Lakers problem stem from Kobe Opposing GM/coach/scouts point toBryant for Lakers ills

[Hoiids]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story...oting-too-much

By Chris Broussard | ESPN the Magazine

What Kobe Bryant is doing this season is both phenomenal and unprecedented. No player in NBA history -- not Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, not Moses Malone, not Karl Malone, not any of the league's famed ironmen -- have come close to scoring like Bryant in his 17th professional season.

Heck, most greats -- guys like Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan and Jerry West -- didn't even play 17 seasons.

So for Bryant to be leading the league in scoring at a 29.5 ppg clip while shooting a career-high 47.7 percent from the floor is nothing short of incredible. Before Bryant, Abdul-Jabbar had been the gold standard for well-worn scorers, averaging 23.4 points in his 17th season. But Abdul-Jabbar, who was 38 during that season, was clearly not near his prime, averaging just 6.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks, well below his career averages of 11.2 and 2.6.

Bryant, while not the athlete he once was, is still producing at the same level he always has, posting 5.2 rebounds (5.3 is his career average), 5.0 assists (4.7 career) and 1.6 steals (1.5 career).

So it's very difficult to argue that Bryant is doing anything wrong in what, statistically at least, is one of his best seasons ever. And numbers never lie. But there are other numbers that say Bryant's offensive blitzkrieg is actually hurting the struggling Los Angeles Lakers more than helping them.

This season, the Lakers (12-14) are just 4-11 when Bryant takes 20 or more shots in a game. Yet, they are 8-3 when he shoots less than 20 times. And it's not necessarily because of the opposition.
With Bryant attempting fewer than 20 shots, the Lakers have beaten the Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets and Brooklyn Nets, all of whom have better records than the Lakers. The four teams Los Angeles has beaten with Kobe shooting 20 or more times? The bottom-dwelling Phoenix Suns, Washington Wizards, Philadelphia 76ers and Charlotte Bobcats, who have a combined record of 32-64 (.333). The eight teams the Lakers have beaten with Bryant taking less than 20 shots have a slightly better combined record of 87-112 (.437).

This trend intrigued me so I decided to go back even further, checking the numbers for the previous two seasons. The evidence was overwhelming: when Bryant shoots fewer than 20 times in a game, the Lakers are outstanding. When he shoots 20 or more times, they're only slightly above mediocre.

Last season, the Lakers were 26-19 when Bryant took 20 or more shots. That's a .578 winning percentage. Not bad. But they were 10-3 in the other games, a winning percentage of .769. In 2010-11, Phil Jackson's last season, the Lakers were 24-17 (.585) when Bryant shot 20 or more times and 33-8 (.805) when he took fewer shots.

So over the past three seasons, including 2012-13, the Lakers are 54-47 when Bryant shoots 20 times or more. To put it in perspective, that .535 winning percentage equates to a 44-38 record over 82 games. Over that same span, when Bryant takes less than 20 shots, the Lakers are 51-14 (.785), which would be a 64-18 mark in an 82-game season.

It seems pretty clear cut: the Lakers are better, and would be better this season, if Bryant shot less. At least that's what the statistics say.

But I didn't want to jump to conclusions simply based on the numbers, so I decided to call some of the league's basketball minds to get their take on the topic. I wanted to know whether Bryant needed to be reigned in, or whether he's simply shooting so much because the Lakers' roster is so limited and it's the only chance they have to stay in games.

I asked one general manager, an assistant coach and two scouts, all of whom work for teams that have played Bryant and the Lakers this season. Their views were strong:

The assistant coach says:

"Absolutely, Kobe's shooting too much. When we played them, we told our guys, 'Look, we don't necessarily want Kobe going for 50. I mean, we're going to guard him. But we're not going to double him, and we're not going to try to get the ball out of his hands.' Our main concerns were not to let [Antawn] Jamison hit a bunch of 3s and not to let Dwight [Howard] go crazy down low. There's no question they would be a better team if Kobe shot less. Why do you think [Pau] Gasol struggles? He's going to struggle in any offense where he doesn't touch it.

"At the end of the day, it has nothing to do with [Mike] D'Antoni and his system. It's all about what Kobe will allow to happen. When you play the Lakers, it's like they don't have a system. It's whatever Kobe chooses it to be. If he wants to take all the shots, he'll do that. He'll pacify his teammates early in the game, but then he'll throw up a heat check and if he's got it going, nobody else touches the ball. And then the other team benefits because the other Lakers won't defend as hard and they won't be engaged because they're not a part of the game on the offensive end. Kobe has to trust you, and it looks like he thinks most of his guys aren't trustworthy yet.

