His post up is mentioned a lot, but the point is he's gone mano a mano a lot more and in more different areas than Lebron... And since when did Kobe become such a bad shooter and lose his ability to drive? Many people here are focusing entirely on Lebron's ability to back him down, but what about making shots in general, afterall, that's what will win the game, not who takes easier shots. You'd think easier shots mean a higher percentage, but that depends on their individual shooting touch from different spots. Kobe is still a better shooter than Lebron, from everywhere. I think Kobe's got a softer/better touch from about 4 to 16 feet. I can't see either player getting closer than that for more than a very limited amount of times and they may not see the point of shooting from any farther than well inside the arc, especially if all shots count as 1 pt.
LeBron has shot better than Kobe from the field every year since 2004. That's #1, so throw out all the BS excuses, LeBron just scores as a better rate than Kobe. LeBron was not lost when Shaq was playing, who were all these mystery shooters they added from the previous year? When you make arguments, at least have them be factual and/or relevant. Everything you say has no basis in reality. The fact that you consider LeBron James a more athletic Artest on offense is proof that you view the game through hater-vision. Artest could never set the all-time NBA assist record for a forward.
Kobe backs off a step and neutralizes Lebron's speed. Now it becomes about Lebron's pull-up jumper. I wouldn't put my money on that.
Why not? There's no 24 second clock and no help defenders. Do you think Kobe would literally strip the ball before LeBron can get it to the rim? LeBron gets it to the rim nearly at will against entire defenses geared to stop him from doing that exact thing.
You speak as if LeBron literally cannot move anywhere but in a straight line. If Kobe backs up, it gives LeBron time to generate speed and cross the ball over where he can finish with either hand. Once LeBron gets a shoulder on you, you better have help or he's finishing at the basket. He also has a spin move/drop step where he'll simply shrug you off and dunk on you. Think about what you're saying. You're saying that if a defender backs up a step on James, he would be relegated to shooting long jumpers. Do you realize how unbelievably easy he would be to guard? That's what many of you are saying in this thread, but I find it difficult to imagine that these NBA coaches paid millions of dollars haven't figured this out. I feel like I'm defending Josh Smith in a one-on-one battle with Kobe Bryant here or something. I am profoundly confused as to whether we are watching the same player in the same sport.
lebron may not be as great of a jumpshooter as kobe, but he's an elite offensive NBA player after all. it's not like teams haven't dared him to beat them with a J. and it's not like defenders haven't played "off" lebron b/c of his speed and strength. these things have been done to lebron before. we're talking about how lebron can score. but tell me how kobe can score v. lebron besides contested jumpshots? don't tell me kobe can beat lebron off the dribble; he couldn't even shake tony allen off the dribble. i take my money on lebron any day with kobe taking contested jumpshots. lebron will get his fair share of layups with his power. let's be real now.
i think these guys do think lebron is josh smith: athletic, can't shoot, and only finishes around the rim. that's the only reason i can think of.
lebron is faster and stronger than kobe. that's a fact. kobe will not beat lebron off the dribble to get to the basket for easy buckets on a consistent basis. that's a fact from a basketball point of view. in a 1-on-1 game with no handchecking fouls, lebron's physicality going to the basket will be amplified even more. he just needs to lower his shoulder while going to the basket and kobe will have to give way. again, lebron's a 50% shooter. sure, that stat is from a team game. but *******, it ain't like he's a scrubbish shooter. he CAN shoot. he's just not an elite jumpshooter, but the man can shoot.
You know what? I realized what the problem is. Too many people have seen this commercial: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RL6pYmybB9Y?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RL6pYmybB9Y?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> It's brainwashed us into thinking that 39 year old Jordan's knowledge of winning, clutchness, and guile would defeat the 23 year old's brash athleticism. In reality, of course, 23 year old Jordan drives and dunks 10 times in a row.
kobe shoots basically 45% every year, whether he was 18 or 30. it doesn't matter who is playing with him. he shoots the same % every year basically. don't you get that? why are you even arguing that point? his lowest fg% is 43%, highest is 46%.
If by "Lebron made teammates worse" you mean "Lebron carried teammates known for putting up solid numbers on horrible teams to the only taste of regular season success they've ever had at the expense of some of their raw numbers" then you are correct.
