[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Well, apparently Bryant’s “controversial” surgery was a bionic knee replacement. He just dropped 40 again on Utah for the W. Currently averaging 30, 6 & 5 on the season with torn ligaments in his shooting hand. Nutso.[/quote]
naw man. he’s not elite anymore. listen to these guys.
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
[quote]scj119 wrote:
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Jesus dude, this has nothing to do with “luck”. You have to keep in mind the guy is playing with torn ligaments in HIS SHOOTING WRIST. He wears a brace on it every hour of the day he’s not playing ball. I imagine that has something to do with his 3% being down. What he’s doing right now is exactly what I said he’d do if he was healthy, and he’s not even healthy. ANY other guy in the league gets these injuries and they’re out. Bryant gets 'em and leads the league in scoring. Also, apparently his knees and ankles were really jacked up the last 2 seasons. He’s moving as well as he has in at least 3 years.[/quote]
Calm down. All I’m saying is he might not continue to hit a higher percentage of 2pt jumpers than he ever has in his career. I used the term luck but you can replace that with hot streak… either way it will likely come down a bit. But by the same token he’ll probably hit more 3s. I’m not taking away from the season he’s having - so far he’s been incredible.
I never said he wouldn’t be awesome while playing. Just given his recent injury history, and the fact he’s already a pincushion less than 10 games into the season, I think at some point he’ll have too many injuries even for him to overcome.
No one here is saying Bryant is a pussy who can’t play through pain. Calm yourself!![/quote]
From the two games I’ve watched this season, he’s taking the same shots he always has, just without as much wasted motion. Like in the past he’d have a guy beat, but would stop and throw 6 pump fakes at him for no apparent reason then take the shot. Now, he just elevates and drills it.
His first step also looks as good as it has in years. Was listening to Derek Fisher talk the other day and he was saying that Bryant’s knees and ankles were a mess, and that he’s much healthier this year. He also said if Bryant hadn’t have torn that ligament it wouldn’t have taken 10 games for him to have the Phoenix game. It’s funny 'cause the dude already had a 39 and a 37.[/quote]
Most very good players become more “economical” in their game as they gain experience in the league. I was looking for this to happen to DRose this year but it has not happened yet. I think all those pump fakes you saw in the past were a product of his health (knees and ankles) and not his game.
When or if DRose becomes more economical in his game, watch out.
[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:
Haha Kobe is killing it right now. He scored 48 points yesterday and then at the after game press conference he poked a little fun at ESPN by saying “not bad for the 7th best player in the league.” He’s talking about ESPN’s NBA player rankings. You can clearly see Kobe is out there playing with purpose. Guys like him and Jordan are so competitive I bet he feels disrespected anytime he’s not regarded as the best player in the league. I don’t know if he needs to score 48 points with Pau and Gasol on his team but he is doing it anyway to say 'hey I’m still here, remember me?"
It was a tale of two of the best players in the NBA yesterday. Kobe put up 48 points and scored in the decisive period of time in a close game while conversely, Lebron has just 2 points in the 4th quarter in that overtime loss to the GSW (he also missed the potential game tying 3 with 8 seconds to go).
It’s going to be interesting now to see how long Kobe and LA can sustain this. Most of their games so far have been at home and against mediocre teams. I’m not sure if they can keep up with OKC but that match-up has a lot of fans excited, especially seeing a reinvigorated Kobe against Durant. [/quote]
He should of been poking fun at this thread.
Anyway, this truncated season will work against him. This season’s schedule is brutal. Let’s see what’s he’s doing 40 days from now. I hope he can last.
[quote]scj119 wrote:
[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:
Haha Kobe is killing it right now. He scored 48 points yesterday and then at the after game press conference he poked a little fun at ESPN by saying “not bad for the 7th best player in the league.” He’s talking about ESPN’s NBA player rankings. You can clearly see Kobe is out there playing with purpose. Guys like him and Jordan are so competitive I bet he feels disrespected anytime he’s not regarded as the best player in the league. I don’t know if he needs to score 48 points with Pau and Gasol on his team but he is doing it anyway to say 'hey I’m still here, remember me?"