"The problem between Kobe and Dwight is that you can't have Dwight on the floor in the fourth quarter, so how can you play through him. In Kobe's mind, that's why he doesn't pass the ball to Dwight. But the Lakers really need to sit down with Kobe and say, 'At this stage, this is what's best for the Lakers. We've got to play through our bigs.'
"Memphis is the best high-low team in the league with Marc Gasol and [Zach] Randolph. The Lakers could play that way with Dwight and Pau, but with Kobe shooting 28 times that's not going to happen. That could definitely work, but the key is getting Kobe to sign off on it. The thing bout this league is that every team is known for something. When you play the Lakers, you don't worry about stopping Kobe. You just make sure those other four guys don't have career nights because you can beat the Lakers with Kobe scoring 34, 35 points. Your biggest worry is if Kobe scores 25 points and has 8 assists and then Dwight has 20 points and 16 rebounds and Pau has 18 and 11 and Nash scores 16 with 10 assists.''

The scout says:

"One thing our coach always says is, 'Kobe's probably going to get his 28 points, but let's make sure it's on 28 shots and not 16 shots.' I would like to look at some box scores in detail to see if the Lakers are down in the fourth quarter and Kobe starts shooting a lot to lift them to a come back, or to see whether he was he getting to the foul line a lot in those other games where he didn't have as many field goal attempts.

"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. To me, they look disinterested.

"There's no chemistry. They're not pulling for one another. They're just a collection of individual talent that happens to be in the same place wearing the same uniforms. They look listless. Not Kobe, though.''

The general manager says:

"Everyone thinks the problem is everybody else but to me, the problem is Kobe. Take a look at Andrew Bynum's quotes the other day, where he said Kobe stunted his growth. He didn't like playing with Kobe.

"And Pau? Pau's a really nice guy and Kobe just walks all over him. On the one hand, it's good for Pau because it helps make him tougher but overall, I think it hurts his game. Kobe can smack Pau upside the head and Pau will still go back to him and say, 'Yes sir.' He's just too nice of a guy. But Pau can play. They won a few championships with him, so this notion that Kobe doesn't have anyone to play with and that he has to take all these shots is just wrong. Go back to the Oklahoma City series. Everybody blamed it on Pau and Bynum, but to me, it was more Kobe's fault.

And we know what kind of a player Dwight is. He's not at his best because he's coming off the back injury and because of the system D'Antoni's running, but it's obvious to me that Kobe doesn't trust him. And I'm not so sure he likes the way Dwight jokes around so much.''

Another scout says:

"That's been debated a lot -- whether Kobe is shooting too much. It's hard to argue against that if they're 8-3 when he doesn't shoot it 20 times. But I'd have to look at each game and study the game situations to really come to a conclusion. I don't think he's purposely hogging the ball or doing things selfishly to keep the team from winning. He's not trying to do anything to hurt the team. If he is shooting too much, it's only because he thinks that's what he has to do for the Lakers to win.

"My gut reaction is to say that Kobe does not need to shoot less. He's a top 5 player in the league, he's leading the league in scoring and he's shooting a good percentage. That's a big key - he's shooting a high percentage. It'd be one thing if he was forcing up shots and shooting poorly. But I will say this, when you have as much talent as they do, you shouldn't have to shoot it as much as Kobe has been.''

[Droid101]

The problem is defense.

/thread

[Heavincent]

Stopped reading at Chris Broussard.

[9erempiree]

My Kobe threads gets deleted for this crap?

[Dictator]

You people don't watch the games and jack-off to box scores and stats.

The reason Kobe takes less shots in wins is because the team is playing well.

The reason he takes more shots in losses is because he's trying to keep the team in the game.

[Heavincent]

I'm so tired of dumb btches who don't watch the games and jack-off to box scores and stats.

The reason Kobe takes less shots in wins is because the team is playing well.

The reason he takes more shots in losses is because he's trying to keep the team in the game.

That's just crazy talk.

[chazzy]

Another victim of that arbitrary stat

The Lakers now have the FIFTH BEST OFFENSE in the league, and are ranked 19TH on defense.

[longtime lurker]

Well the thread title is nice and misleading since the article doesn't come close to anything definative. Great job douchebag.

