Since his fall from grace the media seems more and more reluctant to dub Kobe the best perimater player in the game. Lebron, Wade and Iverson are the media darlings these days. And for good reason. All of them have better FG%s, and Lebron and Wade, while not scoring as heavily as Kobe, fill up the stat sheet in other areas. So is Kobe still the best guard in the game? His shot selection recently has been what most people have been critiquing. The last couple games (before the Timberwolves) I have to say his shot selection has been atrocious. He jacked up some threes that had me cringing (and I am a huge fan). But in his defence I will say that I saw all the games previous to that and he had to take some prayer shots when they would throw him the ball out on the arc with two defenders on him and 2 seconds on the shot clock. He has been forced to shoot alot and under duress in so many games now that he probably could not adjust for the Utah game when they did not need him to do so.... The good thing is he came back the next game with a different attitude and that is good to see. When Kobe is playing withing the offense he is a joy to watch. He can get to the rim, he finishes better than every player in the game, and he can get the ball to the open man, and plays very good one-on-one defence. The guy is also in incredible physical condition. When he plays balanced he is the best perimeter player in the game in my opinion.
Short answer: YES. His shot selection is something he can fix easily. That honestly doesn't bother me, as long as HE sees the problem. See the last game against Timberwolves. All around, he has great defense. Can single-handedly bring a team back from a decifit. He has great basketball iq. He is possibly the clutchest (if thats a word) player in the nba today. Only reason why we've been losing so much is because of the teammates around Kobe. Odom coming out to actually play randomly, Parker being streaky, pretty much everyone being inconsistent.
I don't want this to turn into another lebron v kobe thing, but truthfully how can anyone say kobe is still the best perimeter player in the game? Everyone's seen how Kobe's been playing this season he's averaged like 29 shots a game shooting 42% and the Lakers have a losing record. To be considered the best you have to be a perennial MVP candidate, right now Kobe is far from that. Some people say lebron isn't there yet, we've seen what he can do, he is going to make the playoffs this year no doubt. Tim Duncan may still be the MVP but Lebron is now the best perimeter player...Tmac has been injured all season so for now you have to leave him out.
Sounds like you made it a Lebron vs Kobe thing... We all know what happens when you pair Kobe with a top 5 player in the league and good role players. You get rings. To rebut that you would say that Lebron has never been in that position right? So why try to compare their team records when the situations are so radically different? Lebron benefits from having consistent offensive threats on the court besides him. He has Larry Hughes, Gooden and Z to take the pressue of of him and when he is doubled he just needs to get the ball to one of them with single or no-coverage. Kobe cannot do the same... So really the big difference between the two right now is fg% which is also because of the situation and also because of Kobe's shot selection... which, as someone said above, can be fixed. Kobe is the better defender, better finisher around the basket, is not as strong or big but quicker than Lebron, can handle the ball better, and is as good a passer. Add to that Kobe's ability to make incredibly big shots under great duress and I still think you could make a case for Kobe vs Lebron... although Lebron is improving faster than anyone hoped. But that too is understandable since we all knew Lebron had not hit the ceiling of his potential as yet.
Short answer: NO. Look at the stats, it says everything. Watch Kobe play, it says everything. Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers Position: G Height: 6-6 Weight: 220 High School : Lower Merion (PA) Player file | Team stats 2005-06 Statistics PPG 32.3 RPG 5.3 APG 4.1 SPG 1.20 BPG .53 FG% .424 FT% .818 3P% .271 MPG 41.9 Dwyane Wade Miami Heat Position: G Height: 6-4 Weight: 212 College : Marquette Player file | Team stats 2005-06 Statistics PPG 25.6 RPG 6.5 APG 6.8 SPG 2.18 BPG .82 FG% .450 FT% .744 3P% .091 MPG 38.1
I think this question is easier to answer when you put the top best guards in the game with teams who are talented. The Heat are loaded with talent which includes the guard Dwayne Wade. The Cavs are coming up the mark, including Lebron. Now the Lakers are not the best of teams out there which feature Kobe Bryant. I think if they were a better team, Kobe's asts would sky rocket. Wait til the Lakers are a winning team before comparing him to elite guards who are on good teams. At this point you can only compare Dwayne with Leb.
Laker fans have to stop lying to themselves. Kobe is NOT, I repeat, NOT the best perimeter player anymore. Top 3? Sure, but he isn't the best anymore.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Heat are loaded with talent which includes the guard Dwayne Wade. The Cavs are coming up the mark, including Lebron. Now the Lakers are not the best of teams out there which feature Kobe Bryant. I think if they were a better team, Kobe's asts would sky rocket. Wait til the Lakers are a winning team before comparing him to elite guards who are on good teams. At this point you can only compare Dwayne with Leb.</div> But you could compare AI and Kobe. I somewhat agree with the whole LeBron & Wade thing and how you can't yet compare them to Kobe. Although, it will be rather interesting to see how well or if they can hold their own when they resign for lucrative contracts and management will be forced to only be able to but decent guys around them, not great players like Hughes or Walker for example.
I think it's very easy to compare them. Kobe had a great team. Better then the heat. P.S. Walker is trash.
Kobe's fans make it look like "YOu get Kobe, you win" and when they lose "Oh Kobe doesn't get enough help" I think he's the best player skill-wise but come on he's gotta win. He doesn't have to win a ring to prove he's the best but at least, he's gotta lead his team to playoffs. And please, no more excuse like "Kobe aint getting help". He has the best coach first of all, and he has Odom who is supposed to be what Pippen was to MJ. If Kobe IS the best, he should make others better.
As a Kobe fan, I dont think he's currently the best right now. Talent wise, I think he can easily be the best SG in the game, but I haven't seen anything this season so far that makes me feel "MY MAIN MAN" is the best SG right now... He is definately ranking in the top 5, but not the top at this point in the season.
Kobe lately isnt the best with those shot selection. But if he calms that down I would agree with the TNT Cast and say Kobe is the best.
His shot selection is the only suspect thing- The reason it's so low is because there not only bad shots, there spinning fadeaways against a double team after two pump fakes 5 feet past the 3point arc. Other than that Kobe is playing great. He is THE clutchest player in the game today, he know's how to work the refs- (Utah game). He's not in the post enough, otherwise he'd grab more boards, but he's grabbing his lowest total in years at a lil over 4. As for assists....I'm surprised he's averaging that much considering who his teammates are. Talent and skillwise Kobe is the best player in the League. Basketball IQ he's in the top 5- He'd be #1 if he knew how to pick his shots better.
The problem with kobe is the media is too love hate with him, when the lakers were doing great people like dan patrick were calling him hands down the best player in the world and stuff like that, which he obviously wasn't Now the lakers aren't doing as well and everyone jumped off the Kobe ship. I never have been a kobe fan but i feel for the guy Do i think that kobe is the best gaurd in the league, no because I don't think there is a definative best, i think AI could be better then kobe and tmac could give him a run for his money as top gaurd, but you can argue either way. The lebron and wade arguements are bogus, it's just more people jumping on their ships like ppl jumped on kobe'sa few years ago. Everyone wants to pick the future of the nba and try to sound like they are one of the first ppl to call it. Neither of them have kobe's defense or kobes experience. Lebron is going to make the playoffs this year but he's shown he can't do it on his own so I don't get how you can fault kobe for not going to the playoffs with a worse supporting cast in a tougher conference Dwayne wade has a better fg% and kobe does need to pick his up, but look at d-wade's 3pt% it's a joke, kobe's isn't amazing but he can stretch a defense out which wade can't do. Kobe also has better D than wade.
People keep bringing up defense when comparing Wade and Kobe, yet they fail to realize Kobe didn't even make the all-defensive team, while Wade in only his second year made it to the second team. Clutch? Nobody better in the business than Kobe, but Wade is also another guy you want taking the last shot besides him. Ever since Shaq left it's been excuses. 'His teammates arn't good enough' or 'They need time to develop chemistry (Kobe with Odom and Butler last year)'. I hope Kobe fans can finally come to their senses and stop denying.
^^ be careful with all-defensive teams they're not always the most accurate. Kobe has made all-defensive teams in the past and his D hasn't changed
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ilive4ball:</div><div class="quote_post">His shot selection is the only suspect thing- The reason it's so low is because there not only bad shots, there spinning fadeaways against a double team after two pump fakes 5 feet past the 3point arc. Other than that Kobe is playing great. He is THE clutchest player in the game today, he know's how to work the refs- (Utah game). He's not in the post enough, otherwise he'd grab more boards, but he's grabbing his lowest total in years at a lil over 4. As for assists....I'm surprised he's averaging that much considering who his teammates are. Talent and skillwise Kobe is the best player in the League. Basketball IQ he's in the top 5- He'd be #1 if he knew how to pick his shots better.</div> Bad shot selection is the mark of the worser* player. Reggie Miller, Michael Jordan, etc, etc. How could you possibly disrespect the game anymore by being such a biased Kobe fan? He averaged the least assists, when he had the best team. His teammates are good, you just can't see it. He also fails, apparently, to make them better. If he is both talent and skill wise better, why can't he beat kids that are in their third year in the NBA? You're forgetting that the most important part of basketball IQ is knowing when to shoot and when to pass. He is also averaging 3 TO's/game.
^^ Bron, AI, and wade average more to's and i don't get why u brought up reggie and jordan, are u talking about clutch players? cause ilive4ball was talking about active players
