Kobe Bryant Missing the Mark at Crunch Time
Things are not going well in Los Angeles. The Lakers are at the bottom of the Western Conference with a 3-12 record. If it were not for the winless Philadelphia 76ers, the Lakers would have the worst record in the entire NBA.
Kobe Bryant has returned after missing most of last season, but his presence has done very little to change the continuing spiral downward of the once-storied franchise.
For many the question is whether Bryant is doing more harm to the team than good especially late in games.
Last week, the Golden State Warriors blew out the Lakers 136-115. In the game, Bryant has 34 shots in just 31 minutes of play, scoring 44 points in a game he sat out the entire fourth quarter.
Kobe has been known throughout his 19-year NBA career for his late game heroics. However, this season some of his misfires late in games have caused his teammates to ask questions.
Nick Young the upstart guard for the Lakers said Kobe will always be Kobe, but somehow the team has to find a way of putting the ball in the hole with another player.
Those comments came last Sunday after Denver defeated the Lakers in overtime 101-94.
In that loss, Bryant hit 6 of 10 shots through the third quarter, but only 4 of 14 shots during the fourth quarter and OT.
Over the final three minutes of regulation, when the teams were separated by three points or less, Bryant miss all of his five shots, including a possible game-winner from 19-feet with only a second left and the teams tied at 86.
Heroes love isolation plays in situations late in the game with the outcome on the line and Bryant did that on 4 of his last 5 shots during regulation.
Bryant missed the last shot as he was well played by Wilson Chandler on defense. Young had been open near the top of the key on the play, but Kobe did not look his way.
With some late-game fatigue bothering Bryant, his coach Byron Scott said the team might limit the minutes Bryant plays going forward.
Bryant has missed eight straight potential tying or go-ahead shots during the last five seconds of a fourth quarter or OT.
The Lakers have not had that many crunch time moments, which are during the final five minutes of a game with the difference between the two teams 3 points or less.
However, in those times this season Bryant has hit just 12 of his 33 shots for 36%, which is below the average for crunch time in the league of almost 40%.
The bottom line is that during crunch time, no other player in the NBA dominates his team’s possession like Bryant does with the Lakers and no player misses more than Bryant does.
Is Kobe doing more harm than good at his point? Should someone else being taking the crunch time shots? Those are tough questions for coach Scott to find the answer to.
