Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 at 9:50 am  |  49 responses

Kobe Bryant: Lakers Must Play ‘Near-Perfect Basketball’ to Contend


Despite his heroics in the first half of last night’s game in Philly, Kobe Bryant could not pull out a win for the Lakers. While claiming that he still believes they can challenge for an NBA title, Bryant conceded that his team would have to play unblemished ball to do so. (Right. Good luck with that.) From the Daily News: “Kobe Bryant said Monday he believes the Lakers have the makings of a championship contender. A trade isn’t necessary to transform them from ordinary to something special if they play to or above their potential the rest of the way. ‘We can (contend),’ Bryant said. ‘We have to play very solid, near-perfect basketball, particularly with our second unit, which we have in the past. We’re capable of contending. Our margin is just not as great as some of the other teams.’ Lakers coach Mike Brown agreed. ‘That’s Mitch’s job, to continue to find ways to improve the team,’ Brown said, referring to Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak. ‘His track record speaks for itself. He’s more than capable of doing that. Having said that, if we don’t do anything to this team, I’m excited about this roster. I think this roster can contend for a championship. I do agree with what Kobe says. We’re an injury away, like we are now, from having to rely on rookies to help get us through and that’s a tough situation when you start talking about championships. But, with other guys around them (rookie guards Andrew Goudelock and Darius Morris), I do feel we’re capable of accomplishing that goal, yes.’”

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  • RobbieJay Posted: Feb.7 at 9:54 am
    put everybody on the kobe system!

  • Jer Dawg Posted: Feb.7 at 9:57 am
    I love the gusto he’s displaying as a leader and competitor, but even it’s tough when the team can’t rely on 6th man off the bench.

  • jake Posted: Feb.7 at 10:09 am
    :( they’re going down in flames. At least i still have Chicago.

  • T-Money Posted: Feb.7 at 10:11 am
    is gusto an euphemism for selfishness?

  • RunNGun Posted: Feb.7 at 10:20 am
    Kobe has to coach, not Mike Brown, for the Lakers to win.

  • bdogg Posted: Feb.7 at 10:20 am
    i thought he was going to drop 50 last night..he ran out of gas and no one except bynum was doing anything…not good!

  • Mario Posted: Feb.7 at 10:54 am
    Outside of Kobe/Bynum/Pau who else on the team can score 10pts or more Start Goudelock at the Point he can at least shoot a 3 Metta has mentally retired
    Fisher can’t guard a his own shadow
    barnes can’t make a layup them other scrubs need not mentioned

  • datkid Posted: Feb.7 at 11:04 am
    Mike brown is allergic to perfectly executed basketball though.

  • Allenp Posted: Feb.7 at 11:10 am
    I was just about to post the same thing T-Money did.

  • nbk Posted: Feb.7 at 11:53 am
    In other words,
    .
    Kobe knows this is impossible,
    .
    so…..
    .
    Kobe will be shooting.
    .
    .
    A Lot.

  • LLC#12 Posted: Feb.7 at 12:07 pm
    Some monstar must have pulled some space-jam business on “Metta World Peace” and stolen whatever basketball talent he once had! I mostly agree with Mario apart from I think Steve Blake is actually decent..Troy Murphy hasn’t lived up to what I expected but, I can’t help but think Lamar would have pushed this team up to at least 4th…

  • LakeShow Posted: Feb.7 at 12:18 pm
    LeBron should try being “selfish” sometime. Maybe he too can win a championship or 5. Or 6. Or 7.

  • nbk Posted: Feb.7 at 12:22 pm
    LeBron should try and get a prime Shaq & Phil Jackson some time too.

  • robb Posted: Feb.7 at 12:32 pm
    Kobe that second unit couldn’t play perfect basketball if their lives depended on it and you know it. Mini mamba and Barnes bring a lot of energy but nobody else plays with any regularity.

  • bike Posted: Feb.7 at 12:36 pm
    There must have been some esoteric motive for letting Lamar Odem go.

  • robb Posted: Feb.7 at 12:39 pm
    Lebron has Wade and Bosh now. I’d like to see what kind of excuse you Lebron lovers will come up with if he fails.

  • Red Posted: Feb.7 at 12:40 pm
    Lol told you Kobe’s going downhill from here. Maybe if he didn’t hog the ball and passed it out his teammates would get better since they’re barely taking any shots.

