Kobe Bryants 81 points record breaking game!!!

[Ko-nsx]

Excellent player no doubt!!! But there's not I in team. He is a ball hog!!!

 

[rickysals]

No one player has won a championship alone and Kobe as much as you hate him has 3 rings already. By the same token, let's see Shaq win a trophy without Kobe. That argument just makes no sense. The NBA now belongs to the Pistons, but thanks for bringing in the Haterade to try to discount a remarkable accomplishment. :wink:

I never once said i hated Kobe Bryant. He is an asshole, yea, anyone who cheats on their wife is... but never said i hated him.

IM just saying that winning is way more important than gaudy statistics. This year they really aren't. What'd the one guy say, they're flirting with .500? I still compare it to Peyton's 49 touchdown season. Both were awesome accomplishments, but who cares if a championship doesn't result from it.

 

[Malibu Rapper]

I never once said i hated Kobe Bryant. He is an asshole, yea, anyone who cheats on their wife is... but never said i hated him.

IM just saying that winning is way more important than gaudy statistics. This year they really aren't. What'd the one guy say, they're flirting with .500? I still compare it to Peyton's 49 touchdown season. Both were awesome accomplishments, but who cares if a championship doesn't result from it.

You started off saying "whoop dee doo" about his accomplishment. I live in LA and I'm not what you would consider a Kobe fan, I think he has a lot of growing up to do, but I have to give the man his due respect. When you think about all the greats that never achieved what Kobe did, that puts it into perspective. They will not win a championship this year and most people didn't even pick them to be in the playoffs. But the team cannot win without him. Whether or not they win a championship this year doesn't detract from what he did. You know who won the championship when Wilt scored 100? It wasn't the Warriors! Winning a championship is important in a player's career and he's already done that 3 times over.

I said you're a hater because you're raining on Kobe's parade. He's a baller, you're a hater. :biggrin: Who cares about what he did? Lots of people, MJ's former teammate Kerr seems to think this locks up the MVP already. The sports world is buzzing and for good reason.

 

[nsxtasy]

A high number of points in a game (not just a single game, but over the course of a season) is often a reflection not only of the strengths of that particular player, but also the weaknesses of the rest of the team. The better the rest of the team, the more balanced their play, and the more balanced their point totals are. If the rest of the team is weak, then the offense becomes one-dimensional, with the same player getting the ball and scoring.

Look at Michael Jordan and the Bulls. He scored 35-37 points per game in a couple of his early seasons, when he was all they had. But in their championship years, his point averages were in the 28-31 range, because they had Scottie and others and a more balanced attack.

So it's not a coincidence that Kobe is scoring more points per game now that the other high scorers have left and the Lakers are not the dominant force they were in his earlier years. His high point totals are the direct result of those factors.

The same thing can be true in other sports. In pro football, Walter Payton was the entire offense of a lousy Bears team for many years. Everyone knew he would carry the ball 20+ times per game. Which made his accomplishments, such as his years without missing a game and his 4+ average yards per carry, even more amazing.

So give Kobe credit for his scoring, especially when you consider that the other teams know that he's going to be the one player they need to stop (just like Sweetness was). However, while it is a positive accomplishment for him, it's also a reflection of the weakness of the rest of the team.

 

[DV8]

A high number of points in a game (not just a single game, but over the course of a season) is often a reflection not only of the strengths of that particular player, but also the weaknesses of the rest of the team.

Agreed. No where better is this proven than with the Detroit Pistons, the #1 team in the NBA. Every player on that team makes a contribution. Unlike the Lakers they are not a one dimensional team. If they rely on Kobe too much what would happen if he sustained an injury? Not taking anything away from Kobe, he's a phenomenal player but needs to realize he needs more from his team.

 

[rickysals]

I said you're a hater because you're raining on Kobe's parade. He's a baller, you're a hater. :biggrin: Who cares about what he did? Lots of people, MJ's former teammate Kerr seems to think this locks up the MVP already. The sports world is buzzing and for good reason.

I'm a hater?...

right.

I'm hatin' on your 'dawg, g-unit! shizzit rappa' yo boy ain't nuttin'

:biggrin:

i just don't think he's that big of a deal. Great players make players around him better. I just don't think he does that? JMO.

goodday,

 

[matteni]

http://www.thebrushback.com/kobeteammates_full.htm



Kobe’s Teammates Lauded For Ability To Stay Out Of The Way

LOS ANGELES--Kobe Bryant may have done the unthinkable Sunday night by scoring 81 points, but it would not have been possible without his teammates. Players like Lamar Odom, Chris Mihm, and Smush Parker didn’t fill up the stat sheet, but they contributed to Kobe’s record-breaking night by passing the ball to him and then deftly getting out of his way.

“This is definitely a team accomplishment,” Bryant told reporters after the game. “It’s not easy getting out of the way like my teammates did. At one point I almost tripped over Smush Parker on my way down the court, but he was so quick that he just dove out of the way. He actually landed in the first row of seats. He had blood pouring down his face. Talk about a warrior. I’ll go to battle with that guy any day of the week.”

Bryant also cited Odom, who took only 7 shots in his quest to help Kobe reach his milestone.

“Lamar is a great teammate. I told him at the beginning of this season that he really needed to practice getting out of the way. And he has. I especially liked when he intercepted that pass from Luke [Walton] that was intended for Kwame Brown and sent it right over to me. Luke made a mistake passing that ball to Kwame, and Lamar stepped in and corrected it. But that’s how this team is. We’re constantly picking each other up.”

One play in particular epitomized the getting-out-of-the-way ability of Bryant’s teammates. During the fourth quarter, while the Lakers were staging their comeback, Bryant grabbed a defensive rebound and began dribbling down the court. Each member of the Lakers then simultaneously fell to the floor and curled up in the fetal position to make sure they didn’t interfere with Bryant’s fast break. The result of the play? A two-point slam dunk.

