Kobe Bryant: Lakers Can't Continue to Count on Mamba Moments to Bail Them out

Kobe bailed the Lakers out again, but the team cannot continue to depend on these types of performances to win. After being outscored in the fourth quarter by the Toronto Raptors, Kobe came to the rescue late, with this shot:

The Lakers caught a break as well when Rasual Butler was called for an inexcusable five-second violation; still, Bryant’s shot made the win possible, as usual.

The Lakers have outscored an opponent in the fourth quarter only one time in the last nine games. That one game almost doesn’t count as it was against the Charlotte Bobcats, who probably wouldn’t even win the ACC right now.

This continues to happen because teams key in on Kobe in the fourth and his teammates do not step up.

This is one reason the Lakers are in need of another scorer, thus the interest in players like Gilbert Arenas and Allen Iverson.

But the Lakers have capable scorers on their roster now, it is on them to get more aggressive,and on Kobe to trust his team.

Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum need to be aggressive demanding the ball on the post, and Kobe can’t have a short leash when dealing with them.

If they turn the ball over, he can’t turn his back on his bigs, as great as Kobe can be, the Lakers can’t win without the big men. The Lakers are a better team when Gasol and Bynum are effective; it’s especially the case with Bynum.

The Lakers are 5-2 in games where Bynum gets at least 14 field goal attempts. Bynum is big and potentially dominant, but like a lot of big men, he’s very temperamental. When he doesn’t get the ball, he doesn’t rebound as well and he doesn’t play as tough on defense.

In those seven games, Bynum is averaging 20.5 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks. This type of production is why Kobe must stick with Bynum, even when he starts slow.

Bynum’s play will limit the times Kobe has to come to the rescue as he did today in Toronto.