Where the is it?? How can people say he's better or close to The GOAT *MJ.
I'm not trying to troll or disrespect anybody. but WTF?? Where's the ing Defense??? He couldn't guard anybody. That's sad.
Kobe sure can score a lot of points like *MJ did don't get me wrong, but he's not even half as clutch of a player The GOAT *MJ was.
Kobe looks just as bad as Nash's ass on Defense.
Night Night.
*Michael Jordan not Michael Jackson
Overrated like it always was, he just lost a step now though so it's worse. He could play D do not get me wrong, but he never was a lock down defender who could change a game on D.
Kobe's defense was amazing, got him off the hook in that Katelyn Faber incident. Any other guy would be in prison up till now, but Kobe's defense stepped up.
He is still benefiting from it almost a decade later, that's awesome defense.
Kobe's defensive rep is overrated but he was an excellent defender at times in his career and still CAN play Excellent defense when motivated ... which is why when he does it helps us win more than his 40 point games. To me it's more of an indictment that he can, but is unwilling to focus on it. If he just sucked on defense ... that could be forgiven but he plays lazy and undisciplined defense more times than not. Sure he is older and slower but Bowen and many others still played good defense at 30+ ...
Kobe hasn't played great defense in close to a decade. Been living off reputation for years. He's capable of pretty good defense for short stretches, maybe late in games when he's motivated against someone like LeBron or Melo. But he's not all that good anymore, definitely not consistently good. And it's been many years since he sniffed good defense.
True. and what is comical he played some of his best defense all season (last one) in a meaningless ASG which pissed off Wade so much he hacked him which broke Kobe's nose ...
Look Im obviously a Laker fan, but dude can be frustrating. his shot selection, sometimesy defense and hot and cold clutch performances are ALL part of his legacy as are the game-winners, great scoring binges, exeptional foot-work and all around game he has. I just think the hate on him gets ridiculous ...but so does the idolatry. The Kobe close to or better than MJ ship... sailed years ago even winning a 6th wont change that. But MJ is overrated a bit too on defense and his fans get all butthurt when anyone is compared to him. at best Kobe can be considered in teh 2nd best to MJ convo but again Lebron may make that debate moot anyway ....
Like I have said on here for years Lebron has a slim chance at passing MJ and Kobe though not close to MJ isnt as far as many people think either ...but I would say TODAY that Magic and especiallly Kareem have much stronger GOAT arguments than Kobe ... and I doubt that is changing much.
Same can be said for Dwight Howard. He's basically been a write in for all defense teams because he used to block shots early in his career. Now that his back is about as durable as Bynum's knee, he's next to useless. lol paying for basketball reasons
Kobe's probably still my favorite player in the NBA. But that doesn't mean I don't realize and admit his many flaws. I've always liked flawed players though. I was a huge KG fan even though he's an emo , fake tough guy (and it's waned since he's been in Boston). I loved Allen Iverson pretty much his whole career even though he was a selfish team cancer. I love Manu Ginobili even though he's bald and Argentine. Love CP3 and his game. All flawed players. I think it's their approach to the game, even if that approach itself is flawed. They are all extremely tough compe ors who will do close to anything to win. Win at all costs type of players. Leave it all on the court type players. I appreciate knowing the guys playing hate losing even more than they like winning. If they're selfishly chucking or fake barking or flopping or chest bumping because of it, so be it.
Kobe's lost a step this year. This is the last year he'll be in discussions for top SG in the league. It's been a long run, however looking at him play the last few months while admirable, it's clear that he's in his twilight. Phenominal his #'s have been I can see Harden take top stop next year. Nothing wrong with that at all. Defensively while he still racks up a lot of steals, he gambles too much and when he doesn't get a call on the offensive end the opposing guards sprint back for easy transition hoops. Every team does this to the Lakers and Kobe needs to address this and get back. However, he still plays good man D when motivated and will play against the best guards as well. He, however is not the stopper he was in the early 2000's.
