1. When reading some people's posts, I am always reading about "competitiveness." I'm always reading about how Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan were the most competitive basketball players ever. I'm always reading about how LeBron James, Tracy McGrady, and Kevin Garnett are not competitve, and don't have that inner drive. Well it has now officially pissed me off. Why are Kobe and MJ so much more competitive than LeBron, KG, TMac, Shaq? I've seen all these guys play so many times it's not funny, and all of them are incredibally competitve. Unless you are in the locker room, unless you are studying a player on the bench, you won't know how competitive they really are. People say Kobe and MJ are competitive, and will kill to win simply because there have been various media reports about it, but why is it that no other NBA Players are that competitve? LeBron James willed a team to a Game 7 berth against the Detroit Pistons, trash talked and humiliated his friend in order to win a game, and did anything needed to be competitive. How is LeBron James not uber-competitive? Tracy McGrady played defense against a PF two years ago while scoring 30, 6, and 6 a game in the playoffs. In 2003, he set two franchise scoring records with back-spasms. He injures his ankle and back, and a family member dies, and suddenly when he doesn't play he's not that competitive? Come on guys! We could see how competitive MJ is, all his games playing sick, his scoring by himself, his trash talking. While Kobe Bryant is also incredibly competitive, and has that drive, he doesn't seem that much more serious than LeBron, than DWade, than Shaq, however the only thing people talk about it how competitive Kobe is. It makes nos sense 99% of the time, and it comes off as ignorant. 2. Defense. Can we stop this now? I'm tired of people talking about how Allen Iverson is a great defender because he averaged 2 Steals Per Game. I'm tired of people saying Kobe is a good defender because they see highlights of him guarding LeBron James in the 4th quarter. I'm tired of people saying Tim Duncan isn't a good defender because he has never won the Defensive Player of the Year award. Can we stop? Kobe is part of the boat that holds Tracy McGrady, Dwayne Wade, and Paul Pierce. These guys play defense at the end of games, when they need to, but don't put in a consistent effort. The All-Defensive Awards are misleading, because Media Members focus on Steal Stats and highlights for those awards. Your so called "experts" are always talking about how bad a defender Vinc Carter is, and how great a defender Dwayne Wade is, when in reality, the only difference is that DWade's inconsistent defense is marketed non-stop. In reality, DWade, Kobe, TMac, Paul Pierce, all turn up their defense late in games when they need to, and don't give it a consistent effort. Against Phoenix, Kobe Bryant guarded Raja Bell. Why didn't he guard Steev Nash if he's an All NBA Deffender?? DWade, despite a few steals on Vince Carter, got blown by on alot of occasions. Why do you think Shaq has fouled so many players this year? His teammates are getting beat defensively, Dwayne Wade being one of the major culprits. Same with Andre Igoudala, the man give up the middle of the lane more than any player on the NBA, and is only good when he has his man in a baseline situation. Guys, stop listening to the media and watch games. All the players mentioned above can be great defenders, but they don't do it on a consistent basis!3. The hating on LeBron James. From what I've gathered, people hate him because he has become so good in these palyoffs. Everyone is talking about how he plays no defense, and turns the ball over alot. From there, people say: "At 21, Kobe Bryant was playing defense and not commiting turnovers"Well, I'm sorry, but besides those two things LeBron does everything better than Kobe at that age, and if you don't believe so , you need to pick up some videos of Kobe at that time and compare him to the LeBron right now. The difference is staggerring. LeBron averages more points, assists, rebounds, and hit more game winning shots than the Kobe of then. Believe me, he's better.Also, even without comparison to Kobe, people say they hate LeBron because the media always makes too much of him. Because he gets all the calls. Well, WAKE THE HELL UP! All superstars get calls they don't deserve, and the only reason people even blame LeBron for this is because of that call against Washington. If LeBron never made that play, people would not be talking about that. Besides that play against Washington where he clearly travelled, LeBron has always got the same calls as all other superstars, people are just jelous he gets them at this age.And don't hate LeBron because the media likes him. They did the same thing with Vince, Grant Hill, even Kobe Bryant at one point. They are always going to make too much of someone, so again, get over it.From what I've seen, people hate LeBron because he is great, something I find to be ignorant and dispicable. Get over yourselfs people, LeBron James is the real deal, and if your ignorance is clouding that, then watch him play for one game, block out your accusations, and have a good timeThanks
Umm...NBA head coaches vote for the All-NBA Defensive awards...<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>The voting panel consisted of the NBA’s 30 head coaches, who were asked to select NBA All-Defensive First and Second Teams by position. Coaches were not permitted to vote for players from their own team. Two points were awarded for a First Team vote and one point was awarded for a Second Team vote.</div>http://www.nba.com/news/alldefensive_060511.html
I had no ideaI guess that kills that argument, however, I stick to my belief that when I see som of these guys defend, the credit they get is unjustified
:HAHAHA: I told you in the other thread that media people do not vote on it.edit: Lebron's clutch preformances cannot be compared to Kobe's. What kobe did in OT in 2000 in the nba finals outshines lebron's travels.And i agree with you, the hate on lebron is ridiculous. But then, people like you get defensive when people attacking him and saying he's only 21. Well, the boy is not a normal 21 year old, he deserves extra heat [ different from hate].Thank you.
