Kobe on playing with Shaq
February 10th, 2008, 7:00 pm · 7 Comments · posted by KEVIN DING, OCREGISTER.COM
MIAMI — Dwyane Wade looked overburdened out there, a perspective Kobe Bryant knows well.
But Bryant, asked about Wade, had some interesting points to make about what it’s like to play with and without Shaquille O’Neal, who just left Miami for Phoenix. We’ll have to see how Amare Stoudemire figures out co-existing with his idol in the paint.
“When you play with a dominant player like Shaquille, people automatically assume that he makes your life easier, but the reality is that room for penetration isn’t there,” Bryant said. “But what he does do is he gives you a person inside who can catch, who can finish, which you can easily take for granted as a guard. Wade, a couple of times, threw some passes inside, and with Shaq, those are dunks.”
Phil Jackson has noted repeatedly how much Bryant likes that Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol can catch and finish (unlike Kwame Brown). Bryant said Wade’s challenge now is “how to make your teammates better consistently.”
“When you’re the Lone Ranger out there, it’s tough,” Bryant said. “He’s in a position that I was in a couple of years ago where I had to put up 35-37 points just to keep us in the ballgame. It’s physically and emotionally draining.”
February 11th, 2008 at 3:40 am
Funny how Bryant acknowledges the fact that the superstar on the team should, “….make your teammates better consistently.”
Unfortunately for him, Bryant hasn’t been able to do that which prompted his infamous quote about Bynum “Ship his A$$ out” for Jason Kidd.
Just remember folks. A person’s true character shows when the going gets tough.
Bryant asked to be traded.
Facts are facts.
Jeffs Aho
February 11th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Kobe did fine.. if you think leading the likes of Smush, Kwame and Luke as your starters to the playoffs is easy, you don’t know what you are talking about. You won’t appreciate Kobe’s efforts until the last part of his career, if that, and that’s sad.
If people actually listened to Kobe’s tantrums and not just read the quotes, you would understand how much emotion and pain there was in his voice.. he is a laker at heart and he cared about taking this team to the highest level, which simply wasn’t possible with the roster they had in the tough west. Should he have gone about it differently? Yes. It shook up the organization, though and they started making trades (Ariza) that they didn’t do even during the Shaq-Kobe years that would have helped that team quite a bit towards the end of their run.
February 11th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Jeff, what’s the reaction to Bryant’s tirade? Bynum worked his butt off and is now looking like a great center. Walton, Farmar, Sasha, Vlad, spent the summer taking note and improving their games. They are thitting 40% of their 3’s. Mitch figured out how to get Ariza and Gasol. You have a grudge with Kobe for some reason, but facts are facts as you say, and look at the results! Can you tell me the Lakers would be this good without that tirade! I don’t think so…. Way to go Kobe! Thank you for not letting your players, Management, and owners off the hook.
February 11th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Jeffs Aho,
Aaaaaah! the haters. Facts are facts. Yup! and we should all try to look at all of them before we just go off.
Jeffs, you might read up some of Roland Lazenby’s comments on Shaq/Kobe, etc - his book The Show covers all things Lakers from 1948 through Shaq/Kobe. It also gives some insights to Phil Jackson/Jerry West.
Really great players are rarely simple individuals. If they were they wouldn’t be able to accomplish the things they do. They are also not usually very patient - one reason most of them don’t make good coaches.
Judging Kobe - or any other great player (Shaq) - from newspaper headlines will never get at the truth about the player. Some people are just personally likable - Magic or Shaq. Some just don’t get along with writers - Bonds. Some are so into what they have to do they done have time for writers - Kobe. However, it is the writers who often determine how these people are viewed by us, the public. Think MVP voting, for instance. If you really hate Kobe, I suggest you do some deep reading about him - and don’t just pick writers who share your view going in.
February 11th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Honestly, the argument that having Shaq in the middle takes away penetration opportunities is bogus. Wade lived around the rim the whole time he played along Shaq.
And Kobe, please don’t use the “make your teammates better” against another superstar. He knows as well as anybody that if your teammates are not half-way decent, you can’t do a whole lot to make them better. For his part, Wade has always been an unselfish player who tried to prop up his teammates productivity.
February 11th, 2008 at 10:06 am
No, the argument is not bogus, especially in the triangle. Lakers could not run pick and rolls with Shaq consistently.. Kobe had to work on his midrange game for this reason (which turned out great when he had to carry the team regularly). Kobe also did not get post up opportunities and didn’t even explore that part of the game early that could have made him an even dangerous player. As Kobe says, you make your teammates “better” by playing in the post and attracting the defense unless you have Steve Nash/Jason Kidd vision and ability and your offense is based on player movement, pick and rolls and running.. Kobe often had to wait on the wings because we did not have another guy who could set up the triangle effectively as Kobe could.
Wade attacked because the Heat did not wait for Shaq to make his way back to run their offense every time. Their PFs are good at running the pick and roll with him. Shaq also did not play nearly as many minutes with the Heat.