Busted finger has put Kobe in foul mood
By Adrian Wojnarowski
Between the locker room door and Game 2, Kobe Bryant stopped to share a private lament to the most public issue of his championship chase.
“I can’t stand it,” Bryant told Yahoo! Sports. “I really can’t stand it.”
Bryant wasn’t talking about trying to cleanly shoot a basketball with a broken finger, but the incessant questions about how he’s going to do it now. What does he do? Say it’s nothing and ignore the obvious? Or tell the truth and make it sound like an excuse? For everyone else, that taped finger would be an easy out, but Bryant is too ferociously proud to ever make excuses. Every time the questions about that finger come, you can see him stiffen.
“I never [bleeping] do it,” Bryant said inside the Lakers’ practice facility. “That’s why I don’t like talking about it.”
The hardest part for Bryant is that he’s never had to listen to questions about what’s wrong with him, with his shooting. Across the past decade, Bryant’s been basketball’s best player. Whenever issues arose within his game, the solutions were simple: Get into the gym and work them out. Beyond the gimpy knee and tender ankle, there’s just this one problem that the hours and hours of shots don’t make go away.
Bryant’s trying to make shots with a broken right index finger, and that’s the reason it’s a month running since he’s had a shooting performance to his standards. There’s a swollen knee, a sore ankle tendon, but that finger is the problem that isn’t going away until summer.
“It is what it is, but you have less margin for error with the fundamentals of the shot,” Bryant told Yahoo! “A lot of shots rim, come out and all that [bleep] now. The touch, it’s real finicky now. It’s just real finicky.”
Across Bryant’s past four games, he’s struggled to shoot over 30 percent. He missed 13 of 19 shots in Game 1. Worse, he missed five of 12 free throws. This isn’t Kobe, but this is his reality. Funny, but across these consecutive trips to the NBA Finals, it was always about the fitness of his teammates to support him. Pau Gasol. Lamar Odom. Andrew Bynum. Now, they’re responsible for holding these Lakers together as Bryant keeps experimenting to elevate his efficiency.
Bryant’s always found ways to beat teams, and it hasn’t always been with the shot. He’ll take his turn on Kevin Durant in this series. He understands the Lakers can probably push past the Thunder with the ball pounded into Gasol and Bynum, with Odom swooping down on the wing. For now, Bryant has frantically worked to retool his game. He needs to find his shots closer to the rim than the 3-point line. He needs to get the ball in different places, find the angles that work with a shot release that is forever betraying him with that bulky wrap.
“His shot selection, he’s had to narrow that down a little bit because he can’t just elevate and get over people,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.
Between Games 1 and 2, the Lakers arrived to practice in El Segundo to find Bryant in a familiar place: On the floor, shooting. His capacity to play with pain is unimpeachable, and he’ll keep going in these playoffs with the knee, the ankle and, yes, the finger.
“I don’t think he’s going to offer any excuses.,” Jackson said. No, he’s going to keep searching for that touch on his finger, keep searching for a feel that once was like a second skin. There are still so many big shots waiting in these playoffs, baskets that forever belong to Bryant this time of the year. He knows everyone wonders if he can still make them with that finger and knows they’ll keep pushing him on his fitness to do it again. That’s why he can seem so grim now, so glum. Anything he says sounds like an excuse, and it’s just such a violation of his DNA to make them.
These playoffs are a cold, cutting business of makes and misses. No one cares what’s wrapped, what hurts and what finicky touch comes and goes. That’s the essence of Bryant, that’s the genius. Yes, he hates talking about that finger. Just hates it. Only one way to make the questions stop, and that comes with the ball in his hands and a game, a season, a championship on the line. That’s where Kobe Bryant has always lived, and that’s where he’s always answered those questions. However it ends this time, that’s where he goes now.
Kobe can afford to keep quiet about his injuries when he's had countless articles reminding us of this all year long. And we can always count on Mark Jackson and Mike Breen to bring it up ad nauseum during EVERY Laker televised game to drive the point home. Kobe is injured...we get it
what a pussy. just suck it up
Is he being sarcastic?“I never [bleeping] do it,” Bryant said inside the Lakers’ practice facility. “That’s why I don’t like talking about it.”
I find it amazing that some writers seem to believe that a tapped finger is such a big thing. There are dozens of guys in the playoffs playing on similar/worse injuries compared to Kobe. And yet, every season is this drama, all season along. Tiring.
I'm sick of it as well, but mostly because it's obviously affecting his shooting. He doesn't even shoot FTs well anymore, so something is definitely messed up with that hand.
I've never seen a player with more excuses TBH..the media brings it up every game like hitman mentioned..Kobe himself brings it up all the time, even though he supposedly doesn't like to talk about it..
I remember when Duncan had ed up feet in 2005, missed a bunch of games, re-aggravated it in the series vs. Seattle..he had to go up against one of the better defensive frontcourts in the modern era..the media criticized him for struggling all series, even questioning his legacy until game 7..he didn't have excuses made for him..
That's just one example..like mogro said, there are so many guys that have subtle injuries like this at this point of the season, yet we never hear about it..
I wonder if Kobe's decline will ever be accepted, or if the media will keep making excuses for him whenever he struggles, which should be very often as he continues to get old..
Whatever ...he hasnt beeen makig excuses. Lebron has passed him by. some say he is only 5th best in NBA ...
SO why keep posting who cares? Id rather talk about the team than Kobe. I agre with Miami Heat and chris Richards why keep posting about the 3rd 4th or 5th best player in the NBA?
If harlem right he is declining still...so leave it alone ... who cares?
sons don't worry the NBA will make sure to put him at the free throw line 15-20 times per game anyways.
