Kobe's ability as a "closer" needs to be called out

When Lebron has anyone near as good as prime Shaq or prime gasol, the tide WILL change. And Kobe has never been a good closer. He also gets worse as the stakes get higher (what's the over on his shooting percentage this series, 40%?)

 

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1- Boston's defense is awesome
2- Kobe's teammates suck

With that said, i'd take Kobe to close a game over the whole planet without any doubt

 

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LOL @having to go back 10 years to find a Kobe playoff gamewinner. And he shot like 30% in those Finals, BTW (should have been a 4-0 sweep if he wasn't too busy building a brick outhouse).

And, yeah, as Mr. Space City shows us, Kobe's teammates sure do suck...

 

That's just BS. Yes, the media hype around Lebron is ridiculous. But the media is just as bad with Kobe.

 

Being better is about getting the job done. Is Ray Allen a better player than prime Shaq because he's better at hitting outside shots and free throws?

 

I've been really impressed by Ray's defense in the Finals. He's never been known as a defender but he's doing an amazing job.

 

Jason Friedman

 

I would take kobe over the fragile players we had this era. No hesitation.

 

I thought the thread was about being a "closer". You can't be a closer without being money from the field and the line.

 

Any sane person would. Kobe is a great player. I would rank him behind Shaq and Duncan as the third best player in the league in the last decade.

 

if it wasn't for Celts coming back from a 23 point deficit, in game 4 of the 2008 Finals, the 2008 Final would have gone the other way

 

You mean teams don't defend LeBron, Melo, Wade, etc. in the clutch?

You can have a long highlight of Kobe moment because he took the most clutch shot. That doesn't mean he is the best. Among the elite players, he is the least likely to pass when he gets a potentially game winning shot.

I know Kobe fans will ignore this. But here is a good article on Kobe's alleged clutchness.
http://www.slate.com/id/2255932/

 

Yes! Our very own Friedman, good call.

 

From the video's Kobe clearly took the last shot and missed, thus being the closer. I don't believe you'll find a player that makes every shot in the clutch, not even Jordan. That being said Ron and Gasol were doing their jobs by going after the offensive rebound for a put back.

Are you saying that, Paul or Ron are better closer's because their stats are higher??

IMO Kobe and Lebron are both hiped by the market geeks, but IMO Kobe at this point he's the best closer in the league. It doesn't necessarily mean he has the best stats, it means that the opposing team knows what's coming and does everything they can to stop it, but they can't or just have to play the odds or take their chances. That's being the closer, see ex. "Hakeem".

 

what do the celtics have to do with kobe being the best closer?

kobe is the proclaimed best closer in the game bu has yet to close a game this series.. dont see how that associates itself with the celtics.

who said that?

people in this thread are blaming his teammates when they have saved him many times. championship teams have players who step up when their star is struggling but after 1 game people were acting like kobe around a bunch of scrubs.

and for a guy that is proclaimed to be the best closer he has a history of struggled in the biggest stages throughout his career.

 

What does that mean? Teams don't do everything they can to stop Melo or Lebron, or other "closers"? I just can't fathom the excuses given the clear statistical evidence that Kobe is NOT the best closer.

 

Some clutch stats:

Game Winners: http://www.82games.com/gamewinningshots.htm
Clutch Stats: http://www.82games.com/0910/CSORT11.HTM

From the 03-04 to 08-09 seasons, Kobe is 14-56 in game winning shots in the regular season. 4th most game winners during that time (behind James, Carter and Ray Allen). As for the playoffs during that time, hes 4-8 in game winning shots.

For fun, T-Mac shot 9-32, Stevie Frachise shot 9-22 and Yao shot 6-18 in game winning shots. In 03-04, Yao was one of the game winning shot percentage leaders going 4-7. SF3 was a leader in 04-05 by shooting 5-8 in game winning shots.

As for Clutch Stats in 08-09(4th quarter or overtime, less than 5 minutes left, neither team ahead by more than 5 points), Lebron leads in points per 48 with 66.1 and behind him is Kobe with 51.2. If it matters, Lebron played in 17 more "clutch" games than Kobe. Also, Lebron has a +/- of +37, while Kobe manages +7. Bron pretty much trumps Kobe in every category.

Again for fun, our boys Landry and Brooks made the list. Landry shoots a blistering .694 during Clutch Time. Best percentage out of players that attempted 10 or more shots per 48. Gonna miss the guy .

 

keep looking at the stats and ignore what you actually see on the court