Kobe Doin' Work: A few observations

• Kobe is a very intelligent basketball player. His greatness isn't just in his physical abilities, it's in his mental approach to the game as well.
• Kobe and LeBron are interesting icons of the culture they live in. In one scene, Kobe commented on how he and Bruce Bowen are such great competitors. It's interesting for me to hear guys speak of their greatness WHILE they are still in the midst of their prime (LeBron spoke of his greatness at the post game press conference when he went off for 47 in Game 3 of their series against the Hawks). I don't think I recall Magic or Bird or Isiah speak about their greatness while their careers were in progress.
• I love the way Kobe communicates on the floor, especially on the defensive end. He's literally another coach on the floor. Even if you can't get with Kobe the man, one must at least give him kudos that he understands what the other team is trying to accomplish offensively and how best to make it difficult on them to score. 
• Kobe is only great when he plays with talent. He needs other players with high basketball IQs around him to flourish. He's not that great of a teacher. I get the sense that he is able to provide information to his teammates. However, there is a wide gap between providing information and being able to teach. Teaching requires a level of subtly and nuance that I don't sense Kobe has in his personality. 
• It was interesting hearing him speak on how much he loves L.A. I'm curious then about how serious he was about leaving L.A. to go to Chicago when he was a free agent and if he loved L.A. so much, then why the trade demands two summers ago?
• He admitted to throwing elbows. I wonder if anybody else heard when he said that or was surprised by that admission? I don't think he even realized what he was copping to, but he admitted it plain as day.
• I like the Triangle Offense. It's suited to the free-flowing, unpredictable nature of basketball. In basketball I prefer concepts over plays. Plays breakdown, concepts have options. Don't give me fish, give me a fishing pole...
• I didn't know teams could watch replays of the TV broadcast at halftime. It seemed to me that they were watching a DVR recording of the 1st half of the game when they were in the locker room at halftime. Instant video feedback. Is this legal in the NFL? Do they do this in college basketball too?
• I really couldn't see Kobe playing well for any other coach than Phil. The only evidence we have thus far is the whole Rudy T. experiment, which didn't last long or go well. It will be interesting to see what the Lakers do if Phil retires this year (which I think he will. Remember Tex Winters is already gone). How will Kobe react to somebody new at the helm? Kobe is very vocal and even expressed himself how a coach needs to be able to keep his ego in check to be able to deal with all of Kobe's input. Phil and Kobe are on the same page, but Phil's page is the only one Kobe has had to be on. Can he get on another coach's page? Or better yet, will another coach have the humility to deal with all that is Kobe Bryant?
• I think Kobe's teammates respect him for what he has accomplished, the supremely gifted player that he is, as well as his knowledge of the game, but I don't know how much they enjoy following him. He does lead them, but I get the sense his team's followship lacks the intimacy that Magic's teammates or Isiah's teammates or most recently LeBron's teammates have for their leader. Kobe's followers are similar to Jordan's followers, except I think Jordan's teammates had a level of fear of him and a sense of not wanting to let him down. After seeing the clip of Kobe hitting the 3rd quarter ending 3 point shot, he commented that when he makes that type of shot it gives the 2nd teammers who are going to start off the 4th quarter energy - it gets them enthused and they get up off the bench and give high fives to their teammates coming back to the bench. All of this is true and good stuff. However, I contrast this with how the Cavaliers relate to each other and how they don't require a high-degree-of-difficulty, quarter ending 3 point shot to respond to their teammates in an enthusiastic fashion. They are hype for each other from the initial jump ball. Similar to the Jordan's teammates, but maybe from different motivations, LeBron's teammates have his back and don't want to let him down. Kobe's teammates don't seem to have that feeling at all. They are enthusiastic about each other when things are going well, but don't seem to have each other's backs when they encounter adversity. I think we don't see this side as much with the Lakers because they are typically so good that they rarely face adversity. But their track record with adversity has not been good sense Shaq's last season in L.A. when they lost to the Pistons in the Finals. On the positive side, they are so good this flaw in their team rarely shows up. On the flip side, they typically find such adverse situations deep in the playoffs and haven't responded well when they faced with it (practically swept by less talented Pistons team, blown out in closeout Game 6 in Boston, blew HUGE lead in Game 4 at home vs Boston).
• To the previous point, it seemed to me a little forced in how Kobe spoke of how he looks out for his teammates with the officials. He says he really only talks to the refs to stick up for his teammates. In all the games I've watched him in, he seems to get the most animated when he's arguing his own case about how HE is being fouled. I think he understands what a good leader should do, but it didn't seem authentic when describing his role as protector for his guys. 
• Kobe's not a spring chicken anymore. When you start getting ice on your knees while the game is still in progress, it shows there are a lot of miles on his tires.
• He threw a not-so-subtle jab at both Shaq and at Smush Parker. He told Pau Gasol that he never had a big man who could make that kind of pass to him. I agree that Pau is a great passer in the high post of the Triangle, but he could have complimented Gasol purely on his passing skills and not in reference to the big men he played with in the past. He also said he trusts kicking the ball out to Derek Fisher for 3s and said he wouldn't have made those types of passes the previous year (when Fisher was not with the team). 
• Kobe desires the adulation of the crowd. He was soaking up the fact the Staples Center crowd was chanting M-V-P. He really wants to be liked. I'm not sure I've seen that trait in other NBA superstars as high as it is in Kobe. (of course we all want to be liked, but what I'm questioning is the degree to which we desire it. I'm sure Barkley wants to be liked, but I don't think it bothers him if he isn't. I would put Barkley and Kobe on extreme opposite ends of this spectrum.)
  

