After resting for three games, Kobe Bryant has returned to the Los Angeles Lakers and been playing more of an all-around game. His scoring is down and he has taken only 21 shots combined in the last two games.
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The Lakers as a whole have looked better on offense, but according to Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times, head coach Byron Scott would still like Kobe to get up more shots:
I’d like him to be a little bit more aggressive, and take a little bit more shots,”
Scott attributed Kobe’s shot selection to Kobe not forcing and taking what the defense gives him:
He’s just taking what the defenses are giving him. That’s what great players do,” said Scott. “The last two games, his shot selection has been great, but he hasn’t gotten the number of shots we’d like him to get on normal basis — but everything else has been up so you can’t argue with that.”
This is a very thin line to go down as the Lakers look to find a balance between Kobe’s offense and the rest of the team. Ideally, the best player on the team would take more than 10 shots, but Kobe can not begin forcing bad shots as he did at times earlier this year.
Since his return, Kobe has really focused on getting the rest of the Lakers involved, and at least five Lakers scored in double-figures in each of the last two games. It will be interesting to see how the Lakers balance getting Kobe’s shots up while maintaining the ball movement and balance of the recent games.
[divide]Lakers Practice: Coach Byron Scott Talks Kobe’s Evolution And Steve Nash