At this point in their careers, if I'm looking at it from a marketing as well as a basketball angle, Kobe. Three years from now... who knows. ------------------ trade him.
hey in your signature who are you talking about about "TRADE HIM" ------------------ "CB4 in my heart till i die"
DEFINATELY STEVE FRANCIS it is a lot harder to come by a great point guard than a great shooting guard. plus in a few years i will guarantee u people in the NBA will know who STEVE FRANCIS is
I maybe the only one but. . . . I think Kobe is SEVERELY overrated. ALSO and ASIDE Is it me or do the lakers play one of the Best Zones in the League. . . Shaq just floats in the lane now. . Plus they seem to be getting all the Calls/ Breaks from the Refs. . . that sh*T bugs the hell out of me Rocket River
FG: Well, if you want to ask an open ended question without qualifiers or other criteria you will get an opinion only, without any intelligent focus .... sorry guys, but let's face it ... you answered the question from the gut & heart and not the brain, right? Let's make it easier, okay FG: What would you rather have in your hand ... a million dollar 20 lb gold nugget or an old piece of dried out driftwood???? Would your answer be different if you were in the middle of the ocean, and sinking fast? Wouldn't you rather have you arms wrapped around that old hunk of spongy wood? Ya see how context is important? Okay now back to your question .... If you had your choice who would you pick Kobe or Steve if: 1. You have a team that really needs a point guard but have some respectable 2's and 3's already on the roster? 2. You have a big man at center who is arguably the best in the game today, you have a couple veterans at the point, but nothing spectaular at the 2 or 3. Who would you want? 3. You are building a team almost from scratch and have a chance to take a seasoned individual scorer, but he's still "learning the team concept" shooting guard, .... or, a young team player who has point and shooting guard skills that although phenomenal, have yet to been fully tapped. Who do you pick? 4. You get to pay one player a cool $8-9 Million a year for another six years, while your entire roster equals the Gross National Product of Panama ....or, you pay one player $3 Million a year for three years with an option on the fourth for roughly the same relative team effect, and enough left on your overall payroll to get some pretty decent roster players, and make a profit. Who do you pick,now? Cheers.
We almost had them both actually.... But the Lakers weren't THAT interested in Pippen... man that would a be dream made in heaven. Francis.... Off the Backboard... to KOBE 180 Alley oop SLAMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!! --Rocketman
Popeye's argument not withstanding, always always always Francis. I will admit my bias now: I dislike Kobe Bryant for reasons wholly unrelated to basketball. But, reading this question, I took a moment to step back and consider Bryant and what he brings to a team objectively. And I've decided that all personal biases aside, Francis is still the better and more promising player. To speak to Popeye's objection briefly: if I were the Lakers, I'd rather have Francis playing SG for me than Bryant.
I pick Steve Francis every time, every scenario. It's a no brainer, IMHO. While Kobe has shown an ability to, at times, take over a game with his scoring, he has not displayed an ability to control a game with his passing. I have just been absolutely amazed with this ability/characteristic Steve Francis posesses. When he had 23 points in the first half of the Bulls game, I expected him to come out shooting the ball, like any other young hot-shot superstar would do, trying to reach 50 points. Yet, to my amazement, Francis attempted only 2 shots in the half, reacting to the defense's coverage, and wisely distributed the ball to his teammates. The Result? Francis only 27 points, and a Rocket win. It seems every other play, we see Steve Francis drive to the hoop, and dish it back out for easy shots. Francis has shown me superior leadership skills as well as a better grasp of the team concept. He can dominate a game no matter what the defense gives him.
Dr of Dunk, Until I see your dunk, you're on my trading block, too. Popeye...excellent. Nothing to add to that!!
FG137, Next time, get your questions approved by popeye prior to posting. God forbid you don't narrow the focus for everyone. Everyone else, Have popeye determine the inspiration for your message before posting. We'd hate to have to read what's in your heart. Better yet, let's have popeye post the questions and answers and we'll just read. Submitted for popeye's approval: ANSWER: I'd take Kobe. As much as I like Francis' play and personality, I like Kobe's size, experience for his age, and skills. BTW-I'm sure popeye didn't intend it, but his post was VERY condescending IMHO.
i agree with everything tb-cain said! from popeye: "you will get an opinion only, without any intelligent focus that's what this thread is about.
