Jennings talks about Kobe's defense

[shep33]

kobe is an elite defender if he wants to defend

This basically.

[thenaj17]

no he hasn't. i've watched every game this season manram- trust me.

for the start of the season Kobe was playing the best defense ive seen him play since 2009 or 2010. it was visually noticeable, and i was a bit surprises that he looked so quick (dropping into the 180s helped a lot).

here's what happened- when dwight went out with the torn labrum, Kobe attempted to free-saftey (in overdrive) in the hopes of stabilizing the defense. it didn't work, he was exposed blatantly on a half-dozen plays and people started to notice. Since Dwight has come back, Kobe has had all nba defender quality games against Irving and Jennings.

I really like the idea of Kobe as a defensive hugger, opposed to the safety (so long as his minutes are monitored and other pull their weight on the offensive end). but with that being said- he was having a solid defensive year before the dwight injury; he had a few bad games and that was it.

Jennings hit a 3 with an and one against Kobe last night. without that bucket, jennings would have been held to 8 points. i'm liking what i'm seeing, but James Harden Russell Westbrook and CHris Paul will serve as his ultimate tests in this role as the season plays out. my gut tells me hes just not fast enough for westbrook but he was just great against two fast guards so well see what happens- he's full of surprises.

Sorry Bruno i have to disagree. I've watched all Laker games this season and at least 3/5 times there is a blown switch/coverage, it's been Kobe. I could count at least 25 times this season, Kobe's man has had an open 3, layup or dunk just because Kobe stopped. Dwight even shoyted at Kobe during a game and called him out in the press (not sure who Dwight's PR guy is, maybe Shaq's old 1 he's that disrespectful)

Kobe is a terrible off ball defender unless he's fully engaged and has been the case 3/4 years minimum. This may be due to tiredness as Brown and now Mike D seem incapable of resting Kobe sufficiently. The last 3/4 games Kobe has been good defensively but let's not get carried away.

[Andrew32]

Great.
Thanks to this one game and the "media campaign" Kobe will probably make the All-D 1st team again.

[xxplayerxx23]

I mean, he has been awful for the entirety of this season. I didn't watch that game, so I can't comment on that.

It is probably effort though. If he buckles down he still should be great.

This the correct answer. He has been terrible on the defensive side this year but he still has the ability to be a very good on the ball defender when he puts effort into it

[ManRamForPrez24]

Sorry Bruno i have to disagree. I've watched all Laker games this season and at least 3/5 times there is a blown switch/coverage, it's been Kobe. I could count at least 25 times this season, Kobe's man has had an open 3, layup or dunk just because Kobe stopped. Dwight even shoyted at Kobe during a game and called him out in the press (not sure who Dwight's PR guy is, maybe Shaq's old 1 he's that disrespectful)

Kobe is a terrible off ball defender unless he's fully engaged and has been the case 3/4 years minimum. This may be due to tiredness as Brown and now Mike D seem incapable of resting Kobe sufficiently. The last 3/4 games Kobe has been good defensively but let's not get carried away.

Reading around (Lakers blogs, sifting through tweets, news articles, etc.) after Bruno's post and my retort...and this is the picture I've seen painted as well. Except until recently...where he's been guarding smaller guards and thus has seen more success.

[JJ_JKidd]

Quote:
Brandon Jennings on Kobe tonight: "Probably the best defense anybody's played on me since I've been in the league."

Quote:
More Jennings on @kobebryant: "For the whole game, I don't think I've ever seen a guard put that much pressure on a point guard full-court."

I thought Kobe wasn't a good defender?

No he isnt a good defender at all. His multiple Defensive Team selections are all just a fluke

[Bruno87]

Sorry Bruno i have to disagree. I've watched all Laker games this season and at least 3/5 times there is a blown switch/coverage, it's been Kobe. I could count at least 25 times this season, Kobe's man has had an open 3, layup or dunk just because Kobe stopped. Dwight even shoyted at Kobe during a game and called him out in the press (not sure who Dwight's PR guy is, maybe Shaq's old 1 he's that disrespectful)

Kobe is a terrible off ball defender unless he's fully engaged and has been the case 3/4 years minimum. This may be due to tiredness as Brown and now Mike D seem incapable of resting Kobe sufficiently. The last 3/4 games Kobe has been good defensively but let's not get carried away.

