Oh Randy, Randy, Randy, Randy..... 
.....this is going to be fun!!
Does that give him a free pass on his tendency to shoot his teams OUT of games, as well as into them.
Hmm, you don't seem to complain when Dirk shoots his team OUT of games -- or did I miss those posts? With Howard, Terry, Daniels, Stackhouse, etc. -- you would think he WOULD share the ball when he is shooting poorly, right?
I'm going to go ahead and ignore the fact that Dirk Nowitzki shoots a full two percentage points from the field higher than Kobe Bryant. I'm going to ignore the fact that Dirk shoots a full 5 percentage points from the line higher than Kobe. I'm going to ignore the fact that Dirk shoots a full 8 percentage points from the 3 higher than Kobe Bryant. I'll go ahead an ignore the fact that Dallas has won a full 22 percentage points of their games more than L.A. I'll ignore all those pesky FACTS and.....uh on second thought I'm not going to ignore any of them, you'll have to eat 'em.
In addition to show that Dirk is a slightly more willing passer than Kobe (thereby more likely to pass to Howard, Terry, Daniels, Stackhouse, etc. and less likely to keep chuckin' his team out of games). His assist per assist avg. for position is 1.73 as compared to Kobe's 1.48 and Kobe's is considered a primary ball handler!!
And one more thing: of the 41 games Dirk has played this season, there has been only 9 games that he shot under 40% from the field. Of those 9 games, Dallas won 6 of them!!! Of the 39 games Kobe has played this season, there have been 11 games that he shot under 40% from the field. Of those 11 games, LA won 3 of them!!!
So to answer your comment why don't I complain about Dirk. Guess Dirk hasn't given me as much to complain about as our all-world Kobe Bryant. That's objective!
Hmm, okay Dirk shoots a better fg% and 3pt % (I'm not sure how ft % really factors into the debate but if it makes you feel better, go ahead). THEN you have to factor in the POSITION aspect of Kobe and Dirk when listing assists -- why? Because you have to manipulate the stats somehow. However, Kobe ISN'T the primary ball handler for LA -- in fact, two players bring the ball down the court MORE than Kobe these days -- Parker and Odom (you MIGHT try watching a few more games). In fact, I'd state (both from watching LA and Dallas) that BOTH Kobe and Dirk are the initiators of their respective ballclubs. Dallas WANTS to run the ball through Dirk -- as much as the Lakers WANT to run the ball through Kobe. Putting the ball in your best players hands and letting them begin the offense is smart basketball.
And your "objectiveness" is blinding you -- so let me help you see a little better. When Dirk shoots poorly and his team wins, WHO scored the points for Dallas? Howard? Terry? Daniels? Harris? KVH? Are you BEGINNING to see the point here? Dallas DOES have some great offensive players OUTSIDE of Dirk -- he doesn't have to score for the Mavs to win. Let's see, who is going to score on the Lakers when Kobe isn't in the line-up (or shoots poorly). Let's see, the Lakers have played TWO games without Kobe this year -- both games were against the MIGHTY Utah Jazz. Umm, the lost BOTH games (I guess there ARE some facts you want to ignore, huh?). Why did they lose a game against the lowly Jazz? Oh, that's right -- they didn't have the offensive firepower to win the game because they don't have ANY players who can be counted as a #1 option outside of Kobe. Can you REALLY say that about Dirk? Terry has been a #1 option in Atlanta (although it's obvious he is better when he doesn't have to be that #1 option), Howard is definately capable of being a #1 option, IMO -- and the team has several players who can step up (and have) on a given night -- ESPECIALLY because teams have to give so much attention to Kobe. However, let's reflect on the night that the Phoenix Suns played the Lakers -- the Suns made it VERY clear that they were NOT going to allow Kobe to beat them -- so they double and triple teamed him ALL night long -- so Kobe passed the ball and watched Odom, George, Mihm, etc. brick shot after shot. Kobe doesn't get credit for passing the ball (in assists) because his teammates miss them and Dirk gets credit for being a great team player (even though his defense sucks) for shooting poorly and his teammates have the ability to make shots and win the game. Still trying to understand this kind of logic.
And yeah, Dirk hasn't given you as much to complain about -- that's because you think his defense is solid. Yeah, kind of like the picture you posted where Dirk is arriving late and getting posterized by Lamar Odom -- definately nothing to complain about there -- unless you actually care about defense!
Does that give him a free pass should the Lakers miss the playoffs for the second year in a row.
Hmm, why is it that you are judging him as if the Lakers already missed the playoffs when, right now, they WOULD make the playoffs. Umm, where are these comments about Garnett? There just seems to be a double standard employed here.
I'll have to repeat myself: Does that give him a free pass should the Lakers miss the playoffs for the second year in a row.
And for the second time this thread; I'll state if L.A. barely squeaks in at the number 8 seed, it may be more than any of you Laker fans ever DREAMED OF, but I predicted they'd be in the race for that spot with GS so I would not consider it over-achieving. Now if they make it at a 7 seed or higher, they will have done better than I gave them credit for.
