The Kobe Effect (Not as Clutch As You Think)

[JamStone]

Like I said, "almost always." And, a D'antoni coached team isn't the typical defense Manu and the Spurs face in those situations. It's more rare for a team to leave Tim Duncan completely wide open, even at the three point line. And, yes, Kobe hasn't trusted his teammates in the past in those situations, particularly the previous 4 or so seasons. But, we've also seen Kobe give up the ball to Shaq, Robert Horry, Rick Fox, and Derek Fisher in those moments when the Lakers were winning les. If Manu's choices were to pass it to Smush Parker and Brian Cook and Luke Walton and Vladimir Radmanovic and Kwame Brown, I would want Manu to take a tough, well defended fade away jumper over a double team too.

[IronMexican]

Actually, they do collapse on him. The difference is that he actually trusts and passes the ball to teammates on that situation, unlike Kome who forces the issue. There's no better example than TD's 3 pointer against Phoenix in the playoffs last year.

And FWIW, Kome is clutch...

Really? I was expecting Manu to shoot a 2 down 3 with under 5 seconds to go.

[Killakobe81]

Not a bad article but also somewhat skewed. There are other factors you have to consider when looking at all those numbers. First, who else besides Kobe is going to take a clutch shot on the Lakers? Especially from 2004-05 to 2006-07 before Fisher returned and Gasol was acquired last season. Of course Kobe is going to take that many clutch shots. He's "that" guy. And, then of course FG% in clutch situations are going to go down, the article even mentions how it will be. Defense tightens up, sometimes double and triple teams come and Kobe in the past still felt compelled to take shots against double teams because he didn't trust his teammates and the level of difficulty of those shots are higher. Yeah, of course he'll miss his share.

And, while I'm a huge fan of Manu Ginobili and he certainly has his clutch moments, at least acknowledge that he has a different situation than Kobe has had the previous 5 or so seasons because Manu almost always gets defended with single coverage because defenses cannot collapse off of Duncan and Parker or sag off the three point shooters the Spurs puts out in those situations. Again, before last year, Kobe had teammates like Smush Parker and Luke Walton out on the court in clutch situations. Manu is clutch, don't get me wrong. But, as it pertains to Kobe's situation, it's probably a bit unfair to evaluate Kobe in similar fashion.

Again I agree with Jamstone ...because he always reads between the lines and seeks truth ...though I know Kobe has missed a lot of clutch shots ..even MJ points to the many misses he has on exactly why he is unafaid in those situations (one of his most famous quotes) ...i also agree Manu is the 2nd most clutch on the Spurs ...and one of the most clutch in the league... but his clutch has A LOT to do with the big man afaraid to leave Duncan which Kobe hasnt had before reently and Lebron even with a healthy Z does not have ...but i do think Manu is truly clutch (like Lebron, Kobe, Chauncey, Duncan) but so are the other guys. But Duncan has hit his big shots the falling jumper over Shaq the big 3 last year as the main focus of the other team's defense ...even though he has 3 all-star teammates he gets the focus of the other team's best big man and doubles he has hit many clutch shots and i think he is the most clutch big man, Kobe & manu the most clutch guards Lebron the most clutch forward ...

[Galileo]

Duncan has 37 clutch rebounds this season, second only to Okafor with 38.

[JoeTait75]

When was the last time LeBron made a game winning shot?

Last January 30th in Portland IIRC.

[timvp]

I love Kobe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[1Parker1]

I love Kobe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[JamStone]

I love Kobe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Short. Clever. Effective. I'm impressed.

[Obstructed_View]

Did the writer of that article actually suggest that Lebron is "truly" clutch?

Someone should run the numbers on Shane Battier. Seems like he always hits the big shots he gets.

[angelbelow]

well shot wise i actually agree with the article. but kobe does so much more in the clutch. the bottomline is he is dangerous when the game is close.

[Bob Lanier]

The notion of "clutch" is and always has been ridiculous.

There are actually chokers, and Kobe Bryant isn't one. Beyond that lies luck.

[KidCongo]

Last January 30th in Portland IIRC.

Jan 23rd at Oracle.

[JoeTait75]

Jan 23rd at Oracle.

[Kobe™]

Not a bad article but also somewhat skewed. There are other factors you have to consider when looking at all those numbers. First, who else besides Kobe is going to take a clutch shot on the Lakers? Especially from 2004-05 to 2006-07 before Fisher returned and Gasol was acquired last season. Of course Kobe is going to take that many clutch shots. He's "that" guy. And, then of course FG% in clutch situations are going to go down, the article even mentions how it will be. Defense tightens up, sometimes double and triple teams come and Kobe in the past still felt compelled to take shots against double teams because he didn't trust his teammates and the level of difficulty of those shots are higher. Yeah, of course he'll miss his share.

And, while I'm a huge fan of Manu Ginobili and he certainly has his clutch moments, at least acknowledge that he has a different situation than Kobe has had the previous 5 or so seasons because Manu almost always gets defended with single coverage because defenses cannot collapse off of Duncan and Parker or sag off the three point shooters the Spurs puts out in those situations. Again, before last year, Kobe had teammates like Smush Parker and Luke Walton out on the court in clutch situations. Manu is clutch, don't get me wrong. But, as it pertains to Kobe's situation, it's probably a bit unfair to evaluate Kobe in similar fashion.

An intelligent Detroit fan?

Good job.

[Michael Jordan.]