Thoughts on the NBA Playoffs Round 1

• The Bulls Celtics series was not the greatest series ever. It was one of the most compelling to watch, but let's be clear, these were two middle-of-the-pack teams who matched up well against each other. If you duplicated the same exact events that happened in this series, but changed the names on the front of the jerseys to Memphis and Minnesota, would everybody really be falling over themselves to call this the greatest series ever? Come on. People get a grip. Stop worshiping the god of Now. It was great to watch, but please, have some perspective.
  
  
• I was impressed with the shot making abilities of both Big Baby Davis and of Tyrus Thomas. My theory is it helped both of them that they played together in college. I can imagine that familiarity made them both comfortable offensively when they saw their former teammate guarding them and took away some of the fear factor associated with playing basketball on the big stage. I thought both of them played with a lot more confidence than what I would have expected otherwise.
  
  
• When Ray Allen was going off for 51 all I could think about was his pregame shooting routine. A lot of the shots that he took in Game 6 were reminiscent of the types of movements he practices before the game. That's the only way I can see him being so comfortable shooting so quickly and getting himself the slight space he needs to get off his jumper.
  
  
• I think one of the secrets to successful offense is spacing the floor (DUH!). However, I don't see many teams making use of the baseline corner to accomplish this, though I've heard the Spurs incorporate this concept (think: the Bruce Bowen corner 3) and D'Antoni uses it in his system as well. The situation where I think this spot is not used to the extent it should be is in fast break situations. On the break, guys running the wing tend to make a 45 degree cut toward the basket once they get to the three point line. I'm an advocate of running to the corner instead of cutting toward the basket in this situation, especially when there is a defender already waiting in the lane. Running to the corner creates the greatest distance for defensive players getting back in transistion to cover and it keeps the lane open for the ball handler in the middle of the floor to make a 1-on-1 move to get by the defender in the paint. If the lane is clogged, passing out to the shooter in the corner presents a good look for a 3 and it puts the defense in a scramble situation, even if they are able to close out on the shooter in the corner. 
  
  
• Stan Van Gundy has been the focus of a lot of rhetoric, ridicule, and other media attention this season. Van Gundy called Shaq out for flooping, Shaq in return called him the "Master of Panic" (a comment reiterated by a backup center on the Magic), Van Gundy went after the Knicks for their treatment of Ewing, and Dwight Howard has mocked his Van Gundy's overstressed demeanor pretty much all season long. It's obvious this guy has something stuck in his behind and for a while I was like, dude needs to "just shut up!". But, upon further review, I'm backing off the guy. I thought back to how Pat Riley knifed him in the back and took the Heat to the championship in '06 and it all made sense to me. He has to have been really scarred by getting kicked to the curb like that, so I can see why now he's so panicky and overly confrontational. He knows he's going to get fired again within the next 3 years (NBA coaches have VERY short tenures, ask Avery Johnson about it), so I can see him being very insecure about his job and wanting to get off anything that's on his chest before he gets the ax. For that, I'm going to lay off him.
  
  
• Maverick fans, please do not get excited about them beating the Spurs. No Ginobili + a hurt Duncan = a team that's average at best. It was a good matchup for Dallas. Denver is not. Denver is going to spank that tail.
  
  
• My Pistons were unwatchable in their series with the Cavs. I knew we weren't going to do anything this year, even before we traded Chauncey. However, it was still tough to watch us get rolled like that. It reminded me of 1991 when the Bulls steamrolled us to end the era of Bad Boys Part 1. It made me sick then, and it makes me sick now.
  
  
• Though I did get caught up in the drama of the Bulls Celtics series, please understand nothing matters in this playoffs until  the Cavs meet the Lakers in the Finals. I know the NBA was glad to be able to milk a subplot (drama filled Bulls/Celtics series) out of what is a pretty pedestrian lineup of playoff series, pre-Finals. The sizzle and steak will be there when it's LeBron versus Kobe. Anything else is mozzeralla sticks. Even if the mozzeralla sticks have a good marina dipping sauce, it ain't steak. Kobe versus Lebron is filet mignon.