Umm, why aren't you making these same comments about Dallas. Does that mean that you should give Dirk a free pass should Dallas barely squeak into the playoffs? You can play "guessing" games all day long -- the Lakers CURRENTLY are in the #7 seed -- so they ALREADY are doing better than you give them credit for -- but you don't WANT to give them credit at this point -- you want to hold out the hope that they will tank and that you can say "I told you so." We aren't talking about the end of the season -- we are talking about RIGHT NOW. However, you seem to want to hold out judgement for another time -- hmm, wonder why?
Does that give him a free pass should the Lakers underachieve where a Dallas or Detroit or L.A. Clippers team overachieves. No it shouldn't.
The Lakers are underachieving? WOW!!! How far into the playoffs did you pick them? Most thought that the Lakers would be LUCKY to make it as the last team in the playoffs.
Dallas, Detroit or the Clips are overachieving? Let's see, the Lakers just beat Dallas and the Clips? Hmm, but the Lakers are underachieving while the teams they are beating are overachieving? I think you have been spending too much time in a different "reality" -- this logic just doesn't make sense!
I'll have to repeat myself: Does that give him a free pass should the Lakers underachieve where a Dallas or Detroit or L.A. Clippers team overachieves.
(pssst JoMaL--your right, repeating yourself does get tiring)
This is SOOO funny -- when you can't defend your position simply repeat it? ARE the Lakers underachieving? Are Dallas, Detroit and the Clips overachieving?
Dallas - Dirk, Howard, Terry, Daniels, etc. = .756. The Lakers have beaten them TWICE -- hmm, sounds like the underachieving Lakers beat the overachieving Mavs. Hmm, how does that happen?
Detroit - Big Ben, Billups, Sheed, Prince, Hamilton = .872. This team is playing PHENOMENAL basketball but they are a great team and their starting 5 is, IMO, the best in basketball. I'm not sure how you can say that this team is overachieving -- they are simply realizing their potential, IMO.
Clips - Brand, Kaman, Magette, Mobley, Cassell = .579. Wow, did you see that line-up? You REALLY think that winning 58% of their games is overachieving? Brand, IMO, is having an MVP year but they are 58% and overachieving while the Lakers are at 54% and underachieving.
Lakers - Kobe, Parker, Odom, Brown and Mihm = .537. Looking at that line-up, I don't know of ANYONE who thought that the Lakers had a shot at the 7th seed (or EVER beating teams like Dallas, Clips, etc.) this season.
Minnesota currently ranks 4th in the league in Opponent Points Allowed at 90.5 ppg, currently lower than Memphis, San An, and Detroit (good company wouldn't you say). They rank 7th in Opponent FG%. They rank third in the league in Team Blocks per Game, behind only Clippers and Mavericks (you know those other underachieving teams, Randy :rolleyes: ) Yeah you're right Randy, Minnesota just SUCKS defensively.
You know, you finally DID get a point right -- I certainly don't want to miss the opportunity to point out such an occassion. Minny IS doing much better defensively than I thought -- I had just looked up a defensive team stat the other day and judged Minny by that stat (and the game I watch the other day) -- personally, I don't think simply points allowed is an inclusive stat -- the fact is that your style of play can allow a LOT more point attempts and still play better defense than a team that allows less points (simply because they play a halfcourt game while others play a press and run style). FG% IS a much better determination and Minny (i.e. Garnett) gets credit for being #7 in this department -- however, LA being number #13 does NOT score any points for Kobe. A stat you MUST have missed (because I know you wouldn't ignore it) is opponents 3pt % -- definately a very good defensive stat -- Minny is 17th while LA is 2nd in the league! Of course, this too doesn't garner any points for Kobe. Minny is 14th in TRB per game while LA is 11th and Minny is 2nd in steals (while LA is 4th). Note these are all defensive stats.
Coupled with his offensive prowess, Kobe's defensive ability is good enough to merit a Top 5 NBA player pick. Now if he would work on TEAM basketball, LEADERSHIP skills, and enough with the petty, sulking attitude he seems to carry himself with. A Top 5 NBA player he would be to me, but NOT UNTIL...
Kobe is good enough to merit a Top 5 NBA player pick -- you should have just stopped there. It reminds me of a teacher I had in college -- I got my grade (and had NEVER received a score of less than 95% on any homework or test) and saw that it was a B. When I went to ask them about it, the teacher simply stated that "they didn't like my attitude." Well, obviously, the grade was changed after I went to the administration -- attitude was NEVER included anywhere in the criteria for grading and therefore I was finally awarded the grade I had earned. You CAN discuss Kobe's leadership skills and team play but your bringing in the
and enough with the petty, sulking attitude he seems to carry himself with
shows that your opinion ISN'T objective and mixed with a great deal of the fact that you don't like Kobe. It's not what Kobe has or hasn't done on the court as much as you finally admit -- you don't like his attitude. And that's fine -- you don't have to like him -- I admit my dislike for AI causes me to not be objective of his basketball abilities -- but don't try to pass off your comments as "objective." Because you summed it up for us quite nicely! Thanks!
