Kobe homers are like members of the Flat Earth society. They ignore history, numbers, and what everyone around them says and choose instead to believe their own dogma. But sometimes it's nice to have those guys around because without dumb people, there are no smart people. It's all relative.
LOL, people are in denial. Tell me why would the player defending Rodman stay in weak side watching MJ isolated on the other side if not for the illegal defense? Or you need evidence that Bulls ran this play many times in a game? In 90s, every team used a lot of 1v1 and 2v2 isolation offense. It's so boring that the league had to come out the new rule to counter that. Are you trying to deny much less ISO is running today? In old days, there were games illegal defense wasn't strictly called. But you can't violate rules at will. e.g. If you double MJ when he's fighting a position down low without ball, it would be called every time. Zone defense gives you way more flexibility, you don't need a complete playbook to just get away with officiating grey area. And if you check Jordan rules, help defender had to keep moving or it might be called, I doubt you ever read it.
You are entitled to your opinion. But Kobe's closest thing ever since MJ, nothing wrong to compare them. And it's funny LeQuitter' fan are very active in this kind of post.
lebron is near halfway throughout his career; kobe is nearing the end. what lebron has done halfway throughout his career mirrors what jordan has done in the first half of his career (lots of individual accolades/MVPs but no rings. when lebron retires, he'll be top 3-4 PERIOD. hell, if lebron retires right now, he'd be top 25-30 of all time WITHOUT a ring. that's how dominant this guy has been. when kobe retires, he'lll be around top 10, maybe a little higher if he wins his 6th ring.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NLv2F33snCE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> are you serious? teams wanted to HURT michael jordan b/c he was so unstoppable (ask the pistons). nowadays, players touch kobe or any perimeter star player (that includes lebron/wade/pierce/rose) and they whine for a foul.
Can't co-exist with a post up player like Shaq? Then you go on to say that Lebron couldn't to support your point? First off, when did Lebron have a dominant low post player? I hope to God you're not gonna bring up the fact that Shaq's corpse played with the Cavs for a year. Lebron never had a dominant big, and if he did, they would be dominant. How about you replace whichever center the Cavs had with Dwight Howard? They would have ripped the league apart ten times over. As far as drivers/slashers and big men, I agree that one guy has to be the first option and main focus of the offense. But they can easily co-exist. Look at Wade and (somewhat old) Shaq in Miami. Shaq was the second option who had a good number of touches, and he also anchored the defense in the paint.
I just don't understand... Yea Kobe is great but he's just not there... Howard is a great center but can you compare him to Hakeem?
The idea that superstar guards need a long shooting game to "coexist with Shaq" is overrated. Dwyane Wade in 2005-2006 was a pure slasher, with a nearly nonexistent 3pt shot. That Shaq/Wade team got to a Conference Finals, and then won a championship. Talent is talent. 2009 LeBron was a better shooter than 2006 Wade. The difference was that by then, Shaq was a shell of his former self.
The illegal defense wasn't called when it didn't match the offense, ie you could zone but it couldn't be alien to the offense (ie if they have 5 player floating at the perimeter you can have 3 people along the baseline) Zone defense doesn't give you more flexibility, it keeps you out of foul trouble (which is why its used in euro and intl play where the whistles are ultra hot), and it was a particularly stupid idea when teams tried it against Jordan, as hand checking made man to man far more effective than it is today, and man to man today is still better than the zone.
Dwight statistically is pretty close to Hakeem given their ages, Hakeem's golden era was way above what Dwight is today, but Dwight is a 25yo center. Kobe though isn't going to get better.
gordon freakin' hayward and kobe just went mano-on-mano and hayward prevailed. no doubles or nothing for most of the game. let's just say jordan does not approve. he would never let a young white kid man up on him on both ends of the court like that without embarrassing him. what the pistons did in that clip would be called illegal defense in today's L with the quickness. how can you blatantly double someone when that guy doesn't have the ball?
Hayward made me a fan tonight. He wasn't scared and competed. Most are and don't. And he had a nice dunk.
correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Jordan win DPOY to prove his critics wrong who said he was nothing but an offensive player and had no defensive skills?
Are you joking? Of course you can double triple any time a player with ball going into the paint, half of the video is showing just that. Was there any clip a big staying in the paint and went out once a while to avoid 3sec? No, because you MUST stay above free throw line if you are not guarding anybody. Was there any clip MJ established down low and the on-ball defender backed off to prevent an entry pass, or a help defender came over to made that pass difficult? And was there any stationary soft double, with a big staying in the middle of nowhere without moving, but will go for double as soon as MJ picked up the dribble? EPIC FAIL!
so what did the other half of the video clip show? you didn't see just several instances where TWO GUYS just follow MJ from one corner to another even when he doesn't have the ball? that would not be allowed in today's NBA. or when MJ was at the 3pt line and already 2 guys were near the ft line waiting for him, along with his defender trailing him. who does that nowadays except vs lebron for fear of his penetration? what about the physicality? the pistons wanted to murder MJ. look at how his defender ALWAYS had 2 hands on his body at all times when he touched the ball. today a finger touch is called a foul. look at how hard MJ was pushed around in that clip; the energy that MJ had to expend back then to get open AND just to score must have been unbelievable. i don't even think you're serious. again, did you see the defense on kobe tonight? it was man coverage by a jazz team that lost 8 in a row. there wasn't even any hint of a double team. it was like sasha vujacic on lebron james 2 nights ago. unfortunately, kobe couldn't do anything about it. now that's an epic fail.
Not only was Kobe helpless against Opie Haywards smothering defense, but he was getting b****slapped on the other end. Man, I LOVES THIS GAME!!!
Have you seen MJ playing in a real game, I think if you have seen it, you would understand why so many people are going aginst you. I think you are right, kobe's the closest wing to jordon, but even that idea would be challenged because we didn't see all those all-time greats play in a real game, we are just watching Videos......... As much as i like kobe, i have to admit MJ is better, MJ has a kind of atmosphere where he can will his team to a victory but Kobe doesn't give me that kind of feeling. I just feels no one loves bball more than MJ, and that's the difference....today's NBA is filled with too much business, i believe which has hurt the overall love of the bball... skills kind of deteriorated, passion as well..
