Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryantis an American retired professional basketball player. He played his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. He entered the NBA directly from high school and won five NBA championships with the Lakers. Bryant is an 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, and 12-time member of the All-Defensive team. He led the NBA in scoring during two seasons, and ranks third on both the league's all-time regular season scoring and...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth23 August 1978
CityPhiladelphia, PA
CountryUnited States of America
I think this was our best game this season. We played very well at both ends of the court consistently. We did a great job containing our energy and when we went to our bench they came in and maintained our energy. We had guys step up consistently and make big plays. That is what we have to do. If we can keep this rolling, we will make a lot of noise.
I think it's a learning experience. We've learned we have to do a better job of closing those games. We'd much rather have won them, but we're not that far off. A play here and there and we're in a completely different position right now.
We did a good job of digging in defensively. We just tried to keep them uncomfortable. Try to take them out of their sets and try and take them out a little bit of the things they like to do.
We needed a challenge like this, ... I think we did a good job keeping our poise when they jumped out to an early lead. Everybody just kind of stayed with it.
Any player that was going to come down the lane at that point in time, I was going to let him know that he just can't walk through there. I think we as a team have to do a better job of establishing that.
It's my job to pick us up when we are down. I had to sharpen my focus.
I went after it a little bit more aggressively and the team did a good job looking for me. I felt we had to get something going in the third quarter.
I'm just achy. You've got to push through it. My teammates talked about doing a better job trying to pick me up sometimes and not having me shoulder the whole load all the time.
They did a good job defensively. They were just crowding me and trapping me every time I came off a pick-and-roll or when I was in transition. We were playing so well as a team. Everybody was contributing. We had a nice lead. There was really no reason for me to push it or force shots.
I was aggressive. I saw how they played defense and decided to come at them.
I thought we'd have our ups and downs being that it's a new system, trying to learn it. It's just moving the ball, spacing, timing, rhythm, things like that. I knew it would kind of be like a roller-coaster ride.
I think that from the start of this series we have just been playing extremely well and we are moving the ball around really well. We have just evolved into this from the start of the season, it has been process. We are just playing so well together.
It gives us confidence. It shows that our play is not a fluke. We move the ball consistently and play defense consistently. This bodes well for our confidence.
It is a physical game and especially in the playoffs it steps up to another degree. It is fun to be a part of those types of games. It is nothing personal.