Kobe really pisses me off when he wants to wait until the 4th quarter to take over and dominate the game.
Flopping when Kobe gives him a little nudge with his shoulder/elbow/forearm...the refs will never give him the benefit of the doubt in that instance and he winds up giving Bryant open jumpers while he stumbles to the ground.
Other than that he and the rest of the team really clamped down on the Lakers as the game went on. The old game plan of defending L.A. finally came to fruition: Let Kobe try to play the role of hero in the 4th (provided it doesn't come back to bite you in the ass) while the rest of his ball-starved teammates slowly fade out-of-rhythm.
Good show.![]()
Kobe really pisses me off when he wants to wait until the 4th quarter to take over and dominate the game.
Agreed - all he's doing is giving Kobe space.
I agree with you about Bowen. He needs to stand up and play defense like a man, like we know he can. The flopping and falling is not his game, and it's not going to work against Kobe. The refs allow Kobe to clear out defenders with his left fore-arm.
Yea - two of those 4th quarter 3's Kobe hit were the result of him pushing Bowen and Bruce falling back and giving Kobe a wide-open look.
I don't think he's flopping. He's playing very close and any kind of contact is knocking him backwards. He might need to give him a few more inches so he can stay in front of him but I don't think he's flopping.
I agree. He gave kobe a wide ass 3 in the 4th quarter on that. Forget flopping! Make Kobe work!!
Haha, a nonprofessional telling one of the leagues best defenders how to defend.
Cute.
There isn't enough contact for him to go stumbling that far back, and his footwork is to good to be tripping all over the court. As good of a defender as Bruce is he's trying to bait the refs into giving Kobe a foul he'll never receive...he looks to them everytime he goes flying. He just has to play him straight up and except the contact like he usually does.
There's a fair amount of contact between those two. Bowen doesn't get in Kobe's head like he does with pussies like Ray Allen and Vince Carter. Bruce's goal is to prevent Bryant from getting to the rim and forcing him to take tough shots with a hand in his face. Bryant is certainly good enough to make some of those.
It is certainly desirable that Bowen not give Bryant any room, regardless of contact.
Glad you enjoyed my post.![]()
Well whatever the case, Bowen knows what he's doing. I trust him
I have to agree that about giving bowen space though. I prefer Bowen a couple inches back and throwing a hand in the air to contest jumpers.
bowen has to expect the kobe push off. he's going to have to absorb punishment and stay with kobe.
good win, great ball movement. let's get game 4!!!
Kobe got 0 F/T's tonight. I think you should all STFU about Bowen's defense.
I agree I don't think he was flopping just getting a tough elbow that was knocking him back.
This is a good point.
My point is that he kept Kobe contained for, what, 3 and a half quarters? I think he's doing a great job. Kobe is going to make his shots, we know that. Staying too close to him draws fouls, so I imagine thats why he remains so distant.
Yeah, it was pretty good.
No need to flop.
It's not just about tonight, this happened the previous two games as well. Thankfully the Spurs' offense sustained itself when Kobe went on his many run which was helped when Bowen fell to the ground a few times.
Bowen is still a premier defender and the best on-ball guy on the team, but Kobe isn't going to miss all of those open jumpers. Either way, it was a good win to build on.
WHAT!!? LMAO @ people saying Bowen had lockdown defense! 30 points on 57% shooting, hehe.
Well, Kobe does use his off-arm a lot. That's a fact. If Bowen holds his ground, he'll probably get called for a foul. If he falls back, he leaves Kobe open, but maybe they'll call a foul on Bryant: he's a tough cover.
What's funny is that the refs are never going to even call that blatant foul by Kobe.
Bowen's defense has been great otherwise though. He's keeping Kobe off the foul line which is a very difficult thing to do. I think a part of that is that though is Kobe hasn't really been driving aggresively to the hole as his jumpshot and 3 point shot has been falling consistently.
Yeah, all leading to the Lakers win.
1 assist
0 FT
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