Well, the closer you get to the rim the more he has to travel in a straight line....he can't just keep crossing over....Like i've said a lot of times before...this isn't the NBA..not a team situation. Lebron gets to the rim using picks, spacing, etc the majority of the time and although he does have the ability to drive on people at will, he's not being guarded by Kobe bryant like 90% of the time. It's completely different in a one on one situation. You do not, under any circumstances let your man blow by you because he'll have a wide open layup....kobe may be fast enough to stay close, or he may back up some...either way, if the defender is between you and the basket you're not going to get right under the rim, unless you excessively shove them. you'd have to get some good fakes in, but that's not going to happen very often. Usually you'll pull up or post up a few feet away. Do people here actually consistently back people down right under the rim when they play one on one??? And i don't mean when y'all play your little brother...it's not as likely/easy as people make it out to be unless you have a HUGE size advantage, which Lebron doesnt. I never said he was a scrubbish shooter..never said he couldnt shoot... there's no way you can claim Kobe won't beat him off the dribble like that....i dont think either of them can do that, but its ridiculous to claim it as a fact. You're acting like Kobe has to shoot and Lebron meanwhile will always be able to get an open layup. Kobe's got moves off the post where he goes to the rim, just because he sets up there doesn't mean he's taking a jumper or a fade away. You dont believe he'll get Lebron in the air and get easy buckets that way? What's lebron going to do? Drive or pull up, maybe post up, but that's doubtful. What's Kobe going to do ? Who knows because he's got all kinds of moves. And let's not forget Lebron is more likely to be streaky than Kobe. Ok. Hey your false is false!! Yeah pretty easy to just to type that out with no other commentary. You've been given 20 shots to save your life, gotta pick lebron or kobe to make a certain percentage from all over the court. You don't know what that percentage will be until after you pick them, and you're telling me you'll pick Lebron? Or are you going to tell me it's false because Lebron has a better percentage in one spot out of countless other ones?
lebron does have a HUGE size advantage. he's like 50 lbs heavier, and he's bigger AND faster. he has a HUGE physical advantage. you don't get to see it in the NBA b/c rarely do stars go 1-on-1. lebron makes ron artest looks small. i can make that claim that kobe can't beat lebron off the dribble to the rim consistently. kobe's knees getting older, and he couldn't even beat tony allen off the dribble. lebron is faster and stronger, so yes i can make that claim. lebron is arguably the best perimeter defender in the game by most accounts. and he's in his prime. sure kobe will be able to juke lebron here and there, but for the most parts, kobe's shots will be highly contested. and your assertion that kobe's a better jumpshooter than lebron everywhere on the court? well, not on 3s. that's for sure. unless you lack skills, which clearly lebron doesn't, the player with the size/quickness/strength will always win. it's common sense. kobe and lebron all-around skills are pretty much top notch. so the advantage is to lebron's physicality.
gotta leave it at that then, i've said everything that can be said for my POV...but, i am interested in knowing why Kobe isn't a better all around shooter, especially from 3. What are we looking at, shooting charts, career average, season average?
What basis are you looking for? Name one player that gets better stats with LeBron. We Heard how Wally could benefit from double team of LeBron, he ended up shooting 10% less. Shaq, a slump, Jamison, a slump. Ben, played like he should retire in Cavs and somehow manage to contribute again in Pistons. Simply name a player leaving Cavs with better term? Other than Boozer that was way before LeBron getting to a prime player, everyone became scrub. Mo W was the only one close to his numbers in previous years but he still got less. Compared to Kobe's team. Gasol thrived, scored slightly less but way more efficient and got more rebound. Ariza, from unable to make rotation to MLE player. Brown, from same status to LLE player. S.Parker, somehow cheated Riley for 2yr 4M and got cut in 2 months. Atkins, didn't like Kobe but got career high in his only year in Lakers. When you try to make comparison, there's no comparison. Kobe may not be as efficient as LeBron as he didn't go to the hoop as often. But he commanded double team with and without the ball and allow the bigs to have space operating inside. LeBron's only compatible with shooting bigs like big Z and they ain't gonna be efficient as bigmen. It's a systemic problem with LeBron's approach. There are only so many shots inside, you get them, bigs have to take outside shots, it's not more efficient as a team. Kobe's an elite mid-range player and this is not a problem. In a playoff battle, it also positions bigs to have better position for offensive rebounds, not the case for LeBron's team when the rest of the team is parking on 3pt line.
LeBron shot better than Kobe from 3 last year on more attempts. Want to say that Kobe was injured? Fine, Kobe shoots a whopping .011% better than LeBron for his career, 34% to 32.9%. Hardly an "especially" better 3 point shooter. And don't say that Kobe takes contested 3's and people back off LeBron, because both are guarded closely and both have pretty questionable shot selection from downtown. I don't know what other measure you would judge their 3 point shooting on.
You said Kobe still shoots better from everywhere on the court. The numbers/percentages says the complete opposite of what you said. The 2nd part is irrelevant to what I responded to. It doesn't matter if I give them 20 shots to save my life who I would pick. Facts are this past season Kobe Bryant did not shoot better than Lebron from everywhere on the court