Still, you can't deny his intensity, fire and passion for the game.
Lakers...
That is all.
What percentage of your posts are Lakers related?
Why are you obsessed with a team 5 games under .500 this deep into the season?
Looks like you too are frustrated with the current state of your favorite team.
You're better than this bro.
Lol @ this version of "you mad bro"
It was a simple question. If you didn't feel like answering, you didn't need to respond to it. So fair enough.
Not at all. Since the Pistons are an embarrassment, who else are you going to root for this year?
It was a simple, yet highly accurate, observation of your closet Laker fandom.
Jamstone pretty much nailed it. It's not that different than how his offense would look sometimes. I'm sure we can all think of a few occasions where 3 and a half quarters of subpar work would suddenly be replaced by five minutes of incredible offense. He could flip the switch on the defensive side too for a few possessions in a row. All the same basic building blocks that make a guy a good option in the post (which Kobe became) translate to perimeter defense: enough lower body strength to hold position, enough upper body strength to shoot through contact, long arms, good footwork. In his prime if called upon I think he COULD have been a lock down defender for 35 minutes every day, certainly had the tools for it at least. Even then it seemed like his tendency to gamble on passing lanes only got exploited by teams with really good ball movement, so on the whole the steals he'd snag or created for others were ususally a net positive for the team.
I don't know of anyone still saying he's an elite defender, but whatever step he lost has lead to some horrific defense when I've seen the Lakers play this year. Once upon a time he might have had the speed to recover on rotations to get out to the assignment his abandoned in the corner, but now it seems like he's lucky to get within spitting distance of his man when the shot's going up.
Pistons are and always will be my favorite team. I don't fairweather. As bad as the Pistons have been this season and in recent years, I've watched all but like 2-3 games. I've attended two Pistons games this year, in woeful Palace crowds of like 5,000 people. But I've never hidden from the fact that I like the Lakers. Willingly admitted I grew up a Lakers fan too because I loved Magic. Willingly admit that I'm a Kobe fan. The Lakers are not my favorite team. But sure, I still like them.
And yet you still don't want to answer my question. How about a slight variation then? Maybe you'll answer this one:
Do you admit that you are obsessed with the Lakers?
Part of it is what killa suggested in that it's effort related. Sometimes, he just doesn't care to put the effort in. If he gambles for a steal and doesn't get it, he doesn't hustle back to recover. And when his man makes a lay-up or dunk on the defensive rotations, Kobe will laugh throw up his hands like he's disgusted that his teammates didn't bail him out. Lol it's hilarious. He actually did the same thing a couple times in the gold medal match in the Olympics. Gambled for steals, didn't get them, just stood near halfcourt, and wondered why his man scored a lay-up. Also, he does argue non-calls so his transition defense is often non-existent. He really only plays good and tough defense when he can put on a show against a great player. Should be a nationally televised game against someone like Melo or LeBron or CP3 or Durant. You'll see a 1-2 minute stretch if the game is close in the 4th quarter where Kobe will go all Gary Payton on Kevin Johnson.
If you think me talking on a message board about a specific team, regardless of the frequency with which I do it, is "obsession," then you don't really understand the definition of the term.
I can bump 10 Lakerfan threads in about a minute. To you, that might seem like an "obsession," while to me it's killing time with some innocent fun that you read too much into and take much too seriously.
Why are you getting so defensive?
See, to me, it seems like 90%+ of your posts are Lakers related. That seems obsessive to me. Innocent fun though it may be, seems like an obsession wrapped up in a convenient blanket called "hobby" so you can defend the fact that you're obsessed. But hey, I was just asking a question. All in innocent fun, you know.
Now I'm getting defensive
Why are you so obsessed with talking basketball on Spurstalk, homie? 20K posts and 90% percent of them 200 words or more, which are usually a long winded regurgitation of a point someone already made.
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