The Kobe Stoppers

[crc21209]

As far as defending Kobe well, the list should go:

1. Bruce Bowen (every time they met)
2. Paul Pierce/James Posey (these two did a pretty good job on Kobe in the 08' Finals)
3. Shane Battier/Ron Artest

And then there's a drop off . Ruben Patterson always talked a good game but never really backed it up!

[picc84]

Battier had one GREAT game against him last year and since then he's been hailed as some kind of Kobe stopper, but he's actually not that great on him, despite his obsessive notebooks and such. One great game against a player does not make you his stopper. This is the same guy that Kobe dropped 56 in 3 quarters on. His hand in the face D does absolutely nothing, he just has good positioning and forces him into jumpshots. Which would be a better defensive strategy if Kobe didnt shoot jumpers 80% of the time anyway. Dont get me wrong Battier is a great defender, but his defense on Kobe is overrated. Primarily because of that one 08 game.

Paul Pierce defends him much better than Battier does IMO. They actually defend each other pretty flawlessly, I think its the compe iveness and the fact they usually practice together in the summers.

Still, nobody is going to make him look bad alone. Great team defenses like Detroit and Boston are good at doing the job though. Detroit in 2004 was the best defense on him (or on anyone) i've ever seen. That was unreal. Talk about the perfect mix of coaching and personnel.

I loved watching Kobe and Bruce Bowen go at it. I dont think Bowen actually ever contained him as much as he just made him work hard for shots, but the intensity and compe iveness was awesome. Sad to see that guy go.

[21_Blessings]

As far as defending Kobe well, the list should go:

1. Bruce Bowen (every time they met)

Not even close. 1v1 Bowen can't handle Kobe at all. With Robinson and Duncan collasping the middle though, different story. Kobe on Bowen more times than not though.

Although Bruce did do a good job at focusing on chasing and harrassing Kobe at all times. To the point where Bowen would never even worry about help defense. Which was only really possible because Tim Duncan (much better defender than Bowen ever was, never got credit)was anchoring the middle all those years. Without Tim Duncan and Pop's system Bowen would have been nothing more than a journeyman.

2. Paul Pierce/James Posey (these two did a pretty good job on Kobe in the 08' Finals)

They did a good job contesting his jumpers but the guy that should be here is Kevin Garnett. He's the real reason Kobe was limited that series. KG did a fantastic job of cheating off Lamar Odom all series while playing a soft zone on Kobe preventing him from getting any penetration.

3. Shane Battier/Ron Artest

Why is Artest here? Kobe destroys Ron Artest.

Battier has had some games where Kobe was held to poor shooting. Not sure how much credit we can give battier though considering Kobe has torched him for 50 a couple times and 40 multiple times.

And then there's a drop off . Ruben Patterson always talked a good game but never really backed it up!

No, the top of the list should be Tay Prince. He's been the most consistent Kobe defender imo. The head to head statistics on bref also back this up.

[nkdlunch]

So noone can stop KObe. I agree

also, no one can stop Lebron, Wade, CP3, Parker, Duncan, Dirk, Roy, ........

[picc84]

No, the top of the list should be Tay Prince. He's been the most consistent Kobe defender imo. The head to head statistics on bref also back this up.

Not since 2004.

In fact, that was the last time his reputation as a defensive stopper was legitimate.

[21_Blessings]

Not since 2004.

In fact, that was the last time his reputation as a defensive stopper was legitimate.

Never said Prince was a defensive stopper. His length has always bothered Kobe and he can't really be posted up by him. He has guarded Bryant consistently better than anyone on the list above.

[picc84]

. But he does as good a job on Kobe as anyone in the league. And he does better than all the players listed above.

...No he doesn't.

Not even close.

Since 2004 finals, i've made it a habit to watch them when Detroit lets Kobe isolate on him one-on-one, and in the past few years it has resulted in Prince getting torched. With bad intentions. As has gotten somewhat routine for Prince vs elite perimeter players, as his reputation began to exceed his talent somewhere around 2006.

[21_Blessings]

Not even close.

Since 2004 finals, i've made it a habit to watch them when Detroit lets Kobe isolate on him one-on-one, and in the past few years it has resulted in Prince getting torched. With bad intentions. As has gotten somewhat routine for Prince vs elite perimeter players, as his reputation began to exceed his talent somewhere around 2006.

Iso 1v1 on the wing Kobe will torch anyone in the league.

Prince has been torched by Kobe. But he was never torched as bad as Battier or Bowen have been since 2004.

