For fifth title, Bryant sought counseling of unknown expert

[duncan228]

For fifth title, Bryant sought counseling of unknown expert (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/ian_thomsen/06/21/mike.procopio/index.html)
Ian Thomsen
SI.com

Kobe Bryant wanted to hear the Boston accent. He wanted to hear the wisdom of the street, he wanted to hear the wise-ass comments. He wanted to hear what "Sweetchuck" had to say.

"A lot of times a player's inner circle will only say the things the player wants to hear," said Sweetchuck. "I couldn't care less. There are some players who want to hear everything is good, they don't want to be coached or held accountable. That's not Kobe.''

Throughout the past season and a half, Bryant was leaning on the self-taught expertise of a white bald guy who is no taller than 5-foot-7 and no thinner than 220 pounds. Sweetchuck would analyze every upcoming game for Bryant and he would do so without reverence. He didn't want to meet with Bryant in person. He didn't even want to speak by phone. Up through Game 2 of the NBA Finals, they did most of their communication by e-mail because that was how Sweetchuck wanted it to be.

"I think he likes the fact I'm a little different, a little off," said Sweetchuck. "I just work. I don't ask for tickets, I don't ask for shoes or any of that. I try to argue my way out of going to the games. I don't want to be Turtle from Entourage, I don't want to be that guy. I'd rather watch the games with my fiancée back home."

He is Mike Procopio and he's 35. When he was growing up in Revere, Mass., a rough seaside town near the Boston airport, he was nicknamed after the nerdish character Carl Sweetchuck who was tormented by Bobcat Goldthwait in the Police Academy movies. "My friends used to always beat the crap out of me,'' he said. "I thought the nickname was quarantined at the city limits."

But Leo Papile -- now the assistant executive director of basketball operations for the Boston Celtics -- would hear from someone from Procopio's past that he had been known as Sweetchuck. Papile, a Boston-accented, wise-ass himself, spread the nickname and therefore did Sweetchuck a highly colorful favor: He helped him become a character, a memorable personality, which ultimately brought him into the world of Bryant.

"Now 80 percent of everyone I know knows me only as Sweetchuck," Sweetchuck said. "GMs, coaches, players -- none of them know my real name."

Keep reading... (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/ian_thomsen/06/21/mike.procopio/index.html)

http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/2010/writers/ian_thomsen/06/21/mike.procopio/procopio.jpg
Mike Procopio, aka "Sweetchuck," analyzed game film to help Kobe Bryant prepare for the Celtics.

http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/2010/writers/ian_thomsen/06/21/mike.procopio/procopio2.jpg
Sweetchuck's technical advice helped Kobe win his fifth championship, by a mere four points.

[MiamiHeat]

flawed article

kobe didn't do much to win this title. he stunk up the series, shooting very poorly for the majority of it, and was abysmal 6-24 in the elimination game.

[Koolaid_Man]

flawed article

kobe didn't do much to win this title. he stunk up the series, shooting very poorly for the majority of it, and was abysmal 6-24 in the elimination game.


How dare he......Gimme dat 5th title my Nig.......

[Giuseppe]

Kobe had the guy fly cross country after Game 3.

"Boston was a real problem for me." he admitted in the news conference after Game 7. Boston was so disciplined in their strategy for Kobe. Every other teams talks the talk, but, Boston stayed the course for 48 minutes 7 different times in-a-row. The Boston Celtics: the lone Kobe stopper.

[Amaso]

MJ shot 42% in a finals series. He shot 15-35 in the close out game with only 1 board and 1 assist.:wow

Stop lying, MJ never shot below 50% in a single game let alone an entire series.

[namlook]

Stop lying, MJ never shot below 50% in a single game let alone an entire series.

MJ did the same think Kobe did, 14 years ago. Jordan shot 26% in the deciding game of the 1996 NBA finals.

[HarlemHeat37]

Isn't it sad that you have to compare Jordan's worst Finals, at the age of 35 or whatever he was, to one of Kobe's best Finals at this point of his career?..