[tpols]

You people don't watch the games and jack-off to box scores and stats.

The reason Kobe takes less shots in wins is because the team is playing well.

The reason he takes more shots in losses is because he's trying to keep the team in the game.

It can't be.

[Yao Ming's Foot]

Zach Randolph 22.6 Usage %
Marc Gasol 18.3 Usage %

Dwight Howard 23.0 Usage %
Pau Gasol 19.2 Usage %


Somehow the Memphis bigs are able to do their job and play the best defense in the league even though they are getting demoralized by even fewer offensive scoring opportunities than the Lakers duo.

[scm5]

You people don't watch the games and jack-off to box scores and stats.

The reason Kobe takes less shots in wins is because the team is playing well.

The reason he takes more shots in losses is because he's trying to keep the team in the game.

+1.

Haters will say otherwise, of course.

Watching the games, Kobe at the beginning of the season only took good looks. He never forced anything, scored 30 still, but super efficiently.

Guess what happened? We lost.

Then, we have games like against the Knicks where they just go off because of our shitty defense and we have to catch up. Other players aren't hitting shots... Kobe needs to take over and he tries to and almost gets the Lakers back in the game.

[outbreak]

Saw Chris Broussard, stopped reading.
This guys gotta be the worst sports reporter in history doesn't he? So many stupid trade rumours that he claims are 100% guaranteed that never go through. Every day a new rumour. All his opinions are usually flawed as well.

[DatAsh]

+1.

Haters will say otherwise, of course.

Watching the games, Kobe at the beginning of the season only took good looks. He never forced anything, scored 30 still, but super efficiently.

Guess what happened? We lost.

Not entirely true. They started off 8-8 with him averaging just 18 FGA per game. There 4-6 since then with him averaging 25 FGA per game. He should definitely be the first option, but I do think he needs to tone it down a bit and work a bit harder to get the other guys involved - like he was at the beginning of the season. In my opinion, the Lakers should be aiming for ~18 efficient shots per game from Kobe; 25 is just too much for the talent they have.

[Droid101]

Zach Randolph 22.6 Usage %
Marc Gasol 18.3 Usage %

Dwight Howard 23.0 Usage %
Pau Gasol 19.2 Usage %


Somehow the Memphis bigs are able to do their job and play the best defense in the league even though they are getting demoralized by even fewer offensive scoring opportunities than the Lakers duo.

Headshot.

[Rake2204]

It was interesting to hear the individual takes from various scouts, coaches, and GM's. I liked that some of them had theories, but were very quick to say, "Well, I'd have to take a closer look at each game individually in order to really know" when discussing those win-loss statistics attached to Kobe's numbers. It's nice to know not everyone is susceptible to hearing a stat like Kobe's shot total vs. win total correlation and assume they must absolutely go hand in hand.

Further, it was interesting to hear some coach's gameplans for facing L.A. - i.e. let Kobe sort of get his but concentrate more on limiting everyone else.

Lastly, I obviously don't take this quote as absolute truth in this specific instance, but I do find it to be profound in a general basketball sense:

When you play the Lakers, it's like they don't have a system. It's whatever Kobe chooses it to be. If he wants to take all the shots, he'll do that. He'll pacify his teammates early in the game, but then he'll throw up a heat check and if he's got it going, nobody else touches the ball. And then the other team benefits because the other Lakers won't defend as hard and they won't be engaged because they're not a part of the game on the offensive end.

I think it can be argued that quote is not accurate about the Lakers, but I've certainly observed and been a part of such scenarios throughout my basketball career. I've played with guys who were far and away the #1 option for our team so in one sense, it was hard to argue against him shooting every trip down the floor, but in terms of creating cohesion and bringing about the absolute best from everyone on the floor, that type of play can be counterproductive.

It's easier than many believe for teammates to lose a sense of purpose when they're left out of the offense for a long enough period of time. And even for those who try to stay as keyed in as possible, the flow of their own game often suffers when their offensive opportunities disappear into one guy's pocket.

Again, I'm not saying that's what I see in L.A. (I have not watched enough Lakers games to know), I just meant as a general basketball theme. I think it's also worth noting that it goes beyond shot attempts. I've played with players who shot a lot, but it came within a sort of flow, or out of the offense, or in transition. That's not nearly as difficult to deal (in terms of remaining active) as someone who isolates frequently.