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Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[quote=Kobe's defense of Westbrook throws off the Thunder's gameplan]
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP)—Russell Westbrook surely must have known Kobe Bryant was coming for him.
Westbrook already knows Bryant relishes big challenges much more than easy matchups, which sometimes bore him. Although Bryant is nursing a variety of minor injuries, he went into the pivotal Game 5 of their first-round playoff series demanding to guard Westbrook, a speedy point guard a decade younger and a whole lot faster than him.
[b]“That’s Kobe,” Westbrook said. “That’s who he is. That’s why he’s the best player in the league.”
Bryant harassed Westbrook into a 4-for-13 shooting performance with eight turnovers[/b] while the defending NBA champions reclaimed control with a 111-87 victory.
Just how did Kobe do it—on a sore knee, no less?
“By being a savvy old dog, I guess,” Bryant said with a grin masking a sarcastic snarl.
“We made adjustments and showed that we can handle what they have,” Bryant said Wednesday after his teammates went through a light workout in El Segundo.
Westbrook averaged 21.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.3 assists while making more than 55 percent of his shots in the first four games, catalyzing everything in the Thunder’s offense with breakneck drives to the hoop. [b]Westbrook still made his drives against Bryant, but they frequently were out-of-control slashes to the paint, resulting in extremely difficult layup attempts or awkward passes to surprised teammates, leading to his turnovers.
“Kobe had an impact on the game,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “The stat sheet does not show that. The guy was competing and set the tone defensively. He did a good job of guarding Russell to start the game. That kind of threw us off a little bit. Kobe is a great player. He found his way.”[/b]
Bryant wasn’t alone on defense, either: Ron Artest limited NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant’s clean looks at the basket, holding Durant to 17 points on 5-of-14 shooting. Although Artest acknowledges nobody can fully contain the lanky Durant’s unique skills, he credited Bryant’s defense for changing the Thunder’s offense.
“That’s the hardest we’ve played all year,” Artest said. [b]“I’m sure Westbrook will adjust. He came ready to play against us this year. Being a first-year playoff guy with so much energy, he probably wasn’t ready for Kobe.”[/b][/quote]
Source: [url]http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=ArhiX6YW0SGxR4RxxaBEUWC8vLYF?slug=ap-lakers-thunder[/url]
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
Haven't you heard? People on ISH think Kobe is a terrible defender.
:rolleyes:
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
It's amazing how Kobe finds a way to be effective even while injured.
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
9 pages by tommorow night....
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[QUOTE=Mr Clutch Melo]9 pages by tommorow night....[/QUOTE]
Tomorrow night. You severely underestimate ISH. 9 pages by 11 am (~9 hours from now).
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
westbrook and the okc coach are kobe homers. thats the only plausible explanation for the praise. [COLOR="White"]-kobehaters A-Z[/COLOR]
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
Kobe Bean Bryant Is A Beast!
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
Kobe when he isn't screwing around, is one of the better defenders in the league at his size and under.
But he does have that tendency to reach a bit too much, foul at the worst moments, and either overplay or totally ignore his man. Wish he could find the balance and play smart defense every game instead of every 5 or so games.
Still, 9 all-defensive team b(expletive)s.
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
Kobe's defense is impregnable. When he wants to, one of the sickest defenders in the L, for sure.
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
I love this kind of threads.
Let's say player A gets owned by player B, what do you want him to say?
Player A: [I]Player B did a great job on me, I couldn't do much, that's why he's the 3rd best player in the league![/I]
:rolleyes:
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[QUOTE=Juges8932]Kobe's defense is impregnable. When he wants to, one of the sickest defenders in the L, for sure.[/QUOTE]
He is a very good defender but his strategy of backing off and leveling guys out while playing the angles won't work against guys who trust their jumpshot. Then again, how many impact players trust their jumpshot these days? :roll:
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
Durant also called him the best player in the world but no....he's washed up :rolleyes:
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
Kobe does a good job defensively (with a lot of help from his big men) for one game against a guy who averaged 16.1 pts/41.8% FG this season and people act like he's the second coming of the messiah. Hysterical. :oldlol:
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[QUOTE=OldSchoolBBall]Kobe does a good job defensively (with a lot of help from his big men) for one game against a guy who averaged 16.1 pts/41.8% FG this season and people act like he's the second coming of the messiah. Hysterical. :oldlol:[/QUOTE]
true, he sucks.
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[QUOTE=Twiens]Durant also called him the best player in the world but no....he's washed up :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]
Fact is he hasn't been himself for a few months now.
Blame it on injuries, age or whatever you like, but his performance hasn't been that good.