[Gutter92]

What is jordan's shooting % in the Finals throughout his career? What about Kobe? Too lazy to look that shit up when I'm sure one of the Laker fans here can enlighten me.

[Gutter92]

Isn't it sad that you have to compare Jordan's worst Finals, at the age of 35 or whatever he was, to one of Kobe's best Finals at this point of his career?..

It kinda is.

[SevenX]

Isn't it sad that you have to compare Jordan's worst Finals, at the age of 35 or whatever he was, to one of Kobe's best Finals at this point of his career?..


Clearly 2002 never happened. Point is, MJ has had finals just like Kobe yet never gets criticized.

Also, Kobe's played a lot. You can't compare age between these 2 players.

[cobbler]

flawed article

kobe didn't do much to win this title. he stunk up the series, shooting very poorly for the majority of it, and was abysmal 6-24 in the elimination game.

:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao

Last time I looked shooting % is just one aspect of a game.

But what would an obsessed hater like you know about it. After all was said and done, what was the #1 reason given by analysts, coaches, and players from both sides for the winning teams success in each game and ultimately the series?

REBOUNDING!!!

Aparently that aspect amoung others gets lost in your obssesive hatred.

Pau was the leading rebounder for the series and the final game. Kobe was the 2nd leading rebounder with 15 in game 7. All year long you toss out your garbage how Kobe wont pass when the game is on the line, yet he did. All year long we here how he won't do the other intangibles if he's having a poor shooting night... that he will just chuck em up. Yet he did.

He was the 2nd leading rebounder for the series. From a guard position.
He was the 2nd leading assist leader for the series.
He was the 1st in steals.

So while he may have had an off series in terms of shooting % and TO's, you also have to give some credit to the Celtic D as it was geared to thwart Kobe. He made up for his off stats by contirbuting in other areas which ultimately earned him...

...the MVP!

So 2nd in rebounds, 2nd in assists, 1st in steals, co-leader of team with Fish, and undisputed heart of the team with a remarkable run through the playoffs equates to "didn't do much to win this title" in your mind.


The only thing flawed around here is your obsessed brain. :whine:whine:whine

[Chieflion]

I am going to make a case of why Pau Gasol has a legit case to be the MVP of that finals alone.

In view of cobbler's post, the team that got more rebounds in each game won the series. I suppose he has no problem with that. Then he goes on to say Kobe was the 2nd best rebounder on the Lakers for that series. He then states that Pau Gasol was the leading rebounder of the series. Does he contradict himself by saying Kobe was the MVP? Moving on.

Pau Gasol was the 2nd leading scorer on the Lakers. He averaged 18.6 points in the series, trailing Kobe Bryant by 10 points. However, Kobe Bryant took 163 shots in that series, which equates to roughly 23.29 shots per game. Another thing I would like to point out as a fun tidbit here is that no other player on both the Celtics and Lakers took even a 100 shots in that series. Kobe Bryant also missed almost as many shots as the total Paul Pierce took. Gasol, in contrast, took only 12.86 shots a game. So, Gasol also beats Kobe in the department where he scored 1.45 points per shot as opposed to 1.23 points per shot for Kobe Bryant. Gasol, in this case, was clearly more efficient than Bryant, scoring more 47.8% on his FGAs as opposed to the 40.5% for Bryant. Let us proceed.

cobbler neglects to say that Pau Gasol, as a PF/C was the 2nd leading assist leader on the Los Angeles Lakers, trailing Kobe Bryant just by 0.2 per game. This means that Gasol trailed Kobe Bryant by a grand total of 1 assist in a 7 game series as a PF/C, as opposed to a guard while having less turnovers with 1.9 as opposed to 3.9 for Bryant. For the series, Pau Gasol had 14 turnovers lesser than Kobe Bryant. Clearly, Gasol's assist to turnover ratio was higher than Bryant. Moving on.

cobbler also mentioned that Kobe Bryant led the team in steals for the series. I have no problems with that, being a guard, he has a clear advantage in that department. So, the clear advantage is Gasol's department is blocked shots. Gasol averaged 2.6 blocks a game as opposed to Bryant's 2.1 steals. Clearly, a steal certainly has more value because the ball will go to the Lakers. They are about even here.

