The Perpetual NBA Thread

[BoEinG_747]

ilan panahon pa ..si LBJ naman

bata pumasok si Lebron ,
kaya mas madami sia chance na ma break na records

wag lang mag karoon ng grabe na injury

[zidane21]

very nice article po sir! mejo natamaan po ako sa sinabi nung author regarding negative impression on kobe! nag-iba ngayon ang perspective ko about kobe as a great contributor to the sport!

[ILuvDetailing]

he should change his jersey's number to 50... :lol:

should be 54, 50 points or more in 4 straight games

Didn't you guys notice that the fiercest competitors are among the best players in the game, coincidence? I don't think so.

ilan panahon pa ..si LBJ naman

bata pumasok si Lebron ,
kaya mas madami sia chance na ma break na records

wag lang mag karoon ng grabe na injury

mas bata si Kobe nung pumasok sa NBA (he was 17 years old), the only difference is that Lebron is a freak of nature >> an 18 year old kid with a body of a 25 year old.

Lebron still lacks that killer instinct, come crunch time he defers to his teammates to much when he should be the one taking the big shot because nobody in the NBA can check him one on one.

[tsupermario]

Yesterday's NBA player certainly was more fundamentally sound, but there's no question that today's player is bigger, stronger and faster. When Jordan played, he was a singular force that could not be equaled. Jordan was guarded by the likes of John Starks and Joe Dumars, who were fine players but weren't nearly as skilled or physically imposing as LeBron, D-Wade, Tracy McGrady or even Vince Carter.

nyek mas magaling naman yata dumepensa si starks at dumars.

[cyrusblutrooper]

today laker's lost and kobe scored 23 pts., [B]he's back on earth guys.. more human now.[/B]

i wonder if there a software/program like that of in the movie ROCKY BALBOA. they matched rocky(DURING HIS PRIME) VS. the current CHAMP. kobe vs. jordan
problem is basketball is a team sport.

[empy]

medyo nasobrahan yata sa jutes si Jemele Hill :rofl01:

[chain]

[SIZE="4"]When will LeBron's game meet the hype?[/SIZE]
Ken Berger
NBA
March 27, 2007, 9:41 PM EDT

LeBron James says his goal is to be the world's first billionaire athlete. Certainly, he is the first athlete to have billionaire Warren Buffett fly to Cleveland just to watch him play, as the Berkshire Hathaway chairman did over the weekend.

Every day, there is more news of LeBron's ever-expanding empire. On Monday, he became part owner of Cannondale, which manufactures the Rolls Royce of bicycles. Tuesday, The Associated Press told us LeBron is having a 35,440-square-foot mansion built in suburban Akron. He has endorsement deals totaling more than $150 million, and he's just getting started.

At only 22, there is no question that King James rules the NBA marketplace. But as LeBron swoops into the Garden Wednesday night to plunder the Knicks' fading playoff hopes, I ask simple questions:

Where are the basketball accomplishments to justify all of this? When is LeBron's resume going to include more than Nike swooshes and dollar signs?

Someday, James might be the best player of his generation. But right now, he's only about the fifth-best player in the NBA, according to David Thorpe of Scouts Inc., who has evaluated hours of James video this season -- and by that, I don't mean his commercials.

At this rate, the LeBrons might have their first billion before the real LeBron wins his first championship.

"There are times when he wants to be the man, he wants to carry his team," Thorpe said. "But the willpower just isn't there all the time."

Last season, his third after being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 draft that also produced Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony, Thorpe says James produced the best statistical season of any non-center between 18 and 22 since 1979, which was the rookie year for Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

Perhaps unfairly, the bar was set too high this season. James has been very good -- not great -- and the Cavaliers trail the Pistons by three games for the No. 1 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, 42-28 entering Tuesday night's game at Indiana. But James' scoring average is down -- from 31.4 to 27.3 -- his assists and rebounds are down, and he's shooting more three-pointers. This is the most telling sign that James is settling on the court the way he never would in a business deal.

With three games left this month including Tuesday night, James was one three-point attempt shy of the most he's ever attempted in a month, according to Thorpe. He's made only 20 of 63 (.317). "Although he's playing better and he's scoring better, I still think that's a sign he's not totally engaged," Thorpe said.

The trend also shows up in James' defense, which is "terrible in many areas and concepts," one NBA scout said. Defense takes commitment, work and a willingness to fight over screens, something Shane Battier learned in his four seasons at Duke. James apparently didn't get much of that at Akron's St. Vincent-St. Mary High.

