Phil Jackson: Kobe ‘Screwed Up the Game’ With 1-on-1 Play
by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni
As the 2-time defending champs continue their season-long struggle to regain their dominant form, frustration has understandably begun to creep into their locker room. Most of it has to do with the aggravating lack of motivation from the team on a nightly basis.
Defensively, the Lakers can’t seem to stop anyone, and when things don’t go well on the offensive end (read: the post players are foolishly ignored), Kobe Bryant will tend to try and take over. This has not worked out well.
Last night, in a blowout loss to the Memphis Grizzlies at home, Bean lit up for 17 third quarter points en route to a game-high 28 … and the Grizzlies’ lead increased dramatically. Afterward, Phil Jackson let the media know that this was not in the game plan.
The LA Times has the quotes:
“I just felt like we had no energy,” Bryant said. ” … So I tried to generate some of that and just get us started, but we weren’t able to carry it through.” The problem? Bryant took 12 of the team’s 22 shots in the third.
“We get behind early on in the third quarter on some stupid plays — poor passing, poor transition defense — and then Kobe has to screw up the game and start energizing the team by going one-on-one,” Jackson said. “That takes the rest of the guys out and as a consequence, that didn’t bring us back in.”
The Lakers turned the ball over 20 times, part of why Memphis had 28 fast-break points.
The few fans that remained inside the Staples Center late in the fourth quarter booed the team off the floor, and Kobe suggested that the media needs to start ripping the team more in their stories (an inevitability that didn’t need Bryant’s prodding.)
The Lakers’ issues are all correctable, and it’s still early enough in the season for them to make the necessary adjustments. One just has to wonder how long it’ll take for the team to finally start playing up to their potential.
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They need to all get on the same page, this is fixable, Miami turned their season around early. The Lakers can do the same, they just gotta act like they like eachother for abit
He is saying the team was sucking in the 3rd Qtr when Kobe took over which was screwed up because while put the Lakers back in the game it also made the others just stand around…so he’s saying Kobe screwed up by instead of letting the Lakers get blown out in the 3rd he actually energizes the team by himself which the rest of the team can’t substain and they lose. Kobe screwing up is keeping the team in the game in the 3rd instead of letting them totally rolling over which they ended up doing anyway in the 4th. But somehow most of you along with Slamonline can’t read and certainly can’t understand sarcasm.
Yet, they did have a horrible streak just before the playoffs last year…
Jtaylor and Eboy have had good points, this is def the worst ball theyve played in last three seasons. Getting blown out, at home, by teams like the Grizz, is not cool. They all jus look…not bothered really
Man, I was with you for a while, but I distinctly remember Phil giving almost this exact same comment last year. Almost verbatim.
So, since they are trying to three peat and everybody knows how hard that is, I figure this is just part of the process. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.
And who the hell would remember game scores from 12 years ago? How can anybody remember what happened during the Bulls three peat when they played in 1998 and we are now in 2011? I mean, who is going to have that sort of memory?
I do remember Phil and Tex chastising Jordan for chucking, and I do remember hte Bulls losing games.
Then again, Mike had arguably the second best wing player in the league to pick up his slack, and Kobe’s got Pau. Pau is nice, but he’s no Pippen.
That is why MJ is better than Kobe.
The 92-93 Bulls would NEVER have gotten blown out by 37 against a rival team on the road.
Oh wait, 11/28/92 Knicks 112, Bulls 75.
 :
You find something the other team/player didn’t do, then find something the other team/player did, and then say the first team would NEVER have done what the second team did!
Kobe would NEVER have quit basketball to play baseball, even for a year. Kobe is more dedicated to basketball than MJ!
The Lakers and Lobe win the title for two straight seasons.
And I’m the mental midget?
But it takes some intelligence to be right.
I will not be betting either way, since I am not certain.
5 road series wins – Supersonics 97-98, Swept Spurs 00-01, Kings 01-02, Wolves 02-03, Wolves 03-04. In road playoff series, Kobe is 5-7.
