Kobe Bryant: Promises Not to be a Ball Hog This Year

[ducks]

Kobe Bryant: Promises Not to be a Ball Hog This Year

RotoWire.com Staff - RotoWire.com
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Update: Bryant has pledged to make a "conscious effort" to allow other Lakers to pick up the scoring load this season, the Orange County Register reports. Bryant told the paper that the team's "evolution" this year is to be less dependent on his point production.

Recommendation: Whether this actually happens remains to be seen, though the addition of Vladimir Radmanovic adds a much-needed scoring option to the Laker roster. Given that Bryant accounted for a whopping 35 percent of the team's points last year, a slight dropoff from those numbers is quite possible.


http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=rotowire-oberyantromisesottob&prov=rotowire&type=fantasy

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

About time.

[Trainwreck2100]

i guess he don't like the new ball either

[boutons_]

:lol

[Bob Lanier]

About damn time! Smush Parker needs 18 shots a game!

[ShoogarBear]

i guess he don't like the new ball either
:lol

[angel_luv]

i guess he don't like the new ball either

:lol

[1Parker1]

That's dumb of him. Does he realize who he has on his team? Outside of Odom, who's inconsistent, Lakers will be lucky to score 90 ppg.

[trueD]

I need to do some research, but the Lakers are actually pretty good offensively without Kobe in the game, if memory serves.

Kobe giving the ball up is like Shaq learning to sink FT's - it ain't never gonna happen.

Speaking of Odom :lol , Kori auto-drafted him yesterday. She was probably happy to see Kobe's proclamation.

[1Parker1]

I need to do some research, but the Lakers are actually pretty good offensively without Kobe in the game, if memory serves.

Kobe giving the ball up is like Shaq learning to sink FT's - it ain't never gonna happen.

Speaking of Odom :lol , Kori auto-drafted him yesterday. She was probably happy to see Kobe's proclamation.


Well, they were still great without Kobe hogging the ball in the Suns playoffs series last season...however, that's against a pretty soft defensive team...hence guys like Smush Parker, Luke Walton, etc. can score easily. However, I don't think the Lakers supporting cast is good enough to handle the load without Kobe hogging the ball. The Vladimir aquisition may help them...as well as if Lamar Odom gets a little more consistent. That triple offensive threat of Kobe, Lamar, and Vladimir may help them this season.

[himat]

i guess he don't like the new ball either


:lmao

[Obstructed_View]

Why not? The Lakers were outrageously successful in the playoffs last year when he decided to let the other Lakers pick up the scoring load. Great idea!

[JamStone]

In other news, the sun says it will stop rising on Mondays and Thursdays because the moon is underrated.

Kobe will always be a ballhog. It's part of his make-up. It will take the Lakers to acquire another all star player like Garnett or Jermaine O'Neal for Kobe to really share the ball, or at the very least, it will take more time for him to develop trust in the teammates he already has. The latter does seem unlikely though.

[spurs=bling]

i guess he don't like the new ball either
:rollin

[trueD]

Well, they were still great without Kobe hogging the ball in the Suns playoffs series last season...however, that's against a pretty soft defensive team...hence guys like Smush Parker, Luke Walton, etc. can score easily. However, I don't think the Lakers supporting cast is good enough to handle the load without Kobe hogging the ball. The Vladimir aquisition may help them...as well as if Lamar Odom gets a little more consistent. That triple offensive threat of Kobe, Lamar, and Vladimir may help them this season.Kobe had a moment of Zen during the series with the Suns, but it was shortlived because his team let him down. His response was to shut down in an elimination game! He doesn't seem to trust anyone else with the ball, creating a circle of doubt among his teammates, imo. Those guys need to feel vital and important to the team, but he steals all opportunities for others to gain confidence by his constant ball hogging.

On a lighter note, Rad should be good for the rest of the team. I don't know much about Radmonovich, does he have some spunk? He's gonna need it. :hat

[bdictjames]

I guess he thinks that if he's going to be MVP, he needs to have 10+ assists like Nash but still have 20+ PPG

[z0sa]

People tend to forget what got Kobe his team a 3-1 lead was him passing and not scoring... Phoenix just came out and got it done when they were down. Kobe didn't let his teammates down, they let him down.

[Obstructed_View]

Kobe had a moment of Zen during the series with the Suns, but it was shortlived because his team let him down. His response was to shut down in an elimination game! He doesn't seem to trust anyone else with the ball, creating a circle of doubt among his teammates, imo. Those guys need to feel vital and important to the team, but he steals all opportunities for others to gain confidence by his constant ball hogging.

On a lighter note, Rad should be good for the rest of the team. I don't know much about Radmonovich, does he have some spunk? He's gonna need it. :hat
Kobe's teammates suck, which is why they can't score. They could think about getting rebounds and playing defense, because scoring is taken care of. Kobe's teammates, as well as some who call him a ball hog, should probably glance at a box score once in a while. If Kobe scored 50 points on 50 shots that would be one thing, but he does it shooting 59 percent and getting to the line 20 times. There is nobody on that team that scores more efficiently with anything approaching consistency. The only person that he's EVER played with that you could make a case that he should pass to is Shaq, and Shaq ain't fuckin' there anymore. Kobe may not be a better player than Jordan was, but he's a better scorer. This is coming from somebody that can't stand the guy.

[1Parker1]

Kobe's teammates suck, which is why they can't score. They could think about getting rebounds and playing defense, because scoring is taken care of. Kobe's teammates, as well as some who call him a ball hog, should probably glance at a box score once in a while. If Kobe scored 50 points on 50 shots that would be one thing, but he does it shooting 59 percent and getting to the line 20 times. There is nobody on that team that scores more efficiently with anything approaching consistency. The only person that he's EVER played with that you could make a case that he should pass to is Shaq, and Shaq ain't fuckin' there anymore. Kobe may not be a better player than Jordan was, but he's a better scorer. This is coming from somebody that can't stand the guy.

:tu Exactly. I'm still not over the fact that the Lakers starting lineup at one point last season included Smush Parker, Luke Walton, and Kwame Brown. Of course Kobe's going to have to score 40 ppg with that kind of team. If he didn't, his "passing" would not have helped them at in the regular season, they would be lucky to win 20 games if Kobe doesn't score 40 ppg.

Besides, it's all moot. No way Kobe isn't going to average 30+ ppg or take the bulk of the shots. He knows who he's playing with. I think he'll just make a more conscious effort to up his "assists" numbers this season...(and try to score 82 points in a game).

[trueD]

My point was really this: Being a ballhog is counterproductive ~cough~ AI ~cough~.

OV, not sure where you get the 59% shooting, last year Kobe shot 45%, which is respectable. He took 2,173 shots for an average of 27 shots per game, and made 978, for an average of 12, or 12-27 average. Kobe WAY outdid AI, who took a measly 1,821 shots, although Alan did play 8 less games. I'll give Kobe that. :)

Not to disrespect Kobe's talents, but the player is mad about himself. He needs to learn how to contribute to the welfare of his teammates, not JUST by sharing the ball but by teaching, encouraging and hanging with the guys. He's not a leader, if the Lakers could get a leader-type on the floor - and by "leader" type I mean someone with maturity, as well as skills - then the Lakers have a legitimate shot at going deeper than Round one.

As they are now with Kobe in charge ... I'll just be pointing and laughing. :lol

[Axl Van Dam]

:spless: HOLY CRAP!!!! THIS STATEMENT CAME FROM KOBE??!! I MUST BE IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE................ :spless: