NEW ORLEANS – Fresh intrigue as the first playoff game here since 2009 approaches: Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he had Kobe Bryant guard the smaller Chris Paul at the start of Game 2 in Los Angeles only after Bryant lobbied hard for the job, but that the assignment probably won’t continue tonight no matter how much Bryant pushes.
Several Lakers have already had turns on Paul, from the physical Ron Artest to point-guard counterparts Derek Fisher, Shannon Brown and Steve Blake. But the 6-foot-6 Bryant on Paul in the opening quarter Wednesday became the start of the 6-foot Hornets star being contained.
Jackson credited Bryant’s size with giving Paul trouble. He also said it doesn’t mean a repeat tonight.
“That was not my game plan,” Jackson said of Game 2. “It’s not what I wanted to do. It’s what Kobe wanted to do and I allowed him to do that because of his desire to do that. But that wasn’t my intention, to have him go guard Chris Paul. I thought it was too energy-draining, too much chasing around, too many screens and picks that he’d be involved in. Although I knew he’d probably get better calls on those screens than Fish would because Fish is known as a guy that can exacerbate the contact. But the screens are very physical. They are something that knocks guys down. Kobe was put out of balance many times having to cover those picks. We’d like to avoid that. There’s also that fact that we’ll throw whatever we have to at a team to take them out of their game.”
So if Bryant comes to him before Game 3 and lobbies again?
“It depends upon what time of the game he does that,” Jackson said. “There may be a time in the game where it’s important.”
For his part, Bryant said he “absolutely” will try to talk Jackson into the unique matchup.
“Because that’s what I do,” Bryant said, relishing the challenge. “…. I enjoy it. It’s fun. Fish is really good at chasing guys off the screens and pin-downs, I’m really good on-ball.”
Kobe is an overrated Defender …
He doesnt deserve to be in the ALL-NBA-Defensive team
.Period
Your emphatic use of the word “period” does not make your unsubstantiated claim any truer. I trust those that pick the ALL NBA Defense more than a random internet poster.
Another Hater,wahahah!
prove it, sir.
a superstar is not just to score but you also know how to defend and to challenge other superstar and that what makes kobe a real superstar..
then how come he was able to shut down chris paul why u hating
oh heck yeh sure…the ppl who pick the award have been making a mistake for the past 11 yrs in a row
ya you could kinda see kobe was drained because kobe normaly takes more than ten shots but he just wants to win. thats a winner right their. I just hope he doesn’t get tired by the time the finals come around.
yea i agree with you
there is a difference between a winner an a ball hog just saying MICHEAL JORDAN was a winner:]
+1 ldhl89
kobe is one of the best man to man defenders in the game right now, he definetely deserves to be on the team, or at least all nba second team.
Hater alert^
true, kobe was getting killed on many possessions in game 2. chris paul is just way too quick. however kobe is the best option on the lakers to contain paul. slowing down paul doesn’t only curve paul’s point production but it slows down the entire hornets offense, and as we saw in game 2 the lakers can still win with kobe expending all his energy on defense. check out Kobe’s Best Top Highlights
Phil must trust Kobe. He is the one.
David Beckham this isnt soccer.com ha just kiddin we all know ur a big fan of kobe but you know that one person doesnt make a team kobe is good and everything but the Lakers shouldnt just depend oon kobe what is going to happen when kobe has a bad game then wat???
i dont see any reason to hate kobe right now. he did a good job in game 2 and see the results. a win for LA.
Well wherever you go there will always be a hater that just blabs out stuff, like the guy that just Kobe is an overrated defender, Kobe is atleast a top 5 defender at SG, so I don;t know why haters talk without proving themselves right.
Kobe guarding Paul tongiht. This will be interesting.
kobe bryant aka black mamba is a goood defender,,ur saying hes not?..haters everywhere man,,dats wat koobe wants haters
Let’s go Kobe but I don’t think you can handle CP3 so just flop alot so the refs will call it your way. And don’t forget to do the pump fake a million times like the bobble head in my car dashboard. Go Lakers!
Better leave Kobe to manage offensive game, feeding ball inside in 1st half….
