Kobe has 60 in overtime right now

[mavsfan1000]

Yes Kobe is the most feared player. It is much easier to defend Kobe because he is on fire right now but he lacks something. The attention he gets doesn't seem to benefit the other players on his team as much as it should. I think with Kobe you are playing outside-in which is a tougher way of running an offense rather than inside-out. I know I'm nitpicking but to me that is the difference from the MVP and a top 5 player. Dirk sort of plays in the post that is the mid post. He gets doubled and tosses it to Terry who than passes it to Stackhouses, Howard, or someone else for the assist. Players like Kobe and Wade are very explosive though and can single handedly take the team to wins and I think that is where they get the fans attention. I think Dirk plays in the flow of the offense better though. If I were to put them on a level from 5-10 from game to game Kobe would be like 5, 5, 9, 5, 10, 6, and etc. Dirk is more like 7, 8, 7, 8, 6, 9, and etc.

[resistanze]

Yes Kobe is the most feared player. It is much easier to defend Kobe because he is on fire right now but he lacks something. The attention he gets doesn't seem to benefit the other players on his team as much as it should. I think with Kobe you are playing outside-in which is a tougher way of running an offense rather than inside-out. I know I'm nitpicking but to me that is the difference from the MVP and a top 5 player. Dirk sort of plays in the post that is the mid post. He gets doubled and tosses it to Terry who than passes it to Stackhouses, Howard, or someone else for the assist. Players like Kobe and Wade are very explosive though and can single handedly take the team to wins and I think that is where they get the fans attention. I think Dirk plays in the flow of the offense better though. If I were to put them on a level from 5-10 from game to game Kobe would be like 5, 5, 9, 5, 10, 6, and etc. Dirk is more like 7, 8, 7, 8, 6, 9, and etc.

Aren't you just then confusing Kobe's ability with the quality of the team that's built around him?

Did you watch Kobe play during the Lakers' 3-peat, regular season and playoffs? He showed quite clearly that he could play effectively in a good system, as Dirk is doing right now. Kobe has had even more success up to this point.

What do you honestly think would happen if you replaced Kobe with Dirk on the Lakers?

I've been touting Dirk as the MVP all season long. But he still have some ways to go in his game, as we saw in that Suns' game. He somewhat is lacking on the defensive end and the old Dirk of 2005 WCSF and 2006 Finals still appears at times.

[lefty]

Kobe has been a BALLHOG in the last 2 games ; he took tons of bad shots too

[mavsfan1000]

That system was run mostly with Shaq. Kobe played off of him in a great flow which made the Lakers almost impossible to beat in a series until Shaq got really out of shape. Dirk never had a big man like Shaq but if he did that would be freaking scary to watch. lol That would be the perfect player for Dirk. Dirk's defense is inconsistent but he has brought it for the most part this year.

[TDMVPDPOY]

look at the boxscore, another 3 assists performance = ball hog

[Nahtanoj]

Dirk would be good with Shaq, but you'll still need 3 other excellent players to win anything. Shaw, Fox, Fisher, Harper, Horry, Grant, Rice etc were HUGE during the le years, not just Kobe and Shaq.

[TheNextGen]

Can you take Kobe's balls out of your mouth and actually be unbiased on something? Kobe's team is obviously but Kobe still shouldn't allow his team to lose 7 games in a row. If Kobe was the MVP he could at least keep them winning some games. I guess that is asking too much from him.

This quote disturbs me a bit. "Kobe still shouldn't allow his team to lose 7 games in a row. " Its wierd cuz he finally took the will to throw up 39 shots, make 59% of it, score 65 points...to win all by himself....then you say its nothing special and he is not a team player. Didn't he do what you said he should do, to keep "winning some games"....which he finally did, by scoring 65. He did what MVPs do, take over the game. Its Catch22 with you, you cant decide what side you're arguing for.

[TheNextGen]

look at the boxscore, another 3 assists performance = ball hog

Screw assist when you can score 65 poitns urself

[Nahtanoj]

Screw assist when you can score 65 poitns urself

Or 81 or 62 in 3 Qtrs or 65 or 58 or 56 in 3 Qtrs, 55 etc etc etc.. bottomline, through the years, Lakers have had a superior record when Kobe scores 40 or more. But Kobe also understands you can't win a Championship that way... there has to be a balanced attack and that's what the triangle's supposed to do hence the willingness to take 6 fewer shots this year.

[Nahtanoj]

This quote disturbs me a bit. "Kobe still shouldn't allow his team to lose 7 games in a row. " Its wierd cuz he finally took the will to throw up 39 shots, make 59% of it, score 65 points...to win all by himself....then you say its nothing special and he is not a team player. Didn't he do what you said he should do, to keep "winning some games"....which he finally did, by scoring 65. He did what MVPs do, take over the game. Its Catch22 with you, you cant decide what side you're arguing for.

