# Clyde the Glide talks about Kobe



## Sean (Jun 7, 2002)

*IGN.com*: *IGN Sports: As a former guard, what do you think of Kobe Bryant's play this year?*

Clyde Drexler: Kobe was the NBA's Golden Child until what happened out in Colorado tarnished his reputation. In high school, in the NBA, he was a good citizen, a nice guy. The thing that happened tarnished his image, commercially especially, but Kobe has always been a real nice guy. He's comeback in a nice way. Obviously, the disputes with Shaq and Phil Jackson didn't help, but at the end of the day, Kobe Bryant loves the game of basketball and all he does is come out and play. He's carrying his team, but we all had to do that in the past. I had to carry teams, Michael had to carry teams. He had Shaq early, and to play with a great player early makes everything so much easier…they won three championships. You get comfortable with that. But now that great player isn't there and you don't have the supporting cast, you know what that means? He has to work three times as hard, which in turn takes years off your career, you're going to get injured, and still, you're team might not win. So it's a whole lot more difficult. Knowing what he experienced the last year and a half, I'm sure he's a lot more appreciative of what he had before. It's a learning experience. I'm sure, if he had this experience before he had Shaq, he would've made sure Shaq was happy at all time. [laughs]

*IGN Sports: Kobe had his big night with 81 points. What do you attribute the rise in individual scoring to?*

Clyde Drexler: It's due to the lack of contact on the perimeter, which has helped speed up the game. Without the hand check rule, players are more likely to work their way open. On any given night, if you're hot, the basket is as big as this room. The key is, you're getting a lot of guys who are getting a crazy amount of shot attempts. If you're hot, you're getting 35 shot attempts. Theoretically, if you're taking that many shots, you should be getting at least 50 points, and that's not including free throws. If that had happened during our era, oh my goodness! It's much easier to get 40-50 points now. In my day, defenders played you with two hands and an elbow. You're not getting by a guy, especially if he has an elbow and a hand on you, and is a strong defensive player. Take that away, oh my goodness, it's open season. You can't touch the perimeter players, and the guy with the ball has such a huge advantage because of the first step. He knows where he is going on that first step and the defensive player can't do anything about it. You better hope that you have a seven-footer behind you to protect the basket or it's over. 

*IGN Sports: Could you have dropped 80 without the hand checks?*

Clyde Drexler: If I really wanted to, who knows. Sky is the limit. Depends on how many shot attempts I could muster. When we played, and I don't want to take anything away from Kobe's 81 points, I think it's phenomenal, but the emphasis in our day was always about preservation. If you could put a team away and save yourself those extra minutes, you could be fresh for the next game. If I had a great game and I was hot, usually we were up by 20-30 going into the fourth quarter. That means I don't get to play in the fourth quarter. One year, I think there were 25 games where I didn't play in the fourth period. A lot of those games I had 35-40 at the end of three. With hand checking and not shooting a lot. Basically, if you want to shoot the ball a lot and go for records, that would've been a prime opportunity, but we didn't have that mentality. I think the game has changed.


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## PauloCatarino (May 31, 2003)

Sean said:


> *IGN Sports: Kobe had his big night with 81 points. What do you attribute the rise in individual scoring to?*
> 
> Clyde Drexler: It's due to the lack of contact on the perimeter, which has helped speed up the game. Without the hand check rule, players are more likely to work their way open. On any given night, if you're hot, the basket is as big as this room. The key is, you're getting a lot of guys who are getting a crazy amount of shot attempts. If you're hot, you're getting 35 shot attempts. Theoretically, if you're taking that many shots, you should be getting at least 50 points, and that's not including free throws. If that had happened during our era, oh my goodness! It's much easier to get 40-50 points now. In my day, defenders played you with two hands and an elbow. You're not getting by a guy, especially if he has an elbow and a hand on you, and is a strong defensive player. Take that away, oh my goodness, it's open season. You can't touch the perimeter players, and the guy with the ball has such a huge advantage because of the first step. He knows where he is going on that first step and the defensive player can't do anything about it. You better hope that you have a seven-footer behind you to protect the basket or it's over.
> 
> ...


