“We still understand that this is a process”, Scott said. “We’ll figure that out tomorrow”. Largely, that involves looking at the present situation and finding the positives (no matter how hard that is at times this season), but can also involve looking at the history. The aging process of former greats is nearly never pretty, but Bryant’s has been especially graceless because of how he is being allowed to play as if he is still in his prime and this is just a slump he has to bust out of.
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From there, the Lakers start a trip in which they play five games in seven days.
Scott’s resolute faith in Bryant is sometimes seen by fans as a sign the veteran coach is not taking the development of young players including D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle as seriously as he perhaps should. From the opening tip Golden State controlled the game, and the end of the first quarter read like a varsity team beating up on a JV team at practice, 30-11. I didn’t think the Lakers had a chance at winning, but i at least wanted to see the Lakers put up some resistance vs the Warriors. Again, I’m not so much anxious about Kobe. So it’s a hell of a balance to try to do. You’ve got to have the right personnel and you’ve got to have smart basketball players that are really in it, to play for each other and to play to win.
With the rest of his teammates trying to keep their heads despite their losing streak, there’s not much Bryant can do but to throw in the towel. They’ll be favored in just about every game they play, but don’t come up against an elite team until Christmas day when they play LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. This season, Bryant is averaging 15.2 points, his lowest total since his rookie season, while shooting a career-worst 31.1 percent from the field and 19.5 percent on 3-pointers. But coach Byron Scott is intent on letting the 20-year veteran dig his own way out. Bryant can play less minutes and it would make a difference. “So is his minutes”, it only makes things worse. Sometimes it’s making lineup changes.
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“And then in the press conference afterward, somebody would be asking me about this whole ’96 Bulls thing, and I love this stuff!” But I’m not there yet. “So I got out of my Zen tonight”.