Condescending???? Def: scornful, disdaining, contemptuous, overbearing Mmmmmm ...... When I posted "... an opinion only, without any intelligent focus" , it was intended to question not the right to an opinion, nor even the subject of that opinion, but the path of reasoning used to get that opinion. Simply put, we all would answer without regard to any other effort, that "Francis" is our man. We all would quickly use our hearts and guts (and not our brains) to answer FG's question. I even attempted to use some humor to make my point. (I guess I better not give up my day job!) Anyway, my point to FG's question was: that although we all would quickly answer "Francis" for the obvious and simple reason, on more careful consideration and when put in other contexts, some may call "Kobe" the better choice. Personally, I agree with those that would take Francis under any circumstances. But that is/was beside the point. Sometimes when I post, I think I am getting my point accross. Sometimes if it seems edgy, or may easily be interpreted as a little "high natured", I will add a smiley face or something to show the true spirit of it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. FG: If it appeared to be condescending to you in particular, I apologize. That was not my intent. The "without any intelligent focus" phrase was directed at the answers you should expect from probably all Rocket ("... sorry guys ... ") fans (myself included).... not being able to make an objective decision, etc..... about Kobe's worth, etc.... Anyway, sorry FG137, if you took it any other way. For Anyone Who Qualifies I hesitated briefly before writting this paragraph, but hell .... for any who couldn't find the humor, the direction or the intent to my post ... well, you can piss off. Oops ..... almost forgot. The previous paragraph should not be taken out of context. If it appeared to face up anyone in particular .... with a little mild to moderate sarcasm ... and, if it appeared to be clearly abrasive and scornful in nature ... maybe even a little contemptuous ... then the ones it was directed at probably got the point.
i understood popeye. pick (a) or (b) with no qualifiers or opinion from the poster. i'm losing focus,,,aaahhhh. i'm still taking the gold nugget though.
I would take Bryant hands down. I'm not even a fan of Bryant, but he's just a damn good player. The guy has averaged 3.8 and 3.9 assists for the last 2 years. His career high in assists is 12 which just happens to be the exact same career high for Francis. So if Francis has shown the ability to take over games with his assists, it leads me to believe Bryant is capable of taking over games with assists too. Bryant is a very good passer. That's a highly underrated aspect of his game. If he played exclusively at point, he would rack up some impressive assist numbers. They both have very similar skills except for the fact that Bryant is taller. He's a much better rebounder. When he plays SF, he frequently gets over 10 rpg. For as much as he handles the ball, his career TO ratio is 2.2 a game. He doesn't turn the ball over too much. He shoots for a good percentage from the field. I think I heard a stat that he led all SG's in FG% last year. He's taller, more versatile. Much better defender than Francis. Shut down Pippen all last year. This year he's been taking on some tough point guard defensive assignments. Can provide weak side shot blocking. And just happens to be 6 months younger than Stevie. Bryant probably has a slightly higher potential ceiling than Francis. Stevie is the better pure athlete. Bryant works harder on his game than Steve. Actually, he is one of the hardest workers in the entire NBA. It's wonderful to have either one of these young specimens. But I think Kobe Bryant clearly has the overall edge. How this comparison holds up in 10 years remains to be seen.
kobe hogs the ball worse than I have seen in a while..kobe is too busy trying to do crazy wannabe-michael(he's not) shots with 4 defenders on him they should have won it all by now with all that talent..still havent...kobe I feel is their main cancer..too individualistic..I do admit he is a better than average player but just like stoudamire cant do anything when it count..a cancer..even though I hate malone kobe was sitting there waving him off in the allstar game that one time...no respect... kobe thinks he is more than what he is..and remember his rookie year against the jazz in the playoffs when he hoisted up all those ill advised threes and looked like a complete idiot? he lost that game and I feel their chances albeit the jazz were the better squad kobe still contributed to their demise just ask del harris or rambis...I just dont like his cocky style hes the kind of guy you just want to punch in the face..... francis is still a little wild.. but still better all around player...team oriented...points assists dunks..whatever..they arent even in the same book...and halfway through the season(rookie at that) francis is to me glaringly..big time strikingly better than kobe would ever hope to be 2 guard or 1... apples to oranges... you may say but francis any day of the week.... and I d take that to the bank personally.... no questions asked.... I ll agree though that maybe i am biased
Da Man: You cannot determine the consistency of an action with the career high. For example: Hakeem Olajuwon's career high is 52 points. Cliff Robinson's career high is 50 points. Does that mean that Cliff Robinson is almost as great a scorer as the Dream was?
I know that a career high doesn't mean he'll consistently be able to produce those numbers. Unlike Clifford Robinson, I see the skills in Kobe to be able to dominate in the passing game. He's uncanny ability to create gives him the opportunity for a lot of assists. But not only can he create, he's a very good passer. Has a very good court sense. But his positions mandates that his first priority is to put the ball in the hole. And he can do that with the best of them. But if a situation is presented, he can more than be able to get his teammates involved and dominate that facet of the game.
