Lakers: Guarding Kobe can be tricky
Defenders know they can't stop Bryant, they can only hope to contain him.
By Jonathan Abrams
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

April 2, 2008

Last season when Derek Fisher was with the Utah Jazz, behind enemy lines, a fidgety, excited rookie, Ronnie Brewer, approached him.

The topic: how to guard Kobe Bryant. Brewer was about to undergo his initial baptism by Bryant, a rite of passage for fledgling wing players who must defend the Lakers' All-Star guard.

For rookies or veterans, guarding Bryant can become a humiliating undressing in a sport that feeds off boasting and bravado.

Among his peers, Bryant is overwhelmingly the most intimidating. In a recent Sports Illustrated poll of current NBA players asking who scares you the most, Bryant earned 35% of the vote, while the next four -- Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James and Dwight Howard -- combined for only 24%.

Bryant uses an array of dizzying moves -- from his scissor-kick jump shot and repertoire of pump fakes, to his jet-quick first step that gets him to the basket. His jump shot and ability to create shots on his own rank among the league's best, but he is even more frightening when driving. And when in the mood, he manifests into one of the game's best passers.

Just compete with him, Fisher told Brewer. Challenge him as best you can, Fisher counseled, and don't get overly frustrated because Bryant is going to score.

Bryant scored 27 points that night. In their next matchup, Bryant dumped in 52 points.

"I don't think he predetermines any move that he's going to make," Brewer said. "If you back up off of him and play soft, he's going to come down and dribble the ball and pull up for a three[-point basket]. If you overplay him, he's so quick off his first dribble he can get to the basket and finish at the basket with contact."

At 29, Bryant is in his prime. A 10-time All-Star, with scoring titles the last two seasons, he has scored 50 points or more 24 times, a feat topped only by Wilt Chamberlain (118 ) and Michael Jordan (31), and this season he may win his first most-valuable-player award.

One Western Conference advance scout compared Bryant favorably to a mathematician. At its core, basketball is a game of geometry and if opponents take bad paths to guard Bryant, they've already failed, because he quickly reads defenses and angles, capable of making split-second decisions that usually work in his favor.

When Kirk Snyder, a Minnesota Timberwolves guard, defended Bryant for the first time, he was left trailing behind many times. "As a basketball player, you try to come up with little things you can do to stop somebody and when he covers all those areas, it makes it really hard," Snyder said.

"It's kind of disturbing sometimes because guys aren't supposed to be perfect. If he's loose with the ball one time, he'll come down and tighten it up the next. He knows everything you are going to try and do before you even try and do it."

Opponents no longer gawk at Bryant's moves. The unexpected, they say, is the expected.

"You've just got to see what's not going for him and see if you can keep it up. If his shot ain't falling, then you want to keep giving him shots," the Portland Trail Blazers' Travis Outlaw said. "If his shot is falling, see how he does getting it to the rim. He can score, so there isn't anything that ever surprises me."

Defenders' "success" stories guarding Bryant are rare.

"There's been a couple times when I feel like I've been guarding him pretty good, pretty well, and he's made a ridiculous shot," the Clippers' Quinton Ross said. "That's when I'm like, 'Damn. He made that shot?' "

Generally, teams adopt the Fisher approach in conceding that Bryant will score. The trick is, in what manner?

The Houston Rockets were pleased by their effort in a win last month. Shane Battier shadowed Bryant and forced him to Houston's help defense. Several times TV replays showed Battier not attempting to block Bryant's shot, but putting his fingers directly in front of Bryant's eyes to limit his vision.

Bryant scored 24 points, four below his season average, making only 11 of 33 shots.

From the free-throw line, with his dribble intact, Bryant is at his best, players say. From there, he can shoot, be at the rim in one dribble, and if a double-team comes, either find a cutter to the basket or split the defenders himself.

