cornchip wrote:One_and_Done wrote:cornchip wrote:
I have to disagree here. Kobe had plenty of speed to get by defenders. In fact, he routinely broke the triangle because it was so easy for him to blow by his guy at times.
SGA and Kobe are really dopplegangers imo. SGA is probably the closest thing to Kobe since Kobe. Both have incredible footwork, ball handling, sneaky speed and quickness, shot making ability, and enough bounce to make their finesse finishing extremely hard to stop (even though they aren't explosive leapers like MJ or Wade). Also not elite but very good defenders for lead guards.
SGA is a better outside shooter but Kobe was very good in that area and much better than his percentages indicate. SGA's handles are absolutely insane from a practical basketball standpoint. He also uses his ball handling ability like Kobe in that there are very little "wasted" dribbles (unlike a Harden or Tatum). Kobe seems like he was considerably bigger...SGA is probably barely 6'6 while Kobe was likely a solid 6'7 pushing 6'8 (he always seemed a hair shorter than 6'8 TMac or even just a bit shorter than 6'9 Lebron).
Small differences above though and probably the biggest difference is Kobe spent all his prime in the triangle while SGA plays in essentially a 5 out offense.
Younger Kobe was quick, but he wasn't SGA quick. A shooting guard is always going to struggle to match the speed of elite point guard blitzes. Like, Vince Carter was quick too, but he wasn't faster than Ja Morant or John Wall.
SGA is 'like Kobe' in the sense he takes alot of midrangers, but unlike Kobe he is vastly more efficient shooting from everywhere (including the 3pt line, which is key)
Kobe was a flat 6-6. He was not 'pushing 6-8'. That's your imagination at work, and of course the flawed US measurement system. McGrady was 5cm taller, but somehow that translates to 2 inches. However if you look at Google images the 2 inches is very apparent in most photos. This photo, of non-baby McGrady, probably best illustrates the difference.
https://images.app.goo.gl/ULaZQ8QraJa7rSv69As you can see, it's the increased muscle and bulk T-Mac has that really sets him apart more than just his height. His wing span and hops as well.
Kobe cannot compare to SGA in defense, ball handling, passing, etc. There is no evidence he can run an offense, let alone a high octane & low turnover one like SGA does.
SGA doesn't have Ja Morant's quickness either. It's hard to see your point here. The comparison is between (young) Kobe and SGA. I think SGA is quicker but it's not a vast difference.
A simple stat search shows that Kobe shot 35% from three in his ages 24-26 seasons...identical to SGA's past three seasons (his two All-NBA seasons and this year). If you think that's not fair, Kobe shot 33% compared to SGA's 35% in seasons 5-7. Kobe's peak years (08-10), he shot 35%...identical to SGA again. Anyway you slice it, SGA is simply not "vastly" more efficient than Kobe from three. That just isn't true. If anything, Kobe would have likely been more efficient from deep with better shot selection.
As far as Kobe's height, you may be right. I don't like the image you posted for comparison as T-Mac is clearly closer to the camera. The image below is a better comparison. T-Mac looks about an inch taller than Kobe from my eyes.
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/kobe-bryant-of-the-los-angeles-lakers-poses-with-east-team-news-photo/1772454Everything else you mentioned is pure conjecture. What evidence is there that SGA can be as productive in an offense playing much more off the ball with an all-star big hovering in the paint?
Yeh, I think SGA is substantially faster than Kobe.
I also think you’re being a little disingenuous with the 3pt comparison because that 3 year stretch is not reflective of Kobe’s career average, which is 329, nor is it reflective of his 3pt% over his prime from 00-11, which is 339. In the last 3 years SGA has shot 350. from the 3pt line, which is clearly better than a representative sample from Kobe’s career. Perhaps “vastly” is overstating SGAs advantage, but he’s clearly better.
As I set out on page 1, SGA kills Kobe on the per 100 numbers, and as I covered on page 2 I don’t feel the adjustment to a modern setting is going to be there for Kobe. We have too much evidence of him refusing to adjust his play style as it was in era, and adjusting to today’s game is going to be a far bigger ask.
You can complain about the photo I chose, I don’t like the one you have chosen either because all-star ones are notorious for having weird angles (as this one clearly does). However, you can still see the 5cm of height difference on their listed heights, even in your photo. What’s more relevant is that T-Mac was bigger, stronger, had more hops (yes, even more than young Kobe), had bigger hands, and had a 7-2 wingspan. Kobe was an incredible athletic specimen, but he was not peak T-Mac. Very few players can win that comparison.
