I totally agree with this post. You all know if Steve did something like this in DC, no one would have a problem with it, and if someone started a thread talking about how selfish Steve was, 90% of you would be defending Steve and calling the poster a troll...
If the situation were like the one yesterday, I'd have a huge problem with it. Numbers don't tell the whole story. If Kobe repeatedly was open and had to shoot those shots, then I would respect it. However, he repeatedly looked straight through wide open teammates and took it into double and triple teams himself. Instead of passing to an open man on the perimeter, he'd take a 20 footer with a hand or two in his face. He wasn't there to please the fans, he was there to make himself look good and win MVP. The boos are justified.
Oh, please. He hit 48%. When a man hits 48%, it's hard to criticize him about his shot selection. And, hell... when he's a frickin guard and hits at that frequency, I usually wonder why the hell he didn't shoot more. You just hate Kobe.
Well, if you want to look at it from a FAN's perspective, Kobe got FAR more votes than any other player on the Western Conference team. He obviously WAS the player people wanted to see more than any other. He took over the game like every other all-star MVP does. As for the interview, maybe he wouldn't have said anything if THEY DIDN'T ASK HIM! What the hell do you want him to do? Lie? Say it didn't bother him? Then you'd b**** at him for lying.
Kobe did not get far more votes than anyone in the West. Shaq did. Regardless there's no reason for him to hog the ball like he did. Maybe on his team without Shaq, but at the All-Star game? Come on. It's one thing to just be feeling it, but another to not pass to an open man.
<B>Kobe did not get far more votes than anyone in the West. Shaq did. </B> Well, Shaq couldn't shoot the ball, so he doesn't count. Kobe got far more votes than any other player PLAYING on the West team. If you're going to use the "fans didn't want to see Kobe" argument, then I'd argue that you're wrong, and that they wanted to see him moreso than any other player on the team.
<B>So, in your mind, had Carter played, he would have been perfectly justified in jacking up 40 shots?</B> If he was making enough, his team was dominating while he was out there, and his teammates kept giving him the ball, then yeah, why not?
because it's an All-Star game...and because hitting 50% of your jumpshots isn't as good as passing for a 80-90% layup/slam...and because every player on that team has earned the right to come on and get a chance, not to watch one guy take almost a shot a minute...think about that..assume that 1/2 the time is for defense..kobe was taking a shot almost every 30 seconds on offense..that's amazingly selfish, even if he was making half of them, that means he was missing almost a shot every minute his team had the ball and he was on the floor...wow! Remember, the 7th and 8th guys here aren't scrubs...the 9th and 10th guys are stars in their own right... they have worked just as hard as Kobe, most without the attention of playing in L.A. or N.Y., and this is their chance to shine and...well, you know how it went...
<B>because it's an All-Star game...</B> So? <B>and because hitting 50% of your jumpshots isn't as good as passing for a 80-90% layup/slam...</B> Each team shot 46.7% for the game. Kobe shot a higher % that 7 other players on his own team. Hitting 50% of his shots is better than the rest of his team did. <B>and because every player on that team has earned the right to come on and get a chance, not to watch one guy take almost a shot a minute...</B> Yet those players had NO PROBLEM passing to him. They obviously didn't have a problem with it. <B>kobe was taking a shot almost every 30 seconds on offense..that's amazingly selfish, even if he was making half of them, that means he was missing almost a shot every minute his team had the ball and he was on the floor...wow! </B> Big deal. The team shot a total of 120 shots. He took 25 of them in 30 minutes. Ray Allen took 17 shots in 25 Minutes. Pierce? 18 shots in 23 minutes. McGrady? 15 shots in 23 minutes. And the East only took 100 shots. All of these guys were at pretty similar paces. Yeah, Kobe took a couple more. Big whoop. <B>they have worked just as hard as Kobe, most without the attention of playing in L.A. or N.Y., and this is their chance to shine and...well, you know how it went...</B> ... and they kept passing to Kobe and had fun doing so. That tells me you had a bigger problem with him shooting than they did.
I don't care if he hits 98%, it's an All-Star game and the object is for everyone to have fun. The object isn't to win, it's to entertain the fans. I'm sure most fans wouldn't want to see one player taking more than a fifth of his teams entire shots, especially if they were contested like Kobe's were. And don't even try to dismiss my claims as biased because I hate Kobe. You've posted in almost all the Spurs arguments in the past, and you and everyone on this BBS know that verse and others hate the Spurs. You never once mentioned personal bias/hatred when discussing those arguments, so don't use it here.
Most fans? Yea right. That many shots isn't a first..the players were feeding him the ball knowing full well that this was his hometown. Bias? It's obvious it's there..you know it, I know it. Of course I'm biased as well, being a Laker fan. But when almost all the journalists, analysts, and even his own teammates disagree with you, I would think that you'd have to think about your conclusions a bit. I guess those five assists don't count either..
A couple of questions.... 1) why does anyone feel the all-star game isn't about winning? Just cuz it's not important to the standings, and people want to put on a good show, does that mean necessarily that winning vs losing has no bearing to them? If you asked a player what they would prefer to do, would they universally be split down the middle, 50/50 saying they don't care? Nope....they are competitive athletes, they want to win....Kobe played HARDER than many others, earned some easy dunks by running the court....But i guess he shoulda dished away the ball on breakaway dunks....we all know "our" favorite players would have.... 2) Why is there this double standard about kobe getting the hometown MVP while when others do it, they are applauded? It is obvious that KG, Duncan et al. had intentions to help Kobe earn that MVP award by feeding him the ball non-stop while he was in. And that translates to criticism on behalf towards Kobe? I agree with something said earlier...if the players had a problem with it, they would've frozen him out like has been done before. All in all, Kobe wanted to win the game, and went out and played like it. (Did you see that graphic for scoring differential when he was in, vs when he was out? Unbelievable.....) He, in conjunction with the help of his teammates, wanted to win the traditional hometown MVP award. It is obvious that he took a couple of bad shots, in the name of entertainment, greed, whatever.....But the fact that people are applauding the fact that he was booed relentlessly is lame, in my opinion.
My problem with Kobe in this game is that he was a total Chucker. His shots didn't come "in the flow of the game" as some of the NBC jackasses would have you believe. They were often forced, bad shots. It just seemed to me that ChucKobe was aiming to get the all-star MVP, nothing more. He would take a shot almost every time he had the ball, no matter how bad it was. He didn't really start making a good percentage until the second half. I dislike Kobe much less now than I did a few years ago. In fact, I don't mind him too much. But he really bothered me in this game with his blatant self-promotion . . .
OK, Kobe did shoot the ball a bit much considering the setting, but then again he seemed to be one of the few who was consistently agressive and "busy" in looking for his shot. Kinda stupid to complain when someone who loves to shoot does exactly that. Its like complaining about how your friend is always drawing, and then you go out and buy them more drawing pads. IMHO, the worst thing Kobe did in that situation was to show the hurt. Philly's a city that loves its tough, hard-nosed image, and if Kobe really wants some "hometown love" he's going to have to make them "love" him. He should never ask for it, nor apologize for who he is. In other words, every time he goes to Philly or plays Philly, he's dropping at least 35-40 on them, triple doubles, game-winning baskets, anything that makes it impossible for even the toughest Philly fan to diss Kobe. Don't force them to "love" you, make them "love" you.
