1.) I've been a defender of Kobe Bryant but holy ****! His shot selection is terrible! It wasn't so bad tonight but in the previous games, he'd shoot them to a loss by himself. The Lakers might not be that good a team but they are certainly not as bad as people believe them to be. The reality is that the scoring accolades trump their best player's interest in winning, even though winning is a close 2nd.
That being said, I still think he could be a major asset to a contender as the 2nd or 3rd best player. In the past, he has shown to be willing to conform his game to a system in order to win and I think he'd do the same if he had a squad that was capable of doing that. I'd still pursue him in a trade but I suspect that he's genuine in his interest in staying a Laker for life. Too bad.
2.) I've defended Kyrie Irving's ability to quarterback a team in the past but the guy doesn't seem to have the mental tools to get the job done. It still blows my mind how he struggles to get 5-6 assists on a team that's stacked. He's another guy that is interested in pounding the ball more than he is in running an offense. He's still young, so maybe the wisdom will come with age. If not, he's really shortchanged his career.
Anyway, just needed to get that off my chest.
12/10/2014 8:06 AM