But for some perspective MJ is 5-7 in road playoffs series, although he has won a Finals on the road (Utah 97-98)
Shaq is an interesting case bc he is 7-7 in road playoffs series (The Lakers portion with him and Kobe is 5-5 for both). But Shaq is comes out worse than both Kobe and MJ, because many of his teams with HCA lost (Magic, Cavs). So Shaq’s team lost more when they were “supposed” to win.
http://lakers.ocregister.com/2011/01/03/dont-believe-hype-that-kobe-and-phil-are-sniping/46048/
Not sure what this proves, really. You keep changing it the criteria to fit what you want to believe. But OK, if that’s what you take from it, great. I think it’s more telling when you lose WITH HCA, something Kobe and MJ’s teams did not do very often.
Anyway, if any of y’all actually look at Chicago’s performances from those years, they absolutely dominated at home, and weren’t shabby at all on the road. They did get blown out by the Lakers a few times on the road though.
I knew they killed everybody, but I didn’t realize how complete it was.
Then again, Mike rolled with Scottie. This cannot be ignored. Kobe has not played with anyone like that since Shaq.
Don’t you believe LeBron is fundamentally flawed? And since Wade is beneath Bron on your list, he would be flawed as well, correct?
I think Mike and Scottie were so good, they made teams that dominated everybody else look bad.
I agree with all the faults you named, but every Hall of Famer has flaws, Mike just took full advantage of those flaws. You could argue that last year’s Celtics team had its best player on one leg, had a point guard who couldn’t hit the side of a barn with the a jumpshot, had a sharpshooter who lost his range, and had a slasher/scorer who got locked up by an elite defender. And, we all know KG isn’t known for riding the clutch bus even if I think he’s improved in that area.
I think the biggest difference was that Mike was always rolling with the second most complete player in the league as his sidekick. After Jordan, Pippen was the best two-way player in the league outside of Hakeem. And we will never know what would have happened with Hakeem thanks to Jordan’s dalliance.
Hakeem was the best player in the West. Period. After Mike, Hakeem was the best, and I’d argue that David Robinson might have been better than Malone.
Hell, Pippen was better than Malone given his versatility and defense.
Sonics were weak after Kemp and Payton. Hershey Hawkins on Jordan? Come on now.
Suns were the most talented team, followed by the Blazers, at least on paper. Lakers were the weakest team Mike faced, and neither of them was as weak as the Nets and Sixers, who Kobe got in the Finals when he had Shaq. I think Orlando is a step below the Suns, Sonics, Blazers, and Jazz.
Kobe has five rings, to get those five rings, he’s only really beaten one serious team in the Finals, and he also lost to that same team when all of its players were healthy. He also lost to the second best team he’s faced, the 2004 Pistons, and I’m not sure that Pistons team was truly better than the Knicks team that Mike had to beat in the East.
Although, to be fair, I should have said you could “argue” that Pippen was better. It’s not clear cut given how outstanding Malone was at rebounding and scoring.
But Scottie’s overall game, particularly his defense, cannot be ignored. As much as Jordan’s legend has grown since he retired, Scottie’s has been diminished. People don’t understand that Pippen was a sidekick, but only because the best player on his team was the absolute best player in the league (all respect to Hakeem though.)
Was Pippen, in his prime, better than a prime Dirk? A prime KG?
If your answer is “yes” then that right there explains exactly how much “help” Jordan had on his way to becoming a legend.
Mike kills Dirk by year three and is sentenced to life in the federal pen.
I respect what you’re saying for real. As far as scoring, Malone is in the same conversation with Jordan, Kareem and Mike. For the record, Wilt isn’t in that conversation because nobody talks to Wilt about scoring. He’s like E.F. Hutton.
I think Malone wasn’t clutch, and he wasn’t clutch his entire career. I think he wasn’t a lockdown defender and I’m still shocked at how easily Rodman got in his head.
Plus, it cannot be overlooked that the most iconic play of Jordan’s career came after a Malone miscue.
It was disrespectful for Phil to draw up that shot for Kukoc, I don’t care if he made it.
