Kobe Bryant Scores...A Lot
We are in the midst of something, well, we’re not quite sure. We do know that it involves Kobe Bryant and a lot of points.
This has been a pretty interesting time for the man from Los Angeles. For one he changed his jersey from his recognizable number eight: now donning the number 24. It was something about there is 24 hours in a day and he wants to take his life day by day. Athletes are pretty weird when it comes to their motivation techniques. Or maybe they just took their creating writing class a little too serious.
On the court, he has led his team to a decent record and in a solid position to make the playoffs with a record of 38-33. You have to applaud that he has been able to win the games he has with his supporting cast. Lamar Odem, Luke Walton and all those guys are nice players but they are definitely not the bunch he previously was a part of with Shaq, Derek Fisher, Rick Fox and Robert Horry. Of course it all depends how the regular season ends and who they play but they should have a good chance of winning their opening series in the playoffs. But after that, they just don’t have enough quality.
But what has been the bigger picture is Bryant’s scoring. Obviously the game he scored 81 against the Raptors in January of 2006 will probably live in just about everybody’s memory forever. It was the second highest single game total next to Wilt Chamberlain’s 100. It did come against the Toronto Raptors, who weren’t all that great, but impressive nonetheless. It goes to show just how much help he doesn’t have.
Now lately he is making even bigger scoring headlines. Bryant had scored 50 plus points in four straight games last week. A streak, again, only bested by Wilt Chamberlain who went for seven straight in 1961. The streak was snapped Sunday when he only scored 43 points. Must have not been taking that day one day at a time.
This ridiculous amount of points being poured begs two questions to be asked. How bad are the Lakers and just how good is he? For the first question. Over that four game streak the Lakers won all four games but only by an average margin of four points. You would like to think when you have someone who scores over 50 you’re going to win by 20. Before that streak, the Lakers had lost seven in a row and 13 out of their 16. In that stretch he was only putting in around 30-35 points a game. How about that for pressure. Go out there and score 50 every night or your team is going to be out of the playoff picture by the end of February.
The second now how good is he? Of course this is a debate with no answer but its fun anyways. The best all-time guard debate is really one that can only include from the 1980’s to the present. Their have always been dominant big men but just in the past couple of decades and really only in the past six or seven years have we seen these freak-of-nature guards. People like Lebron, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony who are at 6’6” and 230 plus. They would steamroll guards from previous years. Kobe fits in this category and he is terrific all-around player not just a scorer. But who is the best is the golden generation of guards that was triggered by Michael Jordan? Each one does great things and there really is now way to prove who is better.
We are definitely in a strange time with Kobe. He scores a lot but and his team still barely wins. We are going to look back on his career in two totally different eras. The first being the championship winning one with Shaq in the early 2000’s and the go-it-alone era. When he was the league’s great scorer because he had no other choice.
This has been a pretty interesting time for the man from Los Angeles. For one he changed his jersey from his recognizable number eight: now donning the number 24. It was something about there is 24 hours in a day and he wants to take his life day by day. Athletes are pretty weird when it comes to their motivation techniques. Or maybe they just took their creating writing class a little too serious.
On the court, he has led his team to a decent record and in a solid position to make the playoffs with a record of 38-33. You have to applaud that he has been able to win the games he has with his supporting cast. Lamar Odem, Luke Walton and all those guys are nice players but they are definitely not the bunch he previously was a part of with Shaq, Derek Fisher, Rick Fox and Robert Horry. Of course it all depends how the regular season ends and who they play but they should have a good chance of winning their opening series in the playoffs. But after that, they just don’t have enough quality.
But what has been the bigger picture is Bryant’s scoring. Obviously the game he scored 81 against the Raptors in January of 2006 will probably live in just about everybody’s memory forever. It was the second highest single game total next to Wilt Chamberlain’s 100. It did come against the Toronto Raptors, who weren’t all that great, but impressive nonetheless. It goes to show just how much help he doesn’t have.
Now lately he is making even bigger scoring headlines. Bryant had scored 50 plus points in four straight games last week. A streak, again, only bested by Wilt Chamberlain who went for seven straight in 1961. The streak was snapped Sunday when he only scored 43 points. Must have not been taking that day one day at a time.
This ridiculous amount of points being poured begs two questions to be asked. How bad are the Lakers and just how good is he? For the first question. Over that four game streak the Lakers won all four games but only by an average margin of four points. You would like to think when you have someone who scores over 50 you’re going to win by 20. Before that streak, the Lakers had lost seven in a row and 13 out of their 16. In that stretch he was only putting in around 30-35 points a game. How about that for pressure. Go out there and score 50 every night or your team is going to be out of the playoff picture by the end of February.
The second now how good is he? Of course this is a debate with no answer but its fun anyways. The best all-time guard debate is really one that can only include from the 1980’s to the present. Their have always been dominant big men but just in the past couple of decades and really only in the past six or seven years have we seen these freak-of-nature guards. People like Lebron, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony who are at 6’6” and 230 plus. They would steamroll guards from previous years. Kobe fits in this category and he is terrific all-around player not just a scorer. But who is the best is the golden generation of guards that was triggered by Michael Jordan? Each one does great things and there really is now way to prove who is better.
We are definitely in a strange time with Kobe. He scores a lot but and his team still barely wins. We are going to look back on his career in two totally different eras. The first being the championship winning one with Shaq in the early 2000’s and the go-it-alone era. When he was the league’s great scorer because he had no other choice.
posted by William Allison @ 12:01 PM
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