Wade outplayed Kobe today, Kobe was terrible on defense and he was forcing it on offense. But I don't think you can question Kobe's hunger, Wade was playing just as bad at the beginning of the season. We will see come playoff time!
he's too old to even want to remotely peak by now, maybe 3-4 years ago, it's the problem with a veteran team and why boston will drop a bunch over the next 2-3 months.
Wade is a former Finals MVP and has been one of the top five players in the league for the past five years or so. He's definitely a HOF player.
Lebron is a great regular season player statistically, but there's no way in HELL (especially after the Celtics series last year) that he's even close to Kobe.
points? assists? fg% efficiency? again, everytime people bring up kobe v. player, the only arguments for kobe are his legacy and rings. kobe hasn't been a better individual player than wade or lebron for 2-3 years. kobe hasn't shown up to play lebron for the past 2-3 years when their teams meet. great players don't let another great player show them up repeatedly. that was why tmac was never better htan kobe. that was why nobody was better than jordan. and again, you bring up the playoffs. the cavs' suckiness this year should tell you how much of a load lebron was carrying last yr just for them to make the playoffs. a potential 40 game drop off is ridiculous for what people thought was a "pretty good" supporting cast. that supporting cast is arguably a bottom 3 team in the L and might not even break 20-25 games this year.
b-b-b-b-but mo williams and antwan jamison are all-stars b-b-b-b-but lebron makes his teammates worse.
Who cares? It's the regular season. Great players don't coast in the playoffs. LeBron was an embarrassment during the Celtics series. Trying to show up other elite players during the regular season is why Jordan and Kobe were the best? No - it's because their teams could count on them to be superstars when needed most. Nobody will remember this supposed "statement" in June. You can take that to the bank.
how the hell is 29, 9, 8 an embarrassment in the playoffs? he had ONE bad game in game 5 and he's an embarrassment. kobe had like 5-6 bad games in the playoffs. and yet he won. and he had his worst game in game 7. and yet he won. show up? when you have a great team, you don't have to show up all the time, even in the playoffs. lebron didn't have a great team. the game he didn't show up, they got blown out. you'll see lebron do the same thing in the playoffs this year with most likely different results. is it b/c of him "being better?" no, it's b/c he has a much better team around him with wade and bosh. PS - jordan always dominated the reg. season too by the way. ALWAYS. he played at a lebron-like level statistically in every reg. season. that's why he was considered the best. he dominated the reg. season AND playoffs.
QUESTION: What is up with this movement to promote the BIG TWO and denegrate Kobe? Seems like every post in the dish these days is about Blowing Lebron, Wade etc up while simultaneously put Kobe down. Kobe is great. Period. No PERS , STATS, anecdotes etc. will change that Get over it . . sheesh . Lebron and wade are great two. but until they have the hides on the wall . . it don't mean as much Hitting a target in the shooting range 10 out 10 times doesn't mean you are a great hunter LeBron and Wade will get theirs by hook [their on will] or by crook [Cause Stern says so ] Just wait. . . be patient . . . let it go. Rocket River
Better teammate. Better scorer. Better passer. Better defender. The only thing Kobe has at this point is his jumpshot but that's pretty much it.
Again, Kobe is on decline right now. His body has fallen, he couldn't drive past Arroyo last night. Wade has a really good work ethic considering he bounced back from multiple injuries working hard.
Having a superior work ethic doesn't automatically mean you're a better player than someone else. Yao has had a superior work ethic throughout his career to Shaq, yet who's the better player? Kobe having a higher bball IQ than Lebron is certainly debatable. If Kobe has such drive and passion for the game, why didn't he show up yesterday for a much-hyped game (and bring his teammates with him)?
I wish we had someone as embarrassing on our team, considering that LeBron put up 27, 9, 7, 2, 1 on 45% shooting (Kobe's avg that season) that series.