That is what happened, but it doesn’t “prove” anything, really. There could be other reasons those teams lost, besides not having HCA.
Pip’s refusing to go back into the game was insubordination at its finest.
It was smart of Phil to draw up that play for Kukoc. Pip had already burned the Knicks for 25 in the game. Having Kukoc take the GW showed how much faith he had in The Waiter and he knew it would throw NY off guard.
If I’m the best player on the team, and I’m KILLING, I get the ball. Those are the rules.
I don’t care how much we’re down by, I get to take taht shot. Pippen earned that shot toiling in Jordan’s shadow. Phil knew how Scottie felt about Tony, and about his contract and about his place in the game alongside Jordan. That was Pippen’s moment, and instead of it leading to redemption it led to further pain.
Riddle me this, if MJ had hit for 25, you think Phil is drawing up a play where Jordan is the decoy?
I messed up on that one. You need to google E.F. Hutton to get the allusion.
But, the catchphrase for Hutton was that when he talked, people listened.
If TMac and KG had joined forces, and TMac committed to defense, then we would have multiple chances to determine who was better between Garnett and Duncan in the Finals, and we would have seen how Kobe fared against a near equal in the Finals as well.
It would have been epic.
Also, I understand that was Pip’s moment, but Phil also took a gamble as well. He ran the risk of going down 3-0 in the series.
Interestingly enough, that play actually made Kukoc into the player he ultimately became.
Tarzan not knowing who EF Hutton is = unused sperm! LOL
I’m old.
Not as old as Eboy, but old just the same.
Scottie deserved that shot.
How can you argue the decision given the result?
Plus, it angers fans everywhere to consider a player telling a coach he refuses to play. For some reason that grinds our collective gears.
I don’t have that problem. I thought it was wrong even back then that Scottie didn’t get that shot. I can imagine how pissed he was after carrying that team all year, and showing everybody he could hoop without Mike. He was considered by many to be the best or second best player in the league that year, and for him to be told that a freaking ROOKIE was getting the last second shot instead of him, well that is just beyond bogus. I don’t care what it did for Kukoc’s middling career.
And I understand Pip being pissed, and I agree that he should’ve been given an opportunity to win the game, but I’ve learned over the years that PJax has a reason for everything.
Realistically speaking, I don’t think Pip hits that shot. NY’s defense would’ve keyed in on him making it extremely difficut given the circumstances to get it off. Kukoc would’ve had a much more open look at it.
That’s an “end justifys the means” argument and I try to stay away from that justification as much as possible. That’s a slippery slope.
On paper, it was a dumbass move, and it alienated his best player. Sure, it worked, but it still showed Pippen up and forever darkened his rep.
Kind of like riding a book about Kobe.
Phil is a bit of penis.
Anyway, Jackie, you’re saying that the ends justify the means, and I’ve never liked that argument.
Phil made a decision that went against almost all collective wisdom and had the added bonus of showing up his best player. That it worked is luck, not a sign that it was the right decision.
It’s kind of similar to how he wrote a tell-all book about Kobe before coming back to coach him. That worked out too, but that doesn’t make the book a smart move.
But eff that. Teams ALWAYS keyed in on Jordan on every last second shot he hit. Didn’t stop him from getting the ball. Pippen was asked to carry Jordan’s burden that year. Dammit, if the man is going to be given the responsibility, he deserves the rewards. That’s just how I see life.
Great players deserves shots. That’s the gift and the curse.
Think about it.
SLAM Ed.
And then there was that incident where he threw the chair… But that’s a convo for another day.
Chill man, he wasn’t going at your neck, he was referencing my earlier comment that many of y’all are youngin’s who get certain allusions or remember certain events because you weren’t alive when they happened
JTaylor
Myles and NBK have explained this already. It’s an entirely different animal when a player makes a decision to pass the ball and when a coach draws up a shot for someone else.
Against Utah one of those years, the Bulls were down three with time for one shot. You know who shot that three? It sure the hell wasn’t Steve Kerr or Toni Kukoc. Jordan, a pretty poor three point shooter for his whole career, took that shot because that’s what Jordan does!
