Joao Saraiva wrote:Good point about the TOV%. Still when Kobe was creating his own shot I at least feel he doesn't commit as many TOs as Malone, as you said, operating in the post. And I feel that is a positive point when talking about #1 options. I actually remember some instances of Malone losing the ball operating in the post when we needed him to create his own shot, or believed that was the solution.
I think Kobe was a better isolation scorer, yes. Kobe was one of the best iso scorers we've seen. And in context, his TOV% is the more impressive for it, I'll agree with that for sure.
Utah made a clear leap when Malone started to be able to shoot more. My biggest wonder with him isn't about turnovers, or post versus pick and roll, though. It's what would have happened if he could have hit his FTs in big games, which was not a weakness Kobe ever displayed. Malone's FTr in the 97 and 98 Finals was .475 and .319. In 97, that was BETTER than it had been in the RS. Considerably worse in 98, though. But he shot 60.3% from the line in 97. He also shot 44.3% from the field, which was a tank job. He was at 78.9% in 98, and shot 50.4% from the field. Much better overall. His trouble in 98 was more that no one else showed up. Hornacek was the only other double-digit scorer over the series (at 10.7 ppg, though Stockton was close at 9.7 ppg). That was a flaw more in terms of how Utah staffed their roster than with Malone. He just didn't have enough assistance to compete with the Bulls as a solo act on offense. Scottie looked like crap that series but he and Kukoc were at least both 15 ppg scorers in the 98 Finals, and moved the ball well. Coincidentally, Jordan posted that sexy 51.6% TS (-1.3% rTS) in that same series, laboring with a lack of offensive support at a low tempo, 82 possessions per game). Makes you wonder, right? MJ wasn't exactly scintillating in his scoring efficiency when he posted a TS% of league playoff average in the 97 Finals either.
Certainly, you can say some stuff about Malone's iso game. It was ugly, it wasn't as effective as Kobe's. But his utility as a volume scorer was still there, and given that he was tasked with excessive usage, not as bad as his reputation suggests, and actually far more competitive than most seem to allow, IMHO. Again, I think the answer here is still probably Kobe, but Malone is one of those guys where I think he takes more of a hit than he should, I guess.