Intel: Guarding Kobe Bryant
I. Our Man on the Inside:
STEPHEN JACKSON, F/G, WARRIORS
Stephen Jackson has routinely covered the NBA’s top wings during his nine-year NBA career. And the Warrior is still going strong — he averaged 1.5 spg this season. So as the Western Conference finals roll on, we got him to reveal the little tricks necessary to slow down Kobe Bryant.
II. Stay Focused
“You just can’t relax, not one second. Most guys, they catch it on the wing, you know they’re going to wait for everybody to set up and run the play. But Kobe is liable to take the shot if he senses you’re sitting back. You have to be up on him the entire game.”
III. Deny
“Your best bet is not to allow him to get the ball, because once he has it there are just too many things he can do. Be in deny mode the whole time. Make the ball go the other way. That frustrates him. He hates when he can’t get the ball, so when he does get it, he’s a little more likely to force something.”
IV. Body Up
“Once he has the ball, you can’t just put a hand up. He’s so good at creating contact, taking the ball up through your arm, that that’s an automatic foul. I get up into his body as much as I can with my hands out to my sides, not in his face or his chest. You can’t shade him one way or the other. He’s better pulling up and shooting going left and he’s better going all the way to the rim going right, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to do those things. He’s just as likely to go all the way to the rim going left or pull up going right. You’re just better off living with a go-right jumper or a go-left drive.”
V. Ask For Help
“I always try to turn him to the middle of the paint. That’s not the way you play most guys, but he’s one of the best at going baseline — either baseline. Your big man just doesn’t have enough time to get over to help and if he does, Kobe is so good at drawing contact that now you’re putting your big man in foul trouble. If I push him to the middle, I have a better chance of getting some help or sending him where there’s a crowd. And that way my big man can contest the shot without having to slide or get across the lane. He has Kobe coming right at him. Lucky him, right?”