I find it amusing that Clyde Drexler (the player-with-the-heart-of-a-cockroach) would say something like that.

Look, Clyde, youo were once knowned as the "nearly-man", as in:
"nearly won the NCAA Game";
"nearly won a championship";
"nearly won an MVP".
Wich roughly translates to being a LOSER.

So you get your ring playing second-fiddle to Hakeem, eventhough the Blazers made you one of the richest players around... That's all fine and dandy... But implying yu could come anywhere near 81? citing "35-40 at the end of three"? Kobe got 60 in 3 quarters, beatch! Don't hate, man. 

"If i really wanted to"? Good grief. Where was that desire all thorought your career? When you were being b****slapped by the Pistons? When your team lost to the underdogs Lakers at the WCF? 

Wake up and smell the coffee, man. The only way you could go for 60 is if I was covering you AND had already 5 fouls.

Freaking loser.


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## ChrisWoj (May 17, 2005)

Wow Paulo, you're a huge Drexler fan, aren't you?


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## Wilmatic2 (Oct 30, 2005)

PauloCatarino said:


> I find it amusing that Clyde Drexler (the player-with-the-heart-of-a-cockroach) would say something like that.
> 
> Look, Clyde, youo were once knowned as the "nearly-man", as in:
> "nearly won the NCAA Game";
> ...


Preach on.


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## PauloCatarino (May 31, 2003)

ChrisWoj said:


> Wow Paulo, you're a huge Drexler fan, aren't you?


Don't get me wron, Chris.

I've always liked the Blazer Drexler (the Rocket's, i just didn't give a ****). In fact, i was very keen on the Porter/Drexler/Kersey/Williams/Duckworth Blazers.

But Drexler is Drexler. He has no right talking about an 81 pint game. And he has no right trying to pretend that he could score much more than he did "if he felt like it".

I guess sometimes, great players turn out to be ****ty interviewers.


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## madskillz1_99 (Dec 5, 2004)

PauloCatarino said:


> I find it amusing that Clyde Drexler (the player-with-the-heart-of-a-cockroach) would say something like that.
> 
> Look, Clyde, youo were once knowned as the "nearly-man", as in:
> "nearly won the NCAA Game";
> ...


Hell yes!!!


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## Serg LeMagnifique (Aug 23, 2005)

mmmmmmmmmm, Nope!!! I don't believe he could have even score 60 in a game. He talks a lot about the hand check, I don't remember players using the hand that far out from the basket. I guess he didn't see the game because almost all of Kobe's points were scored on outside shots. Heck, even Jordan wasn't able to do it and after the Jordan rules he had the breathing rules in which if a defender breathed close to him it was call a foul.


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## jazzy1 (Jul 16, 2002)

Old guys just don't wanna give Kobe his props. In Clydes day if you had a 40 inch vert you were lethal and had a huge advantage, there were way too many slow footed smaller 2's then, Ainge, DJ, Starks, Dumars good defenders but slower and not as athletic. Now its par for the postion to be an athletic freak doesn't give you as much of an advantage. 

Back then there was more offense and the ability to isolate on a side not anymore with the teams able to zone up great offensive players now so despite no hand checking the zones make it tougher to get to the hoop.


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## DANNY (Aug 9, 2005)

who the **** gives a **** about clyde go home *****es


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## compsciguy78 (Dec 16, 2002)

PauloCatarino said:


> I find it amusing that Clyde Drexler (the player-with-the-heart-of-a-cockroach) would say something like that.
> 
> Look, Clyde, youo were once knowned as the "nearly-man", as in:
> "nearly won the NCAA Game";
> ...



Your the loser. I thought you were neutral about Kobe but it's pretty obvious you are another Kobe homer. 


That is Clyde Drexler talking, not Smush Parker. This guy knows what he's talking about. 