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[QUOTE=YAWN]true, he sucks.[/QUOTE]
He doesn't suck (defensively), but to hear the reaction from Kobe fans the last couple of days you'd think he locked up prime KJ or CP3/Deron or something. :oldlol:
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[QUOTE=OldSchoolBBall]Kobe does a good job defensively (with a lot of help from his big men) for one game against a guy who averaged 16.1 pts/41.8% FG this season and people act like he's the second coming of the messiah. Hysterical. :oldlol:[/QUOTE]
westbrook's opinion> man in new york sitting in his michael jordan pajamas posting in the middle of the night
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[QUOTE=OldSchoolBBall]He doesn't suck (defensively), but to hear the reaction from Kobe fans the last couple of days you'd think he locked up prime KJ or CP3/Deron or something. :oldlol:[/QUOTE]
But Westbrook has been a beast. He's reaching elite level PG caliber play, very rapidly.
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[QUOTE=cotdt]Source: [url]http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=ArhiX6YW0SGxR4RxxaBEUWC8vLYF?slug=ap-lakers-thunder[/url][/QUOTE]
Of course he say's he good he was shut down by him..
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[QUOTE=gts]westbrook's opinion> man in new york sitting in his michael jordan pajamas posting in the middle of the night[/QUOTE]
Not hating on Kobe, but what Westbrook said is what 99% of NBA players say in every post game interview.
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[QUOTE=Twiens]Durant also called him the best player in the world but no....he's washed up :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]
Lebron is two notches above Kobe right now..Sorry dude
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[img]http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/15/fullj.64842cd5f46e9090b3025bc663967a4c/64842cd5f46e9090b3025bc663967a4c-getty-98244836ng028_thndr_lakrs.jpg[/img]
[img]http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/d5/fullj.f8a20a00d33c7700d28c18a82e53d9d3/f8a20a00d33c7700d28c18a82e53d9d3-getty-98244836mw055_oklahoma_city.jpg[/img]
Kobe gets a steal from Westbrook
[img]http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/b0/fullj.87680f56208d8809d10b4847f7047a1e/87680f56208d8809d10b4847f7047a1e-getty-98244836ab013_thndr_lakrs.jpg[/img]
Artest also helped against Westbrook
[img]http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/b2/fullj.bd47f74cbe6d135aeefa2a5706e87c6b/bd47f74cbe6d135aeefa2a5706e87c6b-getty-98244836ab021_thndr_lakrs.jpg[/img]
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[QUOTE=Samurai Swoosh]But Westbrook has been a beast. He's reaching elite level PG caliber play, very rapidly.[/QUOTE]
But how much of that was Fisher's incompetence? I can't buy that a 16 pt/42% player is some stud on the basis of a few good games.
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
Kobe normally plays lazy defense, he only plays real defense when the team really needs a win in the playoffs. The regular season, he just chills in the cut and coast all the way into the playoffs. That's why regular season don't mean jack because some people don't play to there potential.
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
I'm sure that was considered all ball by the refs. Ron Artest looks like he is raping him. Literally.
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[QUOTE=cotdt][img]http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/15/fullj.64842cd5f46e9090b3025bc663967a4c/64842cd5f46e9090b3025bc663967a4c-getty-98244836ng028_thndr_lakrs.jpg[/img]
[img]http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/d5/fullj.f8a20a00d33c7700d28c18a82e53d9d3/f8a20a00d33c7700d28c18a82e53d9d3-getty-98244836mw055_oklahoma_city.jpg[/img]
Kobe gets a steal from Westbrook
[img]http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/b0/fullj.87680f56208d8809d10b4847f7047a1e/87680f56208d8809d10b4847f7047a1e-getty-98244836ab013_thndr_lakrs.jpg[/img]
Artest also helped against Westbrook
[img]http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/b2/fullj.bd47f74cbe6d135aeefa2a5706e87c6b/bd47f74cbe6d135aeefa2a5706e87c6b-getty-98244836ab021_thndr_lakrs.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]
lmao. Westbrook owned.
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[QUOTE=OldSchoolBBall]But how much of that was Fisher's incompetence? I can't buy that a 16 pt/42% player is some stud on the basis of a few good games.[/QUOTE]
If it was Fisher's incompetence that caused the spike in Westbrook's performance, then wouldn't putting an average defender like Kobe mean that Westbrook would shoot around his average for the season of 42%? Average defense= average stats?
