KnicksFE wrote:mrKnickShot wrote:KnicksFE wrote:mrKnickShot wrote:More about Kobe (for Pjax):However, don't confuse Bryant's domination of the ball with Jackson's endorsement of the plan. In the same book, Jackson tells of his annoyance at Bryant's ball-hogging in crunch time. In one instance, he describes drawing up a play with multiple options, in crunch time of a 2004 playoff series against Houston. Bryant destroyed all the options; instead of setting a baseline screen for Shaquille O'Neal he ran straight to the ball. "With the twenty-four-second clock winding down," writes Jackson, "Kobe forced a long jumper, a horrible shot in the game's most critical possession. The ball did not reach the rim..."
Jackson also tells of marching, more than once, into Mitch Kupchak's office to demand that the Lakers trade Bryant. He writes things like:
"Kobe tends to hold on to the ball longer than necessary causing the offense to stagnate."
"He won't listen to anyone. I've had it with this kid."
"As usual, Kobe seemed intent on taking over."
Wow!! Kobe blowing up plays!! Is that dogging it? Pouting? Hhhhhmmm. SO FAMILIAR!
I do agree that Kobe Bryant had a lot of bad habits and that Phil Jackson was able to manage and reduce or eliminate a lot of those, which made Bryant a better player.
I also agree that a coach of that statue may be able to change a lot of Melo’s bad habits, probably demand more from him and make him a better all around player, but I have to see it first, before I give Melo the credit.
Remember that for all of Iverson’s talent, no coach in the NBA could ever change his bad habits (we are talking about practice man) that's why he is no longer in the league, same for Marbury.
So we shall see.
Thats fair - I would like to see what PJax does with Melo too.
But Iverson with Larry Brown went to the Finals and Had a far worse teams than the lakers. Swap the two like I said before and the Lakers win with AI.
Winning hides bad habits as well.
Kobe still has all those bad habits (though maybe reduced by PJax as you stated) but playing with HOFers make it much easier to deal with them.
From what I read, Kobe was/is alot more selfish and much harder to coach than Melo. Shaq hated him and PJax wanted him traded many times.
Yes they went to the finals, (may be because Iverson was in his good behavior that year, I don't know, I’m just assuming) but Philly did not remain a championship team for long due to Iverson's poor habits on and off the court.
Meanwhile, they Lakers have rebuilt their team twice already with Kobe as their best player, and won two championships after Shaq left. While still a little selfish (and arrogant) Kobe’s work ethics and dedication to the game are unquestionable to this day, on and off the court.
That’s the difference.
I think that you are missing my point.
Iverson was a nut job, did not really play defense (though he had many steals) and was too small to have sustainability. He also never had anywhere close to the teams that they keep putting around Kobe. So you are comparing apples to grapes.
After Shaq they went a few years before they game him the pieces again - GASOL!!!, Bynum, Odom etc ... and brought back PJax before they were able to win again.
You really need to compare context when judging a player and/or a team.
Same with Wade. He did nothing without Shaq and now the Dream Team.
Denver brought in Chauncey Billups and they went to the WCF - that was always a big hole for them. And CB was no Shaq/Gasol/Lebron-Bosh.
Its all about context - it cannot be disregarded with blanket statements.
What did Garnet do before they surrounded him with an all world team in Boston? NOTHING!
5/2/2012 6:37 PM