O.T:Kobe vs. LeBron,Who is better at.......

[dodgersfan]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=Roundup-KobeLeBron


Do you guys agree on some of these?





Rudy

[mr.miracle]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=Roundup-KobeLeBron


Do you guys agree on some of these?





Rudy

I agree with many of these and I admit, I am a Kobe guy. Several I totally disagree with at least in relation to the outcome of these playoffs. Who will finish with more rings Lebron got four votes Kobe got three. I think Kobe picks up #4 this year. With the amount of parity in the league from East to West and the up and coming players and borderline stars and superstars like DWade, CPaul, Brandon Roy, D Rose, Dwight Howard, Derron Williams, etc. I don't think it is a given that LeBron wins a ring in the next year or two if he does not get one this year. Depending on whether the Celtics can get healthy and make one more run next year and the Magic with a healthy J Nelson and Howard will be a real nemisis for years to come just to get out of the East.

LeBron does not have Scottie Pippen like Jordan did and that fact cannot be underestimated. Jordan is always given all the credit for what the Bulls did and without Pippen he probably would not even have three rings. Kobe for that matter does not have a Pippen either. I really question whether any player will amass the hardware that Jordan and Pippen were able to accumulate over the years especially with all the up and coming young superstars. Time will tell especially based on what the Cavs are able to add around LeBron in the future.

Who is better, LeBron 4 votes, Kobe 3. Still open to debate but in my mind it is still Kobe. Everyone likes to throw stats out there all the time including John "I never met a stat I did not like" Hollinger the resident basketball clown at ESPN. You simply cannot look at stats alone to compare these guys as they play totally different positions in totally different offenses. Kobe is still in my opinion hands down the best offensive player in the league. He can score from anywhere on any play. I think George Karl said it best in these playoffs, it is everyone's responsiblity to guard Kobe. If the game is on the line, the defense is bringing everybody at Kobe. James is not there yet that game winning shot aside.

For the most part, I agree with everything else.

What really strikes me as odd is the way Kobe polarizes everyone. You either hate him or you love him no in between. I am not a huge Spurs fan or a Mavs fan but I really have no opinion on Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki other than to say that they are excellent superstars, Duncan probably the greatest or at least top three 4's of all time. With Kobe it is one or the other love or hate. I think it is all the Laker haters that don't help either.

[mr.miracle]

Boy, I am even missing Carmelo who may still get out of the West this year and can't forget about Houston. If they could ever get Yao and TMac healthy along with Ron Artest at the same time, they will be a very, very dangerous team. Same for San Antonio. They are aging quickly and need to reload on role players and get Genobili healthy but if they can, Duncan, Parker and Genobili are among the very best three on any team if not the best three in the league. Portland could very well be a huge force for years to come if Oden even ends up being a servicable big man forget superstar with Roy, Aldridge, and very solid role players.

Anyway, there is a ton of parity out there. Just watching these playoffs this year I am amazed at how anybody has managed to win four, five, six rings. The amount of energy teams must expend to reach the mountain top is just incredible.

[sportscentury]

LeBron does not have Scottie Pippen like Jordan did and that fact cannot be underestimated. Jordan is always given all the credit for what the Bulls did and without Pippen he probably would not even have three rings. Kobe for that matter does not have a Pippen either.

I agree completely. Scottie's role has been nearly entirely overlooked in the NBA history books. The guy could play some basketball. Jordan didn't win a single ring without him. Could he have? It can't be known. But we know he did not. Pau is nowhere near a Scottie Pippen ... and neither is Mo. Kobe and LeBron are being asked to carry their teams on their backs. Of the four teams left, Denver is the only one with a clear 1-2 punch (Melo/Chauncey).

[mr.miracle]

I agree completely. Scottie's role has been nearly entirely overlooked in the NBA history books. The guy could play some basketball. Jordan didn't win a single ring without him. Could he have? It can't be known. But we know he did not. Pau is nowhere near a Scottie Pippen ... and neither is Mo. Kobe and LeBron are being asked to carry their teams on their backs. Of the four teams left, Denver is the only one with a clear 1-2 punch (Melo/Chauncey).

Reid, excellent points, what drives me nuts is when people always say that Jordan has 6 rings as if he did this himself. For gods sake, Pippen was on the NBA 50 greatest players list and his defense is in a league of its very own. Often Scottie would guard the best player on the other team letting Jordan float in the passing lanes which is how he picked off so many passes and ran them in for those spectacular dunks.

We will never know if Jordan would have won anything with Scottie but the point is, he never did. The fact that the Bulls were a few minutes from the Eastern Conference Finals in 94 may speak more for Pippen than not when Jordan left the team. There was a total of a 2 game drop off from one year to the next. That in and of itself speaks to how great of a player that Scottie was.

Billups tore up the Lakers five years ago in the finals with the Pistons. He has been a very underrated player over the years and this Nuggets team scares me more than either Orlando or Cleveland because of that two headed monster.

[mr.miracle]

We will never know if Jordan would have won anything without Scottie but the point is, he never did.

Sorry, this should be without Scottie. Everyone always says Kobe had Shaq but Shaq had Kobe. Shaq would never have won a title with the supporting case on LA without Kobe and vice versa. In the last twenty-five years one team and one team only has won a team without the traditional two superstars. The Detroit Pistons in 04. Try to name one other team without 2 superstars that won a title. You cannot come up with one.

[mr.miracle]

I must be drunk tonight.

Should read supporting cast and won a championship on the previous post.

[sportscentury]

Billups tore up the Lakers five years ago in the finals with the Pistons. He has been a very underrated player over the years and this Nuggets team scares me more than either Orlando or Cleveland because of that two headed monster.

Chauncey is perhaps the most underrated player in the league. There really isn't a downside to his game.

[mr.miracle]

On another note, ESPN might be in big trouble. They had their collective lips puckered on King James derriere throughout these playoffs to the point that I thought it was about time to cancel the playoffs and anoint Cleveland as the NBA champs. The LeBron's are in huge trouble in fact a second from being swept out of the playoffs. This reminds me of 2004 when the Lakers were heavy heavy favorites to beat the Pistons in the NBA finals and were just run out of the building except for a Kobe Bryant game winning three in game two. Although these games have been extremely close, it is completely apparent that this Cavs team just cannot match up with the Magic. If the Lakers would have made the finals and the Cavs would have been there the same would have been true as the Lakers are a bad matchup at several positions with the Cavs. Records aside, matchups matter in the playoffs. I don't know what ESPN is going to do if the LeBron's cannot do what only eight other teams have ever done and come back. If the Cavs lose any of these next three we might as well cancel the playoffs because if the King is not present what is the point of even playing :rolleyes: