June 18th, 2010 by Chase

It was close to the end. But Kobe and the Lakers were able to somehow squeeze it out and beat the Celtics in Game 7, winning the 17th NBA title for the Laker franchise and number 5 for Laker great Kobe Bryant. Now it’s mandatory to place Kobe Bryant near the top of any “greatest player ever” conversation as he leads his team to yet another NBA championship and his second Finals MVP award in a row. Congrats Kobe! And congratulations to the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers team and coaching staff.

April 17th, 2010 by Chase

Throughout an entire NBA season there are many ups and downs. The same is especially true for defending NBA champions. Wins, injuries, buzzer beaters, offensive struggles. These are just some of the words that describe the up and down season of Kobe and the Lakers during this season 2009-10. Perhaps photos do speak louder than words. In Part I of this three part series here are the 10 best photos from this season.

Ring Time

Practice Makes Perfection

As Intense As Ever

Trickery

Trash Talking

Treatment of Many, Many Injuries

Another Buzzer Beater

Failure from Time to Time

Being a Husband

Visiting East Harlem

March 27th, 2010 by Chase

Remember the old Michael Jordan commercial from the mid 90’s where he talks about how he has failed over and over again, but that is why he succeeds? Well somebody decided to create a remake of that commercial and replace the footage with that of Kobe Bryant. It’s very cool and worth watching especially for all you Kobe Bryant fans. Here it is:

Click here to view the embedded video.

February 19th, 2010 by Chase

1. Receiving Ball In The Post

In today’s game you will often see players getting fronted when trying to post up on the block. Many times this actually works and the player who is posting up is unable to receive the ball and the play is broken. This is one of the most underappreciated skills Kobe Bryant possesses. He has the trained skill of being able to shield off a defender every time on the offensive end and prevent him from fronting. When was the last time you saw Kobe get fronted and not get the basketball? Never!

Click here to view the embedded video.

2. The Pick n’ Roll with Pau Gasol

The Pick n’ Roll, the play once mastered by Karl Malone and John Stockton and now widely used throughout the NBA game is once again masterfully run with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. The difference is that their version of the Pick n’ Roll is even more complex. Which is has to be because of the advances defenses in the NBA have made in stopping it. The video below gives you an idea of how Pau and Kobe run the pick n’ roll in clutch situations.

Click here to view the embedded video.

3. Mid-Range Jumper from All Angles

NBA players these days are great at two things, points around the rim or in the paint and 3 pointers. But the mid-range game has been lost for the most part in the NBA. One of the things that makes Kobe Bryant so great is that he has developed a dominate mid-range game making it impossible for defenses to double team him at certain times of the game.

Click here to view the embedded video.

4. Ball Protection in Traffic

As Kobe has gotten older and slowed down in his overall athleticism, it’s been amazing to see how crafty he is going to the rim and how he can protect the ball so well before finishing. Somehow he always finds a way to not get stripped, even with 2 or 3 guys swiping at the ball as he is going to the rim.

Click here to view the embedded video.

5. Free Throw Shooting

Practice, form, and repetition. Kobe Bryant is one of the best high volume free throw shooters in the history of the game. What do I mean by this? For players who actually get to the free throw line 5-8 times or more per night, he is one of the highest percentage at the line in the history of the game. People always talk about how clutch Kobe Bryant is. One of the reasons behind this is due to the fact that you can’t foul him at the end of games because you know he’s going to hit his free throws.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now it’s your turn! What other specific skills of the game do you admire of Kobe’s?