Have you ever played basketball? Have you ever had someone defend you with or without handchecks? It's a huge difference and that's all he's saying. 

To say Clyde couldn't get 60 in todays game shows you know little about basketball.

That's cool, defending the franchise player(like you said to me before), but it ain't the truth.


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## DANNY (Aug 9, 2005)

^ yeah you ****in loser stop being a hypocrite


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## MAS RipCity (Feb 22, 2003)

Drexler is one of the most classiest players in the history of the NBA and to hear some of these comments about him makes me sick. Everything he said in that interview was correct. Usually if you drop 40 by the end of the 3rd,you were up big, no need to go in. And I've seen CLyde in his day, if he wanted to be selfish, he could have put up more points,but he was always a team first kinda guy.


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## Carbo04 (Apr 15, 2005)

PauloCatarino said:


> I find it amusing that Clyde Drexler (the player-with-the-heart-of-a-cockroach) would say something like that.
> 
> Look, Clyde, youo were once knowned as the "nearly-man", as in:
> "nearly won the NCAA Game";
> ...



Owned. :cheers:


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## lakegz (Mar 31, 2004)

if clyde coulda done it, he woulda done it, its not like he had a 4 year career or anything.


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## TwiBlueG35 (Jan 24, 2006)

He said that he needed to take the fourth quarter off in order to keep himself fresh for the next game, it is true. But the truth also tells us that Kobe Bryant has consecutively scored 40 plus points even playing 40 plus minutes EVERY SINGLE GAME.


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## BBB (Jan 19, 2005)

Ummm, interesting...

Kobe>Drexler...


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## KDOS (Nov 29, 2005)

Im so sick of these old timers not giving credit where credit is due on # 8...Pippen, Drexler, Barkley. Jealousy is ugly.


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## essaywhuman (Aug 10, 2005)

compsciguy78 said:


> Your the loser. I thought you were neutral about Kobe but it's pretty obvious you are another Kobe homer.
> 
> 
> That is Clyde Drexler talking, not Smush Parker. This guy knows what he's talking about.
> ...


You ain't no Team Kobe member, you're just a phony!

Hey guys, this guy's a phony!






One thing I don't get with the old timers saying it's easier to score these days is that they never mention the new zone defenses. I mean, it's obvious hand checking makes it much harder to score, but what about the zones? I hate seeing teams double Kobe off the ball whenever we have a chance to win the game at the buzzer. I'll be honest though, I probably wasn't old enough to analyze games back then like I do now, but the old guys NEVER mention the new zones when analyzing.


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## Blink4 (Jan 17, 2005)

compsciguy78 said:


> Your the loser. I thought you were neutral about Kobe but it's pretty obvious you are another Kobe homer.
> 
> 
> That is Clyde Drexler talking, not Smush Parker. This guy knows what he's talking about.
> ...


You are the most ridiculous poster on these boards. You are a Lakers fan, but you hate on our best player more than ANYONE on these boards. Paulo is a loser because he likes Kobe? What the **** is wrong with you. So let me get this straight: To be a true laker fan, you have to hate Kobe for shooting so much, cant defend Kobe when others trash talk him, or do anything to make it seem that you like Kobe? Ok. I got it. Thanks a million :clap:


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## PauloCatarino (May 31, 2003)

compsciguy78 said:


> Your the loser. I thought you were neutral about Kobe but it's pretty obvious you are another Kobe homer.


"Neutral" about Kobe? **** no. I hate his guts. But i admire is play. I'll bash Kobe when i feel like he is worth being bashed. But, unlike you, a so-called "Laker fan", i'm not gonna make a fool of myself and go to the General Board and spew poison on him.
Get a grip on your "Kobe homer" coments till you know what you are talking about.



> That is Clyde Drexler talking, not Smush Parker. This guy knows what he's talking about.


No, he doesn't. That's the whole purpose of my post.



> Have you ever played basketball? Have you ever had someone defend you with or without handchecks? It's a huge difference and that's all he's saying.