You're spot on.. Haters have a habit of contradicting themselves.. :/

[LakeShow]

Come onnn.. don't cop out and change your tune, from your posts. Your original beef was his assists and not being an MVP to his team.

I'll easily admit I hate Kobe. But even I know, he is NOT overrated in skills AT ALL. He is the most talented player currently, and is one of a kind! Lebron, Wade have dominant games too and will get better or equally as good, but Kobe's is unique to his own.

That said. He's a bas . He's the kind of player where you WISH he wasn't an ASS because you see him wasting it, because he's ALWAYS gonna be playing for himself and his legacy. Not as a leader of his team, but because he's so in love with himself with a major ego.

I was watching the game today, no doubt he's insane. But half the people are turned off every time, when he takes it too far, and makes the stupidest decisions, and then starts smirking and giving man love to his teammmates while they're winning. Then when the going gets tough. He's elbowing them in the face, yelling at them, and pulling some weird egomaniacal act.

He was really annoying at the end of the fourth quarter. Kobe would chuck up to make it to 50 , he almost let the wolves back into the game on a couple impulsive plays where he wanted to keep going, when the game should have been tempered because they were ahead by ten, luckily wolves suck balls. So it didn't happen.

But still. He's a horrible leader. The dumb young laker squad followed suit by making stupid fast break flashy plays, and wolves were kept in striking distance to keep it close because of that.

That's not fair, Kobe is a good leader. The Lakers had 36 assists yesterday to go with kobe's 50. One of the big problems for the LaKers is that they're deferring to him too much. They look for him way too much but that has a lot to do with players just coming back from injuries and not yet in a grove. I watched one play when Walton was leading a fast break, he had Odom in front wide open and Kobe on the wing with a defender near him and he passed it to Kobe. Odom went to Walton about not passing him the ball.

Phil Jackson has asked kobe to start his assault early instead of getting his team mates involved early (of course, kobe may take advantage of that). Kobe can make shots from anywhere on the court, it's kind of hard to criticize his shot selections when he shoots a high percentage, like he has in the last 2 games and a lot of those baskets were the end result of an assist.

Odom is just about where he was at the beginning of the season, Walton is a little rusty but should be more confident in a few games. Brown is still having trouble with his ankles. I do think it is time for Kobe to take less shots and work on getting his team mates confidence back. I expect to see that soon.
His smirks and smiles are geniune. He is happy to finally have his starting forwards back and has stated that with them they are a better team. Give them some time and things will go back to where they were at the beginning of the season.

[1Parker1]

Ok I don't hate Kobe but I get irritated with Kobe worshippers. Kobe is a great player but fans tend to overrate him. He is very explosive though so you can't let him get his confidence up.

[1Parker1]

I know I'm nitpicking but to me that is the difference from the MVP and a top 5 player. Dirk sort of plays in the post that is the mid post. He gets doubled and tosses it to Terry who than passes it to Stackhouses, Howard, or someone else for the assist. Players like Kobe and Wade are very explosive though and can single handedly take the team to wins and I think that is where they get the fans attention. I think Dirk plays in the flow of the offense better though. If I were to put them on a level from 5-10 from game to game Kobe would be like 5, 5, 9, 5, 10, 6, and etc. Dirk is more like 7, 8, 7, 8, 6, 9, and etc.

Wow, just...wow.

So players like Kobe and Wade can single handedly take the team to wins...and mind you also CHAMPIONSHIPS to get the fans attention, but Dirk somehow plays in the flow of the offense better and that makes him a better player than someone who can take over a game and get you the win?

. I find myself getting dumber the more I read a Mavs fan's post.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

That's not fair, Kobe is a good leader. The Lakers had 36 assists yesterday to go with kobe's 50. One of the big problems for the LaKers is that they're deferring to him too much. They look for him way too much but that has a lot to do with players just coming back from injuries and not yet in a grove. I watched one play when Walton was leading a fast break, he had Odom in front wide open and Kobe on the wing with a defender near him and he passed it to Kobe. Odom went to Walton about not passing him the ball.

Phil Jackson has asked kobe to start his assault early instead of getting his team mates involved early (of course, kobe may take advantage of that). Kobe can make shots from anywhere on the court, it's kind of hard to criticize his shot selections when he shoots a high percentage, like he has in the last 2 games and a lot of those baskets were the end result of an assist.