Clearly, James is judged by a ridiculously high standard. He has Hall of Fame talent and is the most gifted passer for his size -- 6-8 -- to enter the NBA since Magic. Given the lack of college and not much of a supporting cast, his game and competitive instincts can't possibly be as mature as Michael Jordan's were at this stage. But you have to wonder what building mansions, rubbing elbows with Buffett, and co-hosting the ESPY Awards, as James will do this summer, have to do with achieving greatness on the court.

"Does he have the killer instinct of Kobe [Bryant]? Not even close," an Eastern Conference scout said. "But he doesn't even have the talent of Kobe."

Orlando general manager Otis Smith, who has Darko Milicic, the second pick by Detroit after LeBron in 2003, said he'd still take James No. 1 if that draft were held today.

If he had to choose one player for the long-term, Thorpe said he'd take James, then Bosh, then Wade. One player for one season right now? Wade and Bryant are 1 and 1a, Thorpe said, followed by Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, then James.

"You have a young man that's averaging 27, six, and six, and he's having a down year," TV analyst Mark Jackson said. "That says a lot about the expectations of LeBron James."

When it comes to net worth, James already has exceeded expectations. You just have to wonder when the game will catch up to the hype.

[kimpOy]

jordan vs kobe....
kobe vs jordan...
Winter is an authority on this topic as we'll ever get.

Tex Winter Compares Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan

March 29, 2007 1:59 PM

Roland Lazenby's Lakernoise blog has all kinds of interesting points to add to this debate, from Phil Jackson's longtime right-hand man (and current Laker consultant) Tex Winter. Winter has been around both Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant for almost their entire careers. You should really read the whole thing, but here are some excerpts that Lazenby has generously let me cut and paste:

A few years back, the Lakers coaching staff concluded Bryant and Jordan were much alike, almost eerie, in fact, when it came to the alpha male qualities of their competitive natures.

Kobe and Michael were ruthless when it came to winning, everyone agreed.

And their skills were similar.

Except Michael's hands were larger.

The major difference between the two came with college experience. Jordan had played in a basketball system for Dean Smith at North Carolina, thus he was better prepared to play within a team concept.

Winter says they're both very much alike:

"They both display tremendous reaction, quickness and jumping ability. Both have a good shooting touch. Some people say Kobe is a better shooter, but Michael really developed as a shooter as he went along. I don't know if Kobe is a better shooter than Michael was at his best."

Observers like to point out that Jordan played on a Chicago Bulls team with no great center, but Winter always countered that Jordan was a great post-up player and in essence was the premier post weapon of his time.

Bryant himself came into the NBA with amazingly good post skills, but there was never room for him to play in the post with Shaquille O'Neal occupying the lane during their years together with the Lakers.

In a lot of ways, Bryant is Jordan's equal as a post player, Winter said, except for one critical element. "What's happened to Kobe and his post play - and he is a great post player - is that he's catching the ball just out of the lane and the defenders are forcing him out toward the wing."

As a result of getting pushed out of the post, Winter worries that Bryant may rely too heavily on three-pointers, which Bryant often shoots against intense pressure.

Winter also admits that Bryant abandons aspects of the triangle offense with some regularity. But that's not Winter's main complaint with the guard:

"I'd like to see him play better defense," Winter said, adding that he had addressed the issue recently with Bryant but didn't come away with the idea that Bryant was intent on changing his approach.

"You know Kobe," Winter said with a chuckle. "He has his game plan. I think he heard me. But he feels there's a certain way he's got to play the game. But it doesn't involve a lot of basically sound defense."

Because the Lakers need so much of his effort at the offensive end, Bryant has adopted a save-energy plan on the defensive end, Winter said. "He's basically playing a lot of one-man zone. He's doing a lot of switching, zoning up, trying to come up with the interception.

"The way Kobe plays defensively affects the team," Winter added. "Anybody that doesn't play consistently good defense hurts the team. That's not only Kobe. Our other guards tend to gamble and get beat. Another problem is that the screen and roll is not played correctly."

Winter never really says who's better. But to me, at this stage that's a victory for the legacy of Kobe Bryant. Winter is tough, honest, and as good an authority on this topic as we'll ever get. If he thinks it's a debate worth having, that's really something. Not all that long ago only die-hard Laker fans were seriously making the case that Bryant might be Jordan's equal.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/...el-Jordan.html

[luckystriker]

i for one am very impressed by the talent and skills by kobe as an individual player ; i'm just not a fan of his team. I'm one of the few pinoys that isn't a fan of the Lakers which puts me sa minority group in this thread based on all your previous posts hehe. I'm a Kobe Bryant fan though don't get me wrong. PEACE MGA BRO!

[BlueBimmer]

potek 53pts na si kb24 with 1min to go in OT....wowowi