Lebron is more difficult to scheme for because he has much better court sense and understanding of his teammates on top of his strength/explosiveness. Those things are far more important than a less pure jumper. Magic didn't have a great jumper either, didn't stop him from being one of the 3 best non-centers to ever play. Also, not only this year, but think of what Lebron has done to Detroit in the last couple of playoffs they have met. Now think back to when Kobe played them in the finals. Kobe might be better against average/weak defense, against a top defense Lebron is better. Ditto for Wade in 2005/2006 form.
Lebron is the best player in the NBA period. He makes his teams alot better than they are. The most important skill you can have as a player. Not that Kobe doesn't have this skill, but Lebron is the most gifted player to play in this League at his age. And he is a better leader and impossible to contain if even one of his team mates steps up and plays well. It is very simple, if you surround Lebron with decent talent, he will win in most playoff series. And as long as injuries don't make his career short, I think he will prove that. If Lebron played on the Shaq-Lakers instead of Kobe, I think the Lakers win 5 championships in a row and Shaq never leaves. Kobe may or may not win another championship post Shaq again. I don't think he wins more than 1 more max.
I'm going to agree with this statement. If Ray Allen was playing this way in the other series on a consistent basis they wouldn't have been going to game 7s. Celtics just found their groove at the right time.
I don't think this is fair. Boston played much better in the laker series compared to Cleveland series, both offensively and defensively. Went to the finals last year also gave the cleveland team alot of mental toughness, which Laker obviously lacked. can't blame everything on Kobe.
What's up with all the Lebron love here? I remember during the WCF, 50% of the threads here in NBA dish are Kobe threads.
Depends on the matchup. I think Lebron is a harder matchup for the Celtics than Kobe. Not neccesarily true for other teams. My theory is Celtics have a harder time matching up with Lebron because he has more meat-- he can muscle through the Celtics D better than Kobe can.
I know it is not everything but it is a lot. Look at Celtics defense on LeBron. I know Kobe didn't have his best games either and LeBron had scored something like 40 but they had done a great job, they had forced him to take jumpshoots and he had been done. They did the sam thing against Kobe - he played better than LeBron, he had his problems but he still played better - of course in my opinion
You are right, that is unbelivable. I remember people comparing Kobe to MJ and now they all say he sucks
What makes you think the Celts had a harder time with LeBron than Kobe? The first 4 games of the ECFs, they made LeBron totally impotent. LeBron was definitely spectacular in a couple of games, but the Celts handled him quite well overall.
Downtown Sniper, thanks for the common sense. Atlanta took the Celtics to 7 games. Does that mean Joe Johnson is better than Kobe too? That was when Kobe was a winner. Now, he's a loser. (Of course, Lebron's a loser too. They should be holding Pierce's jockstrap.)
