Allen is a shooter like Reggie Miller.

Kobe is just a better shooter than T-mac.

If FT shooting wasn’t enough of an indicator, he shoots a higher percentage from the floor as well.

We all agree Ray Allen is a great shooter, right? Imagine if he were a first option player like Kobe or T-Mac and he was forced to shoot most of his shots off the dribble from 18-20 feet. His shooting percentage would drop to around 41%. When was the last time you saw Allen shoot anything but a wide-open jumper?

Career shooting percentages:

Kobe – .453 FG, .340 3PTFG
Allen- .446 FG, .397 3PTFG
T-Mac- .437 FG, .337 3PTFG

I feel they’re all comparable.

Game on the line, 5 seconds on the clock, I’ll take T-Mac over Kobe every time.

If degree of difficulty becomes a factor, I don’t think there’s a better shooter in the past ten years than Allen Iverson. He takes shots people shouldn’t even attempt, and he makes them. Almost every shot is off the dribble and in a defender’s face.

So, maybe that’s what it is. Because when I think about guys who were just scoring guards, I can’t think up many names. Reggie Miller was great but one-dimensional. Mitch Richmond had a few amazing years but he wasn’t the playmaker Kobe is. Penny was only good for five years. Etc.

So yeah, I guess now– you’d think I’d thought about this earlier– I understand why people make the MJ comparison.

Drexler is up there with Kobe though as far as the comparisons to Jordan go. I mean, Kobe is more dynamic and will go down as the better player, but it’s not like Drexler was some scrub. But both were/are light years away from being MJ. I think that’s what it is that bugs me so much about the comparison.

Kobe might be the closest thing to MJ in terms of a dynamic scoring guard who can do so many things better than most, but he’s nowhere near the player MJ was. I mean, Jordan was like the best shooter ever, best defender ever, best dunker ever, best clutch performer ever, best competitor ever, etc.

I think Allen Iverson is every bit as dynamic as Kobe is, he’s just too small and a non-factor on defense. But if Iverson were 6-6, I’d say he’d be very close to what Kobe is as a scorer.

I’m a T-Mac guy. I think if T-Mac didn’t lose his back and legs, he’d be better than Kobe today. He’s a better shooter, playmaker, and clutch performer. But T-Mac is half the way he could be because of injuries.

So yeah, in the big picture, Kobe is good (Elliott Kalb ranked him the 18th best player ever). Who knows, maybe he retires in the top ten. Definitely in the top five shooting guards of all-time, behind Jordan, Robertson, West and Barry.

As for the comment you made about MJ going cold: MJ went cold sometimes, sure, but I don’t remember him ever going cold when it mattered. In every single fourth quarter he would take over. Kobe has had some great performances, but I swear it was like MJ did it every single time. The opposing team knew it was coming and couldn’t stop it. Bird was like that too. I’d say coming through in the clutch 35% of the time would be a great percentage. But these guys– Bird, Jordan, Reggie, etc.– did it like 85% of the time. It was truly a sick knack they had.

Last night–in my opinion–was the biggest game of Kobe’s life to date. His first Finals game without Shaq. He played miserably. Tsunami mentioned a good floor game, but that wasn’t the case. He finished with four turnovers, but I swear he should have had at least seven or eight. Lucky for him on several possessions where he lost the ball, it was recovered by a teammate.

I expect at least one monster game from him in L.A. He has to step it up in Game Two.

Shane Battier deserved 1st team All-NBA defense but he’s a shooting forward. If he makes it, Bruce Bowen doesn’t, not Kobe.

Bryant had about 4 jumpers that went in and rattled back out. He was also fouled a few times on his release.

But the officials were letting them play.

Who besides MJ do you believe would have put Kobe to shame? If you say Clyde Drexler I’ll burn this site to the ground.

:)

As for your MJ/Kobe 4th quarter comment, come on, it’s almost as if people think MJ never missed a shot. The guy was the greatest — no question — but he had his flaws too.

I still just don’t think Boston has a chance in this series. They are the best defensive team in the league (better than SA – probably because Ginobili was clearly injured) but they just don’t seem to have any plan in the waning moments of close games. Even tonight, they had the crowd, the energy, Kobe on the bench, and they were unable to put away the Lakers. It took the Lakers missing a whole lotta shots and the Celtics getting to the stripe to seal the victory. That combination isn’t going to happen 3 more times. Someone has to step up and hit big shots in the closing seconds.

Kobe just missed a lot shots he can make and that’s going to happen sometimes.

