Floppers Down 1-0

Well, I will say one nice thing about the Spurs in this post because it is 100% true. Greg Popovich is an outstanding basketball coach. Even with the Spurs playing very well in the first 2 quarters and going in with a halftime lead, he knew exactly what was going on. Kobe Bryant finished the first half with 2 points on 1/3 shooting. It was so obvious what was going to happen it is almost laughable. Kobe was watching the game and figuring out what he was going to do in the second half and how he was going to attack the spurs after playing the "trusting my teammates card" in the entire first half.

Sure enough, Kobe finished with a team high 27 points on 11/21 shooting. He is so efficient with the basketball it is almost scary. He can take over the game at any point and I admire him for being the great team player that he has become in such a short time. I used to rag on Kobe for being a ballhog and crying about his teammates not being good enough to play with him, but he really has done a 180 this year. Not only is he trusting and using his teammates, but he has also PUBLICLY praised the owner of the Lakers for having the guts to stick with his draft picks and making a brilliant mid-season move to acquire Pau Gasol (the lakers owe the Griz Andrew Bynum after they win it all).

As for the Spurs, there really isn't a more boring team to watch in the NBA. Manu, Bowen, Kurt Thomas, Tim Duncan and Rober Horry are the biggest floppers on the planet. They look like European soccer players out there. And, Bruce Bowen is by far the dirtiest player in the NBA along with Robert Horry who is slowly starting to become one of the dirtiest as well.

All in all, I am glad Kobe is going to own this series and lead his Lakers to a Championship. Everyone always wants to talk about how you cannot compare Kobe to MJ, but if Kobe wins 3 more titles with the Lakers and has 6 just like Jordan, I think you can start making some serious arguments for who was the better basketball player. It has always been Michael Jordan's game, but 3 more championships and it just might start to be Kobe's.

And I would like to say to my fellow friend back home who shall remain nameless, the biggest difference in the games of Kobe Bryant and Lebron James is that Lebron has a weakness and Kobe does not. The Celtics proved that if you make Lebron shoot outside shots for 7 straight games, it is likely he is going to have an awful shooting percentage throughout 4 or 5 of those games. You can't back off of Kobe, because he will make you pay. That is why he is the MVP and that is why he owns 3 championship rings. Lebron is the best penetrator of the basketball there has ever been, but needs to develop a better outside shot and tune up his free throw shooting which has killed him in the fourth quarter of some games. Lebron may have his shot to win titles, but right now this is Kobe Bryant's league and it is very apparent.