Let the guy play!
As most everyone knows, the NBA record for points in a game is 100. That was probably out of reach, though Wilt only had 69 in that game after three quarters, not much more than Kobe's 62 last night against the Mavs.
The second-most points in a game? 78, also by Wilt. Well within Kobe's reach. Only once in NBA history has someone scored over 80. Wilt's the only one to have scored over 73 in a game (four times).
The Laker team record? 71, by Elgin Baylor. Easily within reach.
Only eight times in NBA history has someone scored over 70 points. Eight times! The last was David Robinson in 1994, when his team force-fed him the ball on the last day of the season against the then-lowly Clippers to win him the scoring title over Shaq. Since then, the highest was TMac's 62 in 2004. And he played the whole game.
Last night, Kobe had 62 after three quarters - one more point than the entire Mavs team.
So with all of this history within Kobe's reach, what does Phil do? Well, of course he sits him on the bench for the entire fourth quarter. Unconscionable!
Granted, the Lakers were winning by 34, and the game had gotten ugly. Kobe accidentally elbowed Dirk in the face, Josh Howard retaliated later with a hard foul, Avery Johnson, the Mavs coach, got thrown out of the game, and if Kobe went gunning for 80, who knows how things would have escalated.
But damn it, we should have been able to find out. This is history we're talking about! Some things transcend sportsmanship. Like Ricky Davis missing a layup on his own basket to complete the triple double (the "rebound" didn't count, btw, but he gets points for audacity). When Wilt scored 100, his team won the game by 20. It's not considered unsportsmanlike for a starting pitcher to stay in for the no-hitter when his team is winning by 10 runs. Everyone understands what's at stake.
So let the guy play! Let him gun away and go for 80. Or maybe even 90! Heck, the guy was just warming up. He had 15 in the first quarter, 17 in the second, and 30 in the third. It wasn't out of the question for him to go off for another 28 in the fourth. Just another 17 would have given him second place all time. Another 10 would have given him the Laker team record. Another eight would have put him in the top ten all time.
Yet he sat. Now we know who's the Grinch that stole Christmas. You suck, Phil!
The second-most points in a game? 78, also by Wilt. Well within Kobe's reach. Only once in NBA history has someone scored over 80. Wilt's the only one to have scored over 73 in a game (four times).
The Laker team record? 71, by Elgin Baylor. Easily within reach.
Only eight times in NBA history has someone scored over 70 points. Eight times! The last was David Robinson in 1994, when his team force-fed him the ball on the last day of the season against the then-lowly Clippers to win him the scoring title over Shaq. Since then, the highest was TMac's 62 in 2004. And he played the whole game.
Last night, Kobe had 62 after three quarters - one more point than the entire Mavs team.
So with all of this history within Kobe's reach, what does Phil do? Well, of course he sits him on the bench for the entire fourth quarter. Unconscionable!
Granted, the Lakers were winning by 34, and the game had gotten ugly. Kobe accidentally elbowed Dirk in the face, Josh Howard retaliated later with a hard foul, Avery Johnson, the Mavs coach, got thrown out of the game, and if Kobe went gunning for 80, who knows how things would have escalated.
But damn it, we should have been able to find out. This is history we're talking about! Some things transcend sportsmanship. Like Ricky Davis missing a layup on his own basket to complete the triple double (the "rebound" didn't count, btw, but he gets points for audacity). When Wilt scored 100, his team won the game by 20. It's not considered unsportsmanlike for a starting pitcher to stay in for the no-hitter when his team is winning by 10 runs. Everyone understands what's at stake.
So let the guy play! Let him gun away and go for 80. Or maybe even 90! Heck, the guy was just warming up. He had 15 in the first quarter, 17 in the second, and 30 in the third. It wasn't out of the question for him to go off for another 28 in the fourth. Just another 17 would have given him second place all time. Another 10 would have given him the Laker team record. Another eight would have put him in the top ten all time.
Yet he sat. Now we know who's the Grinch that stole Christmas. You suck, Phil!
posted by Chang Kim at Wednesday, December 21, 2005
3 Comments:
i was watching.
kobe was going nuts (obviously) - he was shooting the ball without a conscience and sinking just about everything. the whole team was feeding him and setting it up and the mavs were just watching the show.
phil does suck - he should've at least let kobe go for the laker record. stu was commenting that we should take it in because that'd be the last we saw kobe (he hit a 3 to end the 3rd quarter)
Can't disagree with that. I love seeing Kobe play.
Wow, that's like a microcosm of the entire 1994 baseball season.
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