Kobe Bryant knows he and Dwight Howard have to improve as well – NBA Update
Kobe Bryant is currently passing through one of the worst patches in his professional career. What’s worse is that he has been doing nearly the best he can. Bryant is currently leading the league with 29.2 points per game, and has scored 30 or more point in 11 games so far this season. The Los Angeles Lakers have however been refusing to get inspired by their charismatic leader and as they prepare to take on the best team in the Eastern Conference, the New York Knicks, there is an air of uncertainty about the Hollywood based team.
Bryant has been urging his team to get going for a long time now, and after the last loss against the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers he clearly seemed frustrated. There is no doubt that the Lakers have a genuine problem of injuries to Steve Nash, Steve Blake and more recently to Pau Gasol (the power forward has missed the last five game with tendinitis in both his knees), but the issues are deeper. The Lakers are not gelling as a team, they are not making each other look better, and have just been spineless on the D.
So far, there have only been two players in Kobe and Dwight Howard, who have been consistent in filling the stat sheet. There have been some performances of note, but they have been very random – an 9-13 record is some indication of that. On Wednesday while talking to ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, Bryant opened up about the whole Lakers slump and while talking on other issues like Mike D’Antoni’s system, Pau Gasol and Steve Nash, Kobe also accepted a share of blame. He also highlighted Dwight Howard’s free throw issue;
"I think you have to look at both of us," Bryant said. "His free throw shooting has been poor, but as the two guys who are driving this team, the one thing we can do is minimize our mistakes. His free throw shooting hasn't been very well. My turnovers have been too high. So we have to try to shore those things up. It's his responsibility to take care of the line when he's fouled, it's his responsibility to step up there and knock them down. It's my responsibility to take care of the ball."
While Kobe has given away 3.8 turnovers per game this season, 0.8 more than his career average, Howard has had a nightmare from the stripe so far. He has been brutally exposed in this facet and opponents have been more than willing to hack him to the free throw line. Dwight has so far managed an accuracy of 48.8 percent from the foul line, and his weakness has resulted in a quite a few losses for the Lakers down the stretch.
These are however only two areas these superstars have struggled in. The major issue for them at the moment is how they lift the rest of the team.
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