Purely 1v1 man defense, without factoring team defense (Duncan, Yao, KG clogging the middle) Prince easily does the best job vs Kobe. His length allows him to recover and contest Kobe's pull up jumper as good as anyone in the league.

Basketball is a game of matchups. Prince's performance against other elite perimeter players is irrelevant to the discussion.

[picc84]

Purely 1v1 man defense, without factoring team defense (Duncan, Yao, KG clogging the middle) Prince easily does the best job vs Kobe. His length allows him to recover and contest Kobe's pull up jumper as good as anyone in the league.

No. One on one he gets WORKED. Thats exactly what i'm been trying to tell you. You have not been watching detroit la games if you think Prince has been containing him one on one since 2005.

[21_Blessings]

No. One on one he gets WORKED. Thats exactly what i'm been trying to tell you. You have not been watching detroit la games if you think Prince has been containing him one on one since 2005.

Battier, Posey and Bowen have been WORKED one v one despite having better team defenses than Prince since 2005

I don't miss Lakers games. You're exaggerating the level at which Prince gets WORKED as you say.

Despite having an atrocious interior defense Prince has contained Kobe to a 40% or below 3 out of last 5 meetings. Yeah he's getting worked out there.

It's a matchup issue which you don't understand. Have you ever played basketball? One v one Kobe can post up guys like Battier and Bowen. Not Prince, at least not consistently. Prince's length is incredible which is what bugs Kobe Bryant the most since that kind of length gives the defender the ability to force Kobe into taking that 20footer and still be able to recover and contest the jumpshot.

[JMarkJohns]

Bell pissed Kobe off which made Kobe play better. I wouldn't say he was a stopper. A pest, but Kobe torched Phoenix whenever he wanted to, even with Bell defending him.

[picc84]

Battier, Posey and Bowen have been WORKED one v one despite having better team defenses than Prince since 2005

I don't miss Lakers games. You're exaggerating the level at which Prince gets WORKED as you say.

Despite having an atrocious interior defense Prince has contained Kobe to a 40% or below 3 out of last 5 meetings. Yeah he's getting worked out there.

Prince hasn't held him to by himself. One on one Kobe has destroyed him when they play. But how often does Detroit let Kobe isolate his defender on an island? Almost never. But when they do, Prince does not do as good a job as Pierce or even the overrated Battier.

[21_Blessings]

This is the game where the Lakers noticed Ariza and began trying to trade for him. Also Ariza is pretty similar to Prince. Not a pure stopper but his length causes problems for Kobe at times.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...612270ORL.html

Just glad Ariza didn't go to Cleveland or a real contender out West. He'll probably be given the next "Kobe Stopper" label after he out performs Battier a few times.

[Hornets1]

So noone can stop KObe. I agree

also, no one can stop Lebron, Wade, CP3, Parker, Duncan, Dirk, Roy, ........

Agreed. You can slow them down and decrease their productivity and efficiency, but you can't stop em.

Also Durant,Dwill, and melo

[21_Blessings]

One on one Kobe has destroyed him when they play.

Just because you keep saying this doesn't make it true. Especially when the facts disagree with you.

But how often does Detroit let Kobe isolate his defender on an island? Almost never.

Actually they do it quite often with Prince. Put him on an island with Kobe.

[picc84]

Just because you keep saying this doesn't make it true. Especially when the facts disagree with you.

What are the facts? Enlighten me.

[SouthTexasRancher]

I just see a list of guys that Kobe routinely on. Thanks though.

I can give you 3 seasons where Bruce Bowen dropped a load of on Kobe. 2003, 2005 & 2007.

[Ditty]

if you really watch basketball and notice things like who plays good and bad against each other the real guy that gave kobe fits and played great on him was t-mac when he was in orlando or in his prime probably the best defender on kobe

[Culburn369]

I can give you 3 seasons where Bruce Bowen dropped a load of on Kobe. 2003, 2005 & 2007.

Running his feet under a jump shooter is a load of . Nice legacy for Bowen.

[Lars]

Couple of good articles on the topic.

No one can stop Kobe Bryant. The Laker is too talented, too aggressive and too focused to let any defender keep him under lock and key. Houston is a team predicated on tough defense, with arguably the conference's two best perimeter defenders in the line-up. One can imagine Kobe figured in Daryl Morey's decision to trade for Ron Artest in July.

But in Houston's Game 1 win over the Lakers, Shane Battier covered Kobe almost exclusively. As Matt Watson wrote, Battier did a fantastic job, hassling Kobe into an inefficient game. How did he do it? Or did Kobe do it to himself?