  • Paul H Posted: Feb.7 at 12:40 pm
    I really don’t know watch direction the Lakers can go. Giving up both Bynum and Gasol for Dwight Howard seems to damn steep. The good ship Lakeshow Is going down in flames It seems.

  • Paul H Posted: Feb.7 at 12:41 pm
    And Kobe Is in know way to blame for this.

  • nbk Posted: Feb.7 at 12:48 pm
    I wasn’t coming up with an excuse. What I said was just as relevant as what Lakeshow said. It doesn’t change anything about anything. It’s just a Kobe stan pointing out an unrelated, irrelevant fact about Kobe that illustrates an illogical hate for LeBron James. Like the two are related, at all.

  • Paul H Posted: Feb.7 at 12:48 pm
    *no

  • JTaylor21 Posted: Feb.7 at 1:16 pm
    Since when does taking the most shots in the L by a large margin while shooting inefficiently become perfect basketball?

  • Red Posted: Feb.7 at 1:40 pm
    I like Kobe a LOT more than LBJ.

  • robb Posted: Feb.7 at 1:43 pm
    @nbk I got it, I didn’t see Lakeshow’s comment, but maybe there’s some truth there, Lebron should try to be more selfish instead of deferring to others, he should take over, I mean, I know he’s done that, but in the finals, he should have been more selfish. I’m expecting him to do just that during this year’s finals.

  • LakeShow Posted: Feb.7 at 1:52 pm
    Bosh + Wade = to Shaq. No excuses. Kobe stan is cool with me. As long as you admit your a Kobe hater who beats his poor dog every night for shooting to much.

  • LakeShow Posted: Feb.7 at 1:54 pm
    robb, robb… my dude. There’s no telling them that their lil King is one of the most flawed super stars ever. Let them keep living in there world where a high NERD and PER rating is better than a ring on the finger.

  • nbk Posted: Feb.7 at 1:55 pm
    Bosh + Wade = Shaq? Fa real? I don’t hate Kobe at all, infact, I have a very realistic on his place in the all-time list. IF that’s hating then fine. But to me, it’s just called being logical. There are no personal feelings involved. (if there were, he’d be top 6, and he’d be behind total randoms, but i’m not an emotional person.)

  • nbk Posted: Feb.7 at 1:58 pm
    Lakeshow, what are you talking about? Nobody said anything about LeBron. You clearly have some kind of personal issue with him. Get Over It.

  • Red Posted: Feb.7 at 1:58 pm
    Nobody is a Kobe hater, having an opinion=being a hater? LOL in that case you’re a hater too. Kobe is done, it’s 5 championships not 6 he’ll never reach MJ status.

  • LakeShow Posted: Feb.7 at 2:16 pm
    nbk, You love LeBron, so that’s why I go at him. You think he’s better than KB so obviously i’m going to bring up your ring-less King when you always rag on Kobe. A TOP 8 ALL TIME NBA PLAYER. Pretty simple… @Red, and if he did get 6 rings it wouldn’t matter… MJ would still be slightly better.

  • Mario Posted: Feb.7 at 2:20 pm
    @JTaylor21 The main one who is the biggest Kobe Fan…don’t let his comments fool you. time to come out the closet Jessica Taylor

  • nbk Posted: Feb.7 at 2:25 pm
    He’s better then Kobe right now. Which even you admit. Other then that, I have no idea what your talking about. And MJ would still be CLEARLY better. And Kobe can win 2 more rings, it still won’t change how much Better Jordan was. The only place it would be arguable is as a scorer, until you actually look at how efficiently Jordan scored. Then it isn’t even debatable. It has taken Kobe 21,969 shots to make 9,978. In 21,686 shots (pre-washington) Jordan made 10,962, That is ONE THOUSAND more makes in LESS attempts. HAHAHAHA, and they are “close” – how?

  • SI44 Posted: Feb.7 at 2:33 pm
    AT NBK, Yea, for real. If you dont think wade and bosh are equal to diesel than ur biases are blantantly obvious. 2 players of all NBA ilk, one in wade whs top 5 in the L and a possible all time great and another perennial all star in bosh. I think its alot closer than u think.

  • robb Posted: Feb.7 at 2:35 pm
    @LakeShow I guess we’ll have to wait some more years until Lebron has his rightful place in history, right now he’s the most talented player ever, but he hasn’t reached greatness. Kobe’s an NBA great already, he’s right there with MJ, Bird, Magic, Chamberlain, all those guys, let’s see how far Lebron can get.

