Suns shine in LaLa Land

[trueD]

Best game of the weekend so far. Bell had a great defensive stint against Kobme, holding him to 34 points on 14-25 shooting. Bell was 6-6 from beyond the arc, it was a thang of beaty! Suns were pumped and ready for this game.

Lakers, on the other hand, still have a ways to go before they threaten any top seeded teams in the first round. Sure they're missing Brown, but by how much--when Turiaf (19/15 on 8-10 shooting in 25 mpt) seems a good substitute? 64 points in the paint for LA, 1/3 of those from Rohnie.

[trueD]

Oops, not done yet...

Anyways, Kobe has come a long ways, from complete ball hogging disease to allowing teammates to carry some load, especially under the basket, where Turiaf seems to shine. But still, there's gotta be a way for him to score more points without taking the entire game on his back for a full 48.

[trueD]

OH! Lakers fall to 7th place 1/2 game behind Nugs. Lakers play the Clips and Nugs this week, should be fun.

[dirk4mvp]

He held him to 34. ok

[Medvedenko]

The Suns have the most floppers on a team than I've ever seen. It's quite sickening, no one plays D, they just expect the charge...brutal. Still, offensively they have a lot of weapons and kill us with the penetration of Nash. Oh, and Nash as an MVP, still don't buy it...he got killed by Smush parker of all people today.

[resistanze]

Kobme? Who's the genius who invented that one?

[Findog]

You know you can edit your parent post without posting 18 replies.

Kobe was "held" to 14-25 shooting? Yeah, Bell really "shut him down."

[Amuseddaysleeper]

haha exactly

kobe shot over 55%


and had 34 points

i'd hate to see what happens when kobe goes "off"

[trueD]

You know you can edit your parent post without posting 18 replies.

Kobe was "held" to 14-25 shooting? Yeah, Bell really "shut him down."

Bell kept up with Kobe, saw it myself.

Even if one is relying on stats to intimate that it wasn't Bell's doing, how do you explain Kobe shooting over 50%, but not taking more shots?

Sorry about the 18 replies, especially if it's on your dime. :rolleyes

[trueD]

Kobe last 12 games:

42.6 points avg on 14.8-31.2 shooting.

Yeah, it's a long shot ... but how did I do?

[confined]

bell sucks...he really does...and everyone thinks hes an all-star :rolleyes

[trueD]

bell sucks...he really does...and everyone thinks hes an all-star :rolleyes
I like the player. True, he's a little cocky but matched up against Kobe you gotta have some cocky to succeed. Plus 6 of 6 from 3 point land, you gotta hand it to him.

[tsb2000]

bell sucks...he really does...and everyone thinks hes an all-star :rolleyes

Raja reminds me of a poor man's Bruce Bowen. Not as good of a defender, but plays a bit better offense.

[T Park]

Raja Bell reminds me honestly of a shorter dan Majerle.

Athletic a bit, can make the three, can defend.

BTW, somewhat bad title, Kobe looked good and bell looked like he got beaten a bit.

[JMarkJohns]

You can believe what you read, or you can watch, research and realize. It's up to you.

First 44 minutes of the game, 25 points on 11-of-21 shots from the field, 3-of-3 attempts from the stripe, five assists, but also five turnovers.

Last four minutes with his team trailing by double-digits, 9 points on 3-of-4 shots from the field, 2-of-2 attempts from the stripe, 2 assists to zero turnovers.

Despite his late-game outpouring, the closest his team got was the final margin during that span. It took a 25-foot three, the first of the evening for Kobe, with just 5 seconds left to even get the game that close.

Kobe may not have been held to anything, but he had to battle and work his off off for what he got. He was played hard all game by Raja and Marion.

[RonMexico]

Raja reminds me of a poor man's Bruce Bowen. Not as good of a defender, but plays a bit better offense.

Pretty good call. Bowen played some great defense on Nash last Thursday.

