Kobe’s 42 Pace Lakers, Pistons’ Streak Snapped, Suns Roll
Lakers 96, Bulls 87
Kobe Bryant has a broken finger on his shooting hand; he also dropped 20 points on the Bulls in the 1st quarter and finished the game with 42 points. It was Kobe’s 5th 40 point+ game this year and 104th for his career. The Lakers shot 4-20 from 3-point land and Kobe had 8 turnovers, but they still won the game – that is how good these guys are. For the Bulls, Joakim Noah had a 20 rebound game including 14 offensive boards. That was basically the only bright spot for the Bulls.
Clown of the Game: Ron Artest. Again Artest had a crappy shooting game going 3-14 from the field and just 1-7 from downtown. Come playoff time if Artest isn’t knocking down these big shots that may be the Lakers downfall… but I doubt it.
Rockets 107, Pistons 96
The Pistons were on a 5-game winning streak, and they are now on a 1-game losing streak. In the Rockets return of Tracy McGrady, they won. They won this game without Trevor Ariza though who was serving a 1-game suspension due to an ejection the previous game. Adelman said he would play T-Mac for 7 minutes all in the first half and he did just that. McGrady went 1-2 with a 3. In the absense of Ariza, Budinger filled in very nicely playing 40 minutes and scoring 16 points and snagging 12 boards.
Clown of the Game: Rodney Stuckey. He shot 7-24 on the night, is he feeling the pressure of Rip Hamilton being back?
Suns 116, Spurs 104
The Spurs lost by just 12 but were down by 20 at one point and didn’t look good at all. Tim Duncan showed up tonight with 34 points but the rest of the team, well didn’t. The Suns were back to their regular run-n-gun-selves led by Amare’s 28 points and 14 rebounds while Steve Nash dished out another 13 assists. The Suns remain unbeaten at home and if they finish the season with home court throughout the 1st two rounds it will be tough to be them.
Clown of the Game: Richard Jefferson. What is he doing with the Spurs? All his averages are down and he isn’t a high flying exciting player anymore. That alley-oops used to jumpstart the rest of his game. He played just 21 minutes tonight and scored just 4 points.
-The Basher
Does Kobe dropping 42 points with a broken index finger on his shooting hand clear up and doubts that he is the best player in the NBA right now?
There never was any doubt.
Kobe? The best? Uh hello Nene Hilario.
no, while impressive, arguments can be made. My choice would be Dirk. He has been as dominant as Kobe for as long as Kobe. He has more offensive skills and does as much as Kobe with less athleticism. I would also argue that he is much more unguardable.
You could also make arguments for other players depending on how you define basketball player. He is a great scorer and finisher, good at defense, but no one would call him a good rebounder or distributor.
Nash and Paul are the most dominant distributors in the league. Just because assists aren’t as glorified as points, does it make them less dominant? No. They make EVERYONE on the floor on their team better players. Who gets better when 4 players stand still and wait for Kobe to shoot?
Dwight Howard is a dominant rebounder and defender. He also scores a lot, and is one of the top 3 most athleticly dominant players in the league. Right now he is the best big man in the league.
And then there is Lebron. Most athleticly dominant player in the game. Top 5 in scoring. Over 7 assists and rebounds per game. Some call him a top 5 passer in the game.
It’s too easy to call Kobe the best player in the league without any support. Sorry I had to play devil’s advocate, but you were starting to sound like ESPN.
What has Dirk won in his career? Yes, he’s an MVP – but is Kobe not?
Kobe has won 4 titles, and in case you’re planning on mentioning Shaq in this ordeal, you can recall last season, right? Kobe carried the team as he has since Shaq left and he got his due with a championship last season.
Also, you said Dirk is more unguardable, but how is that the case? I would LOVE to see Kobe play Dirk one-on-one.. I’ll give you 100:1 odds that Kobe wins. That’s a slam dunk (pun intended).
You also make it sound like Kobe never passes, which makes his teammates worse. He has more assists now than when he had Shaq. He has the ball in his hands more becuase he’s that talented.
I’m not saying these other players (Dirk, Nash, Paul, Howard, LeBron) aren’t good players, or even that they’re not top 10 in the league. All I’m saying is that if you want the ball in their hands instead of Kobe when it counts – well, then you’re team is going to lose.
