tsherkin wrote:I guess he's been waived since, so it doesn't matter... but even still.
BlackerDynamite wrote:Still doesn't change the fact, you seem to just want to argue against Bryant however you can. I would take Media, Coaches, and GM's opinions over realgm users any day.
Just to clarify, anyone sensible should be leery when accepting the opinions of mere forumites such as myself or anyone else on here, but when there are reams of data (not just stats but video clips and so forth) as evidence that totally undermine a claim that's extremely common coming from a certain group of people, it tends to cast a pall over their credibility. NBA personnel are humans, and thus subject to error. They, like most sports institutions, are slow to respond to things that challenge their perception of their world. Kobe's been a good player for a long time and reputation means a lot, so they tend to CONTINUE believing things, but Kobe's not the player he used to be. His team has caught up to him in quality and he continues to be a strong veteran player still playing some incredible basketball, but like Jordan before him, he's not nearly the player he was in his 20s. It's just reality, it's life, it's how AGING works. Kobe's clearly declined a lot on the defensive end, has lost a lot of physical ability due to aging and injuries, and his skill level (impressive as it is) can't make up all of the difference.
I don't argue that Bryant is a bad player, but BD tried to make it seem that way. Arguing that Kobe != the best player in the league is a far cry from disrespecting him or otherwise "hating" on him (to borrow the common parlance), especially when I go out of my way to explain why and point out that I still consider him a top 5 player in the league, and a top 10 player in league history.
The media aren't any more qualified or informed on these topics than we are in MANY cases. You'd take someone like JA Adande or Ric Bucher's opinion over someone on RealGM? Good for you. I've got some land to sell you.
Coaches are clever folk a lot of the time, but then you have a guy like Jay Triano, who's a horrible coach. Mike Brown too. These are guys who rely on raw averages and all kinds of other things that have serious flaws, especially given how they attempt to use them. Triano's a guy who resisted accepting how BAD the Raptors were on defense last year when people pointed out the historically bad DRTG of the team because he wanted to talk about opponent FG% (or was it eFG%, I forget).
Stodgy people.
Same deal with GMs. There are plenty of BAD GMs and coaches out there (and just inexperienced ones, too) and their opinions are factored into those types of polls as well. Inexperienced, limited qualifications, I mean, what else do you want to say? Their opinions aren't really more valuable than anyone else's. Appeal to authority is no less fallacious because this is sport and not some debate confined to a purely academic topic like Roman history in the 4th century BC.