Totally forgot this game was on today and I watched the Master's all afternoon, so I can't really give an opinion on what Kobe did. Shit.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

you can make a player "work" all you went, at the end of the day kobe still shot 55% and got 34 points. I think Bell did a much better job offensively than defensively but he's still one of the premeire perimeter defenders in the league

[Amuseddaysleeper]

kobe didn't take more shots because it was he who decided to facilitate the offense, not so much bell forcing him to give up the ball.


bell can defend well, and i'm sure kobe doesn't seem him as a cake walk, but i would hardly call this one of bell's better performances defensively

[ponky]

I love when people talk about basketball when they probably have never played a game in their entire life. The funniest is when women do it. :jack

yeah because basketball is such a rare thing to play when you're young, it's a sport for elites...the funniest is when a guy thinks he looks good and has the prima donna state of mind to show his so-so mug

[NBA Junkie]

Since nobody else mentioned it, Bell was 6-6 from 3 point range.

He also limited Kobe to just 6 shots in the first half. Made a key strip of Kobe early in the fourth that led to a transition hoop when the Lakers could have taken the lead.

Bell did just enough to neutralize Kobe.

[Findog]

Since nobody else mentioned it, Bell was 6-6 from 3 point range.

He also limited Kobe to just 6 shots in the first half. Made a key strip of Kobe early in the fourth that led to a transition hoop when the Lakers could have taken the lead.

Bell did just enough to neutralize Kobe.

I don't know about you, but 14-25 for 34 points doesn't count as "neutralized" in my book. Yes, Bell does as good a job on Kobe as anybody outside of that talentless guy in San Antonio that has to resort to undercutting players and being a cheap-shot artist. However, I'd attribute the Suns' triumph yesterday to the fact that they simply have more talent than the Lakers. Keep in mind that the Purple and Gold had no business being in a seventh game last year against Phoenix but Kobe got them there. So this "Bell shut Kobe down" meme is nonsense.

[trueD]

I love when people talk about basketball when they probably have never played a game in their entire life. The funniest is when women do it. :jack
I played ball as a kid, basketball, softball & volleyball--and have played softball into adulthood.

But who cares what someone with ten jacking off emoticons in his sig thinks?

[trueD]

I don't know about you, but 14-25 for 34 points doesn't count as "neutralized" in my book. Yes, Bell does as good a job on Kobe as anybody outside of that talentless guy in San Antonio that has to resort to undercutting players and being a cheap-shot artist. However, I'd attribute the Suns' triumph yesterday to the fact that they simply have more talent than the Lakers. Keep in mind that the Purple and Gold had no business being in a seventh game last year against Phoenix but Kobe got them there. So this "Bell shut Kobe down" meme is nonsense.
Kobe may have got Lakers to Game 7 last year, but he also single-handedly lost Game 7 by not involving himself in the offense, wouldn't you say?

Kobe's last 12 games (42.6 points avg on 14.8-31.2 shooting) reflects that he was neutralized yesterday, but based on Kobe's propensity to do whatever he feels like doing--seems he has the green light to either shoot or pass the rock--it's gonna be difficult to diagnose whether it was Bell who shut him down, or Kobe's own stupidity for not taking more shots when he was hot. I'm actually giving him the benefit of the doubt by saying he was shut down. :)

Kobe's been criticized in the past for continuing to take shots when he's cold and leaving his teammates to stand around, but now that he has the "team concept" thing down everyone wants to excuse his shortsightedness (or whatever) when he doesn't use his shooting skills to win tight games. I call bullshit!

Kobe has learned how to share the ball, I'll give him that. But if he wants to win championships without another dominant player, next he needs to learn how to put it all together to win games, imo.

In more ways than one, Kobe can't win. :lol That point is glaring, but a fact nonetheless.

[NBA Junkie]

I don't know about you, but 14-25 for 34 points doesn't count as "neutralized" in my book. Yes, Bell does as good a job on Kobe as anybody outside of that talentless guy in San Antonio that has to resort to undercutting players and being a cheap-shot artist. However, I'd attribute the Suns' triumph yesterday to the fact that they simply have more talent than the Lakers. Keep in mind that the Purple and Gold had no business being in a seventh game last year against Phoenix but Kobe got them there. So this "Bell shut Kobe down" meme is nonsense.

9 of Kobe's points came after the Suns had built a double digit lead. The game was pretty much decided at that point.

Kobe just did a good job of padding the scoresheet.

And, I would say that Bell did neutralize him offensively and defensively. Bell had 22 points of his own which is significantly above his season average.

This has nothing to do with being a Kobe hater. Just stating facts that were overlooked.