Word: shots
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...There's just one problem. Kobe Bryant might hijack the show. He's just too damn good right now, averaging almost 32 points per game in the playoffs, hitting every ridiculous shot you can imagine, looking every bit as good as Michael Jordan in his heyday. He scored 17 fourth-quarter points in L.A.'s decisive Western Conference finals win over the Spurs, lifting his growing legend...
...what's the alternative? If you're not going to double, play off him a bit, and force him to hit some long shots at the start of the game (preferably with a hand in his face, of course). "Make him a jump shooter," says Los Angeles Clippers scout Evan Pickman. "And just hope he misses." Of course, Kobe is no shooting slouch. But over his last two series, against the Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs, he sank only 27% of his three-pointers, well below his 36% regular season average. If he's shooting from the outside instead...
...Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng, who has matched up against Bryant in the past. "He can go back to his left, go right, pull up, take the fade-away." He has lots of room to float - and no one floats further away from his defender, and still makes the shot, better than Kobe. Plus, when he's in the middle, Kobe's superior peripheral vision allows him to see the entire floor, and spot more open shooters if he can't fire away himself...
...learned, also, that the farther south in Europe your opponent's roots, the more dazzling the footballing and the hotter the tempers. Get the Italians mad at each other, and you've got a good shot at winning. Get ahead of a Greek team, and get ready for a fightback. Or at least a fight: the Greeks are people with a tremendous culture and history - and they play every game like it's a World Cup - but my experience has been that when a Greek walks onto the pitch his passion for the game is such that...
...Government professor Steven R. Levitsky never thought he had a shot at a senior professorship...