Then score himself on second half…and may need to guard CP in the 2nd half too…
but not to let him start guarding CP from beginning…he will be exhausted….and too much…
Will see…Game 3
Knowing how hard it is to play D and be the best shooter in the team everynight I play the 2nd/3rd best offensive of the other team. Come play-offs I take more responsibility for my man, in the end its the W that is all you need. Someone else needs to step up and shoot if U are taking care of D. But Kobe is Kobe – he is not just a star he is the King of Kings he has pride in being No1 & continues to prove it at both ends. I understand Phil’s thinking this is only Series 1, its a long Playoff series to the championship. Anyway Lakers will find their equilibrium & bring it thru to the championship. From there its a two horse race! cheers from the Land of Oz.
chris paul and kobe bryant would go great together, but dont u think its time 4 a new team 2 win it all (chicago)? if the bulls dont win it all, i hope its any1 but miami or los angeles
kobe is a overated defender no knock on him,he is just geting older,not fast enough for guys like cp and also he gets away all the time with handckecking and ilegal defens
he needs to stop crying for fouls kobe is to good to just cry for fouls all the time go to the rim finish strong dont try to get just the foul you need to geet the bucket the same with gasol and the lakers team
FINALLY i thought i was only one that noticed that…
Kobe fouled CP3 twice on 3 pointers. CP3 also had what 20pt 9ast game? Kobe is about as good on defense as Carmelo. Stick to what you know Kobe, hero ball.
My god the people that ride his jock this is like de ja vu when the lake show faced OKC and Kobe went to Phil and said i want Westbrook who cares is what Westbrook said “it’s not like i hear oh kobe’s on me i better watch out no he is not that great a defender” check the quote online and you’ll see and everybody knows that Thabo or battier deserved to be all def 1 st team not Kobe i can name 5 ppl in the NBA who deserved it more last year and this year should he get it and for that guy who said “why you hatin Kobe shut down Paul” then how come he finished with 20 and 9 nobody thought he would get the same production as game 1 and on a side note i just love that Kobe is taking more threes as of late thinking he is saving his team (the Miami game) he just jacks it up and i also love how ppl say lebron is a choker after those game winner bricks but when Kobe turns it over 5 times in 2 min against OKC which leads to a 16 – 0 run no one says anything how can you say Kobe is better than Thabo on defense if Thabo isn’t better on D then he aint in the league cause he has no O
in case ur wondering >>>>>>>>>>>BLAZERS FOR LIFE<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
when kobe wants guard the best player he should play durant not westbrook in that game
durant is not the main problem of lakers its westbrooks thats why kobe wants to guard him. artest already guarding durant.
Kobe cant play westbrook, he has tried nowhere near quick enough, and with Kobe at 6-6 and KD at 6-10 with a 7-5 wingspan, it would be retarded for Kobe to even try to guard KD, KD would just shoot over the top all game, Kobe is a great defender ( and i’m a Laker hater) there are just a handful of guards in the league that are just too fast for Kobe to guard at this stage in his career, if he continues to try it will hurt his team as the quicker player will get around him and he will spend all of his energy on defense
sorry haters, we will brake ur heart again and again and again. hehehehe
kobe cant guard westbrook mis match cuz westbrook has young legs
KOBE WAS FOULED A LOT DURING GAME 3 AND 4 BUT THE OFFICIAL NEVER WOULD CALL A FOUL. THAT’S NOT FAIR. ONCE I THINK IT WAS PAUL ON HIS BACK AND STILL NO FOUL-THE OFFICIAL DON’T ALWAYS CALL THE GAME LIKE IT SHOULD BE BUT THEY ARE QUICK TO GIVE A T OR CALL TEAM FOULS ON THE LAKERS. THE HORNETS CAN GO DOWN COURT AND COMMIT THE SAME TYPE OF FOUL AND NOTHING HAPPENS. IF THE LAKERS LOOSE THE SERIES IT’S NOT BECAUSE THE HORNETS BEAT THEM-IT’S THE OFFICIAL
i am so glad that the L.A. Lakers won they could not have done it withut Andrew Brynum with all his shots that he made and the dunks that Kobe Bryant had made that was pretty awesome and that so incerdible i really didnt think that was even possible for Kobe Bryant because he is really is OLD. but he is still a good player at basketball. L.A. LAKERS WON YEAH BOOOY!