Kobe 61 Points, 0 Rebounds…How is that even Possible?

Kobe Bryant MSG

February 3, 2009 – Dr. Browntorious

Kobe Bryant tonight set the record for most points ever in Madison Square Garden in New York. 61 points!! What a feat, huh? Well I will give credit where credit is due. To score that many points is just astonishing. But there was something a tad bitter sweet about the game and performance for me. Kobe Bryant logged 36 minutes and didn’t record even a single rebound. To me, that is just as amazing an accomplishment as scoring the 61 points. Not even one of the buckets came off of an offensive putback? Not even one defensive rebound? I guess he just shot the lights out. No steals either to go with no defensive rebounds. All offense, no defense.

There was something else about tonight’s game that I think might create a false sense of security for Lakers fans. Everyone was looking to see how the Lakers would perform without Andrew Bynum who went down to a knee injury on the weekend. And some may say, “ohhh the Lakers are okay they had a huge game from Kobe and Pau, and they won!” But I look at tonight’s game as a threat to the Lakers. Kobe and Pau Gasol combined for 92 of the teams 126 points. That means the Lakers big two guns needed to score 73% of the Lakers points to beat the lowly New York Knicks. Sure the Knicks aren’t as bad as the past couple of years, but they certainly shouldn’t be in the same class as a team sporting one of the top records in the league.

Maybe i’m reading too much into one game, and maybe I should just give credit where its due on a great ‘shooting’ performance by Kobe Bryant. But I can’t help but feel there may be some rough times ahead for the Lakers.

Time will tell…in the meantime Laker fans, you will probably enjoy this Kobe presser following the game:

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Comments

Marcus

Really? No rebounds is what you’re talking about? Really? How many did Jordn have in his 60 point games? Don’t know? Because no one cares. In a game when the team and entire franchise his down, he comes out and says, guess what, we’re still contenders. There will be time for getting everyone involved, just like he did last year with this same team. But tonight was a perfect storm. And it was 126-106 when Kobe came out. it was a rout. The knicks scored the last 11 to make it a 9-point game.
Dr. Browntorious

Jordan’s 55 points were scored on a Knicks team in 1995 that actually played defense first of all. Second of all, Kobe had a great shooting performance tonight no doubt. He still had to put the ball in the bucket which I give him credit for. It’s just amazing to me that after being given so much credit as a great defender he can log 36 minutes without a steal, or even a defensive rebound. Seems a bit one-dimensional to me.

Great shooting night, overall though against a half decent defensive team, the Lakers would have lost badly.
http://www.jasonfpeck.com Jason Peck

Man, I can’t believe he didn’t get a steal or a rebound. That is insane. But I think 61 points makes up for it.

I feel terrible for Bynum. I think the Lakers won’t necessarily struggle without him, but they won’t be able to win the title, either.
http://Sportsroids.com Mark M

He is a offensive monster…Thats really all i can say. Yes the Knicks don’t play defense well, and yes Kobe really only played one side of the game of BBALL tonight. But you gotta give him the credit, he deserves for a performance like that. Kobe Bryant is the man who has scored the most points in the Worlds Most Famous Arena in one night of Ball.
baller

How can you say he didn’t play any defence?
Based on stats?
How many steals, blocks, or rebounds did Bruce Bowen get in his defensive prime?

Playing good defence isnt gambling for steals and blocks…
mark

Do you really have to find fault on an otherwise amazing and record-breaking game from Kobe?
Dr. Browntorious

@Mark M – you’re right, got to give credit. 61 points. that’s a huge performance. I’m sure he will be getting all the praise he can handle on this one.

@baller – you’re right you can’t base it solely on stats. Remind me again? How many points to Kobe’s defensive assignment score again last night? Oh that’s right…

P.S. great defense may not be gambling for steals or blocks but it certainly helps to end the offensive possession by securing at least a couple defensive boards.

@mark – true enough. point taken.
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pepe

This is just one game. Congratulate the man, and stop taking Kobe for granted. True it was all offense but, that will never take anything away from him being the best perimeter defender in the game. As far as the Lakers go, there are no threats yet to spoil their quest for a ‘ship this year. Bynum will defintely be back sooner than 8 weeks, and you’ll be eating your words. Thankkk youuu!
Melo_Time

@pepe – no threat to the lakers? heard of the celtics or cavs. personally I think the lakers have a shot, but are right now a notch below celts or cavs still on defense which wins in 7 game series.
Cain

Lol Dude how many did JOrdan have? jordan had 16 rebounds in one of his 60 point games… please dont compare jordan to kobe…. it would humiliate KObe so bad….