It was a tale of two of the best players in the NBA yesterday. Kobe put up 48 points and scored in the decisive period of time in a close game while conversely, Lebron has just 2 points in the 4th quarter in that overtime loss to the GSW (he also missed the potential game tying 3 with 8 seconds to go).
It’s going to be interesting now to see how long Kobe and LA can sustain this. Most of their games so far have been at home and against mediocre teams. I’m not sure if they can keep up with OKC but that match-up has a lot of fans excited, especially seeing a reinvigorated Kobe against Durant. [/quote]
Thinking a single 48pt game proves you are the best player in the NBA is the most Kobe Bryant thing ever.
Edit: I’m not saying he’s having a bad year. He’s having an awesome year. I’m just saying if you’re making an MVP case for him, having a 48pt game at home vs. PHX is somewhere between the 15th and 20th thing you would mention.[/quote]
Like I said before; a one and done, winner take all game, and I’m choosing him over a lot of players you regard more highly than him.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
lol this is amazing:
how the hell do two refs have a clear view of that and not call it?
disgusting how they coddle superstars. why even make him dribble. that was ridiculous. call a travel agent!
[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:
[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:
Haha Kobe is killing it right now. He scored 48 points yesterday and then at the after game press conference he poked a little fun at ESPN by saying “not bad for the 7th best player in the league.” He’s talking about ESPN’s NBA player rankings. You can clearly see Kobe is out there playing with purpose. Guys like him and Jordan are so competitive I bet he feels disrespected anytime he’s not regarded as the best player in the league. I don’t know if he needs to score 48 points with Pau and Gasol on his team but he is doing it anyway to say 'hey I’m still here, remember me?"
It was a tale of two of the best players in the NBA yesterday. Kobe put up 48 points and scored in the decisive period of time in a close game while conversely, Lebron has just 2 points in the 4th quarter in that overtime loss to the GSW (he also missed the potential game tying 3 with 8 seconds to go).
It’s going to be interesting now to see how long Kobe and LA can sustain this. Most of their games so far have been at home and against mediocre teams. I’m not sure if they can keep up with OKC but that match-up has a lot of fans excited, especially seeing a reinvigorated Kobe against Durant. [/quote]
He should of been poking fun at this thread.
Anyway, this truncated season will work against him. This season’s schedule is brutal. Let’s see what’s he’s doing 40 days from now. I hope he can last.
[/quote]
I’d still take Rose over Bryant. Rose, Durant, 'Bron and Wade are the future man. Kobe put up these numbers in '06 and '07 and got dominated by the Suns in the first round of the playoffs.
lol…one good game and Kobe vaults back into the top 5(3)?? Let’s pump the breaks here.
Yes, Kobe is playing really well so far, but nobody is talking about a major reason why his scoring is up, which is the emergence of Bynum and the double teams he’s drawing. Bynum is playing like a total beast right now (probably realized he really didn’t want to go to Orlando) and teams are choosing to let Kobe jack up shots instead of letting Bynum dominate the post. He’s been making them so far, but we’re only 12 games into the season. I somehow doubt he’s going to continue shooting a better fg% than he ever has before in his entire career.
[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Well, apparently Bryant’s “controversial” surgery was a bionic knee replacement. He just dropped 40 again on Utah for the W. Currently averaging 30, 6 & 5 on the season with torn ligaments in his shooting hand. Nutso.[/quote]
naw man. he’s not elite anymore. listen to these guys. [/quote]
Who’s saying that?
He’s just not #1. That being said, if he keeps playing like this I will have to change my position. If you watched him play last year, it would be flat out wrong to say he was still the most dominant player in the league.
[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:
[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:
[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:
Haha Kobe is killing it right now. He scored 48 points yesterday and then at the after game press conference he poked a little fun at ESPN by saying “not bad for the 7th best player in the league.” He’s talking about ESPN’s NBA player rankings. You can clearly see Kobe is out there playing with purpose. Guys like him and Jordan are so competitive I bet he feels disrespected anytime he’s not regarded as the best player in the league. I don’t know if he needs to score 48 points with Pau and Gasol on his team but he is doing it anyway to say 'hey I’m still here, remember me?"