No. That's not what he is saying. He is saying that he could do ______ (fill in the blank) if he "felt like it". Wich isn't true. And his career showed that plenty.



> To say Clyde couldn't get 60 in todays game shows you know little about basketball.


What the ----? I said he couldn't score 60 *in his era*, not today.



> That's cool, defending the franchise player(like you said to me before), but it ain't the truth.


Your Kobe hate makes you blind (a common occurance around this parts). I'd say the same thing if Drexler was commenting on AI/T-Mac/LBJ/Wade/whomever going for 81.


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## compsciguy78 (Dec 16, 2002)

My Kobe hate doesn't make me blind I could care less about the guy. I like arguing about him because that's all anybody knows on this board for the most part. If most LAker fans would talk about someone else besides Kobe then I would gladly post analysis on them.



I am sick of everyone kissing Kobe's ***. That's all this forum has become is a place to kiss Kobe's *** daily and nightly. I don't have to prove to anyone on this forum about my knowledge of Lakers because I have been on this site since 2002 and have posted many things. 

Most of you guys don't know **** about basketball so listening to you bash Drexler, Barkley, and everyone else who says anything remotely critical of Kobe is laughable. Your in the presence of true greatness, better recognize.


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## compsciguy78 (Dec 16, 2002)

Blink4 said:


> You are the most ridiculous poster on these boards. You are a Lakers fan, but you hate on our best player more than ANYONE on these boards. Paulo is a loser because he likes Kobe? What the **** is wrong with you. So let me get this straight: To be a true laker fan, you have to hate Kobe for shooting so much, cant defend Kobe when others trash talk him, or do anything to make it seem that you like Kobe? Ok. I got it. Thanks a million :clap:


Once you understand basketball you will understand what a player like Kobe represents. Maybe you never will.


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## West44 (Jun 29, 2005)

MAS RipCity said:


> Drexler is one of the most classiest players in the history of the NBA and to hear some of these comments about him makes me sick. Everything he said in that interview was correct. Usually if you drop 40 by the end of the 3rd,you were up big, no need to go in. And I've seen CLyde in his day, if he wanted to be selfish, he could have put up more points,but he was always a team first kinda guy.


Yep...don't have a problem with a thing the glide said. Is he the pure scorer Kobe is? - no (but he was great) - do I fault him for thinking on his best night he could have scored as many as Kobe has on his best night so far? - no - you gotta believe in yourself. Has the new hand checking rule made a difference? Check out the percentage of ball handlers that are among the scoring leaders this year as opposed to big men and scoring itself is up. Its made a big difference...Drexler was right about this. It seems that many are looking for a reason to hate some really good people.


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## MAS RipCity (Feb 22, 2003)

West44 said:


> Yep...don't have a problem with a thing the glide said. Is he the pure scorer Kobe is? - no (but he was great) - do I fault him for thinking on his best night he could have scored as many as Kobe has on his best night so far? - no - you gotta believe in yourself. Has the new hand checking rule made a difference? Check out the percentage of ball handlers that are among the scoring leaders this year as opposed to big men and scoring itself is up. Its made a big difference...Drexler was right about this. It seems that many are looking for a reason to hate some really good people.


agreed, people are always looking to hate on someone or something.


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## Cap (Nov 5, 2003)

compsciguy78 said:


> My Kobe hate doesn't make me blind I could care less about the guy. I like arguing about him because that's all anybody knows on this board for the most part. If most LAker fans would talk about someone else besides Kobe then I would gladly post analysis on them.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You don't post here or read this board very often. Anyone who does knows there's a lot more talk about the supporting cast than there is about Kobe Bryant. Hell, I doubt you even watch many Laker games.


