This season the statistic we’re seeing most frequently is a bit of an oxymoron. Whenever Kobe plays well and scores over 30 points, the team struggles. In fact, struggles might be too kind of a word. When Kobe scores 30 or more points in a game the Lakers are downright dreadful. Following Tuesday night’s embarrassing loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, a game in which Bryant poured in a season high 42 points, the Lakers are 1-10 in games when Kobe surpasses the 30-point plateau. A simple look at their overall record (9-13) and some basic arithmetic will tell you that the team is 8-3 when Bryant keeps his point total at 29 or less. It’s notable to point out that when the team lost to the Utah Jazz on Nov. 7 he dropped 29, meaning he was a missed free throw away from a 1-11 record when scoring 30. But we won’t split too many hairs.
As is the case with many numbers and statistics, I think that this one is very misleading. But not necessarily in the way that some people do. I’ve seen arguments from numerous people that Bryant’s scoring output has no effect on the team, and that he’s forced into scoring obscene amounts of points because the rest of the team is incapable of helping him out.
To me, this is only partially true.
Bryant feels the need to take over games when his teammates are struggling, which results in 30-point barrages in which he takes 30 shots and dominates the ball on nearly every possession. And while it may be fun to watch for those on the other side of the television screen, it ends up taking his teammates even further out of the game. So while Bryant may feel that he’s helping his team by taking a large percentage of the team’s shots, in reality it’s this mindset that is to blame for why the Lakers look so dismal on offense in the first place.
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I’ll get back to that point later, but for now I just want to take a look at some numbers from some of the games in which Kobe’s had high scoring nights, and try and pinpoint the exact problem.
Nov. 2, 2012: Lakers vs. Clippers
It was the third game of the season, and the Lakers fell to the Clippers 105-95 despite 40 points from Bryant. He was also relatively productive with a 14-23 FG shooting night, although he did turn the ball over six times, more than any other player from either side that night. He had just one assist. Kobe shot the ball 23 times (as I mentioned above). The rest of the team attempted 45 shots total, spread out amongst eight players. That’s an average of 5.6 shots per player not named Kobe. (Get used to this statistic, you’re going to be seeing a lot of it.)
Sacramento went into this game with a 2-8 record, so naturally the Lakers lost by 16. Kobe scored 38 in this one, on another fairly efficient 11-20 shooting night. But the entire team only took 65 shots, meaning Bryant accounted for 30 percent of their total shots. Again, like their game against the Clippers, this left an average of five shots for every other player on the roster. More disheartening still, Dwight Howard, the so-called second gun in Los Angeles, took just four field goal attempts that night – one less than Darius Morris. Once again, Kobe had just three assists but turned it over seven times, which led all players on the court.
Nov. 27, 2012: Lakers vs. Pacers
Kobe took 28 shots to score 40 points on this particular night, both of which were game highs. His efficiency was down a little, as he made just 12 of those 28 attempts. But again, he accounted for 37 percent of the team’s total shot attempts (76). So while Kobe jacked up 28 shots, the other eight Laker players who made it on the floor that night shared just 48 attempts. How many shots per player is that? Six. Which any mathematician will tell you is 22 shots less than what Bryant had. Beginning to sense a pattern here?
Dec. 4, 2012: Lakers vs. Rockets
On this particular night Kobe took 31 shots. Thirty-one! He made 14 of them and finished with a game high 39 points, which was more than every other Laker player combined not named Antawn Jamison or Dwight Howard. The team as a whole took 83 shots, meaning Kobe accounted for 37 percent of the team’s total shot attempts. He had two assists and three turnovers, and accounted for nine of the team’s 21 three-point attempts (of which he made two). And, as the broken record continues, the rest of the team averaged 6.5 field goal attempts per player, a whopping 25 attempts less than Bryant.
Dec. 11, 2012: Lakers vs. Cavaliers
The low point of the season thus far, as the Lakers lost to a Cleveland team that was 4-17 entering the game. I’m sure at this point you can guess the numbers that are to follow, but I’ll share them anyways. Bryant scored a season high 42 points on 28 shot attempts. He had an efficient night, making 16 of those shots, but again left little for the rest of the team. His 28 FGA made up 37.3 percent of the team’s total (75 FGA), leaving 47 shots for the other eight guys who made it onto the court. The percentage? An average of 5.8 shot attempts for every other player on the floor.
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Now these are just five examples, and some will argue that it’s easy to twist the numbers in your favor to prove a point. While I certainly agree with that to an extent, I feel like Bryant’s numbers from the Lakers’ wins are even more indicative than those in the games the team lost.
