Jackson cites Bryant's playmaking skills So who's the better all-around player, Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan? One might want to ask Phil Jackson since he's the only one to coach both players. Comparing the two players, the current Lakers and former Chicago Bulls coach said Saturday that Bryant has demonstrated a better all-around game than any other player he has coached -- including Michael Jordan. "Kobe's become the floor leader of a basketball team that was kind of looking for that nature of a player, who could not only be a scorer, but also be a playmaker or consistently make big plays at critical times," Jackson said. "So it was very important for Kobe to step into that role that he was envisioned at. I've always held the bar up very high for Kobe, and he's not only reached that bar, but he's jumping over the top of it right now. "And I think it's the best that I've ever seen a player of mine play with an overall court game. I'm asking him to do so much, and he's accomplishing it." Jackson was quickly asked for a clarification. That includes Michael Jordan? "I never asked Michael to be a playmaker," Jackson said. "That's the greatest player that I've ever had, that I could consider the greatest player in the game, and I never asked him to be a playmaker in those terms. I asked him to be playmaker when he was doubled or tripled. But Kobe has to set up the offense, to advance the ball, to read the defense, to make other players happy, and he's doing a great job of that." http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2001/2001/0527/1205474.html
I bet Jordan puts 60 on the Lakers in their first matchup with the Wizards... he is not one to forget statements such as this. Not that I think Michael will be back to his old form, but he will be capable of playing like his old self 3 or 4 times next season, which will be enough for him to punk the Lakers and Phillip "Zen Master" Jerkson. I look forward to it. ------------------ Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.
Phil just wanted to make sure Michael would come back next season. It's gonna be interesting! ------------------ Technically speaking, we're #1! ~Portland fans
Michael Jordan not a playmaker? Weren't he and Pippen the guys that always started the triangle? And didn't MJ average 6 assists a game? I think Jackson is just trying to make up for ridiculing Kobe earlier this year so much. ------------------
I think MJ will light up the whole league. After statements from Cuban and others. I was somewhat surprised that yesterday Chuck called Kobe a better player at 22 than MJ a better player at 22. Of course MJ was a sophomore at 22 and Kobe has been in the league four years. ------------------ Never Underestimate the Heart of a Champion
MJ will get run around by the young guns of the league such as TMac, Kobe, Vince, and Iverson.. It's not like you see Hakeem putting the moves on Shaq..why would anyone expect MJ to? ------------------
I know I'll get criticized for this but at his age Kobe is a better player than MJ. Now that doesn't mean that Kobe wll be better than MJ but Kobe is still very young. It took MJ several years before he developed a conssitent jumper.
Kobe is not better at 22. Please explain how? At 22 going on 23 (like Kobe), MJ was a rookie for the Bulls. He averaged 28.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 5.9 apg, 2.4 spg and .84 bpg. He shot 51.5% from the field and 84.5% from the line. He was a starter for the All Star team that season. This year, cleary Kobe's best, he averaged 28.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 5 apg, 1.68 spg and .63 bpg. He shot 46.4% from the field and 85.3% from the line. Kobe's jumper is better now, I'll give you that. However, I would still rather have Mike if I wanted two points. The fact that he could averaged 28 ppg that year, while still shooting over 51%, despite constantly being double and triple teamed (something Kobe has never faced)because he had no help is amazing. This year Kobe only outscored Mike by .3 points and had a lower fg% even though he is rarely the main focus of the opposing defense. Mike at 22 was a better defender, passer and leader. You can debate the scoring, but do you think you would really win? Mike's stats at 22 are better, and he was clearly leading his team (he was the man). All the pressure was on him. He didn't have anyone else to feed off of, or to make his life easier, so I give him the edge intangible wise as well. So how do you figure Kobe is better? ------------------
Kobe is better defensively at this point. Again it probably is because Kobe has alot of energy to play D since some of the time he is not the focal point of the offense. MJ became a great defensive player but early on he spend all of his energy offensively. Also with Shaq ineffective in a couple of the playoff games we see Kobe putting up the same kind of offensive numbers that MJ did in his second year in the playoffs vs the Celtics. My point is Kobe is a better all around at 22 than MJ. Again it doesn't mean he will be better but at this point (at 22) Kobe is better than MJ, IMO.
