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kobeandgary
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kikanga
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 Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 6:11 pm Post subject: |
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Hope he's healthy enough to play for team USA.
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kobeandgary
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| Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 6:12 pm Post subject: |
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| kikanga wrote: | | Hope he's healthy enough to play for team USA. |
Yeah if this is truly his last season then a gold medal would be a great way to see him go out. |
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wolfpaclaker
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| Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 6:34 pm Post subject: |
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Not as great as a 6th ring would have been, but as a Laker fan who has seen Kobe do so much, would be a nice send off.
But I'm not convinced this is it for Bryant in 2016. My gut says, if he has a good year, he'll want to play 1 more. And take it like that. |
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THE_DAGGER
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| Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 7:01 pm Post subject: |
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| It would be great, especially if this is really his last year and if the team doesn't have much success this season. He at least has a chance to win something on his way out. |
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The Logo
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Joined: 25 Jul 2013
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| Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 7:10 pm Post subject: |
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| I can see him filling in as the Jason Kidd role on the team if it comes to that |
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evetssteve10
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| Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 7:51 pm Post subject: |
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I definitely don't have anything against it. Would absolutely love to see Kobe's encore be Olympic gold. I kind of feel the way he does about it though, I want him to be on there because he earned it and not as a gift. I have no doubt that if Kobe stays healthy that he would earn it. I'm of the group that still thinks he's an elite player. the only part of his game that really suffered last year was his shooting and I have a hard time believing it wasn't at least partly related to his shoulder. He was still averaging 22/6/6 or something like that which is pretty ridiculous for a 37 yr old shooting guard after the injuries he's had and miles. It's really the assists and rebounds that impress me. Is he the same Kobe? Not exactly, but he's still 5x better than MJ was on the Wizards. I am very confident Kobe will have his stroke back. He may (most likely will) have rust at the beginning - so I'm already seeing the inevitable over reaction posts in the game thread and ... Everywhere else. But by Christmas I think we will be seeing 2013 Kobe again.
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kobeandgary
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| Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 9:38 pm Post subject: |
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| evetssteve10 wrote: | | I definitely don't have anything against it. Would absolutely love to see Kobe's encore be Olympic gold. I kind of feel the way he does about it though, I want him to be on there because he earned it and not as a gift. I have no doubt that if Kobe stays healthy that he would earn it. I'm of the group that still thinks he's an elite player. the only part of his game that really suffered last year was his shooting and I have a hard time believing it wasn't at least partly related to his shoulder. He was still averaging 22/6/6 or something like that which is pretty ridiculous for a 37 yr old shooting guard after the injuries he's had and miles. It's really the assists and rebounds that impress me. Is he the same Kobe? Not exactly, but he's still 5x better than MJ was on the Wizards. I am very confident Kobe will have his stroke back. He may (most likely will) have rust at the beginning - so I'm already seeing the inevitable over reaction posts in the game thread and ... Everywhere else. But by Christmas I think we will be seeing 2013 Kobe again. |
For me there is no way for Kobe to be on that team and not have earned, just the way kidd earned his spot, by having a great career even if you are near the end of it. |
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where24happens
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| Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 10:23 pm Post subject: |
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| No way in hell will he be able to "earn" his spot. He would be a massive liability on defense and Team USA obviously won't need his scoring when they have Lebron, Durant, and company. If he gets a spot out of respect, I wouldn't mind though, a reward for a Top 10 career. |
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evetssteve10
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| Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 10:53 pm Post subject: |
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| where24happens wrote: | | No way in hell will he be able to "earn" his spot. He would be a massive liability on defense and Team USA obviously won't need his scoring when they have Lebron, Durant, and company. If he gets a spot out of respect, I wouldn't mind though, a reward for a Top 10 career. |
I'm not going to sit here and question your basketball knowledge as I'm not interested in petty back and forth debates that usually degrade in quality but I want to ask, did you watch the Lakers last year and in particular Kobe when he was out there and Kobe in 2013? Because I feel like if you did then you would have seen that Kobe is still a phenomenal on the ball defender and 1v1 defender. You add that to the fact that the team will be stacked defensively (at least most of the time) and Kobe will be free to use his defensive strengths by playing on his man and not having to worry about playing free safety or watching for back door cuts or chasing through screens because he won't be asked to do that stuff anymore. For about 20 minutes a game Kobe can still play elite defense and elite offense (not sure if people even understand how hard it is to do both). He will have much superior defensive talent around him as well so that they can play to his defensive strengths.
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"Bryant has been the second best player in the NBA for over a decade, but the number 1 player changes every other year. Somehow the number 1 player always seems to fall down the list but Kobe just never moves up. ". The Art of Hating Kobe Bryant |
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ReaListik
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| Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 10:59 pm Post subject: |
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| evetssteve10 wrote: | | where24happens wrote: | | No way in hell will he be able to "earn" his spot. He would be a massive liability on defense and Team USA obviously won't need his scoring when they have Lebron, Durant, and company. If he gets a spot out of respect, I wouldn't mind though, a reward for a Top 10 career. |
I'm not going to sit here and question your basketball knowledge as I'm not interested in petty back and forth debates that usually degrade in quality but I want to ask, did you watch the Lakers last year and in particular Kobe when he was out there and Kobe in 2013? Because I feel like if you did then you would have seen that Kobe is still a phenomenal on the ball defender and 1v1 defender. You add that to the fact that the team will be stacked defensively (at least most of the time) and Kobe will be free to use his defensive strengths by playing on his man and not having to worry about playing free safety or watching for back door cuts or chasing through screens because he won't be asked to do that stuff anymore. For about 20 minutes a game Kobe can still play elite defense and elite offense (not sure if people even understand how hard it is to do both). He will have much superior defensive talent around him as well so that they can play to his defensive strengths. |
This is why I think he could closely resemble 2012-2013 Kobe on the Olympic squad because he'll have a tremendous amount of support around him freeing him up to do more things individually.
