Kobe Bryant's Game 4: Shot Selection, Defense, and Box Score Errors

Much of the talk after game 4 has been about Kobe Bryant's legacy and whether he was responsible for his team's defeat. Sports Illustrated's Marty Burns gave Bryant a “B” for the game. Perhaps the following can shed some light on his performance.

Box Score Error

Bryant finished the game 6-20 from the floor. The official box score had him 6-19, despite a graphic that read 6-19 before LA's final possession, which then saw Bryant miss a deep jumper. Having re-watched the game, Bryant was indeed 6-20. Someone out there is inflating his career 41.5 percent shooting in the Finals.

Bryant's Offense

My biggest criticism of Bryant's offense has been his inexplicably horrendous shot selection, seemingly fueled by his desire to show the world what he can do. As one Laker fan told me this week, those shots are “his ego.” Bryant has an ability to make shots no one in the world can, but apparently he thinks because he can, he should.

In game 4, Bryant was 3-9 shooting deep jumpers. Such long two-point attempts are the worst shots in basketball; they yield only two points when converted, despite being as difficult as three-pointers.

Speaking of threes, Bryant was 0-2 from downtown, launching two contested – yes, contested – threes early in the shot-clock despite being a career 34% shooter from downtown. Bryant has taken 5.6 threes per game since it became “his” team in 2005, despite his incredible mid-range shooting and ability to drive and score. For those wondering, when Bryant posted up or drove to the basket, he was 3-5 from the floor and added five points from the free throw line.

According to NBA.com's “hotspots” shooting chart, Bryant took 492 two-pointers outside of 15 feet this year, or six per game. His field goal percentage on those shots? A chilly 37.6%. By comparison, he shot 56.2% inside of 15 feet.

Against Boston, this trend has continued. Bryant is shooting 34.2% outside of 15 feet, and 50% inside 15 feet. Two things are different about these Finals though: (1) Bryant is shooting the deeper shot more (43% of his attempts, compared to 29% in the regular season), and (2) Bryant is shooting under 50% right at the rim, presumably because of Boston's interior defensive presence of Garnett, Perkins and even PJ Brown. In the regular season, Bryant shot over 62% at the rim.

(NOTE: In the two regular season games again Boston, Bryant was 4-25 (16%) from outside 15 feet, and 11-21 (52%) inside 15 feet.)

In game 4, Despite dishing out 10 assists, Bryant's offensive performance left much to be desired. It wasn't that he only scored 17 points, but that he took so many poor shots, which are essentially turnovers and give the other four defenders a rest while overlooking the four other Lakers on the court.

Bryant's defense

Like Jeff Van Gundy, I have wondered how, in the name of Scottie Pippen, Bryant was able to make the all-defensive team. While Bryant has immense defensive abilities, he simply fails to ever use them, often guarding the opponent's weakest perimeter scorer, and having little impact on the game defensively. Game 4 was no different, as Bryant had a sub-par defensive performance by any measure.

On the first possession of the game, Bryant left Ray Allen to double Kevin Garnett, even though Garnett didn't have the ball. The bizarre move – why did Kobe bury himself on the baseline when the ball was still with Rondo? - left Allen open, and he streaked down the lane for an easy layup, costing the Lakers two points.

Bryant then switched onto Rajon Rondo, so he could essentially roam off Rondo and double-team at will. But Bryant's on-ball defense on Rondo was horrible. First, Rondo blew by him as Kobe made little effort to stop the penetration, leading to an open Paul Pierce three (a miss). A few minutes later, Rondo advanced the ball all the way to free throw line, with Bryant burying himself in the paint. Rondo made the easy jumper as ABC's Jeff Van Gundy commented on how late and effortless Bryant's defense was.

Later in the game, Bryant played “matador” defense on Rondo, watching him blow right by and doing little to recover, as Rondo scored on an easy runner in the lane. He was able to double team Garnett and steal the ball on one play, although it appeared to be a foul and led to a Doc Rivers technical.

Bryant was no better on Boston's shooters. On the first two plays with Eddie House in the game, Bryant left House, leading to two wide open jumpers. Fortunately for LA, House missed both. Late in the first half, Bryant matched up with Ray Allen, only to roam into the paint despite Radmonovic already rotating for Los Angeles. Allen wound up with the ball and drilled the open three.

Bryant also picked up a defensive three seconds when floating off of Rondo – a good call despite Bryant's usual protests – sulked and didn't run back on defense after Paul Pierce blocked his shot, and again failed to run back on defense after watching Ray Allen steal the ball in front of him. Allen streaked down for a layup in Boston's third quarter run.

Even when Bryant made good defensive rotations, he was essentially useless, either fouling or – I can't believe I'm writing this – getting dunked on by PJ Brown.

In the fourth quarter, Bryant switched on to Pierce to display, in theory, his all-defensive ability. His efforts against Pierce: a dubious offensive foul on Pierce, two open Pierce jumpers (both misses), perfect defense on a jumper that Pierce made, one sequence where he prevented Pierce from driving, and a thoughtless foul 35-feet from the basket in the game's final minute.

Along with that foul, Bryant made another colossal defensive error down the stretch. After switching on to Ray Allen with the Celtics ahead 84-83, Bryant drifted to the free throw while Allen spotted up in the corner. Caught in no man's land, Bryant was unable to recover to Allen, who took Pierce's pass and easily drove the baseline for the game's signature reverse layup.

Extra Notes:

None of Bryant's defensive blunders prevented him from yelling at Lamar Odom after James Posey drilled a key three-pointer late in the game. With 5:30 left, Posey sagged into the lane to stop Ray Allen, who had just blown by Sasha Vujacic (more on him a moment). Despite appearing to be the correct rotation, Bryant immediately turned to Odom, pointed, and yelled something.

I think this is where Bryant apologists miss the difference between aggressive leadership, like Jordan's or Bird's, and Bryant's behavior. Jordan led by example, and held people to his standards. Bryant had been making defensive mistakes all night, yet his inclination was to blame a teammate when he didn't even seem to be at fault.

Pau Gasol made numerous defensive mistakes, including a blatant failure to help on the final play against Ray Allen. But the Laker wearing some sort of Slovenia beret or headband had his defense exposed all night; Sasha Vujacic, as coach's would say, has heavy feet. He is an intense defender, waiving his hands like a madman hailing a cab in Manhattan, but he can't move his feet.

With 42 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Allen blew by Vujacic, who clearly hacked him on the left arm in attempting to recover. (Vujacic quickly protested the call.) On the aforementioned play where Odom left Posey, Ray Allen drove by Vujacic like he was standing still. Of course, Allen repeated the process on Boston's final offensive possession, driving by the helpless Vujacic and scoring a game-clinching layup.