9 for 26…If LeBron had done that we’d be hearing all about how he can’t shoot.

Well Kobe did it, and we all know he can shoot. Bottom line? Superstars can have off nights. And actually he didn’t have a bad floor game, I thought he played well, had some nice assists.

And yes, MJ had plenty of moments where he went cold.

2 interesting comments by Jeff Van Gundy.

He criticized the all defensive first team accolade given to Bryant saying something to the effect of Bryant being a choatic defender who gets lots of help, and that Shane Battier deserved it.

The other was when Van Gundy said Bryant is the game’s best closer. I disagree with that, although he has been very good in 4th quarters during the playoffs this season.

As far as the game, Paul Pierce had to be hamming up that injury. No way you can be in a situation where you can not put any weight on EITHER FOOT and then 5 minutes later you are jumpin and ready to go knocking down transition threes.

Officiating is going to be huge in this series. Both of these teams overplay on defense and try to force a lot of turnovers by reaching in and slapping. Between Rondo, Fisher, Vujacic, Bryant, Pierce, Posey, and Cassell there’s a lot of grabbing going on.

Officiating didn’t make the difference in this game, but I can see it having a huge impact. And both of these teams have emotional superstars who can’t handle not getting bailed out, or worse, getting whistled incorrectly – I’ll be interested to see how it plays out.

What happened?

See, that fourth-quarter meltdown/garbage play of sorts?

MJ never did that.

I’ve just seen better, man. I’m no hater. Trust me, whether Kobe is a nice guy or a complete jerk doesn’t matter to me. I judge him based on what he shows me on the court. And I’m telling you, the guy is so awful in comparison to the greats of the 80’s and 90’s. It’s just that he’s playing in an era that’s so weak, he’s head-and-shoulders better than the rest.

Ok, I’ll stop for now.

But I agree with Tsunami 100 percent here. Kobe this year is the same as Kobe last year. He’s good. The big difference is the emergence of his bench, particularly Vujacic, Turiaf and Farmar.

Kobe is doing what he should be doing, being a superstar scorer. Just don’t give me any of the religious nonsense like how he changed or trusted his teammates, etc.

I’ve always thought Kobe to be the best scorer in the game. I’ve never thought his passing was near the level it should be considering the amount of time he has the ball in his hands. And I’m not just talking about assist to turnover ratio, I’m talking about the quality and creativity of his passing.

To me, when Kobe’s in a situation where defenses can zone in on him, he is reduced to chucking up shots around 44% over people. You look at the Lakers now and you simply cannot overplay on Bryant because it will be layup drills with the way the Lakers move the ball.

All I’m saying is Kobe is dominating now moreso because his strengths (deadly assassin scorer) are maximized and his weaknesses(for him), non-creative passing, forcing, lack of playmaking are completely hidden with the quality of his teammates.

In short – Kobe is the same dominant scorer (and on-ball defender) he was last year, but with this team, he doesn’t need to bail them out all the time by forcing shots. Pau Gasol is the biggest difference between the 2k8 Lakers and the 2k7 Lakers, not Kobe Bryant.

Of course it feels so much better to weave a grand tale of redemption and of scaling his own personal everest. But in the end, Kobe has always been an elite player.

The people who hated him and on him the most are the ones (I believe) idolized him. They discovered that he wasn’t perfect and didn’t neccesarily care about what others thought as long as he was winning. This realization hurt some deeply it appears because that level of hate and disdain is born of a deep rooted hurt or injustice. Kobe wasn’t exactly what the people wanted him to be so they turned their ire on him. I agree with you when you say he’s playing the same game essentially. So if that is true and I believe it is, why is this year so much different???? Winning. Most everyone is getting what they want and that keeps alot of hate at bay.

As always, you bring great perspective.

There were tons (too many to count) of fans saying Kobe would never win another ring just last season. Most said it didn’t matter who the Lakers had, Kobe wouldn’t share the basketball, he couldn’t make his teammates better, etc., etc. I’d like to know where those people are now.

I think Kobe is essentially playing the same game.

But he has matured as a person.

People forget that he’s only 29 years old. MJ didn’t win his first ring until he was 28.

There’s a learning curve for most players.

LeBron James and Magic Johnson got ‘it’ at an early age.

James still needs to fine tune his game but he has a maturity beyond his years.

Kobe’s gets ‘it’ now and he’s surrounded by a young, championship caliber supporting cast.

That must be a scary thought for the rest of the league.