The pisser is when he'd sat out theose 3 weeks and then came back. Another 3 weeks and the finger woulda been healed. But, Bryant's immaturity compelled him to return prematurely. He was afraid he would miss something, or, be left unaccountable at results, good or bad. It's his nature. Watch him on the bench when others are doing well. He's a study. He's so uncomfortable that it makes one uncomfortable watching him. I don't know if there is an honest bone in his entire body.
That's pretty in-depth G. Mr. Sigmund Freud would be proud but yeah; I've noticed that also.
Kobe has injuries. The media always brings it up. Kobe doesn't like talking about it.
Paul Pierce has injuries. He lies on the floor and gets carried out by his teamates then gets on a wheelchair. Then comes back 3 mins later.
Yes everyone has injuries, but it the way you carry yourself when you have them that sets players apart.
He's a wounded individual. He'd a been able to keep those wounds hidden/suppressed forever if not for Colorado. They'd a never manifested themselves in such honesty in the sunlight without that event. Consequently: consciously, or, more likely subsconsiously he's enraged at the gross examination of his wounds by the general public. I don't believe his consciousness could function if he were to ever give in to the buried truths of his life, or, to have them delineated at counseling/analysis.
Drama queen is being dramatic. Nothing to see here.
Uh, bene, have you seen my fork around? I seem to have lost track of it since it fell out of Manu.
Yes, the media brings it up all the time but your comment that Kobe does is not at all accurate. Please post some examples where he made an excuse and/or brought up an injury when not prompted. There should be plenty since you say he does it "all the time". In almost every interview I have seen he refuses to use the injuries as an excuse and even says so. I guess you see it different with you your obsession and all.
LOL.. at a broken index finger and tampon wrapped around it being subtle and blaming his shooting decline on a natural overall physical decline. I guess its just a coincidence he was shooting so well prior to the injury and so poorly after. His overall decline just happend to pick that moment to surface.
Kobe looks like he's breaking down(Not saying he still isn't a top player in the league), but with all of these injuries he's had it's pretty clear his body can't take 40 minutes a game for a full season anymore without some kind of injury like he could before.
Kobe was pissed because the reporters keep bringing it up. It's not his fault. I guaranteed u he must get asked at least 5x a day about the finger. Tell BSPN to stop bringing it up,it was old 3 months ago
Dirk best player in Western conference
No doubt... It's a natural progression. But there is a definte distincton between that natural decline and his shooting woes and anyone who thinks his shooting touch and % isn't a result of the broken finger and wrap is just clueless. It's doesn't take young legs and body to stand at the free throw line.
lol Kobe is getting old and breaking down. Using an injury to excuse it is pathetic.
Good to see you too Cully.
Go check Jefferson. I'm pretty sure you will find your fork there.
Phil on Kobe: Shoot better or shoot less
By Beth Harris
Lakers coach Phil Jackson wants Kobe Bryant to improve his shooting or take fewer shots.
Bryant scored 21 points on 6-of-19 shooting Sunday in the Lakers’ 87-79 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in their playoff opener. He missed five of 12 free throws.
Jackson said before Game 2 on Tuesday night that Bryant can continue playing the same way, but he’ll have to limit the number of shots he takes. He said Bryant can’t shoot 30 percent as he has recently and expect the Lakers to win.
“He is well aware of it. He’s a little befuddled by it, but coming to terms with it,” Jackson said.
Bryant has been bothered by a swollen right knee, a broken right index finger and a sore tendon in his left ankle, all of which contributed to his missing four of the team’s final five regular-season games.
Bryant’s return for the playoff opener affected the number of touches big men Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum got in Game 1, which Jackson wasn’t happy about.
“They want to give him the ball inside of really seeing that the post is open, and they’ve got to pass it in there,” he said. “They see where Kobe is a lot of times, and sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the most grease.”
Bryant is looking for a breakout game, the kind of high-scoring effort that he’s made his reputation on.
“Those are the things that he’s used to, that moment when he gets hot, he stays hot and can ride seven consecutive scoring opportunities down the floor,” Jackson said. “That hasn’t happened, and that makes all the difference in the world to his game.”
Jackson said all of Bryant’s injuries are limiting him.
“Right now it’s being out of rhythm, having to sit out and get himself prepared for (the playoffs),” he said. “But he’ll be back, and he’ll be back strong.”
*********************
Phil Jackson on Kobe Bryant's shooting
By Henry Abbott
Meeting the media pre-Game 2 against the Thunder, Phil Jackson talked about Kobe Bryant's low shooting percentage in Game 1. Lakers.com's Mike Trudell did the transcribing (and has more):
Obviously he can’t shoot 30-something percent. He can’t shoot that percentage and have us be successful. Either his proficiency has to increase or he has to become a playmaker out of those things. ...
He’s a little befuddled by it, but coming to terms with it. He’s looking for a break out game. He hits a three the other night in a critical situation, clock-ending situation. Ball goes in. Great. Comes down and steps back for another three that doesn’t go in. Those are the things that he’s used to, that moment that when he gets hot he stays hot and can ride seven consecutive scoring opportunities down the floor. That hasn’t happened, and that makes all the difference in the world to his game. He’s still searching to step into that moment when he gets hot and stays hot. ...
I think he searches for his teammates to show direction or initiative, and if they don’t, he’s going to step into the vacuum as quickly as a wink. Because if they’re not active and directive and attacking and doing things that he sees this offense has to do, then he’s going to step in and carry the torch.
Last edited by duncan228; 04-20-2010 at 11:11 PM.
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