I think they should be named co-MVPs, although that has never happened before.

[cobbler]

I would have no problem if there was co MVP's or Pau got it outright.

My post was a direct reply to Miami's absurd comment that Kobe "didn't do much to win the title".

MVP's are subjective and I could care less who wins them, season or finals. I care about championships. From a players perspective there is only one thing that matters. Rings. If you had the greats all sitting in a room boasting... do you think they are talking shooting %, win shares, or stats on any level? Nope. It's I got 6 and you got 5! Players with less rings are not going to sit there and argue that their lesser count is more meaningful because their stat sheet is more impressive. If that was the case, then Lebron would be sitting there telling all the ring holders how he has achieved so much more... only to be bowled over by the wave of laughter.

My statement that Kobe got the MVP was just to point out, as anyone with any semblance of intelligence would know, that Kobe most definetly "did" much to help win the title.

I was not comparing Pau and Kobe. Pau had a up and down series as well with way more of the former than the latter and was instrumental in the Lakers winning it all. He most certainly could have won the MVP and I would not discredit it even slightly. I only brought him up as a credit to his accomplishments of being #1 in those catagories.

[BullsDynasty]

MJ shot 42% in a finals series. He shot 15-35 in the close out game with only 1 board and 1 assist.:wow

Jordan's Points and FG% in all of his series clinching games starting from 1991.

I've highlighted his games where he shot under .500%

1991

1st round
39 Points .500%

2nd round
38 Points .452%

ECF
29 Points 642%

Finals
30 Points .522%




1992

1st round
56 Points .667% << GODLY

2nd round
29 Points .370

ECF
29 Points 642%

Finals
33 Points .522%


1993

1st round
39 Points .571%

2nd round
31 Points .458%

ECF
25 Points .333%

Finals
33 Points .500%


1996

1st round
26 Points .435%

2nd round
35 Points .448%

ECF
45 Points .696% << GODLY

Finals
22 Points .263%


1997

1st round
28 Points .583%

2nd round
24 Points .591%

ECF
28 Points .355%

Finals
39 Points .429%


1998

1st round
38 Points .727% << GODLY

2nd round
33 Points .517%

ECF
28 Points .360%

Finals
45 Points .429%

[Medvedenko]

Jordan's Points and FG% in all of his series clinching games starting from 1991.

I've highlighted his games where he shot under .500%

1991

1st round
39 Points .500%

2nd round
38 Points .452%

ECF
29 Points 642%

Finals
30 Points .522%




1992

1st round
56 Points .667% << GODLY

2nd round
29 Points .370

ECF
29 Points 642%

Finals
33 Points .522%


1993

1st round
39 Points .571%

2nd round
31 Points .458%

ECF
25 Points .333%

Finals
33 Points .500%


1996

1st round
26 Points .435%

2nd round
35 Points .448%

ECF
45 Points .696% << GODLY

Finals
22 Points .263%


1997

1st round
28 Points .583%

2nd round
24 Points .591%

ECF
28 Points .355%

Finals
39 Points .429%


1998

1st round
38 Points .727% << GODLY

2nd round
33 Points .517%

ECF
28 Points .360%

Finals
45 Points .429%

Interesting......

[kingmalaki]

MJ shot 42% in a finals series. He shot 15-35 in the close out game with only 1 board and 1 assist.:wow

Would this be Game 6 og the 98 Finals, wher he also had 45 points (over half of his teams total), scored the last 4 points when his team was down 3 in the last minute, got a game winning steal and then hit the series winner?

[BlackSwordsMan]

it's a good thing kobe is almost about to retire he'd be straight up embarrassed whenever lebron lands on a good team

[kingmalaki]

15-35 is 15-35. How do you shoot that poor with guys like Hornecek is guarding you? He shot like 42% for the series.:wow

Over half the teams points is over ha the teams points. And the last I checked, Hornacek and Russell don't look anything alike, so I'm not sure how you confused the two.