February 2nd, 2010 by Chase

Kobe Bryant is the greatest scorer in Lakers history. In case you didn’t get the memo, Kobe Bryant passed Jerry West as the Lakers all-time leading scorer with 25,193 career points. Big congratulations to Kobe for an amazing career thus far. It’s not like this is just some small franchise record. It’s the Lakers we are talking about. People Kobe has passed on his way to being the greatest Laker scorer of all time include:

1. Jerry West
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
3. Elgin Baylor
4. Magic Johnson

Now that is quite the list. Passing Jerry West also put Kobe Bryant at #14 on the All-Time NBA scoring list. According to Jerry West, Kobe is not only the greatest scorer in Laker history but he’s also the greatest player in Lakers history with all of the things he can do on a basketball court. Check out this post by Mike Trudell on Lakers.com to read more about this fantastic accomplishment that Kobe has achieved as well as a unique interview with the Logo himself Jerry West about the greatness of Kobe Bryant. You Kobe fans don’t want to miss this.

The greatest player on 1 of 2 of the greatest franchises in NBA history. The other being Bill Russel of the Boston Celtics. What does that tell you? It tells me that the 3 greatest basketball players of all time are Jordan, Russell, and Bryant!!!

January 31st, 2010 by Chase

Thanks to some big plays down the stretch by both Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest, the Lakers were able to sneak out of Boston with a 90-89 victory over the fierce rival Boston Celtics. With under a minute to play Ron Artest makes a tough basket going to the rim with 2 defenders in his face, then follows it up with a solid defensive stance against Paul Pierce by drawing a charge. The very next possession Kobe Bryant with Ray Allen all over him manages to hit a touch fadeway from the free throw line with 7.3 seconds left in the game. Kobe providing game winning shot heroics yet again. This time against the hated team in green. Let me point out a few things that I thought were huge for the Lakers.

1. Dominance Inside by Andrew Bynum

Bynum played well. Now i’m not the typical Laker fan who jumps all over the “Bynum” thing whenever he manages to play a descent game. But for the first time since before his injury last season, Andrew Bynum actually gave the Lakers the dominance inside on both ends of the court that they needed. He matched the physical play of Perkins and Garnett inside, something the Laker big men have always had a hard time doing.

I thought the key point in the game for Bynum was during the first quarter, after KG hit a jumper over him and start barking at him all the way back down the floor. Bynum with KG defending him, caught the ball in the post, went left towards the middle, and jammed the ball right over KG posterizing him. It showed the Celtic bigs that Bynum was going to be a beast to contend with all night!

2. Physicality and Toughness of Ron Artest

More and more I am being convinced that the whole Ron Artest over Trevor Ariza thing is starting to work out. From the very beginning of the game you could see that Ron Artest was ready to play and not be pushed around. He got into a little tussle with Pierce right before tip-off, layed out KG as Garnett was trying to run back down the floor, and ultimately pestered Paul Pierce all night long not allowing him to make any kind of real impact on the game. Even though he only had 11 points in his 31 minutes of play, he came up with a couple big buckets in the 4th quarter to keep the Lakers in the game. It looks like Ron Ron is starting to get healthy after all.

3. The Lakers are the more Physical Team

Who would have thought we would ever say this? But it’s clear now after watching today’s “beatdown in beantown” that the Lakers are the tougher more physical team. They may not do as much talking as the Celtics do, but when push comes to shove the Lakers seem to have the mental and physical toughness it takes to consistently win close games on the road. The Lakers size and strength inside with Bynum, Gasol, Odom, and Artest pushed Boston around inside all night long. And when the game was on the line, the hobbled and injured Kobe Bryant found a way to win the game for his team in the end.

There is One Negative From This Game!

Not all is positive for the Lakers after watching this game. After the Lakers built a 30-17 lead late in the 1st quarter, they watched that lead squander thanks to the play of Celtics PG Rajon Rondo. The Lakers had no answer to Rondo in this game. He drove to the basket at will and made play after play building a 10 point lead for the Celtics going into the 4th quarter. Is Rondo a fantastic player? Yes! But this issue of the Lakers being able to defend and compete at the PG position is more evident than ever.

If they Lakers want to win a championship this season, they first need to stay healthy. But even more important is the fact that they need more help at the PG position, particularly on the defensive side of things. Hopefully Laker GM Mitch Kupchak will see what we all witnessed today and make that Kirk Heinrich move that is being discussed. Otherwise it could be a shortened Playoff stint this year!