“I just say to him, ‘You’re Alex Rodriguez. You’re A-Rod. You’re one of the best to ever do it,’” Bryant said. “I think sometimes he kind of forgets that and wants to try to do the right thing all the time. Which is the right team attitude to have. But other times you really have to put your head down and say, ‘Hell with it’ and just do your thing.

“Hopefully the next game they’ll kind of give him a chance, maybe put him back at third and let him respond to the pressure, which I think he’ll do….

“We’re different,” Bryant said. “But you’re talking about, ‘He’s one of the best to ever play.’ I think really the difference is, sometimes he forgets he’s the best. … Where, I don’t.”

It wasn’t a dig at A-Rod at all. Go Lakers.

People can go on slumps, it happens. It’s happening to the whole team. The only difference is that in ARod’s case it’s not a slump anymore, it’s just him. There’s a reason Joe benched a guy that has gone 3 for 23 and not benched Cano who had gone 0 for 27. Cano is still a good player, ARod isn’t. This is the player you’re getting from now on, a below average 3rd basemen that isn’t seeing the ball well anymore.

Yes I know the pitching is better but it’s not THAT much better. His OPS before the injury .807. OPS after the injury .678 (only 100 AB).

His OPS

2007: 1.067
2008: .965
2009: .933
2010: .847
2011: .823
2012: .783.

Swinging at pitches outside the strike zone
2009: 21.1 percent
2010: 25.3 percent
2011: 27.0 percent
2012: 31.3 percent

It’s called old age. It happens. Unless we want to make an argument that ARod has had a nagging injury for the last 4-5 years, this is what is happening. He’s just going to keep getting worse, sorry Yankee fans.

“I just say to him, ‘You’re Alex Rodriguez. You’re A-Rod. You’re one of the best to ever do it,’” Bryant said. “I think sometimes he kind of forgets that and wants to try to do the right thing all the time. Which is the right team attitude to have. But other times you really have to put your head down and say, ‘Hell with it’ and just do your thing.

“Hopefully the next game they’ll kind of give him a chance, maybe put him back at third and let him respond to the pressure, which I think he’ll do….

“We’re different,” Bryant said. “But you’re talking about, ‘He’s one of the best to ever play.’ I think really the difference is, sometimes he forgets he’s the best. … Where, I don’t.”
So yeah, it’s mostly Kobe being a bit arrogant and confident, which is part of why people hate him and part of what makes him great.

But neither interpretation helps explaining the joint collapse of the Borg’s entire batting order. Nothing does.

“Welcome to the club”, says Jim Rice.

Kobe is saying that HE doesn’t forget that HE (Kobe) is one of the greatest basketball players of all time.

I read it as Kobe saying that he hasn’t forgotten that A-Rod is still one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

Interpreted the first way, then yeah…definitely cocky, and more in-line with Kobe’s personality as of late (at least since his “incident” in Colorado).

One interpretation is cocky, and the other is trying to be supportive.

Kobe is basically saying that he considers him one of the greatest players of all-time (hard to argue just on the raw numbers, despite how I personally feel about him), but that he’s having confidence issues that are affecting his play.

I dunno…I don’t see what he said as being particularly odd or controversial.

Turns out he was trying to play on a knee that had not completely healed from surgery. He came back in 2011 and tore up the league.

Since we don’t know how much that hand is hurting ARod (and we all know the hand strength it takes to be a slugger) I will want to see him next spring before I judge him “finished.”

He’s old and he’s not cheating anymore. It’s harder to notice his age since Jeter is still getting hits but most players stop producing at 35+.