Is Kobe Shooting Too Much? Lakers’ Jordan Hill Says Squad Has To ‘Trust Each Other’ Following Loss
Things are not looking good in Laker land, with Kobe and crew now one of only four teams in the entire league that’s yet to lodge a win in the young season. Is that the sound of dissension among the Laker ranks that we’re hearing? Is Kobe doing too much?
Following a 112-106 loss to the Phoenix Suns, the Lakers are now 0 for 5 in the 2014-2015 NBA season. Tuesday’s loss to the Suns was the Lakers’ closest defeat to date, with their larges loss coming three days before in a 127-104 shellacking from the Golden State Warriors.
Tuesday’s loss marked the worst start to a Laker season since the 1957-1958 season, back when the Minneapolis Lakers – that’s where the team name comes from, by the way – lost their first seven games.
The loss wasn’t totally for lack of trying, as four Laker starters scored in double digits on Tuesday. Kobe, though, handled much of the scoring load, lodging 39 points, or about 37 percent of the Lakers’ points. How Kobe got that 39 points, though, is a source of controversy.
Bryant left it all on the floor on Tuesday, playing 44 minutes, seemingly disproving speculation that Laker coach Byron Scott would rely on pitch count basketball to manage Kobe’s playing time. In that 44 minutes, Kobe launched 37 shots, or 42 percent of the shots the Lakers hoisted for the game.
Again: One Laker took 42 percent of the team’s shots for the game. Making 14 of those, Kobe arguably kept the Lakers in the game against the hot-shooting Suns, but how are the rest of the Lakers feeling about that shot distribution?
Well, they’re not going to say anything, of course, because Kobe Bryant is the face of the Lakers, but one quote from Laker center Jordan Hill might give us a clue as to how well Kobe’s performance went over with the team.
“We got to help each other,” Hill said following the game, according to Lakers Nation’s Ryan Ward. “Trust each other.”
Jordan Hill: “We got to help each other. Trust each other.”
— Ryan Ward (@Lakers_Examiner) November 5, 2014
That “trust each other” bit is big, because it’s not like that’s the first time we’ve heard that in the context of an NBA team. It’s not even the first time we’ve heard it in the context of the Lakers under Kobe Bryant. Do a quick Google search of “Kobe trust teammates,” and you’ll find more than a quarter million results.
“Trusting teammates” is typically code for “we, too, would like to shoot the ball sometimes.” It’s not a phrase that’s been exclusively applied to Kobe and the Lakers, but it’s popped up more times over the course of Kobe’s career than Laker fans would prefer. Surrounded by mediocre talent, it’s always been Kobe’s tendency to take it all on his shoulders. Sometimes that results in wins, sometimes Bryant just tires himself out in a loss.
Now, with a team hampered by injuries and some calling for the team to start tanking or trade him, Kobe showed us all that he can still hoist up an incredible amount of shots to keep his team in it when called upon.
“[I was] just being aggressive,” Kobe said of the effort. “Playing with a lot of energy.”
And that’s good to see, especially considering Kobe’s recent history of injury. The question remains, though, whether “aggressive” Kobe will be able to inspire the same amount of confidence in his teammates if the Laker star isn’t sharing the ball.
[Lead image via washingtonpost.com]
