Tayshaun Prince the Official Kobe Stopper

Ruben Patterson once claimed he was the Kobe stopper, then routinely got lit up for 30 points whenever he faced him. Many have tried to contain Number 8 turned 24 and few have had success. James Posey and Paul Pierce and the zone defense of the Celtics shut Mr. Bryant down during last season’s finals.

But that was a total team effort, and Kobe was trying to play 1 on 5 for much of the series. Also, in his defense, he didn’t get a lot of the same calls he was getting in the regular season and even during the first three rounds of the playoffs.

That aside, the Lakers just got smashed Friday night by the Detroit Pistons. Of their last 10 meetings, the Lakers have lost 8. All by double digit margins. 

Friday night saw Kobe force up a bunch of shots, and though he finished with 29 points, he had to take 30 shots to get there. Guarding him for much of the game was Tayshaun Prince. I thought this was interesting because I remember how horridly Kobe played against the Pistons in 03 when they lost in six.

In that series, Kobe was limited to 22.6 ppg on 38 percent shooting. In fact, his numbers across the board were down: only 2.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists.

Since then, in the 8 games Kobe has played in against the Pistons, his numbers have remained at a high level averaging around 28 points, 5 boards and 5 assists, but the efficiency is not there. His shooting percentage is a paltry 43.5 percent and he’s averaged nearly 5 turnovers per contest. What’s more, even during his 06 season, where God himself couldn’t stop the man from scoring (he had a 39-point game and a 40-point game against the Pistons), Bryant scored a third of his points at the stripe (25-27), and still only shot 46 percent.  

In each and every circumstance, Kobe has been guarded by the same man. Tayshaun Prince.

Playing against the Lakers over the past four seasons, TP has averaged 20.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and only 2 turnovers on 50 percent shooting.

Kobe is bothered by Prince’s length, and oftentimes seems to get caught up in the one-on-one game with him. Hence all the forced up shots. It obviously helps that Prince has great help defense as well as the fact that Kobe, up until this season, has mainly been playing with scrubs (Pau Gasol didn’t play in the second game against Detroit, and Andrew Bynum didn’t play in the first one last season). Even still, I thought the Lakers were going to cruise to a victory Friday night.

I recently wrote in my newspaper column about the necessity of Kobe to play more like Dwayne Wade. What I mean is that instead of focusing on scoring, Kobe should be trying to do whatever the team needs him to do. Block shots, steal the ball, take charges, help defend, lockdown the best perimeter player on certain nights, average 6 plus assists. If he could shoot over 50 percent, average 2.5 steals and 6 plus assists, his points will come.

He’s been trying more than ever to do things differently this year. There’s no denying that his defensive intensity has been running on all cylinders throughout most games. And he’s even tried to take some charges. But he still plays as two separate players. One is “Get Everyone Involved” Kobe, the other is “Get Mine” Kobe. Kobe needs to find "Efficient Kobe."

I thought he would have found that balance, and as clutch as he was in the Olympics finale, that might have done him more harm then good. He played the right way in that game, getting guys involved, and then taking good shots (although, he did have a couple of horrible attempts during his mostly brilliant fourth quarter). But, everyone talked about his shots and how scored 14 in the quarter. It's a shame because his passing was also a big reason the team pulled out the victory.

That balance hasn’t translated yet to the Lakers. Taking over the in fourth quarter doesn’t mean trying to win the game with his scoring every time. There will be nights when he is simply hot and untouchable and shooting every time will be the best option. On every other night, his team is so talented that he needs to rely on them to finish out games with him. Forcing up a bad shot, even for him, is no longer the best option. He’s got Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Trevor Ariza, Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic. He’s got plenty of weapons at his disposal and he needs to utilize all of them.

I hate to say this, but a guy like Dwayne Wade might actually be a better fit for the Lakers (right now). Ultimately, Kobe’s overall game is superior, but Wade knows how to play a team game much better. Wade also is more active in block and steals.

Kobe is still feeling out the team as the team is feeling him out too. But in order for the Lakers to really take that next step into a dynasty, Mr. Bryant needs to become the consummate team player. Needs to be Mr. Efficient. With a PER (damn you John Hollinger) in the 28 range and a statline of 24 ppg, 5 rpg, 6 apg, 2.5 spg, 1.0 bpg, 2 tpg and 51 percent shooting, Kobe would be the ultimate weapon and the Lakers would be unbeatable. 

Otherwise, the Lakers don’t want to have any part in seeing Detroit in the Finals. Tayshaun Prince is the official Kobe Stopper now.