Efficiency in the Triangle
What drove me nuts more than anything was the spots on the floor where Kobe chose to initiate his scoring offense. Year after year, I had to witness an aging Kobe Bryant attempt to take a more athletic wing player off the dribble from over 25 feet away from the basket and settle for a contested jump shot with a high degree of difficulty. Did he make a lot of them? Sure. But more than anything, he settled. As opposed to using his gifted basketball mind to find ways to receive the ball inside the arc or near the elbow, he consistently settled for a longer path to the basket. I understood that he did not possess the foot speed to blow by defenders off the dribble with the same ease as in his earlier years but too many times he would take himself out of a game because of his shot selection.
This year he has finally figured out why the triangle offense was so conducive to Michael Jordan shooting such a high FG percentage even though he was a perimeter player. The closer to the basket he received the ball the easier it was to sustain efficient scoring efforts, because he wasn’t working nearly as hard on the offensive end. It only made sense that if a player with his caliber of footwork can score from wherever he’s at on the floor, then why not receive it closer to the basket and go to work. Thus, it is no surprise that he has shot at the highest clip from the floor this year at over 48 percent.
Next: The Post Game
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