Lakers should play Kobe at the Point More

[sammichoffate]

That was a hell of a game by both teams. Lakers will definitely have more games like those if Kobe gets to facilitate instead of chucking or trying to bail out the team at the end of the shot clock

[Akrazotile]

Kobe is one of the most talented passers in the league.

It's a shame that's been suppressed throughout his career by his selfish need to shoot his way to individual accolades.

[riseagainst]

i agree. Love to see him play like he did after the all star break in 2013. Back to back 14 assist games.

[ImKobe]

Kobe is one of the most talented passers in the league.

It's a shame that's been suppressed throughout his career by his selfish need to shoot his way to individual accolades.

Dude is a scorer. People are mad at him/try to discredit him for being something that he's not.

He averages basically as many assists for his career as Jordan, I don't see anyone hating on MJ for "not passing". He led 5 title teams in assists, MJ only did that 3 times

[sammichoffate]

Kobe is one of the most talented passers in the league.

It's a shame that's been suppressed throughout his career by his selfish need to shoot his way to individual accolades.

That'll be the only knock on his career, although it's a pretty big one. If Scott is smart, he'll let Kobe handle PG duties for the rest of the season. It'll keep Kobe more fresh and get everyone more involved as the game goes on so he can conserve energy for the 4th.

[sammichoffate]

Dude is a scorer. People are mad at him/try to discredit him for being something that he's not.

He averages as many assists for his career as Jordan, I don't see anyone hating on MJ for "not passing". He led 5 title teams in assists, MJ only did that 3 times

What most rational people discredit him for is his shot selection at times, which I can agree is pretty sketchy. Kobe tries too hard to make plays happen a lot of the time, which I completely understand. When things aren't going well, he tries to take over because everyone else is cold. Just goes to show how much he wants the responsibility of carrying his team. His passing is just so fundamentally sound though, I really want him to have more games like last night

[ImKobe]

That'll be the only knock on his career, although it's a pretty big one. If Scott is smart, he'll let Kobe handle PG duties for the rest of the season. It'll keep Kobe more fresh and get everyone more involved as the game goes on so he can conserve energy for the 4th.

He'll let Kobe do that if they want to win 35-45 games and miss the Playoffs and not get a pick out of it

Plus, his teammates are not going to hit those shots as consistently and he's not going to have that great of a AST-TO ratio on a consistent basis. dude's at best going to average about 7 assists to 3.5-4TOs a game, like he did in 2013

If he had a Dwight Howard to consistently give the ball to, or even a Pau Gasol, I'd agree.

But let's act like Kobe hasn't ran the offense on 5 title teams. Just because he doesn't have godly assist numbers doesn't mean that he isn't passing the ball. Shaq didn't put up those monster point averages with Kobe not sharing the ball .

At the end of the day, he got 5 titles playing his way. What's negative about it? He's inarguably top 15 all-time even to the biggest haters. Disrespecting Kobe is calling him top 20 all-time , considering how you guys say he didn't get the most out of his talent and how much of a cancer he was, that is an amazing accomplishment.

He's legit 2nd greatest SG after Jordan, it doesn't get any better than that.

[ImKobe]

What most rational people discredit him for is his shot selection at times, which I can agree is pretty sketchy. Kobe tries too hard to make plays happen a lot of the time, which I completely understand. When things aren't going well, he tries to take over because everyone else is cold. Just goes to show how much he wants the responsibility of carrying his team. His passing is just so fundamentally sound though, I really want him to have more games like last night

Well, he's had to play on some bad teams that he basically had nothing else to do on, as they weren't contender material. You try to play unselfishly or take 20-23 shots in your prime like a 1st option should and you team is getting blown out and you're as great of a scorer as he is, you're going to take a big chunk of bad shots at a high volume to let your frustrations out .

And no one's perfect. Jordan himself at times was too selfish and took a ton of shots that might have not been the best options for his team. But he had something that Kobe didn't, which is otherworldly athleticism and finishing ability like no other guard in NBA history.

At the end of the day, it's 5 titles & 2 FMVPs for a player, who seemingly has a lot of flaws in his game. I don't think he's too sad about "only" winning 5.

[sammichoffate]

He'll let Kobe do that if they want to win 35-45 games and miss the Playoffs and not get a pick out of it

Plus, his teammates are not going to hit those shots as consistently and he's not going to have that great of a AST-TO ratio on a consistent basis. dude's at best going to average about 7 assists to 3.5-4TOs a game, like he did in 2013

If he had a Dwight Howard to consistently give the ball to, or even a Pau Gasol, I'd agree.

But let's act like Kobe hasn't ran the offense on 5 title teams. Just because he doesn't have godly assist numbers doesn't mean that he isn't passing the ball. Shaq didn't put up those monster point averages with Kobe not sharing the ball .