It was a tale of two of the best players in the NBA yesterday. Kobe put up 48 points and scored in the decisive period of time in a close game while conversely, Lebron has just 2 points in the 4th quarter in that overtime loss to the GSW (he also missed the potential game tying 3 with 8 seconds to go).
It’s going to be interesting now to see how long Kobe and LA can sustain this. Most of their games so far have been at home and against mediocre teams. I’m not sure if they can keep up with OKC but that match-up has a lot of fans excited, especially seeing a reinvigorated Kobe against Durant. [/quote]
He should of been poking fun at this thread.
Anyway, this truncated season will work against him. This season’s schedule is brutal. Let’s see what’s he’s doing 40 days from now. I hope he can last.
[/quote]
I’d still take Rose over Bryant. Rose, Durant, 'Bron and Wade are the future man. Kobe put up these numbers in '06 and '07 and got dominated by the Suns in the first round of the playoffs. [/quote]
I never mentioned the future. In fact, I specifically said in effect “today, one game, winner take all”. I’ll take Kobe over all those guys. If you were building a team, of course the answer is academic in favor of the younger talent.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Well, apparently Bryant’s “controversial” surgery was a bionic knee replacement. He just dropped 40 again on Utah for the W. Currently averaging 30, 6 & 5 on the season with torn ligaments in his shooting hand. Nutso.[/quote]
naw man. he’s not elite anymore. listen to these guys. [/quote]
Who’s saying that?
He’s just not #1. That being said, if he keeps playing like this I will have to change my position. If you watched him play last year, it would be flat out wrong to say he was still the most dominant player in the league.[/quote]
Again, I never said “most dominant player in the league”. I have repeatedly said I’ll take Kobe in a one game, winner take all situation over those other guys. In my mind, that makes him the “best player”. If I were picking teams in the playground, I’d take a healthy Kobe in a single winner take all game, over LeBron, Wade, Rose, etc.
[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:
[quote]scj119 wrote:
[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:
Haha Kobe is killing it right now. He scored 48 points yesterday and then at the after game press conference he poked a little fun at ESPN by saying “not bad for the 7th best player in the league.” He’s talking about ESPN’s NBA player rankings. You can clearly see Kobe is out there playing with purpose. Guys like him and Jordan are so competitive I bet he feels disrespected anytime he’s not regarded as the best player in the league. I don’t know if he needs to score 48 points with Pau and Gasol on his team but he is doing it anyway to say 'hey I’m still here, remember me?"
It was a tale of two of the best players in the NBA yesterday. Kobe put up 48 points and scored in the decisive period of time in a close game while conversely, Lebron has just 2 points in the 4th quarter in that overtime loss to the GSW (he also missed the potential game tying 3 with 8 seconds to go).
It’s going to be interesting now to see how long Kobe and LA can sustain this. Most of their games so far have been at home and against mediocre teams. I’m not sure if they can keep up with OKC but that match-up has a lot of fans excited, especially seeing a reinvigorated Kobe against Durant. [/quote]
Thinking a single 48pt game proves you are the best player in the NBA is the most Kobe Bryant thing ever.
Edit: I’m not saying he’s having a bad year. He’s having an awesome year. I’m just saying if you’re making an MVP case for him, having a 48pt game at home vs. PHX is somewhere between the 15th and 20th thing you would mention.[/quote]
Like I said before; a one and done, winner take all game, and I’m choosing him over a lot of players you regard more highly than him. [/quote]
Consider I only regard maybe 4 players higher than him, that’s an odd way to phrase that statement.
I just don’t get how calling someone a top 5 player in the world is an insult.
I had Dirk over Kobe coming into this year because Dirk was the best player on the floor in the Lakers-Mavs series… but man, Dirk has been bad this year. Really weird considering how consistent he’s been over the years.
Everytime I see this topic at the top I want to add to the title…
“Didn’t last long enough”
[quote]lanchefan1 wrote:
Everytime I see this topic at the top I want to add to the title…
“Didn’t last long enough”[/quote]
Cool story.
