Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Why Don't They Get It?

Sports Guy joins the long list of media types who insist that we were all mesmerized by Kkobe scoring 81. My comment to Derek last night was "I don't know if it is possible to describe how little I care about Kobe scoring 81." The comment of the guys on the Kansas City radio who announced it yesterday morning was, "Was his defense attorney in the crowd?" Since then, none of the local radio has even mentioned it. I just listened to two announcers talk for a half hour about the stadium initiative that may or may not be on the ballot on April 4. That's how little we care.

I know this post is ironic because I'm spending time talking about this guy, but let me make one comment about the 81 points that might shed some light on why we don't care. In 1994, the Spurs played the Clippers in the last game of the season. David Robinson was competing with Shaq for the scoring title. The game meant nothing, so the Spurs threw everything into getting Robinson that title. They fed him the ball and he put up 41 shots and 25 free throws. He scored 71 (plus 10 rebounds and 5 assists). The lesson? Any good scorer can put up huge numbers on any given night, if they are willing to take over 40 shots. Can you imagine what Jordan, Bird, Shaq, Ewing, Thomas, etc. would have done if every night they shot the ball every time it was in their hands? But they would never do that. That's the difference.

Kobe's 81 just confirmed everything we don't like about the guy.

6 comments:

dcat said...

DING! Tom has BINGO!

I know you guys will likely want to delete this comment, and I won't be mad if you do, but I just want to see it on the screen, even if only for a few minutes:

Fuck Kobe Bryant.

dcat

g_rob said...

Agreed. Not even half the player that Jordan was.

g_rob said...

I don't know about Ewing, Robinson, etc. scoring 81 but Jordan could have done it easy. He scored 63 in a playoff game against the eventual world champion Celtics. Kobe did it against who? Of course Jordan also won 6 rings and 6 MVP's and 6 finals MVPs among numerous other accolades.

Tom said...

Greg,

Robinson went guns-free once and scored 71 points in a game. Kobe has been doing it for two seasons and finally got there. Kobe is a talented player, no doubt, but I think we would be amazed what a lot of guys could do if they never had any constraints and got hot a few nights out of the year.

Just talking about players in the league right now: LeBron had 51 the other night on 35 shots and only 11 free throws (he also had 8 assists). McGrady, Carter, Wade, Allen, Stoudemire, Nash, Iverson, Francis, etc. could go off at any time and drop 45-55 points in a game. But even on those nights when they are feeling it, they don't take every shot the way Kobe does night in and night out.

g_rob said...

You're right. They do that because they are more interested in winning than scoring.

dcat said...

I also may just be piling on here, but I am always a lot more impressed when a guy grabs 23 rebounds than i am when the scoring totals go over 60 or so, if only because a guy can be a gunner on a good night against a crappy defense in a blowout, but rebounds are always effort stats.
I do not want to overcompensate -- 81 is pretty amazing. But I think it is an ESPN fabrication to say that Kobe's 81 took center stage away from the NFL playoffs, because ESPN made that decision irrespective of what actual fans think, and I do not know a single fan who cares more about kobe's effort than the playoffs. Not one person.
In all honesty, even now I am a lot more interested in the bizarre goings on with the Artest trade than I am in Rapey A. McRapesalot (the "A" is his middle name, "Allegedly.")
dc