No, he was frozen.
Subzero.
Each shot Kobe took rattled off the rim and bounced away. He hadn't scored yet and he was having an 0-for-15 shooting day.
He couldn't buy a bucket.
The lowlight of the day came when Bryant threw an ugly airball on a fadeaway from the far corner. It was just ugly, to put it nicely.
In fact, Stu Lantz, the Los Angeles Lakers color analyst, took a shot at Kobe saying if he ever makes a shot, they should stop the game, have a standing ovation for him and present him with the game ball.
Nothing was working for the Black Mamba, who had turned into the Frozen Mamba.
Then the fourth quarter came and everything changed. Kobe finally made a shot and it seemed to be the catalyst for the rest of the team. Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol woke up from a brief nap and they stepped up their game defensively.
Then down by two with 20 seconds left, the Frozen Mamba cracked and shattered the icy shell enveloping him, striking again with the game-winning three pointer.
Remind you of anyone?
Non-existent in the first three quarters followed by heroics in the fourth?
Kobe pulled a Tebow today, folks.
However, the reasoning behind it is completely different. While Tim Tebow lacks the mechanics to be a great quarterback, we all know Bryant is one of the greatest to ever play the game of basketball.
That being said, he's gassed out.
In his post-game interview with FSN West, Kobe said fatigue is probably a reason behind his poor shooting performances recently.
And why wouldn't it be?
He's averaging over 38 minutes per game this year, almost five more minutes than his average last season.
Let's not forget that this year, the schedule is condensed and there's less time to recover between games, especially for a banged-up, 33-year o...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