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
It's both. Fisher's worthlessness as a defender and the Westbrook finding his way on the big stage. At this point of Westbrook's young career(and Durant's), he is literally getting better every game..learning new things, understanding the game better, etc. Their learning curves are crazy right now. If he attacked more and shared a bit more of the offensive load in the regular season like he has been doing in the playoffs, his stats would have been better.
Also, the best way to neutralize Kobe's defense is running screens on him over and over(see LeBron & a lot of the time, Wade.) If you're iso'd against Kobe, it will be a tough night for you.
People who pray for Kobe's downfall get proven wrong again and again...and again...and again.
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[QUOTE=Juges8932]If it was Fisher's incompetence that caused the spike in Westbrook's performance, then wouldn't putting an average defender like Kobe mean that Westbrook would shoot around his average for the season of 42%? Average defense= average stats?[/QUOTE]
Who said that Kobe is an average defender? He's not nearly as good as people like you think, but he's at the very least above average, and can be great in stretches when he applies himself. Also, 10-13 FGA is a very low volume, so a missed shot or two really has an impact on FG% and can't be used as evidence of much of anything.
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[QUOTE=Kingwillball]Lebron is two notches above Kobe right now..Sorry dude[/QUOTE]
True...but LeBron would have gotten murked by Westbrook. He can't guard players that quick, he's too big.
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[QUOTE=OldSchoolBBall]Who said that Kobe is an average defender? He's not nearly as good as people like you think, but he's at the very least above average, and can be great in stretches when he applies himself. Also, 10-13 FGA is a very low volume, so a missed shot or two really has an impact on FG% and can't be used as evidence of much of anything.[/QUOTE]
Ok.
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[QUOTE=OldSchoolBBall]Who said that Kobe is an average defender? He's not nearly as good as people like you think, but he's at the very least above average, and can be great in stretches when he applies himself. Also, 10-13 FGA is a very low volume, so a missed shot or two really has an impact on FG% and can't be used as evidence of much of anything.[/QUOTE]
He's better than people like you think. I am actually pretty objective when it comes to Kobe's defense. His team defense can be extremely weak sometimes, especially when he guards somebody who he doesn't respect to hit jumpers, because he plays off of them a lot and if that player is hot, can make the team pay. But on the reverse, if the guy is bricking, then Kobe can help collapse on penetration into the lane. However, Kobe's man-to-man defense is spectacular when he puts his energy and effort into it and IMO, one of the best man-to-man defenders in the league. At the SG spot, I don't think anybody is better. Though Wade is a better team defender and fine m-t-m defender himself. Now, Battier and Artest are probably better, but they are SF, but they guard the best SGs, so you could count them in the discussion I guess into perimeter defender. Also, Westbrook averages 14 FGA/game in the regular season. So he was 1 off of his average attempts. He surely would have gotten more than 13 attempts had Kobe not stolen the ball on attempts or him getting stopped on his way. So yeah, 1 miss can make a huge difference, but big difference between 31% and 42% especially when he would of had to make 5-6 shots, 6 to get at least 42%, to get his average.
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
Kobe is without a doubt one of the best man to man defenders in the league when motivated. Unfortunately that only happens about 5 times a season. The rest of the time he spends gambling for steals in the passing lanes, and letting the guy he's meant to be defending get open shots all day.
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[QUOTE=OldSchoolBBall]Kobe does a good job defensively (with a lot of help from his big men) for one game against a guy who averaged 16.1 pts/41.8% FG this season and people act like he's the second coming of the messiah. Hysterical. :oldlol:[/QUOTE]
:oldlol: oh boy these jordan nutthuggers hate to give kobe credit.
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[QUOTE=gts]westbrook's opinion> man in new york sitting in his michael jordan pajamas posting in the middle of the night[/QUOTE]
:cheers:
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
In before ashbelly ( new account for PB)
j-z eh ?? you stupid indian :roll:
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
Kobe "Black Mamba" Bryant
:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:
Even his enemies bow down at the feet of him
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
Hold up, Kobe Fan thinks Kobe's performance in Game 5 was impressive?
:oldlol:
Dude was in a Bruce Bowen role all game. Shoot 40% but that's okay cause you getting limited shots and playing solid D to offset lackluster offensive performances.
Kobe should have accepted this role in Game 1. They might have swept the Thunder.
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Re: Westbrook: I wasn't ready for Kobe, he is the best player in the league
[QUOTE=cotdt]Source: [url]http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=ArhiX6YW0SGxR4RxxaBEUWC8vLYF?slug=ap-lakers-thunder[/url][/QUOTE]
It's amazing how you continue to post these Kobe is the best player in the league threads from other players as in trying to convince yourself and others than Kobe is the best. Quite funny really.