I agree with most things, I hate people calling Kobe such a great defender when he doesn't kick it up until the last minute.He does alot on offense but he hardly plays good defense until the end.LeBron is one of the best players in the league right now and what he can do is extraordinary but really the media is so anoying.It's not his fault but all the coverage he gets is extremely anoying, I actually couldn't wait until he lost so that all the media could shut up for a while.I certainly don't dislike him as a player but the media makes you want to hate him.As far as competitiveness, I cannot see how LeBron isn't competitive at all?Does he need to argue every call and get into a brawl or something to sound like he is competitive?
I have never seen Kobe quit ever, not in my entire lifetime. When we were down by 30 against dallas, kobe didnt quit. And we won. That's competitive quitting on you're team when there headed for the lottery is not competetive [tmac]. You just need to read quotes from former players and they said kobe was too competitve. He's mood would be effected by a pick up game. Google it and you'll find out the quotes, kobe bryant is the more competitive than lebron, tmac and all these other swingman.
I certainly don't think LeBron is more clutch then Kobe, LeBron has just proved he can be reliable in the playoffs.In the regular season he got hated on because he never showed up in the 4th quarter.What Kobe has done in his career is alot more then what LeBron has.
I'm talking to K-mart who think there on the same level [interms of clutchness]. It's his opinion but one i regard to be false.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Melo_061 @ May 27 2006, 09:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I have never seen Kobe quit ever, not in my entire lifetime. When we were down by 30 against dallas, kobe didnt quit. And we won. That's competitive quitting on you're team when there headed for the lottery is not competetive [tmac]. You just need to read quotes from former players and they said kobe was too competitve. He's mood would be effected by a pick up game. Google it and you'll find out the quotes, kobe bryant is the more competitive than lebron, tmac and all these other swingman.</div>Watch Suns vs. Lakers 2006 Game 7. Kobe scored 1 point in the 2nd half. I call that quitting, no matter what the frickin' game plan is. When the teams' losing Kobe needs to score some points. Also as soon as the game was over he just ran off the court. He didnt even congratulate the Suns or anything. :no3: <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Heatfan32 @ May 27 2006, 09:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I certainly don't think LeBron is more clutch then Kobe, LeBron has just proved he can be reliable in the playoffs.In the regular season he got hated on because he never showed up in the 4th quarter.What Kobe has done in his career is alot more then what LeBron has.</div>Lebron is only 21. Clutch Play usually comes with experience.KMart, I know what you mean with AI. AI is more interested in stealing the ball than guarding his man. In other words he goes after the ball, not the man. Steals really dont have much to do with defense unless they are coming off of defensive lockdowns.
Who's hating on LeBron??and saying Kobe and MJ are the most competitive, they probably mean to say that they can take over games when they want to.KG can't really do that.T-Mac is inconsistent when it comes to that.LeBron should be up there with them though
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CB4AllStar @ May 27 2006, 09:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Lebron is only 21. Clutch Play usually comes with experience.</div>I know he is 21 and of course it's still pretty early but this is the year that LeBron has gotten recognized for his clutch play.In the regular season he was criticized for the fact he never showed up in the fourth quarter.Now he has a breakout playoff performance and he is suddenly an amazing clutch player, he has done well but i'm not sure a few playoff games can really prove that.
I think his playoff performances has put him as a clutch player. The playoffs are part of being clutch IMO so he definately deserves to be up there for his efforts in both series'. Plus he had 2 game winners in 6 games.
The Greatest Coach ever did not tell him to take 3 shots in the final 2 quarters. He scored 24 in the first half didnt he? Was that not part of "the Game plan". Was "The Game Plan" supposed to be to not have the top scorer in the League shoot when they were starting to lose the game?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CB4AllStar @ May 28 2006, 12:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The Greatest Coach ever did not tell him to take 3 shots in the final 2 quarters. He scored 24 in the first half didnt he? Was that not part of "the Game plan". Was "The Game Plan" supposed to be to not have the top scorer in the League shoot when they were starting to lose the game?</div>Stupid.The first half was for kobe to keep the lakers in the hunt then in the 2nd half, get everyone involved. Phil said this, kobe said this also.Your making your self look a retard
Thats funny because they were in the game in the first half and then they lost by like 30 when the game was over. See the problem with that? Kobe needs to shoot for the Lakers to win. Please stop pointing to the system.
Alright Melo, don't call people stupid because they have opinions.And I agree with CB4, you've got to stop pointing to the system. I don't know of your basketball pedigree, but if you play, you should know an offense doesn't mean that much, especially in the NBA. I don't care if it's a basic offense, the Princeton offense, the Triangle offence, or the Rectangular Offense, 90% of NBA points are scored off broken plays and sets
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CB4AllStar @ May 28 2006, 01:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Thats funny because they were in the game in the first half and then they lost by like 30 when the game was over. See the problem with that? Kobe needs to shoot for the Lakers to win. Please stop pointing to the system.</div>Kobe needs to shoot for the lakers to win? How many shots did kobe take in game 4? 14 in an Overtime game.How many games have we won against the suns when kobe's scored 40? None.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Melo_061 @ May 28 2006, 12:15 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Kobe needs to shoot for the lakers to win? How many shots did kobe take in game 4? 14 in an Overtime game.How many games have we won against the suns when kobe's scored 40? None.</div>There's a difference between 2 second half shots and 14 total shots in a game.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (KMart @ May 28 2006, 02:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>There's a difference between 2 second half shots and 14 total shots in a game.</div>It really doesn't matter because either way kobe was going to get criticised.Kobe in game 6 shot the ball 35 times, did everything in his power to win the game and they lost. He was called selfish. Game 7, he listens to his coach and his selfish and choked.Can anyone tell me what kobe has to do to not get criticised? Considering he got criticised for dropping 81 on CB's raptors.
