The Los Angeles Lakers lost another close game at home on Tuesday night with Kobe Bryant having one of the worst shooting performances of his career. Bryant went 3-for-19 from the floor and simply couldn’t get it going against Miami Heat.
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After the game, Kobe spoke to the media in the Lakers locker room and talked about a need to change things up in terms of the style of basketball he’s been playing. Bryant believes he needs to get in the post to be more productive, via Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report:
Pseudo-point guard Kobe acknowledged he needs to get shots closer to the basket in the future: "I'm on the perimeter way too much."
— KEVIN DING (@KevinDing) January 14, 2015
With Kobe clearly fatigued after a couple rough months to start the season, the five-time NBA champion adjusted his game by becoming more of a facilitator. Although effective at times with a pass-first style, Bryant has gotten progressively worse with his shooting.
Coming into the matchup against the Heat, Bryant was shooting career-low 37.5 percent from the field. Bryant has struggled with his shot mainly due to fatigue which head coach Byron Scott has tried to address by resting his superstar for six games so far this season. Scott has also implemented a minutes restriction on Kobe that will keep him at 32 minutes or less.
With Bryant continuing to struggle even after getting a considerable amount of rest, the debate will rage on about how much the veteran shooting guard has left in the tank. It remains to be seen whether it is a matter of getting the right amount of rest or if he simply can’t be the same dominant player of old.
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