At the end of the day, he got 5 titles playing his way. What's negative about it? He's inarguably top 15 all-time even to the biggest haters. Disrespecting Kobe is calling him top 20 all-time , considering how you guys say he didn't get the most out of his talent and how much of a cancer he was, that is an amazing accomplishment.

He's legit 2nd greatest SG after Jordan, it doesn't get any better than that.

Well, i'm not sure what the Lakers' objective for the season is. They could either tank and get the top 5 pick or maybe get a decent trade done before the deadline and push for the 8th seed. Thing is, Lakers might actually just not get the pick because they might end up like the bottom 5 of the top 10 worst teams, which would blow Yeah, I agree that his teammates aren't consistent enough to hit those shots like last night. Only one would probably be consistent is Nick Young, with about 14 pts a night. When Nick Young is your most consistent player other than Kobe, that's a reason to worry

Honestly, i'd take his 3.5 TO ratio over Lin handling the ball . That's just my opinion though. Yeah, I agree with everything you said about his title teams. It's no disrespect for Kobe at all, I have him at number six on my top-ten list. One could certainly make a case for him at top 5 if they weren't trolling as well. I just have issues with his shot selection at times, he could be way more efficient if he let the offense come to him instead of forcing plays that aren't there. Just thinking about how many more points he could have gotten frightens me

[sammichoffate]

Well, he's had to play on some bad teams that he basically had nothing else to do on, as they weren't contender material. You try to play unselfishly or take 20-23 shots in your prime like a 1st option should and you team is getting blown out and you're as great of a scorer as he is, you're going to take a big chunk of bad shots at a high volume to let your frustrations out .

And no one's perfect. Jordan himself at times was too selfish and took a ton of shots that might have not been the best options for his team. But he had something that Kobe didn't, which is otherworldly athleticism and finishing ability like no other guard in NBA history.

At the end of the day, it's 5 titles & 2 FMVPs for a player, who seemingly has a lot of flaws in his game. I don't think he's too sad about "only" winning 5.

Yeah, he's literally got nothing else to prove at this point in his career. Dude's a top-ten great at this point, and he's not moving out of it anytime soon. I'm gonna tear up when he hangs 'em up, that's for damn sure

[ImKobe]

Well, i'm not sure what the Lakers' objective for the season is. They could either tank and get the top 5 pick or maybe get a decent trade done before the deadline and push for the 8th seed. Thing is, Lakers might actually just not get the pick because they might end up like the bottom 5 of the top 10 worst teams, which would blow Yeah, I agree that his teammates aren't consistent enough to hit those shots like last night. Only one would probably be consistent is Nick Young, with about 14 pts a night. When Nick Young is your most consistent player other than Kobe, that's a reason to worry

Honestly, i'd take his 3.5 TO ratio over Lin handling the ball . That's just my opinion though. Yeah, I agree with everything you said about his title teams. It's no disrespect for Kobe at all, I have him at number six on my top-ten list. One could certainly make a case for him at top 5 if they weren't trolling as well. I just have issues with his shot selection at times, he could be way more efficient if he let the offense come to him instead of forcing plays that aren't there. Just thinking about how many more points he could have gotten frightens me

That's on the coach to make the adjustments though. I'd have no problem with Kobe being slotted as a point guard, but I feel like he'd get run to the ground like in 2013 with nothing to show for it.

[KungFuJoe]

Did you even watch the game? Kobe wasn't playing the point. He was just passing more. Those opportunities have been there all season long, he just chose to shoot vs pass. His first few assists were with guys that were wide open, making nice cuts to the basket. It's like he got a few good ones and then decided he was going to keep passing.

[KungFuJoe]

Besides..don't the Lakers run a read and react system (similar to Houston)? That type of offense is not PG friendly. You typically will see assist distribution among different players rather than one guy because there really aren't any set plays.

[Droid101]

Did you even watch the game? Kobe wasn't playing the point. He was just passing more. Those opportunities have been there all season long, he just chose to shoot vs pass. His first few assists were with guys that were wide open, making nice cuts to the basket. It's like he got a few good ones and then decided he was going to keep passing.

Come on man. Those passes have been happening all year, the duders getting them finally started hitting the open looks last night.

[ImKobe]

Besides..don't the Lakers run a read and react system (similar to Houston)? That type of offense is not PG friendly. You typically will see assist distribution among different players rather than one guy because there really aren't any set plays.

This is true. Defenses gave him those opportunities. Guys were obviously so open that it was logical for him to pass. He isn't the type of player to go force passes to get assists. If the defense is honest and he's in single coverage, dude's going to shoot.

He sees double teams and guys are open, more often than none he's gonna pass it to someone