I charted Kobe's offensive possessions with an eye on Battier and Artest. Rick Adelman had already announced Battier would be the lead Kobe defender, but the exclusivity level wasn't known until the game began. (You can also imagine a scenario in which the cir stances of the game would necessitate Battier being replaced in the line-up by an offensive creator.)

Battier was the defender on 27 of Kobe's 33 shooting possessions. Artest covered five (three of which coming when Battier was on the bench getting s ches or a rest), and the other possession came against Brent Barry on a secondary break. (By the way, Brent Barry held Kobe to 0-1 shooting! Brent Barry!)

In those 27 Kobe vs. Battier shooting possessions, two ended with trips to the line. Both of these came in the final two minutes, as Kobe decided to start attacking the basket. Bryant had only one prior FTA, on an "and-1" against Artest. For perspective, on the season Kobe drew 0.33 FTAs for every FGA. But in those Battier-defended possessions in Game 1, Kobe drew just four FTAs on 25 FGAs -- 0.16 FTA/FGA.

That's because the lion's share of Kobe's shots came on jumpers. Of those 25 FGAs against Battier, 21 were jumpers. Of the 21 jumpers, 14 were long twos (the least efficient in basketball at the league-level). Obviously, you don't draw many fouls on jumpers, let alone pull-up jumpers (which Kobe often went to). Not until those final minutes could Kobe lose Battier on screens; it's hard to tell whether Kobe, feeling ill and maybe rusty, didn't feel up to a pounding in the lane, or whether Battier just shut it down by fighting through screens and leaving some space for Kobe to fire up (seemingly) open jumpers. (No jumper against Battier is truly open. He's so skilled at shoving his hand in a shooter's face. Every time. Without fouling.)

Given Kobe's aforementioned talent and focus, I find it hard to believe he simply didn't want to drive. Kobe's eye is on the prize. He knows what he needs to do to get L.A. another championship. He knows he's at his best getting to the rim, especially against a long, agile, but not quick, Battier. Kobe knows all this ... and took 25 jump shots. I think Battier gets credit for this one. (Artest, too: in the five Artest-defended possession, Kobe took four jumpers and got to the rim once.)

Assuming Kobe adjusts in Game 2 and begins to drive into the core of the Houston defense, we'll see how long Battier can hold up the fort before needing more help from Artest or a double-team.

(Addendum: Kobe finished with four assists, but by my charting had another nine "potential assists" -- passes leading to shots which, if those shots had fallen, would have counted as assists for Kobe. This doesn't mean Kobe could have had 13 assists if his teammates didn't shoot so poorly -- the passes weren't exactly alley-oops; most were normal ball movement passes that ended with the ever-efficient (not) Trevor Ariza three-pointer. But Kobe did share the ball despite his 31 FGAs. The passes just didn't help much.)

__________________________________________________ ________________________

On March 16, 2008 last year, the surging Lakers came into Houston with anticipation to break the Rockets amazing winning streak which had reached 21. Not wanting to be a part of their historic run, Kobe and the Lake Show were hoping to cool down the Rockets.
This article isn't about the game. It's not about the win streak. It's about Shane Battier vs. Kobe Bryant.
In that game last year, Shane Battier put on such an incredible display of defense on Kobe Bryant, that even an avid fan of Kobe myself had to give it up to the dude. Ok, ok some people might get on my case for saying this, but Shane practically shut him down that night.

Bryant played 47 minutes that game, shot 11-33, only went to the free throw line four times, and simply just couldn't get it going the whole game. He ended up with 24 points, respectably, but it was the hardest fought 24 points I had ever seen the Mamba go out and get.
Battier played 46 minutes, and was guarding Kobe majority of the night. There was a point in the third quarter when the Lakers did go on a run, but every time the Lakers did get close, Battier found a way to stop Kobe.
The Rockets ended the night with their streak at 22 that night, with a 104-92 victory; but for a week straight, all anybody talked about was Battier's footwork and level of energy the whole night as he chased Kobe around the whole night. And of course, everybody talked about Battier's hand covering Kobe's eyes the whole night.
Whether that affected his jumpshot or not, Bryant had a bad game.
You know he remembers that night. And with Ron Artest and Tracy McGrady most likely not playing tonight, you know he can't wait for Battier to step up and guard him.
It may not be a big game for many, but for Kobe, his eyes are wide open, because he sees the challenge that is Shane Battier tonight.
Can Battier do it again?
I'm rockin' that purp and gold, so you know my answer

[kamikazi_player]

is this your kobe stopper?