Why don't we just wait until Kobe's carrer is over and then compare? Yes, Kobe looks better at 22 then Jordan did but Kobe also has been in the league for 4 years. Jordan was in his second at 22. I am just going to wait until it is all over for the two of them. ------------------ Stevierebel
I think Icehouse has pretty much settled this "debate". Bryant also had 4 years of pro experience before this year. Jordan had only had 3 years of college experience (the equivalent of about 1 NBA season) against far inferior competition.
Speaking of inferior competition, Kobe looks better because he's going up against the NBA as it stands today. Noone can stand up against the Lakers, and therefore Kobe looks much better than he would if he were, say, on today's Bulls. Jordan, while putting up magnificent numbers, was still overshadowed by Magic and Bird. ------------------ Gascon
All Phil is saying is that Kobe has a better all-around game. Saying someone has a better all-around game says nothing about who is the better player. Because of their passing and ability to score at will, it is often said that Magic and Larry Bird had the best all-around *offensive* games, but no one questions either are better offensive players to Jordan. Duncan has a better all-around game to Shaq (because of more range), but Shaq is the better player. Walton was better overall to Jabbar, but... ...and just for the fun of it...Francis has a better all-around game to Mobley, but Rudy thinks Mobley is the better go-to guy. Better all-around game does not mean Phil thinks Kobe is greater overall than Jordan, at any age, and Phil definitely says that in the last paragraph. Often, calling someone better all-around is used as a crutch in arguments about who is better. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited May 29, 2001).]
I didn't If you reread my post, I said that Charles Barkley said that. ------------------ Never Underestimate the Heart of a Champion
Great post again icehouse. I need to add nothing to this conversation, because you said it all. ------------------
Kobe Bryant is better than Michael Jordan at a similar age. Why? I'll tell you. 1) Defense - Michael Jordan was not known for his defense until later in his career, and at 22, he was not a good defender. Kobe Bryant at this point is the premier perimeter defender in the game today. 2) Offense - Don't site stats at me, we all know that the NBA of the 80's was much more focused on offense than defense, as such his stats for that era cannot be translated into this era. Nowadays Jordan would not have scored 28ppg relying almost solely on his athleticism. Bryant has a much more refined offensive game than Jordan did at a similar age. Bryant has not been the main focus of defenses so far in his career like Jordan was(but don't give me this nonsense about not double-teamed, the man is constantly double-teamed), though I have seen quotes from Coaches like Alvin Gentry and Jeff Van Gundy that would suggest otherwise, conversely he has never had the offensive freedom, and absolute green light Jordan had to shoot anytime he wanted to. Looking at his past history, w/o O'Neal in the line-up his scoring average has increased, though his FG% did decease. At this time in their careers, Bryant was better on offense and defense than Jordan was at a similar age. And Bryant is about to win his second NBA title. ------------------ This space currently being renovated. We apologize for the inconvenience.
If you think he's being double teamed, then you don't know what a double team is..... ------------------
Kobe Bryant has the ball, two guys come to defend him, leaving one other guy open. Seems like a double team to me. ------------------ This space currently being renovated. We apologize for the inconvenience.
I've watched every game, and I haven't seem him constantly doubled yet. Here are a couple of situations that I think are misinterpreted as double teams by some Kobe comes off a screen and the player defending the screen comes out to stop Kobe, making it seem as if it's a double team when in actuality it's not Kobe goes 1 on 4 on a fastbreak, and the defense has no choice but to help Kobe makes a move baseline or to the hole, a defender will slide over and help, Kobe will pick up his dribble and they will trap him There are no deliberate double teams being thrown at Kobe like you see against Iverson, Carter, and the guards on the Rockets. As far as his defense, the entire Laker team is composed of better than average defenders, therefore he can gamble and not be worried about getting burned in the process. The reason he is able to play pressure defense on the perimeter is because even if his man goes by him, they will be met by Shaq. I can't think of any other player in the league that has that kind of safety net aside from maybe Iverson with Motumbo. Let's not diminish the importance of the triangle in creating easy scoring opportunities for him. What the system does is create perfect spacing for Kobe to go one on one if a play breaks down. Also, it allows him to be a step ahead of his defender when the ball is swung to him due to the fact that the defender will be rotating off of sagging into the lane to help on Shaq. If you want the perfect example of a player with offensive freedom you need look no further than Jerry Stackhouse. If Kobe were in his role, with the talent that Stackhouse has around him, he improves that team at most by 5 wins. ------------------ [This message has been edited by tacoma park legend (edited May 30, 2001).]