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## PauloCatarino (May 31, 2003)

West44 said:


> Yep...don't have a problem with a thing the glide said. Is he the pure scorer Kobe is? - no (but he was great) - do I fault him for thinking on his best night he could have scored as many as Kobe has on his best night so far? - no - you gotta believe in yourself. Has the new hand checking rule made a difference? *Check out the percentage of ball handlers * that are among the scoring leaders this year as opposed to big men and *scoring itself is up*. Its made a big difference...Drexler was right about this. It seems that many are looking for a reason to *hate some really good people*.


I agree Drexler was a class act player. And a great player. Like many others. That doesn't mean i'll take hisword for it, regarding commentating. Magic's my favourite player of all time, but he would be the close-to-last guy i would ask someting about the current NBA. Yhe Chuckster is good for a few laughs, but i find him also lacking of a good insight in today's game. And we're talking about 3 of the 50 greatest players.

One thing has nothing to do with the other.

I don't know if scoring is up since the late-80's (Drexler's peak years, scoring-wise), but what i do know is that only a handfull of perimeter players are scoring in th high .400s, .500FG%. In fact, i can only remember Lebron James. Wich will emply that scoring is more difficult nowadays. Also, Drexler wasn't a perticularly good ball-handler, so i don't know (and i serious doubt it) if he would have a good time against double-or-triple teams (wich weren't allowed back then).

But, again, that is not the question. Drexler was a good scorer in his days. Yes, he was. But he wouldn't be able to crack 60points regularly (and by regularly i'm sayig something like once every TWO YEARS). That is what he was emplying. And that is the thing i don't like about it.

The fact that i admire a player doesn't mean i have to accept his comments. That goes for Drexler, Magic... and Kobe.


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## JerryWest (Jun 24, 2002)

Clyde can't talk about anything. He played in a era of soft defenses and 6'1 and 6'2 slow footed shooting guards and couldn't come close to being the offensive weapon Kobe is. He's not going up against the 6'7 athletic freaks that we have as every other player. There are more and better swingmen now then at any time in the NBA.


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## Sir Patchwork (Jan 12, 2005)

I'm sure Clyde could have scored 81 points in a single quarter if he wanted to, since today's defenses are obviously like being guarded by unathletic 5'9 high school sophmores, where as back in the day, he was triple teamed by super athletic, tall, strong, lengthy defenders who were allowed to put him in a full nelson and beat him to death if they wanted. I swear to god that's how it was man right Clyde?!?! 81 points? Clyde could have done it in half the time, in 27 shots. Just 27 straight three pointers. 

These old man speeches crack me up. It's like grandpa with his 15 feet of snow uphill both ways stories.


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## John (Jun 9, 2002)

Sir Patchwork said:


> I'm sure Clyde could have scored 81 points in a single quarter if he wanted to, since today's defenses are obviously like being guarded by unathletic 5'9 high school sophmores, where as back in the day, he was triple teamed by super athletic, tall, strong, lengthy defenders who were allowed to put him in a full nelson and beat him to death if they wanted. I swear to god that's how it was man right Clyde?!?! 81 points? Clyde could have done it in half the time, in 27 shots. Just 27 straight three pointers.
> 
> These old man speeches crack me up. It's like grandpa with his 15 feet of snow uphill both ways stories.


When you want to talk down on poeple, think of your self first. Once I heard you are 6"8" with 26- pounds. LMAO, get in shape first? Compete in the NBA.


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## Sir Patchwork (Jan 12, 2005)

John said:


> When you want to talk down on poeple, think of your self first. Once I heard you are 6"8" with 26- pounds. LMAO, get in shape first? Compete in the NBA.


It's kind of cute that you follow me around, but desperation is not an attractive quality.


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## KDOS (Nov 29, 2005)

AAAwwwwww...lovers quarrel.


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## John (Jun 9, 2002)

Sir Patchwork said:


> It's kind of cute that you follow me around, but desperation is not an attractive quality.


All you need to know is you arent a legitimate great poster.


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## Cap (Nov 5, 2003)

John said:


> All you need to know is you arent a legitimate great poster.


Naw, he is, while you never were and are only here posting at all because a mod still has a hard-on for you.


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