Kobe Bryant Disappears Down the Stretch

I cannot believe that I’m starting off a post by touting my pro-Kobe sentiments. I wouldn’t call myself biased, like I did when discussing the Spurs earlier this week. Just that I believe -- nay, know -- Kobe to be one of the three or four most exquisite basketball players I’ve ever watched, and think people are playing themselves if they insist in only seeng the negative there. Which, this season, has consisted mostly of exaggerating facts or pointing out that, in many ways, Bryant is a lesser being than LeBron.↵
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↵But I stand before you to say that, as a Kobe booster, last night’s game was just embarrassing. I have been waiting all morning for news to come out about some Jordan-like freak flu, or a broken finger, or bad news at the half. Because after absolutely dominating the first quarter, Bryant got less and less visible as the game went on, and then proceeded to both force shots down the stretch and then miss more free throws in the fourth than I think I’ve ever seen him fail on.
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↵His meatiest contribution to the game was continually drawing fouls on Lee and Pietrus, which was smart play, but not the kind of thing that changes the course of a game. Martial arts clinics don’t count for much in a street fight. The world’s prettiest horse shoes player has nothing on a hand grenade. ↵
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Was it the worst game of Bryant’s postseason career? Quite likely. Should the Lakers rely solely on him to win each and every one of these? No, and they nearly pulled it, due in large part to Gasol’s regularly scheduled excellence, and Lamar Odom’s insistent contributions. And Kobe, for all his failure to get off the ground, still made some key “little things” decisions down the stretch.
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↵But come on, KB24, you can’t come roaring out of the gates like a force of nature and then have your game devolve into bricked free throws and awkward FG attempts. He may not have sabotaged the Lakers chances of winning last night, but Bryant certainly provided a study in how to not only fade away in a big game, but go down swinging at your own head.
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