Stephen A. Smith speaking in hushed, dark tones about the state of the Lakers, Howard gets to hide, gets to feel like the Lakers family can eat regardless of whether he chooses to hunt or not.

Kobe needs to fall back. He’s Dr. J right now and he needs to let Dwight Howard be Moses Malone. That does not mean turn the offense over to Howard. It means building a strategy and philosophy that revolves around Howard’s many gifts, which are mostly at the defensive end (and make the hiring of D’Antoni even more ridiculous). It means forcing Howard to mentally and verbally take full responsibility for the success of the team.

Howard is immature. We know that. We watched him in Orlando. Put some pressure on his ass. Make Howard explain why this team is underachieving.

I know this column will appear to many as hatred of Kobe. I don’t hate Kobe. He’s a wonderful player and terrific competitor. He simply has to make the mental adjustment that Dwyane Wade made last season. Come May and June, the Lakers are going as far as Dwight Howard can take them. Nash and Gasol might help the Lakers recover and get into the playoffs. And Kobe is certainly capable of continuing to put up big numbers.

But the Lakers are not winning a title if their second-best player continues to stunt the growth of their best player.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/kobe-bryant-ego-hampers-dwight-hoard-los-angeles-lakers-downfall-121812

Monday, December 17, 2012

NBA News 2012: Point Guard Defense

English: Maurice Williams playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Over the past few years, there has been a growing sentiment that defense at the point guard position is of inconsequential importance in the game today.

Proponents of this view point to the plethora of explosive point guards in the NBA today that are bigger, more athletic, and more scoring oriented than those of the past. However, the fact that many modern day point guards can score with ease does not mean that defending the position is no longer important. Talented scorers should highlight the importance of defending rather than diminishing it. Rather than conceding 15-20 points a game, opposing coaches make them work for it, hoping to use various defenders and schemes to force tough shots, and ultimately low conversion rates.

A more popular view is that having a great shot blocking help defender such as Dwight Howard negates the detriment of having a poor defender at the point guard position. This assumption is founded on a very specific situation: the opposing point guard blows by the defensive player, and the center on the defensive end rotates to help and effectively prevent the point guard from scoring.

Although athleticism and timely help defense may be able to prevent the attacking point guard from scoring, getting beat off of the dribble at the top of the key will ultimately result in a 2 on 1 advantage for the team on offense, often leading to a basket.

A perfect example of this is the Los Angeles Clippers. Sure, whenever Chris Paul drives past his defender, opposing post players are able to rotate over to defend him and “negate” the fact that their point guard had just gotten beat. As such, Paul might not score, but that defensive slide from one of the post players to stop Paul leaves a single post player to deal with both Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, enabling the many highlight dunks in Lob City.

More importantly, if the defenders choose to stick with Griffin and Jordan, then they concede an easy lay-in for Paul. The significance of this is that no matter how the defensive post players choose to play the situation, they are in a compromising defensive situation; one that they would be in less frequently if their point guard could contain the opposing one with limited help.

In addition, defending a point guard does not begin and end with beeline drives to the basket from the top of the key initiating basic defensive rotations. Point guards can attack in numerous ways, the most popular method being through the pick and roll or one of its variations.

A recent game between the Utah Jazz and the struggling Los Angeles Lakers served as an example highlighting the vulnerability of a team that has weak point guard play on the defensive end. In the last few minutes of the 4th quarter, the Jazz held a fair lead on the Lakers. Despite an efficient offensive effort from Kobe Bryant, his team failed to close the gap because they couldn’t stop a very simple but effective Utah attack.

Each Jazz possession would begin with Mo Williams choosing a side of the court then calling for a screen. Williams would attack the pick aggressively, forcing Howard to guard Williams while Duhon recovered. Despite Howard’s best attempts, this brief moment was more than enough for Williams to hit either Al Jefferson or Paul Millsap for a low difficulty jumper or lay in. If Bryant or World Peace chose to help instead, Williams hit Hayward or Foye for an open look.

In short, poor defense at the point guard position forced the Lakers into compromising defensive situations where the goal was no longer preventing a good look for the Jazz, but delaying it. What this situation reveals is that no matter how athletic and talented of a help defender a team has, it is not enough to overcome a numerical disadvantage in terms of defensive to offensive player ratios.

It seems that people often forget what the first word is in the phrase “help defense.” Yes, having a great defensive help defender in the post such as Dwight Howard is helpful, but help is not the same as prevent. Once a point guard gets beat, the team is at a numerical disadvantage, rotating to take away the immediate threat of a basket at the cost of conceding a later one. Once a team’s defense is compromised, a basket for the opposing team is likely.

As such, having a point guard that can at the least stay in front of his man and make it tough on defense is at the very least valuable in that it allows his team to play five-on-five defense, with one defender primarily responsible for only one offensive player. Is point guard defense the most important aspect on the defensive end of the game? Maybe, maybe not? However, is point guard defense irrelevant? Far from it. Just ask the Lakers.

http://basketball.realgm.com/article/225017/The_Reality_Of_Point_Guard_Defense

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