Kobe Bryant: Practice Some Patience, Wait for Nick Young
By Mike Garcia
Patience is not one of Kobe Bryant‘s virtues. When he entered the league, he wanted to be the best player in the NBA. When the NBA championships arrived, they didn’t come soon enough. He was lucky to start winning championships with Phil Jackson in his first year as a Laker coach.
This time, it’s tougher.
The Lakers are 0-5, but the games are increasingly competitive and inching closer to wins. Ryan Kelly just came back from his hamstring injury. Xavier Henry hasn’t been getting consistent playing time. There’s one more key ingredient to the Laker mix, and that is Nick Young.
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Kobe Bryant is the type of player that’ll be aggressive when his teammates aren’t. Ever play basketball in a gym full of strangers? There are some guys that know their talent and want to pass the ball around for an open shot. There are other guys who are more confident about their talent and show it on the floor.
That’s what it looked like against the Phoenix Suns. Can you imagine what is going through Kobe Bryant’s head? “Are you passing up shots? We’re losing. Fine, I’ll take them.” Take them he did, to the tune of 37 field goal attempts and hitting just 14 of them.
It’s easy to criticize the shot attempts. Phil Jackson showed his support through twitter.
@bomani_jones you don't get it. Most players can't GET 10 shots
— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) November 5, 2014
let alone 30+ shots. It takes a special athlete to get a good shot in
NBA.
Although Jeremy Lin had a decent game statistically, he isn’t completely comfortable out there on the basketball floor next to Kobe Bryant. Some of his drives are forced. Some of his passes are forced. We know he is capable of good games. The Laker team doesn’t need a sprinter going 100%. They need a marathon runner going 70%. If Lin reins it in just a bit and is more selective about his shots, the consistency and overall effectiveness will come in time.
But, the one guy that can help them both is Nick Young. Kobe has shot creating ability for days. Nick Young will take some too. During Kobe Bryant’s five-game stint last season in December, Nick Young averaged 15.6 field goal attempts in roughly 30 minutes per game. He averaged 16.8 points per game through five games.
Kobe can tone it down a bit. Jeremy Lin can tone it down a bit. Nick Young can get into his groove.
Once that happens, this string of losses will end. The trade talk will end. The Lakers will have scoring balance.
They’ll have some wins to back it up.