Here are a few of the games that resulted in Laker wins.
Next Page: Noticing Trends in Laker Wins
LA’s first win of the season over a dismal Pistons team came in a game where Bryant took 10 shots. In fact, three other Lakers (Howard, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol) all had more shot attempts than Bryant. His 10 shots accounted for just 12.9 percent of the team’s total (77 FGA). Even if you take out the final eight minutes, in which the team emptied the bench and filled the court with reserves that never see the court, you’re looking at approximately 8.3 shot attempts for the other eight regular rotation players besides Bryant. A little easier to get into a rhythm with more attempts, right?
Nov. 11, 2012: Lakers vs. Kings
In the game the Lakers actually won against the Kings this season Kobe took just 15 shot attempts, and actually only made six of them. He led the team in shot attempts, albeit by only one, but accounted for just 22 percent of their total shot attempts. Again, accounting for the minutes played by non-regular rotation players, the rest of the team had an average of 8.25 shot attempts each. Kobe also had six assists in this game, and turned it over only twice.
Nov. 18, 2012: Lakers vs. Rockets
Los Angeles won this game 119-108 behind 22 points from Kobe. He shot 9-18 in this one, and recorded his first triple-double of the season. His 11 assists were a season high, and committed just three turnovers. His 18 field goal attempts accounted for 21 percent of the team total. And, you know where I’m going with this by now, right? The rest of the Lakers had an average of 8.4 shot attempts to share amongst them (when you take Robert Sacre’s one minute and 0-0 FGA attempts off the books).
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So by now I’m thinking you’re beginning to notice the patterns and the trends in the Lakers in games that they win compared to the ones that they lose. It isn’t necessarily Kobe scoring 30 points that’s the problem, it’s the amount of shot attempts that he requires to reach those 30 points. Every shot that Bryant takes is one that one of his teammates doesn’t get, which seems to take them further and further out of the game mentally.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that you can’t blame Kobe for this. His mental competitiveness and undying will to win are what set him apart from so many other players in this league. It’s unfair to expect the other players on the team to share that same sort of mindset, but some of this also falls on Kobe to learn the best way to get his teammates involved, even if it requires using tactics that may be different from what he’s accustomed to himself, or what he thinks he would want if he were one of them.
Part of being a leader is understanding those that you’re leading, and that’s where I think Kobe is falling a bit short here. With every loss it becomes more and more apparent that when Kobe dominates the ball the rest of the team doesn’t respond in the way that they should.
The simple answer is a resounding no. All movement on the court stops. It becomes the Kobe Show while four other players stand idly by, waiting for him to take the shot and shrug off the results.
But the more discouraging thing is when another player besides Bryant has the ball. The same thing happens. One player takes the ball, dribbles too much and takes a shot. Four other players stand around and watch. This, in my opinion, can be directly linked back to the habits they’re developing when Kobe has the ball. While you can criticize the team’s supporting cast for not playing with the same amount of effort or intensity that Kobe does, it’s still up to Bryant to figure out what the best method to get those players involved is.
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And, judging by some of the statistics that I shared earlier, the more shots the supporting cast gets the more involved they tend to be in the game as a whole. Which, realistically, makes perfect sense. When a player is engaged on one end of the ball, and is doing whatever it takes to get in position to score or help a teammate score on one end of the floor they’re going to be more engaged on the other end as a result. Sure, many of the team’s problems this season have been on the defensive end, but I truly believe that a lot of that is simply because they’re not engaged enough in the game offensively to exert their full effort on the other end of the floor.
So what’s the answer? Is it as simple as having Kobe score less than 30 points? Of course not. Honestly, I believe that Kobe’s best asset is his ability to score the ball, and I doubt many people will argue with me there. But he can still score the ball at a high rate while getting his teammates involved.
Let’s take a look at the one game this season in which Kobe scored 30 points and the Lakers won.
Nov. 16, 2012: Lakers vs. Suns
Other than the Nov. 30 beating of the Denver Nuggets, this was easily the best game the Lakers have played this season. Kobe scored 31 points on 10-24 shooting. On paper, that’s not the best game from Bryant when you consider the sub-50% shooting. But those numbers are deceptive. Why? Because the rest of the team still managed to account for 65 shot attempts, which accounted to about 8.5 FGA per player. Bryant also has six assists that night, and made it a priority to get his teammates involved in the offense. The result? A more engaged team all-around, and a team that worked harder on both ends of the floor as a result.