[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Well, apparently Bryant’s “controversial” surgery was a bionic knee replacement. He just dropped 40 again on Utah for the W. Currently averaging 30, 6 & 5 on the season with torn ligaments in his shooting hand. Nutso.[/quote]
naw man. he’s not elite anymore. listen to these guys. [/quote]
Who’s saying that?
He’s just not #1. That being said, if he keeps playing like this I will have to change my position. If you watched him play last year, it would be flat out wrong to say he was still the most dominant player in the league.[/quote]
Again, I never said “most dominant player in the league”. I have repeatedly said I’ll take Kobe in a one game, winner take all situation over those other guys. In my mind, that makes him the “best player”. If I were picking teams in the playground, I’d take a healthy Kobe in a single winner take all game, over LeBron, Wade, Rose, etc.
[/quote]
Okay, if I were building a team to win a championship THIS year, and I had the first pick in a hypothetical draft containing the whole league I wouldn’t start with Kobe.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Okay, if I were building a team to win a championship THIS year, and I had the first pick in a hypothetical draft containing the whole league I wouldn’t start with Kobe.
[/quote]
Who would you start with? Up until the Finals last year that question was still unquestionably “LeBron” to me. It’s one thing to miss a shot in a clutch situation, that happens. It’s a whole other thing to have JJ Barea on you, when you’re the most dominant physical specimen on the planet, and pass it around the perimeter. He’s proven, even to me, that he just can not be trusted when there’s pressure.
If I’m winning this year, I probably start with Dwight. You can have 4 crappy defenders on your team and still have a top-5 defense with him if you play SVG’s “guard the three point line, let them drive past you towards Dwight if they want” defense. And he’s an ironman who never gets hurt.
[quote]scj119 wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Okay, if I were building a team to win a championship THIS year, and I had the first pick in a hypothetical draft containing the whole league I wouldn’t start with Kobe.
[/quote]
Who would you start with? Up until the Finals last year that question was still unquestionably “LeBron” to me. It’s one thing to miss a shot in a clutch situation, that happens. It’s a whole other thing to have JJ Barea on you, when you’re the most dominant physical specimen on the planet, and pass it around the perimeter. He’s proven, even to me, that he just can not be trusted when there’s pressure.
If I’m winning this year, I probably start with Dwight. You can have 4 crappy defenders on your team and still have a top-5 defense with him if you play SVG’s “guard the three point line, let them drive past you towards Dwight if they want” defense. And he’s an ironman who never gets hurt.[/quote]
Yeah it would be either Dwight or Lebron with an outside chance of KD. Admittedly I haven’t seen KD much this year.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]scj119 wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Okay, if I were building a team to win a championship THIS year, and I had the first pick in a hypothetical draft containing the whole league I wouldn’t start with Kobe.
[/quote]
Who would you start with? Up until the Finals last year that question was still unquestionably “LeBron” to me. It’s one thing to miss a shot in a clutch situation, that happens. It’s a whole other thing to have JJ Barea on you, when you’re the most dominant physical specimen on the planet, and pass it around the perimeter. He’s proven, even to me, that he just can not be trusted when there’s pressure.
If I’m winning this year, I probably start with Dwight. You can have 4 crappy defenders on your team and still have a top-5 defense with him if you play SVG’s “guard the three point line, let them drive past you towards Dwight if they want” defense. And he’s an ironman who never gets hurt.[/quote]
Yeah it would be either Dwight or Lebron with an outside chance of KD. Admittedly I haven’t seen KD much this year.[/quote]
Wow, ya’ll are really trying to start a team with an overrated center with no offensive game who’s never been out of the second round, an overrated 3 who disappears during critical moments or a volume scorer who’s proven to be slightly suspect in the clutch? The thing they all have in common is they haven’t won shit, though I believe Durant has the best chance of the three to do big things.
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Wow, ya’ll are really trying to start a team with an overrated center with no offensive game
[/quote]
#thingspeoplesaid2yearsago
When’s the last time you saw 2 Dwight Howard games?
Overrated? He’s the best help defender in the league and it’s not even remotely close.
My main concern with Dwight is he’s having a historically bad year at the line so far… even for him. Would be scared by now that it’s a new trend and not a short term case of the yips.