Not trying to sound like a homer here, but every time LeBron misses a jumpshot in the fourth, he gets criticized for not having a killer instinct. Well, I think it's time for Mr. MVP to get blasted by the media after this loss in Utah today.
Yes, Bryant had 33 points, but he took 33 shots, missed nine out of ten three balls, and was only 6/10 from the FT line.
Kobe did nearly all of his damage in the first three quarters; he only had two points in the 4th and OT combined, I believe, going 1/10 from the field. And, with seconds left in the 4th he missed an easier layup than LeBron missed in Game 1 against the Celtics, but, luckily for him, Odom was able to put the ball back in and force OT.
Yeah, he can use his back being injured as an excuse, but LeBron gets hit twice as hard and twice as much as Kobe does and that's never taken into consideration when LeBron doesn't do so well in the 4th.
Again, this is my objective opinion. Kobe's a great player just like LeBron, and if LeBron's going to get criticized for being subpar in the 4th, then, after this game, Kobe should get his fair deal of criticism as well. He, IMO, has only himself to blame for this loss.
he should have been a facilitator after he got injured.
also, just because lebron gets hit harder(which i could argue since he has been exagerating about everything) doesn't mean he got injured.
If his back was injured as bad as it looks, then that explains the horrible shooting. kobe was moving in slow motion after he got hit, it has nothing to do with how hard he got hit, just the affect it had. lebron doesn't appear to have had a long term affect from being hard while kobe couldn't even run.
and lebron has been playing horrible all game every game.
Kobe doesn't get as much flack because he can actually make those difficult jump shots at a reasonable percentage.
he had a horrible 4th quarter, the injury explains it, but doesn't excuse it.
Also, i think you are confusing this board with real life, just because nobody on this board cares enough about kobe to complain about him, doesn't mean the media isn't. lebron has not been getting as much as criticism as he should for playing horrible, most people are saying its because of the celtics defense...
Originally posted by WFTS(JaValeMcGeeFan): He didnt really get injured, he was doing that b/c he thought he got fouled.
no offense but how would you know that. and most people give up the i got fouled act after the play is over, kobe couldn't run the whole last quarter...
Kobe was hurt, that's crazy if you think different. That one lay up where Ivan Drago blocked his shot you could tell he was not right. Kobe barely could jump, seriously, the guy didn't look right.
Trust me, I'm not a Kobe apologist or anything, but I honestly think he's hurt. I think he deserves some slack.
The reason why nobody on the Lakers made shots in OT was because Kobe was being selfish. Throughout a lot of the fourth quarter he did what LeBron often does and recognized that he didn't have the hot hand and gave the ball up (he had ten assists), but then, in OT, he turned into the selfish Kobe that we all know. The Kobe that got up on the Suns 3-1 a few years back playing team ball and then reverted back to his selfish habits and cost his team the series.
Odom, Fisher, and Gasol were all having big games for the Lakers, but in OT, Kobe tried to force stuff that wasn't there. He didn't look to get these guys involved who had brought the Lakers back from being down double digits to force OT. He hogged the ball in OT and tried to take over and prove that he was the best player in the world. Kobe's a great player, no doubt, but don't kid yourselves, Kobe's still selfish and always will be...
He, IMO, has nobody to blame but himself for this loss.
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