Kobe picked up the person bringing up the ball at half court mark whether it was McGrady, Stuckey, or Prince.
The dribbler lost time getting the offense set because they were too busy trying to shake him on the way to the 3 point line. He forced the Pistons to use up some of their shot clock and change up how they ran the pick and roll offense just the night before.
When Kobe sat, Barnes took his place and role doing the same instead of Shannon or Blake trying to do it until he sat in the 4th.
It is basically what Kobe did in the Olympics when he was hounding guards, when he played with Trevor, and for the 3 peat teams. MJ and Scottie used to do it in Chicago as well and Phil called it his "Doberman" defense. It sure as hell looked better than Ron, Fish, Blake, or Brown trying to defend the ball handler at the top of the key and getting blown by as Kobe and Barnes rode the ball handler all the way to Bynum or Odom.