Kobe may not be blessed with LeBron James' natural exuberance or leadership qualities, but I admire the effort that he puts into improving his shortcomings. His voiceover in Kobe Doin' Work and going over X's and O's with his teammates during timeouts may be corny, but give the man credit : He's a worker.
At this point, it doesn't matter to me even if Kobe never wins another ring. He's won me over already with his genuine pursuit of perfection. I used to think of Kobe as a ballhandling liability who tries to do too much and shoots his team out of games, but these playoffs, his ability to control tempo through a combination of scoring, passing and ballhandling has shone through.
If the guy hasn't been perfect - like coughing the ball up in the waning moments of Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Orlando Magic or drawing a questionable foul on a three-point attempt only to miss 2 of 3 freebies* - cut him some slack.
He's human.
Miguel Cotto : The Archetype of the Tough Latino Male
Music : "Breath" by Breaking Benjamin
courtesy of Lil Kid Prod
If Kobe Bryant is the inspiration for mad scientists everywhere, then Miguel Cotto is the archetype of the tough Latino male/fighter. He may never become Felix Trinidad popularity-wise, nor does he have the flash of Floyd Mayweather, Jr. or smile of Manny Pacquiao, but Cotto sure knows how to kick ass - and look totally badass doing it.
Miguel Cotto's Saturday night throwdown against Joshua Clottey (10:35 PM ET, HBO) may be the Puerto Rican hero's most pivotal fight of his career. Cotto was severely beaten by Antonio Margarito (a tough vato who turned out to be a cheat) but bounced back nicely against Michael Jennings. Now facing an elite fighter almost as good as himself, this is Cotto's chance at redemption, and purging the demons from his loss to Margarito and fallout with uncle/trainer Evangelista.
With closure from the worst - and only - loss of his career and a new trainer, Cotto will have to demonstrate improved ring generalship and defensive skill to take his career to a new level. And crucibles get no tougher than the game Ghanaian Clottey, whose high guard is seemingly impenetrable and left hook and uppercut jarring.
Will Puerto Ricans forsake their beloved hombre if he loses to Joshua Clottey? No, Miguel Cotto's been too good during too many Puerto Rican Day weekends to lose his standing as a living Boricua legend. But too often, losing an important fight sends a boxer's stock reeling - and if Cotto falters this second chance at a breakthrough, his career would be one step towards going the way of Ricky Hatton.
Life is about survival of the fittest. We'll see if Cotto has what it takes to be naturally selected in the cold, cold world of the highest levels of his sport.
There is no player in the NBA more gifted genetically than Superman. The big man's mental gifts are overshadowed only by his imposing physique and powerful athleticism. I'm not going to go over D-How's physical gifts because if you're reading this piece, you already know about them. But there's something to be said about setting goals in high school to surpass LeBron James or talking a bunch of smack and then backing it up, like he did against Boston.
If Dwight Howard refines his post game, then he'll become better than Shaq. I've seen too much physical fitness, raw athleticism, defensive and rebounding prowess and propensity to improve (most notably his free throw shooting, but according to Henry Abbott at TrueHoop, also his post moves) to think otherwise. However, at this point, he's a more athletic, offensively gifted version of Dikembe Mutombo. He has also shown that, at times, he can be absolutely owned by the Spanish Mikan, Pau Gasol, in the NBA Finals.
Howard's going from Cro-Magnon to Homo sapiens will be dependent largely upon his taking up the advice of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's all-time leading scorer and owner of the deadliest shot in basketball history.
Because even Superman won't be able to outfly multiple defenders all of the time, Dwight Howard needs to get his post prowess and knowledge of the game to the point where he can just move to a spot on the floor and score off at most one dribble, always a step ahead of his defender.
Like the all-time underdog Jeff Van Gundy said.
* Was it just me or did Kobe have some sort of guilt trip after drawing the foul on Courtney Lee with 8:30 left in the third quarter? He proceeded to make just one of the three free throws and his night was pretty much weak after that. I thought I was watching Michael Corleone confessing his lifetime of sin in Godfather Part III.
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