After losing to the Bulls on Christmas and the Mavericks a day later, the Lakers finish up their three game road trip today in Phoenix are back at home to play against the Suns. And when they do, a familiar face will be back in the lineup:
There was some uncertainty of Kobe would play tonight after the two-game trip, but Scott confirmed he's ready to go vs. Phoenix.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) December 28, 2014
If you were wondering, though, don’t expect him to return to his normal workload — at least from a minutes perspective:
Kobe got shots up yesterday & this morning. Feeling pretty good. Byron is looking for him not to over exert himself tonight. Around 30 mins.
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) December 28, 2014
At this point, playing 30 minutes should be the ideal every night and not just because he’s coming off missing three games due to “general soreness”, but I’ll take it anyway I can get it. Ideally, I’d like to see Kobe play six to eight minutes to start each half and another six to seven minutes in the 2nd and 4th quarters with Young and Ellington sliding in at SG when Kobe sits and Lin taking up a bigger workload in general. This would allow all the players on the win ample time in the lineup to find a rhythm without putting too much burden on any one of them to produce. If one of them is hot, you can ride them for longer or adjust accordingly, but overall this would offer a nice mix that allows each player a chance to play a reasonable amount of minutes. We’ll see what Byron Scott does, however.
As for the style in which Kobe plays, I hope that both he and Scott are ready to make some adjustments to that as well. Rather than have Kobe always playing ball side and occupying key real estate in the mid-post, I’d like to see him set up more on the weak side where he can work off the ball and make his catches against defenders who are rotating to him. This is especially true whenever he’s in the game with Lin and or Young as both of them are more than capable of creating shots for themselves on the strong side of the offense. Run Lin in P&R’s and Young off curls on the opposite side of the floor from Kobe and when the defense gets into their rotations to slow these actions the ball can be swung to Kobe and he can either be a spot up shooter or attack a defender closing out at him.
Combine these actions with Kobe’s normal mix of post ups, isolations, and ball handling duties up high out of the P&R and there should be enough diversity in the offense so nothing gets too stale for Kobe or the rest of the team. Over the three games that Kobe missed, the rest of the guys showed they could take up a bigger load and play at least somewhat effectively, so it’s time for them to carry that over to games in which Kobe does play. As long as they don’t just defer to him and as long as Kobe (on his own and via the coach’s instruction) doesn’t simply set up in his sweet spot and expect the offense to run through him, we should see a more fluid attack with him back in the lineup. Maybe that’s wishful thinking, but it should be the approach.
In the end, this may actually be the best game for Kobe to return in. This game will be their fourth game in a week and their third in four nights on the road. Kobe returning, even in limited minutes, could give them a shot in the arm and the energy they need to compete against a more than solid Suns team.
Where you can watch: 6:30pm start time on TWC Sportsnet. Also listen on ESPN Radio Los Angeles 710AM.
tankyou says
Really hope Kobe plays well today and looks physically fit for however minutes he ends up playing. Otherwise after this much rest, I would be concerned that his body isn’t going to allow him to play much. I’m thinking that father time will not allow him to play most games at 30mpg, given that’s still a strenous load. But I guess we will find out. I would prefer to see Kobe play 20mpg and try and play most games and take off back-to-back games which there is no way he physically can recover in 24hrs.
Per the article, I’m also eager to see if there are actual changes in the flow of the offense with Kobe in, more easy looks weak side, rather than lots of contested iso’s. Also curious if Kobe can hang defensively at all tonight with all the speedy players the Suns put on the floor.
Thought Lin played pretty well, despite shooting poorly, hope he gets more burn. Ronnie Price shouldn’t be playing more minutes than Lin, unless he’s having one of those great shooting games that he very rarely has. Price was getting eaten up by Rondo, Lin held his own against Rondo pretty well. Swaggy needs to chill out a bit, he’s starting to look like JR Smith out there lately, a bit unhinged.
nimble says
Let’s go Kobe,we are watching you.
@Robert,
Expecting some more Kobe alerts.
Robert says
Kobe Alert: During tonight’s game it is quite possible that Kobe will attempt his 25,000th FG attempt. This is an accomplishment that both Kobe fans and haters can enjoy. I mean seriously – 25,000 times we have enjoyed Kobe launching an attempt at the basket. I am proud to say that I have witnessed many of them and relished in all that I witnessed (well maybe I did not enjoy some of those air balls in the late 90’s but other than that). Only 2 others have taken as many shots. Look for HA to write an article referencing this, and posters here to link it : ) Kobes is now within 50 FGs of catching Shaq for 5th in that category and 5 three pointers to catch Nash for 12th there. He needs 9 more defensive rebounds to move by Dale Davis for 53rd. Tyson Chandler is also gaining on Kobes from behind in the category, but all in all, Kobe could be top 50 in defensive rebounds before too long. His combo of rank in scoring, rebounds, and dimes will be unmatched by anyone.. Kobe needs 4,563 points to follow MJ’s instructions to “Go get Karl”.
tankyou says
Thanks for the updates, sounds like Kobe will hit some more milestones. I hope he does so in a more efficient manner. Suns are definitely beatable, they are one of the few teams that we actually have a decent advantage on at the PF/C positions. Hope Boozer keeps playing well offensively, he could have a field day. The three PG’s are definitely always dangerous though, especially without a real rim protector. Maybe Ed Davis can spike a few layups away. When their PG’s struggle to penetrate the Suns look pretty pedestrian.
No way Kobe catches Karl Malone, not that there is anything wrong with that.
BigCitySid says
-Competitive game, but as predicted, Suns backcourt was the difference.
-Robert, the issue I have w/ career stats like defensive rebs & offensive rebs is they weren’t kept until what, the mid ’70’s? Any career rebounding accomplishments that eliminate Russell & Chamberlain from the conversation need an * next to it. Matter of fact even Kareem’s stat’s would be effected since OR & DR stats were not kept in his first three or four years in the league.
-I like that you mentioned Tyson gaining on Kobe, but the more interesting “alert” is Lebron closing in on Kobe in career assist. Only 53 behind in 402 less games.