RealGM

Was Kobe a better player in ’06/’07 or ’08/’09?

To me, the situations are too different to say definitively which version was better. Though I think getting those scoring titles on his resume(with all the 60pt games) and out of the way helped prepare him to go back to fitting his offense better within a team concept that could win titles. So he was better off imo going through the 05-07 years so he could focus more on winning afterwards. It worked out well for him.

06-07’ was a different level of responsibility. What he was doing night after night to get them to the playoffs in a tough conference gives that version the slight edge.

Winning bias will win out here but watching quite a lot of 06-09 Kobe lately, he just looked better in 06-07. Mainly due to superior athleticism and motor.

Kobe had declined defensively a lot by 08-09 and his defensive teams honors were purely based on legacy at that point.

Kobe obviously declined with age, but was he really that bad defensively by then? He has a positive plus-minus in 2011-2012, despite it being the first season where his true shooting and effective field goal percentage were both below league average.

D.Brasco wrote:Kobe had declined defensively a lot by 08-09 and his defensive teams honors were purely based on legacy at that point.

As opposed to when he had a massive offensive load in 2006/07 and was defending selectively?

D.Brasco wrote:Kobe had declined defensively a lot by 08-09 and his defensive teams honors were purely based on legacy at that point.

They were name/legacy based from 04 on I think. I think the common thinking though is that he got better defensively in 08/09 due to being able to conserve some energy on offense and knowing that he had to in order to get a higher seed in the west.

AEnigma wrote:

D.Brasco wrote:Kobe had declined defensively a lot by 08-09 and his defensive teams honors were purely based on legacy at that point.

As opposed to when he had a massive offensive load in 2006/07 and was defending selectively?

His offensive load wasn't much more in 06-07 than it was in 08-09, he was taking a couple less shots in '09. Kobe was past his defensive prime in '07 as well but he had more athleticism left to offset it a bit compared to '09.

Cavsfansince84 wrote:

D.Brasco wrote:Kobe had declined defensively a lot by 08-09 and his defensive teams honors were purely based on legacy at that point.

They were name/legacy based from 04 on I think. I think the common thinking though is that he got better defensively in 08/09 due to being able to conserve some energy on offense and knowing that he had to in order to get a higher seed in the west.

For sure, he was past his defensive prime by 2007. But did he really have that much less offensive load in 2009 vs 2007? Without looking deep into the numbers he was only taking 2 more shots attempts in 2007 than 2009, this wasn't his 2006 season where he was jacking up over 27 shots a game and his athleticism was better in 2007 which would help on defense.

D.Brasco wrote:

Cavsfansince84 wrote:

D.Brasco wrote:Kobe had declined defensively a lot by 08-09 and his defensive teams honors were purely based on legacy at that point.

They were name/legacy based from 04 on I think. I think the common thinking though is that he got better defensively in 08/09 due to being able to conserve some energy on offense and knowing that he had to in order to get a higher seed in the west.

For sure, he was past his defensive prime by 2007. But did he really have that much less offensive load in 2009 vs 2007? Without looking deep into the numbers he was only taking 2 more shots attempts in 2007 than 2009, this wasn't his 2006 season where he was jacking up over 27 shots a game and his athleticism was better in 2007 which would help on defense.

Effort. 42 win team with 24th ranked def in 07 to 65 win team with 6th ranked def. Kobe wasn't happy in 07 and had been coasting on defense for a few years. Also, in 07 he was getting to the rim a lot more. His ftapg fell from 8.7 to 5.9.

06 is Kobe at his apex that year is up there for sure
He bench pressed that pitiful Lakers roster to a top 10 offense..
Put him on any of the Finals teams with Pau and they get even better

Kobe was basically the same player in all of those seasons, just in radically different team structures. Beyond Odom, the 2006 and 2007 rosters offered so very little as supporting cast. Then Fisher and Gasol arrived in 2008, along with Radmanovic who had a great season, and Bynum made a big third year leap. Kobe went from having very little support to being very well supported and that is the difference between his performance in those seasons.

06 Kobe was more athletic and a better scorer. Role obviously dictated much about his defense that season but on a more reasonable team, he'd have been the better defender as well. Clearly the guy you'd prefer to have, IMHO.

Went with 08/09