Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers looked very sluggish and poor during a recent stretch of the regular season, making a lot of people wonder if the grind of the shortened and abbreviated 66 game grind.

After shooting 12 of 46 from the field in a two game stretch against the Denver Nuggets, Bryant got back to work with an impressive four game stretch, scoring 37, 30, 39, and 26 points while more importantly averaging about 50% from the field. Not to say he could be even more efficient (he's taking too many threes, going four for 19 from downtown). He ended up earning Western Conference Player Of The Week honors for his efforts.

If the Lakers can get performances like this from Bryant in the future, they should be in great shape. Kobe's biggest issue is inefficiency, and this team needs him to play as strongly as possible if they hope to be in contention for great things this season.

To discuss Kobe and the Lakers, head to Silver Screen and Roll.