I spent all of Wednesday thinking about this. People around me were making a big (and I mean big) deal out of Kobe scoring 43 points against the Nuggets. They said things like this:
"I can't believe that the Lakers still lost!" and "The other Lakers guards need to step it up," and "The Lakers let Kobe down."
No, actually. Kobe let the Lakers down. I know that's not a popular position, and I know that I'm supposed to freak out because Kobe scored 43 points, but there's this little thing called "mathematics" that makes it impossible for me to bow down, to prostrate myself on the floor before the great throne of The Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant.
See, Kobe scored 43 points on 32 shots. And he made 14 shots. So my math looks like this:
32 - 14 = 18.
Kobe missed 18 shots in that game.
George Karl, the coach of the Nuggets, has to be a good sport (and it's easier for him since he won). So, after the game, Karl toed the party line, the popular media line, and said, "Kobe was incredible." But was he?
In a four minute burst, Kobe was incredible. He hit four three-pointers and got the Lakers back in the game when previously they'd been down by 15 points.
But how did the Lakers get down by 15 points? I'll tell you. Kobe kept taking and missing shots. He kept shooting bricks. Kobe bricks. Made out of Kobe Brick Clay. And that's the problem with a shooter. While "Kobe on a Streak" is one of the most lethal snipers in the game, "Kobe Gone Cold" is one of the most dangerous teammates on earth. He can kill his team and buy their caskets.
If you think I'm wrong, look at how the Lakers perform over a series. If Bynum has a huge night, the Lakers are much more likely to win.
Bynum has a 55.8% shooting percentage on the season.
Kobe, on the season, is shooting 43%, the same percentage he shot in his game against the Nuggets (which sounds to me like a math word called "average," as in, Kobe had an average shooting night against the Nuggets but took a lot of shots).
But considering Bynum and Kobe on the season, my math looks like this: 55.8% > 43%
Crazy.
By comparison, last Sunday, Carmelo Anthony scored 41 points in a game against the Heat. He was 15 for 29 in that game, a shooting percentage of 51.7%.
41 < 43 but Carmelo's team won. Now that's strange. It's as if shooting percentage rather than total points is a bigger contributing factor to a team victory.
So let's go back to George Karl's quote: "Kobe was incredible."
If Karl was allowed to be honest, and he probably was very honest behind closed doors, away from a microphone, he would have actually said, "JaVale McGee was incredible."
McGee scored 21 points, shooting 9 for 12. I'm no mathematics Ph.D. at MIT, but I think that 9 divided by 12 might be somewhere in the vicinity of 75%. The problem is that JaVale McGee is no Kobe Bryant. He isn't a household name. So Karl has to talk about Kobe. It's the rule. But I guarantee you that George Karl would take McGee's 75% shooting, for 21 points, over Kobe's average game of 43. Look who won.
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As a Laker fan, I've seen my share of games where you can legitimately say Kobe shot too much. This game wasn't one of them. Anyone who saw the game, and isn't just a Kobe hater, knows this.
If the author was so good at math why didnt he notice Gasol's numbers (4/11) or Sessions (3/12) or Barnes (5/14)?
There are times this argument would hold some weight against Kobe, it is interesting this guy chose a game where it holds none, showing he either didn't watch or just doesn't get the game.
He's a veteran. He shouldn't have taken it upon himself to shoot up bricks. He should have taken it upon himself to speak to his teammates. He should have gotten in their ears. Gasol is beyond useless, IMO. He looks like I could take him to the hole and I'm a 5'7" tall woman. BTW, the author did mention that he tried hard to bring them back. He even mentioned his mini streak of 3 pointers.
Melo barely escaped shooting less than 40% in the playoffs for the fifth time by having two consecutive 50% shooting games ... nearly unprecedented for him.
For those who rank Kobe as an all time player, it's this simple: Julius Erving's *worst* shooting year was better than Kobe's *best* shooting year. It takes a coach with a fantastic game plan to turn Kobe's inefficiency into playoff success ..... and he retired.