#8 Kobe>

[The15thunter]

Re: #8 Kobe>

Oh boy... I see where this is going....

The number 8 Kobe was a wild sidekick. Sorry... yes he scored a bunch of points in that jersey. But he never was "The Man" to win a championship. 24# in my opinion, give up all points and started playing more team basketball. That's the number that will and should be retired.

a wild sidekick? while he wasn't the refined basketball player he later proved to be as #24, #8 was a basketball wunderkind. let's not be hasty and prone to revisionist ways here, #8 is a hall of famer.

if he had to pick one, he'd go with 24 because he did it on his own, so to speak, and because his game was more refined. but the number 8 will always belong to kobe bryant, as well.

[Scott812313]

Re: #8 Kobe>

A highlight reel? Maybe. That's just the point. Jordan and Kobe "look" like they can do the same things, so a highlight reel might give that type of effect. BUT once you dig deeper, and not even too deep, thats where you realize that they're not even close.

Hyperbole at it's finest. Kobe is the closest player that any of us will ever see to MJ. From skill to heart and desire, noone other than Kobe is close.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: #8 Kobe>

Hyperbole at it's finest. Kobe is the closest player that any of us will ever see to MJ. From skill to heart and desire, noone other than Kobe is close.

That's obviously my point. As "close" as Kobe is, Jordan was so much better that its not even close.

[jeebs9]

Re: #8 Kobe>

Like I said a few pages ago. You just can't put Kobe's name near Jordan's name. Maybe Kobe's game has some similar things. I think he would need to win a NCAA championship, about 8-9 NBA rings with a boat of other awards lol. It seriously bothers me that Kobe has never shot over 50% in a season. He is just too good not too in my opinion.

[Drewski]

Re: #8 Kobe>

Like I said a few pages ago. You just can't put Kobe's name near Jordan's name. Maybe Kobe's game has some similar things. I think he would need to win a NCAA championship, about 8-9 NBA rings with a boat of other awards lol. It seriously bothers me that Kobe has never shot over 50% in a season. He is just too good not too in my opinion.

Hard not to knock Kobe for not shooting over 50%. For a guy with such a high basketball IQ, his shot selection is pretty lazy. There's absolutely no reason for him to have never shot over that mark.

[wwharton]

Re: #8 Kobe>

Like I said a few pages ago. You just can't put Kobe's name near Jordan's name. Maybe Kobe's game has some similar things. I think he would need to win a NCAA championship, about 8-9 NBA rings with a boat of other awards lol. It seriously bothers me that Kobe has never shot over 50% in a season. He is just too good not too in my opinion.

Hard not to knock Kobe for not shooting over 50%. For a guy with such a high basketball IQ, his shot selection is pretty lazy. There's absolutely no reason for him to have never shot over that mark.

You mentioned this before jeebs, and I have to disagree again. This is yet another reason why Kobe shouldn't be compared to Jordan, as good as Kobe is/was. Jordan shooting over 50% considering the position he played and attention he got from defenses... and number of shots he took, it's pretty amazing. Doing it for his career is downright insane. No one should expect a shooting guard who is the focal point of the offense (and a jump shooter for the most part) to shoot over 50%. Over 45% I could see, and around 48% is impressive imo.

Maybe I need to see a list of guys in similar situations that have shot over 50% even for a season or two to understand why this seems so strange (I haven't looked).

[jeebs9]

Re: #8 Kobe>

I'm confused... It sounds like you agree with us wwharton.

[Drewski]

Re: #8 Kobe>

I'm confused... It sounds like you agree with us wwharton.

I think he agrees, but I think he disagrees that it's an indictment on Kobe. As in, Jordan did it, can we really expect someone else to achieve that?

/speaking for WWH while bored at work

[jeebs9]

Re: #8 Kobe>

Back when he wore number 8 and had Shaq on his team. Kobe took bad shots. I remember Tex Winter (Phil Jackson longtime assisant coach or right hand man). Would keep a stat sheet near him to fill in for every shot Kobe took. He would give "F's" for shots. Saying Jordan would get a few "F" in few games. While Kobe would rack them up. Getting 8-10 a games. I just feel Kobe could of won a lot more rings or games

[Drewski]

Re: #8 Kobe>

Back when he wore number 8 and had Shaq on his team. Kobe took bad shots. I remember Tex Winter (Phil Jackson longtime assisant coach or right hand man). Would keep a stat sheet near him to fill in for every shot Kobe took. He would give "F's" for shots. Saying Jordan would get a few "F" in few games. While Kobe would rack them up. Getting 8-10 a games. I just feel Kobe could of won a lot more rings or games

The thing about Kobe - he takes shots he can make, albeit being overly difficlut. Because he can make them. He knows it, the D knows it, and we know it. He could pass some of those tough looks up, but generally he takes them beccause there's a pretty good chance it'll drop despite being a terrible shot to take. That said, I've cringed time and time again at his shot selection. I wish he'd take easier shots, not that it's easy to work against defenses geared to slow you down, but still...

[The15thunter]

Re: #8 Kobe>

i don't think kobe's taking of difficult shots has cost his teams rings. a game or two, sure, but the lakers have not lost an opportunity at a championship because kobe took bad shots.

[Sam Marlowe]

Re: #8 Kobe>

^^^
The 2004 Piston gameplan was arranged around KB's shot selection. They conceded Shaq his points and banked on KB not adjusting his approach with multiple defenders attacking him (aside from Tayshaun Prince doing a hell of a job in single coverage). Larry Brown's gamble payed off. KB is arguably the best player of his generation (Shaq and Duncan are ahead of him in my book but Im not rigid) and thats where it stops.

Also, consider this. When Jordan made that comeback with the Wizards his performence was considered by most to be sub par at best. His numbers were something like 25 5 and 6 on 45 % shooting. Those are KB's career regular season averages. Kind of puts things in perspective.

[Sam Marlowe]

Re: #8 Kobe>

Also, on the numbers front

[Sam Marlowe]

Re: #8 Kobe>

Also on the numbers front. I dont think anybody would say #8 was a championship caliber leader. He was gun for hire like Phil Jackson says in his book. His immaturity sometimes outshined his game. # 24 is is the reason we see his name in the middle of some people's 10 GOAT lists.

[Sam Marlowe]

Re: #8 Kobe>

Wow, sorry for the double post. I cant edit anything, if someone can clean that up feel free.