Said Luke Walton: “That’s just teamwork right there. We just wanted to make sure we were not in his path to the basket, and also make sure he didn’t get any stupid ideas to pass it to us. We don’t want the ball. Seriously, everyone here knows we are better off just deferring to Kobe in those situations. In fact, if he starts trying to distribute the ball more often, I’m asking for a trade. I’m here to win a championship, not miss shots.”

In the past, Bryant has been criticized for his failure to get his teammates involved. Many critics say that he will never reach the level of Michael Jordan, simply because he can’t make those around him better.

Coach Phil Jackson, however, has asked Bryant not to change a thing.

“I coached both Kobe and MJ, and I know what each player can do. Who would you rather have shooting the ball, Kobe or somebody named Smush Parker? How about Devean George? Exactly. These guys are very, very good at not shooting the ball, and we want to put them in a position to exploits those talents. That’s why I’m such a great coach. I know how to get the most out of my players, or in this case, the least.”

But Kobe has bigger goals than winning a scoring title or breaking individual records. He wants to bring another championship to LA, and he’s made it clear that he can’t do it without his teammates.

“Obviously my number one goal is to win a championship,” he said. “The reward is so great. I’ll get to say that I brought yet another championship to the fans of LA, and my teammates get to say that they stood aside and watched the whole thing. They’re going to be witnesses to history! Talk about being in an elite club. They ’ll be right up there with Jack Nicholson and Diane Cannon.”

To show his appreciation after Sunday’s game, Bryant bought each of this teammates a brand new Rolex watch. The expensive, top-of-the-line time pieces were engraved with each player’s name and a personal message from Kobe: “Stay out of my way – KB”

 

[RyRy210]

Another perspective. :biggrin:

One-man Showtime

Kobe Bryant scored 81 points on Sunday – enough to rank second all time to Wilt Chamberlain's immortal 100-point game in 1962 and knock the NFL off the front burner of sports conversations – and yet people still will criticize him.

Count on it. They'll say he should have passed more (he had just two assists). They'll say he just did it for the spotlight. They'll point to his 18 misses, not his 28 makes.

They'll go on and on. Only in basketball could a guy score 81 points, make history, send every ticket holder home with a story of a lifetime, cause cell phones across America to ring with "Are you watching this?" calls, generally create amazement and wonder – and still get criticized

But watch it happen.

Kobe Bryant kicked ass Sunday, and if you can't understand that, then you need to try. This wasn't about Bryant being a ball hog or a bad teammate. Quite the contrary. The Los Angeles Lakers were getting pounded by the Toronto Raptors (down 16 at one point) until Kobe looked at his bad teammates and decided to try to win the game – which the Lakers did, 122-104.

"It just happened," Bryant said afterward. "For me, it was all about the W. I thought we were lethargic. I wanted to ride the wave and demoralize our opponent."

And people want to criticize that?

You know, even if a few of those points were unnecessary – and because the game was in doubt until late in the fourth quarter, not many of them were – who cares? Really, what is wrong with trying to make history? Don't the Raptors get paid, too?

If a baseball player hits a home run in his first three at-bats, does anyone blame him for swinging for the fences his next time up? Does anyone complain when a manager doesn't even think to take a tiring pitcher out of a no-hitter, even if it is the best move for the team to win?

When Peyton Manning is trying to set a single-season touchdown record and calls for pass plays on first-and-goal from the 1, does anyone care?

Of course not, you expect it. You demand it, even.

So why in basketball does it matter? Is it because the players are mostly black? Is it because they are prone to preening?

Is it because in basketball you have to play both offense and defense on every single possession you are in the game, and as a result your weaknesses are up for double exposure? Is it because Kobe Bryant can be rather unlikable – be it the Shaquille O'Neal thing, or the Eagle, Colo., thing, or so many other things?

Is it because there remains this "Hoosiers"-inspired purity to the game, even if coach Norman Dale would have wanted Jimmy Chitwood to keep shooting?

Maybe it is all of that above. I don't know.

I do know that back in the 1960s and '70s it wasn't like this. The gunner was celebrated. Pete Maravich, David Thompson, even Larry Bird (in the 1980s) all admittedly were selfish on some nights. It was fun. It was part of the show.

Now, no one even tries to put up big numbers. Prior to Sunday, of the top 25 highest-scoring, non-overtime games in NBA history, only one occurred after 1978 – the 1994 season finale when David Robinson scored 71 to make the case for MVP.

Why have we sucked the fun right out of the game?

Kobe Bryant scored 66.4 percent of his team's points. Wilt, in scoring 100 in his Philadelphia Warriors' 169-147 victory, managed just 59.2 percent. So maybe Kobe's performance was better, especially since he didn't enjoy Wilt's advantage of being 7-foot-1 and 275 pounds in an era of no one else being even close.

By the way, that Warriors score also should end all the other predictable talk about how nobody plays defense in the NBA anymore. Who was playing defense on Wilt's night?

NBA players play defense. They play a ton of defense. One of the great fallacies of basketball is the idea that college guys play harder defense than the pros. Apparently, the sight of a slow guard slapping the floor in a show of "intensity" has clouded reality.

If you think the Raptors wanted Bryant to hang 81 on them, you didn't see the game. They just couldn't stop him. They tried everything, every defender.

Kobe was that on. He was that great. It was that much fun.

Yet there will be critics who claim that 81 points in a game isn't sports, that it isn't basketball.

But if you think sending chills down fans' spines isn't sports, then you need to lighten up – and tune in Friday to see if Kobe can hang 101 on Golden State.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=dw-kobe012206&prov=yhoo&type=lgns