  • Mario Posted: Feb.7 at 2:36 pm
    @nbk You act like a damn child how old are you? you seem like a Lame ass on here because You worry too much about someone you dislike. If you don’t like it come to Zone 6 and see me lil buddy you’ll be put in place after that.

  • Paul H Posted: Feb.7 at 2:37 pm
    I think one thing that Mike had on his side was the fact that the league is infinitely more athletic today than It was in his prime.

  • nbk Posted: Feb.7 at 2:40 pm
    It close SI, but it’s not the same. Whole entire teams had to change their defense to accomodate Shaq. As great as Wade and Bosh are, neither of them supply that. Neither of them demand a double team, let alone, demand a double team every time they touch the ball. Not to overlook that having Shaq guaranteed the opposing team would be in foul trouble. Shaq affected whole teams, Wade and Bosh outplay their one on one opponent. Shaq is a top 5ish all-time player. There is a reason he won 3 titles with Kobe and then left and won a title with a worse player 2 years later. Despite popular perception, what Shaq did for teams was greater then what anyone in the league is doing today.

  • nbk Posted: Feb.7 at 2:43 pm
    Mario, I honestly don’t give a sh*t how I’m perceived here. Childish or not, if you don’t like what I say, don’t read it.

  • SI44 Posted: Feb.7 at 3:02 pm
    NBK,
    I rock w/ LA so I’m very grateful and respectful for what Shaq did for the squad, but he also damn sure had his liabilities. Primarily not being reliable down the strecth. Truth be told, diesel isnt clutch. Thats why I thing you jus slightly underrate kb and wade, cuz when the stakes were down they did all the heavy lifting imo. Was no real plan B in place. I feel where u coming from tho.

  • robb Posted: Feb.7 at 3:03 pm
    Miami has a big 3, the Lakers had 2 dominant players, Shaq affected whole teams I agree but so does Lebron (not at the same level obviously), add Wade and Bosh, and they equal Shaq and Kobe. And to be honest I think Wade was more determinant than Shaq when Miami won the championship. He played out of his mind during those playoffs.

  • JTaylor21 Posted: Feb.7 at 3:09 pm
    HA! Jessica Taylor? Good one, I bet you’re one of those clowns that run around the net recycling LeChoke, LeTravel, Boshtrich jokes.

  • nbk Posted: Feb.7 at 3:09 pm
    Robb – Wade played out of his mind for 4 games. Shaq is why he got that opportunity.
    .
    Shaq & Kobe > LeBron, Wade, Bosh. And I don’t understand how that’s debatable, at all. Unless, ofcourse, you think Bron, Bosh, Wade are going to win 3 straight titles…..
    .
    SI, I get the end of games thing, but I have always believed, if you have to rely on the last 3 minutes then you’re team is in trouble. Shaq was more effective then any player in the NBA right now for the first 45 minutes of every game. I’ll take those 45 over the last 3 with Wade & Bosh.

  • bull22 Posted: Feb.7 at 3:59 pm
    not going to happen this year, i said from moment phil jackson retired and before the season began that the lakers will not win the championship this year. guaransheed..

  • Dungeon Family Posted: Feb.7 at 4:37 pm
    @Mario………..Don’t waste ya time with @Jtaylor21 He still wet behind the ears

  • datboyjojo500 Posted: Feb.7 at 5:09 pm
    first mistake getting rid over lamar odom for nothing. blame stern for tht. david stern should give them a 2nd round draft pick for tht debuckle lol they just need a solid young point guard who can control the tempo when kobe is on the bench. any names??

  • robb Posted: Feb.7 at 5:43 pm
    I just think that by saying the Wade and Bosh combo is not as good as having prime Shaq you are offering an in advance excuse in case Lebron doesn’t win a championship with them. Yes, those two plus Lebron should be able to win several times, that’s why they got together.

  • nbk Posted: Feb.7 at 5:51 pm
    They should. But if they dont, or until they do, you can’t say they are better then Shaq and Kobe. That doesn’t make a damn bit of sense to say they are equal but can’t win.

  • bull22 Posted: Feb.7 at 6:16 pm
    @mario, you will learn with time how nbk is a real behind who has to rely on some of these cats back up his silly comments and make him feel good about himself. i told you my little brother NBK to watch your mannners and take some time off this site before you lose your mind.. hahhahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

  • flipnoyce Posted: Feb.7 at 9:51 pm
    The more Hobe shoots the more the Lakers loses, plain n simple.

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