lakerz12 wrote:Dupp wrote::lol:
No one has a more fabricated clutch image than Kobe
There used to be a website called NBA Miner that had a formula and a ranking of every NBA player based on:
"Clutch Time: During the 4th quarter or overtime, with less than five minutes remaining, and neither team ahead by more than five points"
Kobe was ranked in different seasons: 10th, 2nd, 16th, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 3rd, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 2nd, 2nd
He was consistently top 5 in the entire NBA . . .year after year
If you watched most of his games, like I did, it wasn't uncommon to see him win games with his scoring and defense in the 4th quarter. It's not all about the last second shot, although he had a lot of those go in as well.
I suppose it would depend on the formula.
For instance 82games still has their clutch time numbers going back to the early 2000's, and just taking 09/10 for instance ... Kobe averaged 51.2 points per 48min during clutch time. If you stop there, that's probably near the top in the league; but his eFG% was just 49.5%, his team only outscored the opponent in 13 of 24 games, and his Net48 was +6.9.
But that same season LeBron averaged 66.1 points per 48 with 55.0 efg%, outscored the opponent in 32 of 41 games, and his Net48 was +36.9.
Of course LeBron is LeBron even if everyone didn't realize it back then ... so maybe Kobe still graded out well because other players just stunk in clutch time? That's a definite possibility as a quick check confirms many of Kobe's contemporaries did stink in the clutch that season.
But this is the sort of thing that needs to be graded against team efficiency. A star player consuming a lot of shots and delivering meh efficiency may actually be hurting his team, and a very strong team may only need to hold a lead to close out a game.