Comments on: NOW, A WARNING?!

By: MattMov

MattMov — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 07:36:13 +0000

Great post – couldn’t agree more. Completely proven true by tonight’s Laker win in Portland sans Kobe.

Odom, Artest and Shannon Brown all stepped up big time.

As far as Pau goes…still waiting for him to man-up like you say. He asks for more shots, but then even without Kobe he doesn’t find a way to assert himself (and don’t forget Bynum was limited to 10 minutes due to injury).

By: Colin

Colin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:46:01 +0000

Maybe its part of Phil’s coaching philosophy to let players figure it out on their own. Part of me thinks Phil probably does have a feeling Kobe may break down by the playoffs, and not winning the title might be the revelation Kobe needs.

We’re forgetting that, for everything that happened in the last two years, this is still Kobe we are talking about. His attitude hasn’t changed. He’s still doing things on his own terms. Having dealt with Kobe for about a decade, Phil knows he’s not going to get Kobe to sit. Kobe could be missing an arm, and he would still be playing.

Part of it is admirable. We bash a guy like Vince Carter for milking the smallest of injuries, so we should be praising Kobe for playing through all these issues. Then again, the other part of me is thinking his playing through all these injuries is stupid and unnecessary. But, like I said earlier, its Kobe. And Kobe is going to do what Kobe wants to do.

By: msk

msk — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:43:37 +0000

I agree Kobe should sit: given how tough he is and how fanatical about rehab and working out and all that, a few games off is probably enough. I’m not sure Phil should be blamed, though: Kobe probably insists on playing, and you have to pick your spots as a coach to bring the hammer down, with your superstar.

By: KneeJerkNBA

KneeJerkNBA — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:32:20 +0000

Calling out Pau seems misguided. He’s still a force on the block (and an All Star), he’s just not getting enough touches. Yes, Kobe’s shooting too much. That’s obvious if you watch the games. Lots of one-on-one at the end of shot clocks.

In terms of the importance of the regular season, Phil and Kobe both know how important home court is. Kobe won’t rest much, no matter how beat up he is.