Odom is just about where he was at the beginning of the season, Walton is a little rusty but should be more confident in a few games. Brown is still having trouble with his ankles. I do think it is time for Kobe to take less shots and work on getting his team mates confidence back. I expect to see that soon.
His smirks and smiles are geniune. He is happy to finally have his starting forwards back and has stated that with them they are a better team. Give them some time and things will go back to where they were at the beginning of the season.

Though I'm not so sure if his smirks and smiles had to do with his teammates back or the fact that he was on the brink of scoring 50, but ok.

Thanks for disagreeing in support of your team. Heh. And not ripping into me, just because I'm not a fan of Kobe. And I'm still waiting to see Kobe's leadership skills put to the test. But I will admit he has really put in an effort to be more balanced and less of a one-man show as opposed to two, and even a year ago. I'm still not completely convinced about him, because he has had some real awful shot selections and bad percentages. At the same time, Kobe's team is still limited. So you can't reallly fault him when the team is actually in a better position some nights when Kobe's scoring in bunches.

[mavsfan1000]

Wow, just...wow.

So players like Kobe and Wade can single handedly take the team to wins...and mind you also CHAMPIONSHIPS to get the fans attention, but Dirk somehow plays in the flow of the offense better and that makes him a better player than someone who can take over a game and get you the win?

. I find myself getting dumber the more I read a Mavs fan's post.

It was Shaq that won them the championships. They aren't the same without Shaq and Dirk almost won the championship last year without a Shaq like player on his team.

[resistanze]

It doesn't matter because the Mav's supporting cast is infinitely better than the Laker's any time since Shaq left. You can't compare the two.

[DOMINATOR]

mavsfan1000 are you really this ignorant or are you just doing this for kicks?

[mavsfan1000]

mavsfan1000 are you really this ignorant or are you just doing this for kicks?

What did I say that was so ignorant? 1Parker1 made it seem like that Kobe won the championships for the lakers which is not true as Shaq was the main reason. It even proves my point how much better the Lakers were without Kobe than they were without Shaq.

[TonyParkerSux]

Kobe is by far the best overall player in the NBA.

[Medvedenko]

Mavsfan1000....not to beat a dead horse...but yes, Shaq was the main reason why the Lakers won...just like Kobe was the main reason they won as well. Not many 1 man teams win the championship....you of most people should understand that. Kobe had Shaq, Jordan had Pippen, Shaq had wade...each of those guys didn't win without any support. Kobe with all of the injuries this year has no support. Oh, and please compre Dirk and Kobe some more....it shows you how stupid you are. As I've stated in other posts ad nauseum...Kobe is compared to MJ, Magic, Jerry West, Wilt....and the rest of today's players are compared to Kobe.

[mavsfan1000]

Typical laker fans overrating Kobe. He is a ballhog that doesn't know how to get his teammates involved. He is supposed to make everyone around him better but he doesn't. Walton has made him better though ever since he got inserted into the starting lineup. Without Kobe, Shaq's lakers still make the playoffs with probably 50 wins but without Shaq the Lakers don't make the playoffs until they got Odom and Walton. They have been the key.

[Medvedenko]

Damn....after seeing your post count I'd assume you'd have some basketball a en, some intelligence, some semblence of reality......Overrating Kobe...man, how can you overrate someone who's the most feared player in the NBA. Re , the Lakers have been in the playoffs without Luke, Odom, Brown, Radman, et al the whole season. What the are you talking about. Without Kobe, this team wins 20 games. Tell me einstein....how does Dirk make his teammates better....or is it the other way around as you say it is with Kobe. Also, watch a ing laker game first before you enhance this board with your "knowledge"

[mavsfan1000]

We're not talking about Dirk right now. How is Kobe easily the best player in the league? He isn't though laker fans like to think he is. The mavs had no problems this year guarding Kobe. Sure he has a big quarter but ends up shooting under 50% percent and has a low assist count.

[Medvedenko]

How is he the best player in the league.......? Great question, but no need to answer as you delicately proven your b-ball knowledge....You obviously only seen the Lakers play when they play Dallas. Your team is having a phenominal season, no doubt and the Lakers can't match up with their injuries and chemistry problems. No one man can do it himself, especially against an elite team. With that being said, when you're older you'll understand.

[mavsfan1000]

I'm 24 and I've watched Kobe for many years. He is very streaky and on any given day he is the most explosive player in the league. His overall game though in a 82 game season isn't consistent enough to be the best. Maybe Jordan is to blame for everyone feeling like they need to be a ballhog these days but Kobe needs to find ways to get his teammates confidence up. AI left Philly and guess what? Iguodala improves drastically. When you're not getting your teammates involved their confidence level can be shaken.