Anyone catch Kobes dirty play on Yao??

[kheeko]

he what looks like purposely drove into yaos knee an sent him to the ground

scary for houston, but he got up and appears to be ok

[ACF]

I don't agree.
But who cares, Kobe choked
and the Lakers lost 

[guava_wrench]

he what looks like purposely drove into yaos knee an sent him to the ground

Sarcasm? I'll assume this is a witty comment poking fun at the kooks on the forum.

[housecall]

What about Lamar Odom shot to the ribs on Yao,and the nocall on Sasha whacking S.Battier in the face.

[bucknersrevenge]

he what looks like purposely drove into yaos knee an sent him to the ground

scary for houston, but he got up and appears to be ok

That play wasn't dirty. The loose ball knee, and elbow on Battier while he was down courtesy of Kobe? Now THAT was dirty. In fact so was the elbow to his head later that he needed 4 stitches for. Good for Shane and the Rockets earning one tonight in Staples.

[star18]

Kobe stop talking to the refs they don't want to go out on a date with you, give it up already

[silverb]

Conspiracy Theories sell

[drza44]

I found a gif file of Kobe's knee/elbow two-piece to Battier when they got tangled up.  It doesn't look good at all zoomed in and slowed down...to me it was pretty obviously on purpose (especially the elbow).  On the other hand, we got away with a couple last round from Rondo so I'm not really expecting anything official from the league (especially since the Lakers lost game 1).  But you be the judge...

[Kiorrik]

looks like he slips before the elbow.

[Cman]

Guys, the reality is that this is playoff basketball.  Players can and do get away with more than they get away with in the regular season.  There is no cause to gripe about this foul being dirty but that one not.  All that matters is that the refs call them the same at both ends of the floor. 

[crownsy]

looks like he slips before the elbow.

yea, he slips because he was using shane's face as a step to get back to his feet.

but as someone said below me, i didn't see anything that warrent's further action. This is the playoffs, let the guys play, things will get chippy. It was borderline cheap, but not enough to make me go "oh man, kobe needs to get fined/suspended/whatever."

[LarBrd33]

my friend and I have a running joke that whenever it's "Kobe Time", you can almost guarantee that Kobe is going to clang a game winning attempt.  I have no idea idea why that guy gets his clutch reputation and comments like, "there is nobody in the world better to have the ball down the stretch". 

[youcanthandlethetruth113]

That was not a dirty play at all. Kobe drove right into Yao and they went knee-on-knee. Kobe could have easily got the worse end of that one. Shame.

[Rida]

Kobe wasnt dirty on yao but he was on battier, he got tangled up with him and kneed him and then elbowed him in the head while the two were getting up

[Hoyo de Monterrey]

my friend and I have a running joke that whenever it's "Kobe Time", you can almost guarantee that Kobe is going to clang a game winning attempt.  I have no idea idea why that guy gets his clutch reputation and comments like, "there is nobody in the world better to have the ball down the stretch". 

A quick look at 2008-2009 "Clutch Stats" from 82games.com with clutch being defined as 4th quarter or overtime, less than 5 minutes left, neither team ahead by more than 5 points

Kobe leads the league in points production per 48 minutes of clutch time with 56.7 points per 48 minutes of clutch time. LeBron is second with 55.9, Melo at 54.4, and DWade at 49.2. Closest Celtic is Pierce with 9th at 39.1.

However, I like looking at FG% in clutch situations, and here's where you can see Bryant is fairly overrated to be called the one guy in the league you want with the ball down the stretch. Among NBA players who would have at least 15 attempts statistically per 48 minutes, Bryant shoots 45.7%, good for 37th place among NBA players, behind such late-game luminaries as Quentin Richardson (48.3%), Richard Jefferson (52.2%), and Zach Randolph (60.5%).

Kobe also attempts more then 6 shots per 48 minutes more in clutch situations then the second place guy, D-Wade. Yeah he scores, but give me a million shots and I'll average 20 points per game.

Interesting side note... Amongst players with 15 or more attempts per 48 min in clutch situations, Marrese Speights of Philly has the best FG% at 66.7% with 19.2 attempts per 48 minutes. Didn't see that one coming.