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So you see? It isn’t that Kobe’s 30-point games are bad for the Lakers because he’s scoring 30 points, it’s because as a result of most of these high-scoring affairs he’s leaving the rest of the players with no sense or purpose or urgency. When players like Jodie Meeks or Antawn Jamison only get 3-4 shot attempts from the field it’s hard for them to be productive, not to mention consistent. They’re unable to build up any confidence, and as a result they press more and more, because they don’t know when they’re going to get the ball back if they miss a particular shot.
The differences in how the team performs when the players not named Kobe average over eight shots compared to when they get less than eight shots is remarkable. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at every game they’ve played so far this season, and the team’s record when the supporting cast gets over eight shot attempts per non-Kobe player and how they do when they get less than eight.
Are you ready?
Next Page: Looking At Stats From Every Laker Game This Season
Lakers vs. Mavericks – 7.9 FGA per player (L)
Lakers vs. Clippers – 5.6 FGA per player (L)
Lakers vs. Pistons – 8.3 FGA per player (W)
Lakers vs. Jazz – 7.1 FGA per player (L)
Lakers vs. Warriors – 8.0 FGA per player (W)
Lakers vs. Kings – 8.25 FGA per player (W)
Lakers vs. Spurs – 6.9 FGA per player (L)
Lakers vs. Suns – 8.5 FGA per player (W)
Lakers vs. Rockets – 8.4 FGA per player (W)
Lakers vs. Nets – 7.25 FGA per player (W)*
Lakers vs. Kings – 5.6 FGA per player (L)
Lakers vs. Grizzlies – 7.3 FGA per player (L)
Lakers vs. Mavericks – 8.8 FGA per player (W)
Lakers vs. Pacers – 6.0 FGA per player (L)
Lakers vs. Nuggets – 10.2 FGA per player (W)
Lakers vs. Magic – 7.3 FGA per player (L)
Lakers vs. Rockets – 6.5 FGA per player (L)
Lakers vs. Hornets – 7.0 FGA per player (W)*
Lakers vs. Thunder – 7.5 FGA per player (L)
Lakers vs. Jazz – 7.6 FGA per player (L)
Lakers vs. Cavs – 5.8 FGA per player (L)
The asterisk denotes the instances where my theory is incorrect. In case you don’t feel like reading that entire list again, and I certainly wouldn’t blame you, there were two instances where the team’s supporting cast had an average of less than eight shot attempts per player and they still won the game. You’ll notice there isn’t a single instance of the team averaging over 8.0 FGA from non-Kobe players and still losing. The Lakers are 7-0 in games in which Kobe’s teammates have an average of eight shot attempts apiece.
And it’s not just their opponents, either. It would be easy to laugh off the numbers in those games in which Los Angeles won if they were all against lousy teams. But three of the seven teams the Lakers beat in those 8.0 FGA per non-Kobe player games beat the Lakers at other points during the season. And, in each loss, they managed to limit Los Angeles’ supporting staff to less than 8.0 FGA per man.
In case the long list isn’t your style, here’s a graph that showcases the same thing.
It’s not coincidence, folks.
So while you can dismiss Kobe’s 30-point performances and the poor record the team has during those games as nothing more than a meaningless statistic, when you dive deeper into what’s causing those statistics in the first place you begin to realize that it’s not so meaningless. In fact, it’s not meaningless at all.
When Kobe takes the time to assert himself as the team leader and get the rest of the players involved on the offensive end, every single aspect of the team’s success increases.
Remember when I said the Lakers’ role players perform better on the defensive end when they’re more involved on the offensive end? I wasn’t just making things up. In the seven games where they managed to have an average of 8.0 FGA or greater for the supporting cast they held their opponents to an average of 90.3 PPG. That’s nearly nine points fewer than their usual points allowed (98.8), and a very far cry from the 102.7 PPG they allow in games where the supporting staff averages less than 8.0 FGA.
Still don’t think involvement on the offensive end translates to more energy on defense?
Ultimately, like I stated before, it’s up to Kobe to know his personnel. He has to understand what works for his teammates and what doesn’t. Some players are able to still play at the highest energy level without a lot of shot attempts (Jordan Hill), while others need to be more involved on offense to get their blood flowing and competitive spirit up on the defensive side of the ball (Pau Gasol). Neither of these ways are right or wrong, and you can argue that one is better than the other, but it comes down to Kobe.
The simple fact is that when there aren’t enough shots being distributed it’s because he’s taking them himself. It’s time for him to realize that this method isn’t working with this particular team, and that it’s time to focus on what works in reality rather than simply what works best in the mind of the guy taking all the shots.