The Perpetual NBA Thread

**empy** · March 20th, 2005 10:02 AM

some nba news for today:

NELSON STEPS DOWN AS MAVS COACH

FRANCIS SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY FOR KICKING PHOTOG

have i mentioned lately that i hate the selfish, arrogant crybaby steve francis

buti nga!!!

**kimpOy** · March 21st, 2005 10:39 AM

Lebron is the youngest player to score 50 pts...56 pts actually...

**ILuvDetailing** · March 21st, 2005 10:51 AM

Hail to the King... James!

My friend told me that Dwayne Wade is better than Lebron, but I don't buy that, Lebron has more all around skills and still scratching the surface, also Dwayne Wade is playing with Shaq... look at Kobe now.

**artpogi** · March 21st, 2005 10:57 AM

ayaw ko din si Steve Francis

**theveed** · March 21st, 2005 03:14 PM

L.A.'s solo act
By Steve Kerr, Yahoo! Sports
March 18, 2005

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Following his team's second loss of the season to Shaquille O'Neal and the Miami Heat, Kobe Bryant made some telling comments that revealed much of what he's experiencing this year without Shaq at his side.

"I've been forced to take a lot of bail-out shots with the shot clock running down, taking fadeaways and shots like that," he said. "Teams are running guys at me all the time. That's just the position I'm in, and I have to deal with it."

As my kids often say to each other when one of them says something obvious – "Duh!" Or as a wise man once said, "Be careful what you wish for."

What is happening to Bryant now was easy to foresee when he helped push Shaq out the Lakers' door last summer: He can't do it alone.

Kobe may have thought he could win a championship by himself, and he probably was consumed by the idea of the challenge. He is so confident in his abilities that he may have envisioned a Michael Jordan-type dominance of the NBA. If he could find himself a Scottie Pippen-type teammate – Lamar Odom, perhaps? – and surround himself with other role players, then he could carry his team to the title.

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Kobe had already traveled the path to an NBA crown – three times, to be exact – but he wanted to find a new route. He wanted to fly the plane by himself instead of being Shaq's co-pilot. But the frustrating thing for Lakers fans is that the formula for another three or four titles was already intact if only Kobe and Shaq could have coexisted. In the end, they couldn't, and Bryant has been given most of the blame.

To be fair, O'Neal also deserves some of the blame for their failed relationship. In fact, last week Shaq commented in a rare display of contrition that "Kobe was a problem, but so was I."

There's an old saying that there's only room for one peacock in every henhouse, and as teammates, Kobe and Shaq clearly spent way too much time fanning out their feathers. Even while their team was dominating the NBA, the two just couldn't make their relationship work. Last summer, it came to a head, starting with the team's shocking loss to Detroit in the NBA finals.

In the end, Kobe forced the Lakers' hand, implying that he might leave the team via free agency before they traded Shaq away to the Heat. And now Bryant is lying in the bed that he made.

Thursday's game in Miami epitomized Kobe's overwhelming responsibilities to his team. A poor defensive club that ranks last in the NBA in steals, the Lakers' best option against Dwyane Wade was to have Bryant cover the Heat's terrific young guard. Kobe engaged in a spirited battle with Wade and wore himself out in the process. After scoring 21 points in the first half, Kobe missed his first nine shots after halftime – most of them fadeaways with the Heat loading up its defense against him – and he seemed too tired to attack the rim. The Heat won the game easily 102-89.

In fact, Kobe has developed a disturbing habit of settling for 3-point shots. He attempted 30 during the Lakers' four-game losing streak, and the entire Lakers team has fallen into the trap. They rank third in 3-point attempts at almost 22 per game but hit just 35 percent of them. As a result, the Lakers have become a very inconsistent team that lives and dies with jump shots.

Kobe, of course, tries to carry his team through dry spells – and he often does, as evidenced by his amazing 21-point fourth quarter and game-winning jump shot in Charlotte last week. But without a consistent inside threat, he is forced to do too much, which is why he averages the second highest number of turnovers in the league at just over four per game.

Bryant's desire to lead his own team to a championship may one day yield him another title, but at this point it seems like a distant mirage. Entering Friday's games, the Lakers trailed 1½ games behind Denver for the West's eighth and final playoff spot, and their schedule does not lend itself to a strong finish.

One wonders if Kobe spends any time at all pondering the events that led to Shaq's departure. Does he stay up at night thinking about what might have been? Does he wonder if he made a huge mistake in letting the Big Fella leave town? Does he ever consider that the two of them could have formed the NBA's greatest duo ever? Does he realize he could have worn six or seven championship rings by the end of his career?

Be careful what you wish for indeed.