My take on Kobe... No I'm not absolving him of it either, he's making terrible decisions.. Mainly from 3 / settle from 3. He gets a good chunk of that blame.
1. Give him a consistent rotation.. This is what it has been the past 4 games.
Knicks
1st: 12-4
2nd: 12-6:50
1:54-Half
3rd: 12-4:01
4th: 12-8:56
6:01-End
Nets:
1st: 12-5:03
2nd: 12-7:22
5:22-Half
3rd: 12-4:58
4th: 12-8:41
3:45-End
Nuggets:
1st: 12-3:31
2nd: 7:11-3:38
3rd: 12-3:06
4th: 8:15-End
Mavs:
1st: 12-5:05
2nd: 6:45-Half
3rd: 12-3:42
4th: 9:23-End
The last two, what the hell is the point of starting him in the 4th, then giving him rest in the middle of the damn quarter, and then bringing him back in? That's just stupid minute management. I wouldn't even do that to prime Kobe. Not Phil, not Mike Brown, not Mike D'Antoni, took Kobe out then subbed him in 2 minutes later to close out a half/game. Exception of MDA, when every game was must-win, and Kobe was only thing that could score. But these are not must win games, nor is this Kobe that Kobe. What's that 2 minute breather going to do for him, other than just throw his timing off even more. Same with the second quarter, why the hell are you subbing him out, giving him a couple minutes of rest, then bringing him back in? We all know he's getting the ball to end quarters, taking him out, then rest, then back in is stupid for timing sake.
Easy way to do this. No exceptions:
1st: 12-3
2nd: 8-Half
3rd: 12-4
4th: 7-End of Game
32 minutes. Could mix and match Swaggy & Lou to get their time as well.
2. There are way too many 3s. He's shooting 16.2 shots a game. Only making 5.2 of them. If he was hitting his career average, he'd be hitting 7.3 shots. There's a 12.1% variance on his FG%. And the biggest place to see it is in his 3 point shooting. Career-wise, he took 4 3s out of 19.6 shots per game. This year, it is 8 out of 16.2 shots per game. And he's also hitting these at a bit over 12% worse than his career high.
The 3s have to be limited to 2 situations.
1. He's wide open. Whether it's a catch and shoot wide-open, a guy goes way under the pick wide open, or he brings it up court and gets a lot of room.
2. Necessary end of shot clock, end of quarter / half / game.
Other than that, the shot needs to be left alone from behind the arc.
Just look at the games:
FG-FGA / 2P-2PA / 3P-3PA
vs. Min: 8-24 / 5-11 / 3-13
@Sac: 5-12 / 4-4 / 1-8
vs. Dal: 3-15 / 1-7 / 2-8
vs. Den: 4-11/ 3-6 /1-5
@BK: 5-16 / 4-12 / 1-4
@NYK: 6-19 / 4-9 / 2-10
In 4 of the 6 games, he's been killed by way too many 3s. Shoots well from inside the arc, but hoisting 2-3 3's a quarter. He ain't getting that many open looks.
We all know he's old, and can't get to the rack, but following those 2 situations as the only way he shots 3s, he'd still get 1 a quarter. And if he went 1-5 on the type of 3s I want him to take, it sucks, but I'll live with that.
3. His 2P% is down career .481, to .426 this year. Just logically speaking, you should expect that number to go down. 1. He doesn't get to the rim to dunk on, over or around guys. 2. Doesn't get by his guy off the dribble. 3. Doesn't get the same lift on his turnaround jumper.
But there are ways to get half way in between .426 & .481. The difference among his shots is .4 FGM from 2 a game on the 8.2 shots he takes from inside the arc.
Get him moving without the ball, get him off-ball screens, get him P&R opportunities, get him on the low post as opposed to the high post (where at least he has enough to get a foul), get him moving toward the basket with the ball through screens as opposed to perpendicular.
I'm fine with the shot total, I really am. Maybe a shot less. But there's ways to get Kobe to that 40% plateau (It's a 1.3 FGM difference).
1. No more silly rotations where you take him out, sit two minutes, then bring him back in. Especially when it's the 2nd & 4th, where you know he's getting the shots. You're making it harder for everybody Byron.
2. Cut the amount of 3s in half.
3. Cut the type of 3s he's taking. Open 3s (however they come), End of Time 3s. Everything else, you have to tell him, he does not have the green light for. If you follow that metric, he may not shot 33% again, but 25% is obtainable. And if these are the types of 3s he's missing, so be it.
4. Get him moving. Set him screens, on-ball, off-ball, put him in P&R opportunities, make him the screener teams don't expect that nor should they and you may be able to cherry pick one a game, Get him going toward the basket, not perpendicular.
Those things and even a washed Kobe could get somewhere between where he is and what he was/should be.
edit**: One more thing, stop with the first pass into the high post all the damn time to Kobe. It's a ridiculous way that we run the offense, and it leaves us with no sets to run that can work when you do it over and over and over.