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Dominator
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| Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 1:18 am Post subject: |
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| where24happens wrote: | | No way in hell will he be able to "earn" his spot. He would be a massive liability on defense and Team USA obviously won't need his scoring when they have Lebron, Durant, and company. If he gets a spot out of respect, I wouldn't mind though, a reward for a Top 10 career. |
The team not needing his scoring is precisely why he wouldn't be a liability on defense |
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kobeandgary
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| Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 3:55 am Post subject: |
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| Dominator wrote: | | where24happens wrote: | | No way in hell will he be able to "earn" his spot. He would be a massive liability on defense and Team USA obviously won't need his scoring when they have Lebron, Durant, and company. If he gets a spot out of respect, I wouldn't mind though, a reward for a Top 10 career. |
The team not needing his scoring is precisely why he wouldn't be a liability on defense |
Not to mention it never hurts to have a guy with nerves of steel when you are playing in games as important as the Olympics. Even now the amount of players i trust with the game on the line then more then a healthy Kobe is zero. |
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kobetimeeverytime
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Joined: 24 Jan 2012
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| Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 5:33 am Post subject: |
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Harden/Klay
Curry/Westbrook
Kobe for the 5th guard spot? |
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governator
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| Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 6:06 am Post subject: |
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| kobetimeeverytime wrote: | Harden/Klay
Curry/Westbrook
Kobe for the 5th guard spot? |
Kobe only plays for 1st guard spot (but I agree with you that he's not "1st") |
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cmonkee
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| Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 6:27 am Post subject: |
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| Would love to see Kobe get 1 more gold medal. |
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dont_be_a_wuss
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| Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 6:36 am Post subject: |
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| wouldn't mind seeing him against international competition either. |
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Reflexx
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| Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 8:04 am Post subject: |
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| I'd love to see him go out with another gold. |
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ringfinger
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| Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 8:09 am Post subject: |
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| kobeandgary wrote: | | Dominator wrote: | | where24happens wrote: | | No way in hell will he be able to "earn" his spot. He would be a massive liability on defense and Team USA obviously won't need his scoring when they have Lebron, Durant, and company. If he gets a spot out of respect, I wouldn't mind though, a reward for a Top 10 career. |
The team not needing his scoring is precisely why he wouldn't be a liability on defense |
Not to mention it never hurts to have a guy with nerves of steel when you are playing in games as important as the Olympics. Even now the amount of players i trust with the game on the line then more then a healthy Kobe is zero. |
I don't think they really need Kobe's steel nerves to win the Olympics.
That said, would love to see him play but only if he's no longer playing for us in the following season. |
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Gatekeeper
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| Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 8:22 am Post subject: |
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I'm going to go against the grain and say no.
Kobe hasn't played more than 35 games a season the last two years; I'd rather he get his rest in the offseason and see him suit up in the p&g than risk additional down time due to injury over the summer. There are plenty of exciting young talent in the league and they should have the privilege of playing for the USA basketball senior team.
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krisobe
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| Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 8:44 am Post subject: |
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Curry/Kobe/KD/LeBron/AD starting lineup
WestBrook/Harden/Klay/Blake/Cousins bench.
CP3/Melo/Love last 3 spots. |
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yinoma2001
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| Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 8:51 am Post subject: |
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As Kobe said his inclusion should be by merit. I don't think Kobe would want it any other way.
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Treble Clef
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| Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 10:11 am Post subject: |
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| this is why it's hard to believe he will be done after this season. It's hard for players like him to say goodbye. |
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kobeandgary
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| Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 6:03 pm Post subject: |
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| ringfinger wrote: | | kobeandgary wrote: | | Dominator wrote: | | where24happens wrote: | | No way in hell will he be able to "earn" his spot. He would be a massive liability on defense and Team USA obviously won't need his scoring when they have Lebron, Durant, and company. If he gets a spot out of respect, I wouldn't mind though, a reward for a Top 10 career. |
The team not needing his scoring is precisely why he wouldn't be a liability on defense |
Not to mention it never hurts to have a guy with nerves of steel when you are playing in games as important as the Olympics. Even now the amount of players i trust with the game on the line then more then a healthy Kobe is zero. |
I don't think they really need Kobe's steel nerves to win the Olympics.
That said, would love to see him play but only if he's no longer playing for us in the following season. |
They sure needed them before when everybody else looked terrified to do anything. |
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ringfinger
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| Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 6:34 pm Post subject: |
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| kobeandgary wrote: | | ringfinger wrote: | | kobeandgary wrote: | | Dominator wrote: | | where24happens wrote: | | No way in hell will he be able to "earn" his spot. He would be a massive liability on defense and Team USA obviously won't need his scoring when they have Lebron, Durant, and company. If he gets a spot out of respect, I wouldn't mind though, a reward for a Top 10 career. |
The team not needing his scoring is precisely why he wouldn't be a liability on defense |
Not to mention it never hurts to have a guy with nerves of steel when you are playing in games as important as the Olympics. Even now the amount of players i trust with the game on the line then more then a healthy Kobe is zero. |
I don't think they really need Kobe's steel nerves to win the Olympics.
That said, would love to see him play but only if he's no longer playing for us in the following season. |
They sure needed them before when everybody else looked terrified to do anything. |
Yeah, those other guys did nothing. Too scaredy pants. |
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