How long can the role last with LA? They have been struggling all season long. Everyone knows that Kobe Bryant is a scorer, first and foremost a scoring machine, he always has been. Something like that is difficult to just turn off as a player he scores, in bunches, as well as shoots in them too, which he even now this season has proven yet again on the season (1st in the NBA).
In games where he has shot 22 times or more, the LA Lakers are just a horrible 10-22. The concept of Kobe scoring 40/night for your team and your team being successful is very rare. His drive for victory is ravenous, this is known. But, Kobe is a self-centered player, and Kobe cares first and foremost about Kobe, a guy who has always been known as a “my way or the highway” kind of player. This has been established for years, with him leading the league in shots taken 6 times over the last 8 seasons in particular. He has only been a 5.5 assist per game player 4 times in those same 16 seasons.
Now the 34 year old star is plugging along with his newer role as facilitator on the team, getting others involved more on the team. What a splendid concept!
And with this the Lakers have been improving. At his age, and a lot of wear and tear on those drained legs, this is definitely time for him to be a genuine leader, pull his foot off the gas as the main gunner on the team, as he is always been. Kobe has been a volume shooter. He has to hold back the urge to put it up all the time.
Take his game into a new path. When Kobe distributes the ball to his team, it is a vast improvement, when compiling 7 assist or more, this season, the Lakers are a much improved 18-9 on the season. He needs to continue to expand trust in his teammates, which he often falls out of, and then he starts chucking shots up.
Great teams move the ball around exceptionally, the top 4 teams in assists, have 3 teams with 47+ wins and also have a mutual win pct of 67%. He needs to get players the balls in good spot to score, not just passing the ball, but finding his guys when they can make something happen.
There is no reason this team ought to be on the bubble of making the playoffs or not, seriously. With this team they should be a 53+ win team, sure they are older and slower, and their approach doesn’t characteristically spell championship, but they should by all means be a 3 or 4 seed in the West, not holding on by a thread for the 8th seed.
Dwight Howard may not be a very good fit in LA, another egotistical player, without question. This will of course always lead to bad results for any team. Howard is a 20/10 guy every night, but he needs to be fed the ball. His boards and put backs he will get them, Dwight only needs 12 shots a game to get his 20, constructed mostly as an ‘oop’ guy, offensive dunk put back, his low post skills are so-so at best, and I have come to comprehend they he will never be the one on one dominant low post center, the NBA wants him to be. If he of course developed those years ago, we would be having a different discussion.
The Lakers also have other overlooked players, like Earl Clark, and Jodie Meeks, who may not get a lot of attention, but are proficient when playing, allow them get further opportunity.
Once the Lakers get the complete feel for moving the ball around, getting everybody involved, obviously they will be that much harder to defend. This in turn, gives them more weapons to utilize, more options to score, the more points you put up, the better chance you have of winning.