"From his isolations on the elbow, he's a monster," Ross said. "You've got to load up on that side or try to come with double-teams, because one-on-one, he is so tough to stop.

"At the elbow, he can take one dribble and be at the rim. If he's at the three-point line, at least he needs to take two or three dribbles to get to the rim."

And Ross said, referees often give Bryant the benefit of the doubt.

"You can't play him physical," he said. "I remember that the first time, every time I tried to get in front of him, they called a foul and blew the whistle on me. I kind of got my first Kobe experience right there."

Every so often, a careless dribble, a quick double-team or a well-timed jump can result in a Bryant turnover.

"The first time I guarded him was at Staples Center," the Philadelphia 76ers' Rodney Carney said. "They put me in the first quarter and they were like, 'You got Kobe,' and I was like, 'Oh all right,' and I got out there and I blocked his shot. He said 'OK' and he came back down and give me a little head fake, a little shimmy and got to the hole for an and-one.

"He's the best player in the league. What can you do? He scores at any given time, anywhere."

In an exhibition game, Clippers rookie Al Thornton was "a little nervous" when he guarded Bryant for the first time on a switch. After he noticed Thornton on him, Bryant began rhythmically dribbling through his legs, sizing him up.

"I just saw this look in his eyes," Thornton said. "Some of the veteran guys were like, "Oh OK, he switched off. You got a rook on you.' That's when he started getting into his little mode."

Thankfully for Thornton, Bryant lost the ball after Ross came behind him on a blind double-team.

Another goal, defenders say, is to tire Bryant out when he's on defense. But because of his competitive nature, Bryant takes it personally when an opponent scores on him.

"It bothers him," Brewer said. "You have to be prepared for him to come at you because you know he doesn't like to be scored on."

Most teams either attempt to limit Bryant with a strong individual defender -- Battier, Phoenix's Raja Bell or San Antonio's Bruce Bowen -- or they try and force Bryant into their help defense. If not, teams send quick double-team traps to get the ball out of Bryant's hands.

That strategy is particularly noticeable late in tight games, when the Lakers work Bryant into more isolation plays.

During games, Bryant usually refrains from trash talk, opponents say. Instead, he directs most of his bickering at referees, something the opposition is happy about.

"You don't poke at a lion," the Timberwolves' Snyder said. "You just sit there and hopefully, he doesn't eat you up. Your best bet is to try to be quiet and play as hard as you can."

Unless you are not guarding Bryant, and therefore, not on the hook.

That's what happened to Ross during his rookie year, when Mikki Moore, then a Clippers teammate, engaged Bryant in a verbal duel from afar. Why, thought Ross, is Moore egging Bryant on?

Bryant scored 37 points in 45 minutes. Ross went scoreless.

"Who wants to get involved like that?" Ross said. "He doesn't say much out there, but if you get under his skin, he'll start talking to you."

Even Boston Celtics guard Sam Cassell, one of the biggest talkers in the game, agreed.

"He's too mentally strong for that," Cassell said. "He gets the ball too much. How can you talk to a guy who gets 30 attempts? Even if he only makes 12, he's going to get to the free-throw line 14 times.

"Nobody can guard Kobe Bryant one-on-one. Kobe got that [Michael] Jordan in him. I saw Kobe make a shot against Phoenix, he got the ball, he went right, pumped the ball three times, shot it. Wop. You can't talk when someone can do that."

Which naturally brings the question: Could Bryant guard Bryant?

"This season's more difficult than ever if I had to guard myself," Bryant said. "In the past, I'd try to just run traps and double me and get the ball out of my hands ASAP. Now, you've got to pick your poison a little bit because we have so many great shoot-ers and we can finish it down low [with Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum or Lamar Odom]. You just try to contest [me], make every shot a difficult one and try to deny the ball as much as you possibly can."

And would it be a tough task?

"I would think so," Bryant said, smiling. "I would hope so."

Times staff writer Mike Bresnahan contributed to this report.