I'm a Cavs fan, but without even watching Kobe's 61 I can tell you that it was better than what Lebron did last night. All Lebron did last night was hog the ball and shoot stupid shots. He kept the Knicks in the game because he was trying to put on a show. If they played Cavs basketball they would have beat the Knicks by 25- but they played Lebron ball where he holds onto the ball outside the 3 point line for 23 seconds, then tosses up a fade away. Lebron could have easily scored 70 points last night because he could have taken David Lee every single time down the court and had a layup- but he was trying to make headlines to overshadow Kobe and layups don't make highlights
On a side note- how bad are the Knicks? What team lets a guy come in and get 52 a couple nights after a guy hits for 61? DAntoni is a coach and the Suns are better off without him. You can't win anything playing that phantom defense like the Knicks play now. They might have a couple good regular seasons, but they will never in in May
Last edited by Thunder Dan; 02-05-2009 at 09:47 AM.
I like LeBron too, but last night he clearely overdid it. He fell for the media pressure and tried to beat what Kobe did the night before. I can see how hard he wants to be better than Kobe, and be recognized for it, but that's the sort of thing that comes when you play the game like you are supposed to, not just hogging the ball. If not, you are nothing more than a stronger version of Arenas.
more incentive to watch sunday. hope its a good game with both players showing what they are capable of
What, no pity for the Knicks who are the washington generals for LA and the Cavs? This is like watching two bullies pick a fight with a whimpy kid to see who can beat him up the worst. This round, I'd give to LA.
Who cares about lebron? Knicks are
I think both tried to put on a show, but Lebron's was more like a desperation move. Even Kobe could've left the game at the 4:00 mark when they were up by over 15.
Again this is where the coaches fail. Phil Jackson & Mike Brown have no idea how to coach & critique a superstar. Riley, Popovich & Sloan are the three best coaches in my opinion to coach the right way. They don't care about stats and most certainly don't care about the hype like smug Jackson.
11 assists.
I think Lebron played 44 minutes, which is about 10 more minutes than Kobe played.
Look at it this way, Kobe scored 61 and led the Lakers to a blowout win against the Knicks.
Lebron scored 50 and the Cavs barely squeaked one out at the last minute.
he should have had 20- they were playing one of the worst defenses in the league, but you wouldn't have known last night because Lebron held onto the ball all game
So, Kobe was better because LeBron played like Kobe?
Eh, who cares. Both teams won.
Let's look it at this way now, Kobe had 3 assts and a big fat 0 on rebounds, Lebron had 11 and 10 respectevely plus two blocks and won the game for his team down the stretch.
They both had great performances, for some Kobe's was better for others Lebron's was.
First of all Kobe is a guard and the fact that he had 0 rebounds isn't particularly meaningful IMHO.
The assist thing I can sort of agree with, but both the Lakers and Cavs play completely different offensive styles. The triangle is an equal opportunity system where everyone passes and makes plays, there is no true traditional PG. Kobe has actually led the Lakers in assists for the past few years for what it's worth.
Lebron basically is the PG of the Cavs and has the ball in his hands on nearly every position. He runs the show, sets up his teammates, etc. He's the CP3 of the Cavs, without him they simply can't score. By nature he's going to get more assists because he has to do more than Kobe does on offense to set things up for his teammates.
You can also say that Lebron did that on a compe ive game while Kobe did it on a blowout.
But others will say that Kobe turned that game into blowout while Lebron's ballhogging kept the other one close.
What I'm trying to say is STFU, nobody will win this argument.
Kobe did turn the game into a blowout though, that's the point. He simply demoralized the Knicks and many of them admitted that they had to stop themselves from ball watching as he dazzled the crowd.
Anyone wanna here what loser Chris Sheridan has to say?
Comparing Kobe's 61 Points At MSG To LeBron's 52
By Chris Sheridan
ESPN.com
(Archive)
NEW YORK -- First of all, let's get one thing straight:
The notion that LeBron James did NOT want to score 62 points, that he did NOT want to break Kobe Bryant's 48-hour opponent scoring record at the new Madison Square Garden, is utterly, patently, absurdly false.
He didn't get it, but he came pretty darn close, and he wanted it from the get-go. You could see it in the way he started going off early in the first quarter, you could sense it beforehand during a casual conversation in which James made mention of Kobe's zero rebounds and three assists two nights earlier, and you could feel it in your bones if you had spent enough time around the two of them this past summer and witnessed their compe ion for the alpha dog role on Team USA.
LeBron only lost his composure once in his postgame interview Wednesday night following Cleveland's 107-102 victory over New York, taking exception to a question that insinuated he had acted like a loner at one point early in the game, walking to the bench with his head hung.
"Not true. No. By myself?" James asked incredulously. "I'm too outgoing to be by myself. I don't like being by myself."
I'd be the first to admit that maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it was the one time all night when LeBron showed a little incredulousness, and to me, it was because of the underlying insinuation that James was some kind of a loner -- a term folks around the NBA often use in describing one of Bryant's peculiarities.
The two became what James called "good friends" during their time on Team USA, when James led through his words and actions at practice and on the team bus and Bryant led through his work ethic, with James at one point boldly (and, it should be noted, unprompted) declaring himself the leader of the team.