Case and point – http://www.nbatoday.net/2009/12/kobe-sinks-bucks-at-buzzer-dirk-silences-thunder/
Here’s all the evidence you should need. Good debate though. Oh, and don’t compare us to ESPN – well, certainly not me.
Oh no, I was just compared to ESPN haha. That’s a low blow Henry haha. I totally understand your point as far as Devil’s Advocate goes but like Shooter said, game on the line I’d have Kobe with the ball. You may say it’s just cause he is clutch but it’s because he is the best which is why he is so clutch. All the guys you mentioned are top 10-15 players that’s for sure but Kobe is a game changer and is a PROVEN WINNER. That is what makes you the best in my eyes.
If LeBron had 4 championships right now and Kobe had 0, then LeBron in my eyes is the best (I picked LeBron because he is USUALLY the other case as to who is the best in the NBA).
I think Dwight Howard is the best center the NBA has right now and Chris Paul is definitely tops on the PG list but I want to see W’s and Championships and Kobe leads all those guys in that category right now. And yes, I would put Tim Duncan in the top 3 because he knows how to win too and he can dominant the game as a big man. That is tough to do when you need to be fed the ball rather than bring it up yourself.
Here’s a question, who is more unguardable Durant or Dirk? The Ref brought this up in a podcast saying KD is the most unguardable player in the NBA right now.
I like you thoughts though.
Shooter,
I compared this article/comments to spattering from ESPN because instead of backing things up with facts, support, and debate, they just crown people as the best until someone does something better 3 weeks later. The only debate on ESPN is usually determined by who screams louder.
Also, I’d love to see Kobe vs. Dirk one on one game, although the idea of it is assinine. Only while playing a zone or executing help defense would these two players ever guard each other during the course of a game. Big men who do not regularly handle the ball are at a complete disadvantage in a one on one game against a speedy guard. Andre Iguodala or another mid-skill level swing man could probably dominate most big men in a one on one game because they could dribble around them or take an open shot if the big man slacks off to cover the drive.
Steve Kerr and Robert Horry to a lesser extent were two of the most clutch players of their era. One won 5 and the other 7 championships. I don’t believe either was ever an all star. Equating clutch with OVERALL greatness is foolish.
I would stand by Dirk as more undguardable than Durant. He is taller and stronger than KD. It’s nearly impossible for any of the best defenders in the league to defend his fadeaway, and once they cheat up to play him tighter, its an easy trip to the free throw line or easy drive to the basket. He also is a much more proficient 3 pt shooter.
Umm, I’ve been saying Kobe Bryant is the best player in the NBA for years. I don’t expect you to know that from my first comment above, but it wouldn’t be fair to insinuate that I wouldn’t be able to back it up; I didn’t realize that was necessary.
I agree Dirk and Kobe would never guard each other, but in that case it’s impossible to pick a BEST player in the NBA. I said Kobe, you said Dirk, and then I stuck with Kobe. Not sure what we’re debating then. Also, you say it’s not fair to compare a speedy guard to a big man. Of course not! But if I had to pick either one of them to start a team with, it’d be Kobe for me!
Also, Kobe is WAYYYY more than just clutch. But to be on the top of your game when it starts and when it matters most (at the end), that is what makes a player the BEST in the game. I’d say this is now a fair assessment of OVERALL greatness.
By the way, Dirk is DEFINITELY more unguardable than Durant. The Ref is the foolish one here….
Dirk Nowitzki? Comparable to Kobe? You either know nothing about basketball or you are Eurotrash.
Dirk is the biggest choke artist in the NBA since Charles Smith. Dirk is unguardable… until the playoffs.
Not to mention… DIRK CAN’T PLAY ANY DEFENSE. Kobe is all-world defense. In two years, no one will remember this joke. He will be in Danilo Gallinari’s shadow.
I have no idea why this is a debate. Ok, maybe Kobe being the best player in the league is arguable. One of the arguments is NOT Dirk Nowitzki. Wade, maybe. Lebron, a good chance. Dirk? Not even a complete player. He’s a mediocore rebounder and defender for his size, and lacks any testicular fortitude in the fourth quarter (except for the one game 7 against the spurs).
I think Dirk is a terrific player, but there’s no way he deserves mention in this debate. Not today. Not even during his 06-07 MVP season (When they were embarrassingly bounced out by Baron Davis’s Warriors). Kobe has Jordan-like 4th quarter assassin abilities, is multiple time 1st team all-defense, and has FOUR championships to Dirk’s zero.
Not even an issue.
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