Im not sure why I'm so amazed over and over again when I watch these vids. It's like I forget how great he is. This one is long but well worth it. Nothin flashy to the vid. Just Kobe doin what he does better than anyone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyKgaeAoa-g http://www.therealkobebryant.com/2009/09/22/kobe-bryant-greatness-personified/#more-763
It's not like Kobe was some random schmuck who wasn't near the rest in any regard (except Lebron's size and TMac's length -- though he does have a really wide frame giving him a huge wingspan). In his physical/athletic peak (age 22-25) he was quicker than Lebron, stronger than Wade, and faster than Jordan. (Not to mention a better in-game dunker than all 3) People need to relax in talking about his lack of athleticism. He may not be an out-of-this-world leaper anymore, but it wasn't as if he possessed no athletic ability ever to begin with.
Yeah people forget that when you play with Shaq in his prime you're going to give up stats. Kobe has become a better Slasher since then as well with the lane less crunched in. Wade doesn't even have the vertical Kobe does, and LeBron leads the league in time used per possession which isn't taken into account in PER. Pace adjusted he scored the most points ever per game back in 05-06, at the same efficiency as Jordan (points per shot essentially).
I'd even venture to say that sometimes, many statgeeks/analysts make these new statistics to cater to "Lebron's greatness". Time used per possession should definitely be looked at when measuring a player's efficiency. It only makes sense.
Oh actually I found something interesting then. 82games does keep track of what you say somewhat, here for example: http://www.82games.com/0809/08CLE9.HTM "Shot clock usage", LeBron takes about half of his shots between 16-24 seconds into the possession. By far the most usage of that kind in the league, so he's not as efficient as he's made out to be.
