Last week, Henry Abbott wrote a blog comparing Kobe Bryant and LeBron James’ shot charts versus the Boston Celtics. Henry admitted that his sample size was too small to come to any concrete conclusions, but indicated that Bryant’s ability to score from the perimeter and LeBron’s ability to get to the basket offset one another.
I broke down LeBron’s shot chart versus Boston in last year’s playoffs. Inspired by Henry’s blog, I decided to do the same for Kobe. Here’s what I found:
LeBron shot the ball 155 times in 7 games versus the Celtics. James shot 31-of-53 inside the paint, 15-of-63 from midrange (outside the paint, inside the 3-point line) and 9-of-39 from the 3-point line.
Kobe shot the ball 131 times in 6 games versus Boston. Bryant shot 17-of-35 from inside the paint, 27-of-68 from midrange (outside the paint, inside the 3-point line) and 9-of-28 from the 3-point line.
Here are Kobe and LeBron’s per game numbers:
Bryant
Inside the paint: 5.8 shot attempts per game, 48.6% from the field
Midrange: 11.3 shot attempts per game, 39.7% from the field
3-point: 4.7 shot attempts per game, 32.1% from the field
LeBron
Inside the paint: 7.6 shot attempts per game, 58.5% from the field
Midrange: 9 shot attempts per game, 23.8% from the field
3-point: 5.6 shot attempts per game, 23% from the field
As you can see, LeBron’s ability to get the basket versus Boston was minimized. And while LeBron’s inside shooting percentage was 9.9 percentage points higher than Bryant’s, it didn’t come close to offsetting James’ inability to connect from midrange and beyond.
I had planned on including Kobe and LeBron’s numbers versus Boston this season before publishing this blog. But Josh Tucker at RespectKobe.com broke down Kobe and LeBron’s numbers versus Boston this season … and then some.
Here’s an excerpt from Tucker:
One of the primary reasons for which inside shots are so highly valued is their significantly higher conversion rate. As we can see from the numbers above, both Bryant and James convert at a higher rate from close shots than they do from outside. But what effect does this have on each player’s overall efficiency against Boston? First, let’s look at Field Goal Percentage, which can tell us whether James’ ability to get to the basket actually translates to a higher overall shooting percentage against Boston.
This is where things get interesting, as we discover that LeBron’s ability to get to the basket more frequently than Kobe actually has not resulted in a higher overall shooting percentage. In nine games against Boston, LeBron has shot only .384 overall from the field. By contrast, Bryant has shot .415 in eight games against Boston. While these numbers are quite low for both players, James’ drop in field goal percentage is significantly larger than Bryant’s.
Another reason given for preferring James’ ability to get into the paint is that it allows him to draw more fouls than Bryant. This is certainly true: In eight games against Boston, Bryant has averaged only 6.6 FTAs per game, while in nine games, James has averaged 11.9 FTAs.
However, this gets at the larger issue, which is overall efficiency. FG% does not take free throw shooting into account, and as such, it is a poor measure of a player’s overall shooting efficiency. However, rather than attempting to subjectively weigh FG% against free throws taken, we can simply use John Hollinger’s True Shooting Percentage, which exactly measures overall shooting efficiency — taking into account both free throw shooting and 3-point shooting.
Essentially, TS% tells us the amount of points a player scores per shot, including shots that result in two free throws (and therefore are not counted in the box score). What do we find when comparing LeBron James and Kobe Bryant in eight-plus games against the Celtics? Interestingly, we find that the two are nearly identical in overall shooting efficiency against Boston so far.
Check out Tucker’s blog here.
February 11th, 2009 at 3:54 am
So much analysis given to this topic. What exactly is the point? Since this is coming from “Respect Kobe” I’m assuming it’s to point out that Kobe Bryant’s superior mid-range shooting makes him a better player than LeBron James under the premise that great defensives don’t allow forays to the rim? Fine. Then here’s my counter.
With the squad the Cavs had, the game was mucked up beyond belief. The shooting percentages of both Boston and Cleveland were much lower than the percentages in the Boston/LA series. Let’s be honest, there were no 131 point explosions in the battle of the East Titans. Shooting percentages were just really low. I think I already posted on this before.
Anyway, it doesn’t matter what LeBron does anyway. Had he shot 96% against Boston then we wouldn’t be talking about this, but because there actually is an area of statistics that indicates Kobe is more skilled in the shooting realm, the blogosphere will go to great lengths to highlight this fact.
There should be a “respect LeBron” website because I fear he needs it more than Kobe these days. I’ve never seen a superstar get less respect than LeBron.
May 18th, 2009 at 1:36 am
You’ve never seen a player disrespected as much as Lebron?
Gimme a break…what a joke man. Evidently you don’t listen to the commentators on EVERY Cavs game. They blow their loads every time he does something minuscule, like split a double team…something 5 people do 20 times a game. Reggie Miller literally sat there in awe when Lebron split the Hawks double team. You’ve also evidently you’ve missed Sportscenter every time they cover the Cavs.
Sportscenter has been undermining Kobe for years. When he scored 81, they actually had people come on and legitimately state that Kobe was “just running up the score” and “showing off.” The guy scored 81 and they found something negative to say about him. EIGHTY ONE…EIGHTY FREAKING ONE. And he still caught flack for it. He scored 65 in three quarters. He scored 50 points in four straight games. And all people would say is that he’s a ballhog, as if anybody who had the ball as much as him would put up scores and consistency like that.
Lebron actually had people coming on and legitimately stating he should get Defensive Player of the Year along with his MVP. And the guy can’t keep his own man in front of him to save his life. He gets help side blocks and run down blocks so they say he should get the Def. Player award. Talk about overhyping a dude… -.- And yet Kobe gets two straight up blocks on Yao twice out of three possessions and nobody says a thing about it. Kobe has been getting the same kinds of blocks as Lebron for years, and nobody said a thing about it. And Kobe actually plays his man and keeps him in front of him.
Many fans of the NBA often show disdain for Lebron cause everybody else is on his balls and have been saying he’s better than Jordan since before he was even drafted. The guy has zero rings and really hasn’t done anything significant (the stats are good, but they’re just numbers in the end). He’s overhyped by everything related to the NBA, because they KNOW he’s the future of the NBA and he’s the future that will bring the money in to pad their pockets.
Disrespect? Lebron doesn’t know the meaning of the word disrespect -.- He probably never will. He hasn’t had a challenging interview or criticism from sports shows since he came in the scene.