NBA is back (apparently)

[golfer]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Memphis

Perhaps you should wait to see what happens in Free Agency/trades after Dec 9th to see who is actually going to be on the teams?

Wouldn't that almost be like waiting for the entries to come out before handicapping races?

Why wait to the last minute?

[King Glorious]

Can anyone tell me what the hell Kobe has against Andrew Bynum? Bynum was 12-14 tonight, totally unstoppable, has been on a dominating run for a good little while now (March averages of 23.0 pts, 13.3 boards, 2.0 blocks, 63.6% from the field and 75.4% from the line)..........and Kobe is still gunning up shots. Bryant was 3-20 tonight and the Lakers lost a close one at home to Utah. I still say that I'd rather have Bynum than Howard. The numbers are very similar and that's with Bynum sharing the ball with two other all-stars, including the biggest gunner in the league.

So you're saying Kobe doesn't like Bynum because he has a bad shooting night where he takes 20 attempts and doesn't pass the ball?

And you want an answer for that?

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

Can anyone tell me what the hell Kobe has against Andrew Bynum? Bynum was 12-14 tonight, totally unstoppable, has been on a dominating run for a good little while now (March averages of 23.0 pts, 13.3 boards, 2.0 blocks, 63.6% from the field and 75.4% from the line)..........and Kobe is still gunning up shots. Bryant was 3-20 tonight and the Lakers lost a close one at home to Utah. I still say that I'd rather have Bynum than Howard. The numbers are very similar and that's with Bynum sharing the ball with two other all-stars, including the biggest gunner in the league.

Kobe has always been a gunner, he just misses more now.

[King Glorious]

The thing that will always keep Kobe from the list of the greats like Jordan, Magic, Bird, and to a lesser extent James is that he doesn't adapt his game. It's always got to be his way. Back when they won their three-peat, he was complaining about the offense then. While winning titles. He's always been selfish but now he's disappointing. I remember Bird playing a game where McHale scored 56 points. I can't imagine Kobe every letting someone else have that kind of success. Those other guys, they would see what the team needed and try to give them that on that night. If Kareem wasn't playing, Magic might go for 15 boards or 40 points. If McHale wasn't playing, Bird might go for 45 or 20 boards. When Jordan lost his point guard, he played the position and put up seven straight triple-doubles and 10 in 11 games. James is often criticized for deferring but in most of the cases, analysts agree that it was the right basketball play. Kobe should have been able to see that Bynum had it going and couldn't be stopped and adapted accordingly. He refuses and it's sad.

How can you talk head and try to say that stats queen Lebron is better? That's a hater move, dude. No sane person thinks Lebron is better than Kobe. There are 5 rings to prove it. Bring up Shaq all you want but it's not like Jordan, Bird, and Magic were playing with scrubs.

Kobe doesn't get enough respect.

[blackthroatedwind]

I don't know, I thought King Glorious's post was right on target. He didn't say Kobe wasn't a great talent. But, I can't argue with anything he said.

I don't get the Lebron hate, save his silly behavior last year, but given the accolades he has been receiving since he was about 12, his overall behavior has been incredible. Plus, Kobe could NEVER have taken that Cavs team to the Finals. To me, that was a remarkable achievement that gets completely dismissed.

His initial point is that Kobe is selfish and to me that is unfair to Kobe and is undoubtedly a popular opinion.

And if he is truly a selfish player then that shows that the NBA is a league about individual stars and not team basketball.

And yes LeBron is a great team player...until the finals. And in a society that only remembers the winners long term it is ludicrous to say LeBron is better than Kobe.

Win just one championship. It should be a requirement.

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

The thing that will always keep Kobe from the list of the greats like Jordan, Magic, Bird, and to a lesser extent James is that he doesn't adapt his game. It's always got to be his way. Back when they won their three-peat, he was complaining about the offense then. While winning titles. He's always been selfish but now he's disappointing. I remember Bird playing a game where McHale scored 56 points. I can't imagine Kobe every letting someone else have that kind of success. Those other guys, they would see what the team needed and try to give them that on that night. If Kareem wasn't playing, Magic might go for 15 boards or 40 points. If McHale wasn't playing, Bird might go for 45 or 20 boards. When Jordan lost his point guard, he played the position and put up seven straight triple-doubles and 10 in 11 games. James is often criticized for deferring but in most of the cases, analysts agree that it was the right basketball play. Kobe should have been able to see that Bynum had it going and couldn't be stopped and adapted accordingly. He refuses and it's sad.

Who's list is that? Many consider Kobe better than all of the guys you've named except for probably Jordan and there are some that think he is better than him as well. I don't think he is better than Jordan or Magic but I would take him over Bird or Lebron on most days.

In fairness, all of them saw/see the court much better than Kobe ever could. It always seems to me that when Kobe "decides" to pass, that is pretty much all he is going to do for that quarter or half. Its almost as if he has to force himself to do just that as opposed to it coming naturally and coming within the flow of an offense.

Kobe's lock down ability on the defensive end is tragically overlooked. None of those guys you named could play man to man defense like Kobe. Lebron, by virtue of his size, can cover front court players making him more versatile (yes, chuck, i said it) and Jordan played passing lanes better but none of those guys could contain a young Iverson at a time when he was virtually unstoppable.

[King Glorious]

Is this post meant to be a joke or are you being serious?

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

Is this post meant to be a joke or are you being serious?

Bird vs Kobe?

Defense? Kobe

Rebounding? Bird

Passing? Bird

Scoring? Kobe

Titles? Kobe

Yes, I was just joking.