i disagree with your 3/5ths projection. there are so many holes in the lakers defense, no way is one person responsible for 60% of the failed assignments on switches, let alone kobe individually.

you mention him getting beaten 25 times throughout the course of the season. i have no problem with that projection, in fact it's probably more like 35-40 times at this point but thats only once or 1.3 times per game. that's not that bad, everyone gets beat every game at least once.

in regards to dwight getting on kobes case- that has happened, ive seen it. but thats good communication, and kobes willingness to have that conversation on the court means that he's at least listening to his big fella. i maintain that kobes defense has been the best it's been since the early going of the 2009-2010 campaign. and yes, minutes and injuries took a toll on his defense from 2010-2012

Great.
Thanks to this one game and the "media campaign" Kobe will probably make the All-D 1st team again.

two games, get it right andrew

[LA_Raiders]

He is a great defender, too bad he has soft team.

[ILLUSIONIST^248]

First of all just cause Lebron plays pf at times that doesn't make him one. Second yes it's obvious that Lebron is much younger and Kobe wont be able to best Lebron but in his prime he wouldn't either.

[Lakers + Giants]

Ok. Can I ask how your a lakers fan and a giants fan it just doesn't make sense to me. Also season series don't matter Dubs haven't gone on a 6 game losing streak lmao xD

Why can't I be an SF giants fan? Because I live in LA/So cal? I'm free to be a fan of whichever team I want no matter where I live. It's stupid when ppl belive fans can only be associated with teams near where they live, that makes no ****in sense. I've just always hated the dodgers and angels growing up and was a huge barry bonds fan as a kid, that's how I became a Giants fan. BTW I was joking about the warriors, obviously I wouldn't be talkin **** about being 2-0 against the dubs when you guys are playing great right now and have a much better than us. I was just messin around.

[ThaDubs]

Why can't I be an SF giants fan? Because I live in LA/So cal? I'm free to be a fan of whichever team I want no matter where I live. It's stupid when ppl belive fans can only be associated with teams near where they live, that makes no ****in sense. I've just always hated the dodgers and angels growing up and was a huge barry bonds fan as a kid, that's how I became a Giants fan. BTW I was joking about the warriors, obviously I wouldn't be talkin **** about being 2-0 against the dubs when you guys are playing great right now and have a much better than us. I was just messin around.

Sorry bro its hard to sense sarcasm over the internet for me lol.

[nbaeinstein]

Kobe will burn down if he is to guard opposition's top perimeter player each night
nbaeinstein.com

[jerellh528]

Dang, what Kobe has been able to do after all his career minutes, games, and postseason games is so astonishing to me. There has never been another player in NBA history to play at this high of a level after so many minutes. To even be compared to guys like lebron and durant who are around a decade younger than kobe at this point in his career is a testament to the will and dedication of Kobe's play. I would like to see who else can sustain this top 5 player type of production after playing the same amount of minutes as kobe. No one ever has and maybe nobody ever will. Mad props.

[nickdymez]

Dang, what Kobe has been able to do after all his career minutes, games, and postseason games is so astonishing to me. There has never been another player in NBA history to play at this high of a level after so many minutes. To even be compared to guys like lebron and durant who are around a decade younger than kobe at this point in his career is a testament to the will and dedication of Kobe's play. I would like to see who else can sustain this top 5 player type of production after playing the same amount of minutes as kobe. No one ever has and maybe nobody ever will. Mad props.

THIS! Finally someone who speaks the truth and isnt blinded by shear hate. The reason why I am the way I am on this site is because so many people (Chronz, Manram, andrew32, just, Hawk, to name a few) go out of their way to hate on kobe, when in fact they will never see another NBA player play at such a high level this late in their career. Just think about all the athletes that came strait out of high school around the time Kobe did. Now ask yourself, where are they?

[jerellh528]

THIS! Finally someone who speaks the truth and isnt blinded by shear hate. The reason why I am the way I am on this site is because so many people (Chronz, Manram, andrew32, just, Hawk, to name a few) go out of their way to hate on kobe, when in fact they will never see another NBA player play at such a high level this late in their career. Just think about all the athletes that came strait out of high school around the time Kobe did. Now ask yourself, where are they?

I wouldn't lump hawk with those guys(blind kobe haters), he tries to be unbiased and is usually a pretty truthful poster, but you gotta throw hidlago in there lol. But yes, there has never been a player who's played so many games and minutes still performing at a top 5 level, its pretty amazing if you think about it.