By CURTIS ZUPKE
The Orange County Register
EL SEGUNDO - The last time the Lakers came to Memphis, Kobe Bryant went off for 60 points and became the fourth player in NBA history to score at least 50 in three straight games.
It was a tellling milestone given how much of that season played out for the Lakers, who often watched and waited for Bryant to take over games.
There is a different dynamic with Coach Phil Jackson’s new up-tempo offense, as evidenced by a recent poor shooting stretch by Bryant.
Bryant shot 42 percent in December, and his 44.2 percent average this season is well below last season’s 46.3 percent. He is in the midst of a rough spell with a 34.5 percent (19 for 55) average the past three games.
Such a dropoff might have doomed the Lakers in seasons past, but they haven’t been impacted much. Bryant does more ballhandling and distributing. He leads the team in both steals (63) and turnovers (106).
Jackson said it speaks to how much the team has changed and, specifically, what the development of center Andrew Bynum has meant to the offense.
“Kobe’s shooting in the month of December has not been accurate,” Jackson said. “Our record has been good in spite of it. We’re fortunate because of that. A lot of it has to do with ability for us to get Andrew the ball in positions where he can score.”
The Lakers make their first appearance in Memphis on Tuesday. Bryant is coming off an 8 for 21 performance against Indiana. He went a forgettable 6 for 25 against Boston on Dec.30.
Jackson doesn’t think teams are defending Bryant differently, though.
“Wherever he goes, there’s going to be a guy and a half,” he said.
I can’t figure out if Kobe is taking bad shots or if those are the shots he always takes only he usually makes them.
It seems to me he isn’t effectively utilizing screens, moving w/out the ball, and attacking the basket. Sure, he sometimes does all of those things, but this season he it seems he is relying on the shot shot over a defender way too much.
It has gotten to the point where when he shoots I DON”T expect it to go in, and this is the first time I’ve ever felt that way about Kobe.
While Kobe’s shot selection has always been abysmal, he also has a knack for making the most ridiculous shots, making it hard to distinguish between what constitutes a good shot from a bad one. If he makes a shot, you say it is good shot, if he doesn’t, it is not. It is like ‘the end justifies the means’.
I don’t think Kobe is wired for a truly equal opportunity offense. He needs his moments to showboat his scoring prowess, not to mention those errant no-look and behind-the-back the passes which I would easily trade for a more fundamental one in a heartbeat.
I don’t think it is as simple as that. The Lakers team venture in a new system apart from the triangle offense. They do more uptempo kind of play and this kind of structure is new to Kobe, but he is slowly getting into it. Kobe is actually more adept in looking for his shot and was the main focal point of offense those previous seasons and having introduce another one where it needs so many touches specially with respect to Fish, thus requiring KB24 to adjust his offensive moves. Moreover he really don’t need to score big this season because he is trusting his young team mates more today that last year, and yes they are delivering more than what we expect from them.