Phil: """We get behind early in the 3rd quarter, and then Kobe has to go and screw up

[TrueRob]

I wonder why Phil doesn't just bench Kobe when he does the one-on-one thing. That's what Doc Rivers did to Pierce a couple of seasons ago and now Pierce doesn't do that anymore.

[tpols]

Although kobe chopped the lead down singlehandedly in the third, it ended up doing more harm than good because his teammates had no flow or rythym to them after it.

Kobe has to realize that he cant go iso in the middle of the game for more than two possesions in a row. The other guys have to play and get in a rythym too or they will lose every game.

[Kurosawa0]

Phil looked stressed. Don't think I've seen that since the Leon Powe came in 2008.

Seriously, this team is very close to being in panic mode when this kind of thing is happening.

[CMsam]

I've been saying this for a while now, that none of the other Lakers (sans artest) think as highly of kobe as his internet fanboys do.

Seriously, his own coach consistently calls him out for selfish chucking. Gasol and Fisher drop hints about it in interviews as well. Shaq couldnt even stay on the same team as him. Do people not forget that Phil ripped him in a book a while back???

Kobe is really lucky he plays on an organization that has a history of assembling such great TEAMS, so that his internet fanboys can give him all the credit for winning five rings. If this dude played just about anywhere else he'd be Tracy McGrady.

[crisoner]

Funny how some people only appear on this board when a certain player maybe struggling. I think we all should KNOE who that is.

[Mr. Jabbar]

Funny how some people only appear on this board when a certain player maybe struggling. I think we all should KNOE who that is.

Dont worry, things get calmed and settled in June, it has always been that way

[Svendiggity]

It's kind of funny that we are on a basketball forum, and the most hated player on these boards is someone who's entire life is basketball. Kobe loves basketball too much to continue to not involve his teammates. He will take it to heart and correct it, and prove you haters wrong, just like he always does.

[Kurosawa0]

Dont worry, things get calmed and settled in June, it has always been that way

The last time I remember seeing the Lakers struggle like this in a contending year was in 2004. How did that turn out?

[ashbelly]

It's kind of funny that we are on a basketball forum, and the most hated player on these boards is someone who's entire life is basketball. Kobe loves basketball too much to continue to not involve his teammates. He will take it to heart and correct it, and prove you haters wrong, just like he always does.

A 15 year old veteran shouldn't have to be reminded of what he needs to be doing on the Court by his coach. This should be automatic for him. whatever happened to Ball IQ ??.. Ya'll keep treating Kobe like he just joined the league yesterday.

[Svendiggity]

A 15 year old veteran shouldn't have to be reminded of what he needs to be doing on the Court by his coach. This should be automatic for him. Ball IQ ??

Tell me who your favorite veteran player is and I could name countless mistakes he made this year too. It happens. You're just a hater.

[Hulk Hogan]

Mind you the Lakers was down by 8 or 10 after the first half and Kobe only had 6 FG attempts. Then he turned it up a notch in the 3rd quarter and brought the lakers close to 2 but things snowballed from there because of their lack of defense.

[ashbelly]

Tell me who your favorite veteran player is and I could name countless mistakes he made this year too. It happens. You're just a hater.

Jordan was my favorite player..

[gloriawest]

I've been saying this for a while now, that none of the other Lakers (sans artest) think as highly of kobe as his internet fanboys do.

Seriously, his own coach consistently calls him out for selfish chucking. Gasol and Fisher drop hints about it in interviews as well. Shaq couldnt even stay on the same team as him. Do people not forget that Phil ripped him in a book a while back???

Kobe is really lucky he plays on an organization that has a history of assembling such great TEAMS, so that his internet fanboys can give him all the credit for winning five rings. If this dude played just about anywhere else he'd be Tracy McGrady.

Yep so kobe can do the following things, 81 pnt game, 9 consecutive 3's in a game (nba record), most 3's in a game with overtime (nba record), some of the biggest scoring streaks in bball history,


yet when it comes to his rings he was just lucky enough to be on a great team, oh lawwwd some people

also people this is the regular season, it happens every year, THe fighting champion that is kobe comes to surface, you can't have everything, something has got to give, lucky for him he knows to straighten it out, can't be perfect all the time

[crosso√er]

Mind you the Lakers was down by 8 or 10 after the first half and Kobe only had 6 FG attempts. Then he turned it up a notch in the 3rd quarter and brought the lakers close to 2 but things snowballed from there because of their lack of defense.

Lakers play defense only when the entire team is assertive and shares the ball. Kobe can't do it on his own, especially at his age, so Phil is completely right. But it's not just Kobe, I haven't seen much passion from Pau at all. It is just as much his responsibility to gear up this team on both ends of the floor, and he hasn't done so on a consistent basis as of late.

For us to have any shot at winning another championship; both of these guys must be on the same page and all the other players will feed off their energy. This has not happened as of late; the NOH game showed glimpses of them sharing the ball and playing enthusiastic basketball, and then we have this game tonight. Even against Philadelphia they sucked, but luckily closed out with a win.

[catch24]

That third quarter was basically Kobe vs 5 on offense. Like I said in the game thread, it was cool to see, but he missed more than half his shots, and LA was STILL down by double digits. Needless to say his teammates couldn't get into a rhythm and pretty much took a nap on the other side of the ball.