Roy will take the next step to SUPERSTAR this season

Every year I underestimate his potential and he continues to improve more than I thought possible. Well, I ain't underestimating him any longer. I say by the end of this season, he will be on par with Kobe, Paul and the other superstar guards of the NBA. He will be legitimately considered for MVP of the NBA this coming season. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

 

Paul...sure...Kobe no

Their stats could be similar but its only because Kobe has better weapons to defer to

 

As long as the blazers are contending, he should be considered mvp material.

 

Paul is significantly better than Kobe at this point. Kobe is no longer at his peak. If Roy surpasses any of the perimeter players ahead of him (James, Paul, Wade, Kobe) this season, it'll be Kobe. Paul is just barely behind James. Kobe is solidly behind both.

 

sure dude...put Kobe with a bunch of underachievers and see what he does. Just because he doesnt go apeshit on the court doesnt mean he cant. Team game wins and he knows that

 

You're free to speculate. The facts are that he's not as productive. I'm sure when he's 60, you'll be saying, "If he WANTED to go ape-shit, he could...he just doesn't want to. He wants to spend time with his family. Family matters and he knows that."

As far as I'm concerned, he's always played a team game...he's just not as good now as he was a few years ago.

 

no hes not as good as a few years ago...but still better than Roy

 

Yes, I've already said that.

 

we've already had this argument

 

As of right now, I think perimeter players would be
James


Paul
Kobe
Wade

Parker
Roy
Pierce
D Williams

Ginobobili, Harris, Bullups, Johnson, Durant and others

I would say that Roy is clearly in the third tier right now, but will move up to second tier this coming year with only James clearly above him.

 

No not really, Kobe's individual playoff run was the most impressive this season. If we go by Regular season then yeah Paul could be better since Bryant has to defer and save something for later at his age and in his situation. Defensively Kobe has the potential to be much better than Paul, it is what cost Chris the MVP back in 07-08. Bryant's usually still better on D throughout the year.

 

I didnt know GOD had a sense of humor!

 

Your existence proves that GOD has a sense of humor!


I am not saying that Roy will be the second best in the NBA, above Paul, wade and Kobe for example, but that Roy will be on Par with those three and a valid argument could be made that any of those players is the best. James I think will still clearly be the best.

 

Having to play at a lower level due to age is a reason why players decline. You're essentially admitting that Kobe is worse now. "Ability level" isn't defined by what you believe the player can do in a single game...it's by what he does actually do on average.

Paul was way ahead of Bryant in terms of production.

He has the potential to be better. That's not very relevant. What's relevant is actually being better. I'd probably rather have Kobe on defense, but the edge isn't enough to overcome Paul's large advantage in production.

As for all the "he has to defer" excuses, that's a great way to make claims like "Paul Pierce is actually better than Kobe...he just has to share the ball with Garnett, Allen and Rondo" and such. I'm pretty sure you'd (rightly) reject such claims. But you engage in such justifications for Kobe.

 

Watching Bryant this season it was almost shocking how his athleticism has declined. He's getting to where Jordan was as a member of the Wizards. But like Jordan, he has developed a game that enables him to conserve his energy. He can still get up there once in a while, but he's certainly not in (say) Dwyane Wade's league athletically.

 

Agreed. When Kobe had teammates as crappy as Paul had this season, the Lakers missed the playoffs. And Kobe was younger then.

 

lol...way to make up history

Kwame Brown (no hands), Brian Cook(cant dribble), Smush Parker(no brain), Aaron Mckie(older than dirt), Bynum (no minutes), Farmar (rookie), Turiaf (heart surgery), Mihm (no ankles)....all he had was Odom.

Yeah...he got that team up 3-1 against PHX in the first round

David West, Peja, and Tyson are FAAAAAAAAR better than what Kobe had that year my friend....but go ahead making stuff up if you want

 

Thanks for the green light! And while on the subject of "making stuff up"
1. I was talking about the Lakers team that missed the playoffs. Not even Kobe could get a team out of the playoffs up 3-1 in the first round.
2. The team that missed the playoffs had Caron Butler and Lamar Odom.

Let's do what you did with this year's Hornets:

Tyson Chandler - no offense, ankle so bad he failed a physical
David West - nowhere near as talented as Odom
Peja - broken down relic with a cranky back
...erm - who else they got?

 

Here's a thought: no doubt Lakers' fans are convinced the Lakers should be firm faves for the title in 2010. How about if Phil Jackson retired? Or, how about if Jackson and Cleveland's Brown switched jobs? Who would you bet on then?

Let's just remember how well the Lakers did with Tomjanovich or Rambis as coach. How invincible was Kobe then?

 

The playoffs are a grueling stretch of games, not a "single" game. Kobe's been the most superior in his last 44 playoff games.

Paul gave up over 19 PER defensively in the playoffs in 07-08. Bryant has been much much better when it has gotten to playoff time, he's just on another level defensively. He gave up 9 and 10 PER at the point/shooting guard positions. While Trevor Ariza was getting toasted by Melo, Kobe locked up Billups then switched onto Melo and locked him up the rest of the series.

There's no bias on my part he had 28 PER after the first round against the best competition in the post-season, and deferred against the Jazz when his load wasn't needed. As has been the case all year he plays better against the more talented squads, when he needs to carry his team.

Actually, it is quite a huge difference, as has been the case the last couple of years. Kobe also takes on multiple positions defensively which Paul cannot. He plays the Pippen role defensively, meaning he has to take on the best perimeter player.

Kobe was the best defender in the playoffs and literally outplayed his Peers, nothing hypothetically. Pierce has never been a superstar, he has no case and that is a bad example overall. He outplayed Paul individually throughout the last two seasons. The post-season should be weighed more heavily than the rest of the season, I'm not using intangibles the production is right there in front of you, as are the Share of post-season wins Bryant contributed.