Bryan
Pippen deserved to called out back when he was getting migraines against Detroit, but by 94, he was clutch. He wasn’t MJ clutch, but he was clutch. Bottom line, he was more clutch than Kukoc, and according to the numbers, was nearly his equal as a three point shooter.
Sure, Phil’s decision won the game, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t disrespectful and it doesn’t mean Pippen wasn’t justified in saying “Go f*ck yourself” to Phil.
Phil put Pippen in that position. Scottie doesn’t refuse to go in if he’s given a chance to take that shot.
Y’all have to put yourself in Pippen’s shoes. He had carried the load. He had proven himself on the toughest stage. He was the effing MAN that year, and Phil then draws up a play for Toni Kukoc the “Euro Magic” who Pippen made it his business to embarass in Barcelona, and who came into the league as a rookie making like $5 million more than Scottie.
This wasn’t a little decision by Phil’s calculating butt. He knew EXACTLY what he was doing, and that’s why he would have NEVER drawn up the same play for Jordan no matter what the defense knew.
No need to get all defensive, stupid, and downright disrespectful about it.
But since you went there…
Had your mom not decided to turn her life around, you wouldn’t even be here. You would’ve ended up on her blouse after she wiped the corners of her mouth. Which probably would’ve been best.
Again, you’re arguing that since things turned out well, it was the right choice.
If Kukoc’s misses the shot, is it still the right choice?
The right choice is not always determined by outcome, at least not in my opinion.
Jordan make a commerical about all the times he missed game winning shots, does that mean him taking the shot was the wrong choice?
Nah, Phil made the wrong choice, got the right result, and Scottie got the blame because most people think players are the employees of coaches.
They are not.
OH NOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Kobe and Fisher came in together as rookies, came up together and had mad love for one another and all that.
Scottie had put in years of work by Kukoc’s arrival, yet management still treated Kukoc like he was the golden boy and the future of the franchise.
Krause was absolutley enamored with Kukoc and there’s no way anyone can say that didn’t rub Scottie the wrong way.
But, we ain’t gonna agree, it’s been nice talking about it.
Punk ass NUCKAS!! LoLOLOLO
And as for the next debate… KG > Pip > Dirk.
I know KG isn’t clutch. I know Dirk isn’t tough. But honestly, there was never any indication that Pippen was clutch and Pip shied away from a lot of fights and whined WAY MORE than just that one incident where Kukoc hurt his manhood.
Pippen was sort of an odd case. People forget all his pouting and all his controversy, but very few people can be said to have worked as hard as Pippen, or gotten undervalued as much as Pippen did. On the other hand, people look back and WAY overrate Pippen’s offense. Dude rarely averaged over 20 (and never over 22), he didn’t shoot a high percentage mostly because his value was on the fast break and his shot was a tinge on the streaky side… his 3-point shot was unreliable and he clanked some big free throws in his days (especially early when the Bulls were always owned by Detroit).
Still, he’s equally undervalued not because of his defense (people generally agree that he was lockdown beyond belief) but because of how great his passing and his rebounding was. Like, not just a great passer, but he’d occasionally create for other people, and distribute the ball perfectly.
I still don’t think he’s a top-5 all-time SF though. That class is STACKED (not counting Pip, you got Larry Legend and Dr. J and Rick the Miami Greyhound, Hondo and Baylor, King James and Big Game James, Dominique the Human Highlight and… Bernard King and Alex English, and if you remember any nicknames those guys had, kudos to you).
Perhaps he never averaged over 22 points because he simply wasn’t that ludicrous of an offensive player? I’m not discounting 22 points a game in the most competitive league in history when defense was arguably at its best… but Pippen’s scoring was probably one of the weaker areas of his game. It is also why I can’t in good faith place him over a prime KG. I mean, KG as the go-to-guy in Minny put up 24-14-5-1.5-2.2 on 50% shooting. That’s one of the sickest lines for a season I’ve ever seen.
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