So they remain rivals in many ways, not the least of which is their ongoing battle to be the most popular player in the world. People close to James say it bothered him that Bryant was the one getting the lion's share of the rock star treatment in China during the Olympics, and it had to come as a surprise to James that the Madison Square Garden crowd did not rally behind him in anything even remotely resembling the fashion with which they showered Bryant with affection two nights earlier, the crowd becoming so vocally pro-Laker at certain points that Reggie Miller couldn't resist the urge to text e Lee during the game to bust his chops about it.
On this night, the crowd gasped here and there for LeBron as he ac ulated his points, but the house was 99 percent behind the home team, and truth be told, LeBron did not put on the kind of mesmerizing offensive performance as Bryant did. Still, LeBron's 52-point, 11-assist, 10-rebound outburst Wednesday was more of an all-around killer line than what Kobe had along with his 61 points, and James deftly ducked all Kobe comparisons after he had joined Michael Jordan as the only visiting player to reach 50 twice at the new Garden and became the first NBA player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975 to have a 50-point triple-double.
When James spoke most eloquently, it was in talking about the building he was playing in -- and how special he feels every time he enters the arena on 33rd and Eighth Avenue that sits smack dab on top of Penn Station.
"I can't say that this is the same as any other road game, because it's not. This is the mecca of basketball. A lot of things have happened in this building, great history, the fans have seen a lot. Like Kobe said, this is the last building that's still alive," James said. "It's just a different feeling coming into this building, it feels like you're on stage playing the game of basketball more than playing on the court, because of the fans and the way the lighting is in here."
If James had not drifted off to his left on several of his five missed 3-point attempts, and if he had not missed three of his 19 free throws, if he had attacked the basket with just a little more regularity, that 61-point record of Bryant's may very well have fallen.
But it was clearly out of reach as this game entered the final minute, and James glanced over at three of his friends sitting courtside and shook his head with a hint of disgust as the teams came out of a final timeout with 11.3 seconds remaining and James still sitting one rebound shy of a triple-double.
He wanted that last rebound badly, and his eyes absolutely lit up when Chris Duhon's late jumper glanced off the rim. James went after it hard, tumbling into a courtside cameraman after he grabbed it with 1.9 seconds left and saved it inbounds, and the entire Cavaliers team mobbed him afterward for giving that last extra dose of effort that locked up the triple-double. "It's just the type of player and person he is. I have no answer for it. I don't know why he's able to do some of the things he does," Cavs coach Mike Brown said.
Bryant won't be back in this building until next season, and the same goes for James unless the Knicks and Cavs meet in the playoffs.
Kobe and LeBron will see each other in person on Sunday when Los Angeles finishes its current five-game road trip in Cleveland, and the two will have a chance that afternoon to measure themselves against each other not by what they did earlier in the week in New York, but by the outcome of their matchup at the Q.
Both teams, along with the Celtics, have been stubbornly refusing to become the first of that trio to reach double figures in losses, and the question of who is the better player and who has the better team cannot even begin to be answered until we have Sunday's result and this season's playoffs to look back upon.
But know this: it has to bother LeBron that Kobe is clearly more of a fan favorite at Madison Square Garden than he is right now, and I'd put money down now that when James makes his next visit to the building, he's going to have Kobe's 61 in his sights again -- whether he's ready to admit it by then or not.
For now, we're left to debate which was more impressive -- Kobe's 61 or LeBron's 52-point triple-double -- as we await their 2009-10 trips into town, and then start the countdown to July 1, 2010, when Knicks fans are hoping and praying that an opponent scoring record is something James will never have to worry about again -- unless he's trying to stop someone from breaking it.
For that to happen, James will have to be a member of the Knicks.
And if you don't think that is a realistic possibility, you also probably believe that Kobe's 61 meant nothing to James. Believe me, it did. And believe me, he had his sights set on 62 just as strongly as he had his eyed glued to the basketball when it came off the rim and gave him his triple-double. He'll want the 62 next year, too, and my advice to anyone willing to bet a dollar on an over-under of 61 1/2 in next year's two Cavs-Knicks games? Take the over, and then make room in your wallet for a rectangular piece of paper with George Washington's portrait on it. He'll get the 62, and then we can start looking ahead to 2010-11, when the big question might be whether he'll eclipse Bernard King's record for most points by a Knick. For that, he'll only need 61.
ROfl. I know TD meant good making this thread, but it just turns into another Kobe vs LeBron thread.
I admit this time I added fuel to the fire, but it's really too easy to get these Kobe vs. Lebron things started. All you gotta do is light the match, then watch this mother er burn!
Neither one was as impressive as MJ's 55 back when the Knicks played D.
And the circle is complete.
How could we forget to drag MJ's name into this Kobe vs. Lebron discussion?
These threads get tiring. I don't know how we go through this like twice a week. Eventually the Kobe haters will come in and mention Jordan and bam! add another 10 pages to this thread.
I don't hate Kobe anymore.....if I had an MVP vote he would def. get it over LeBron. I figured MJ had already been mentioned (I didn't read any other posts) so sorry for that, but eventually it would have gotten brought up.
If Kobe wasn't constantly brought up multiple times a day, I wouldn't say anything negative about him.
No Kobe Lebron thread will be complete without MJ, good call.
Here goes the next part to this thread. "MJ didn't have to play the compe ion Kobe did. Clyde Drexler? lol. He was past his prime" and then someone will say " Tracy McGrady and Paul Pierce are better than anybody from that era"
Here's my solution to that problem: make an official Kobe vs. LeBron thread. Once it gets clogged up with enough garbage, people will get tired of it.
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