Dwyane Wade vs Kobe Bryant (The Twitter Debate)

Before I get into the whole premise of this article let me just first start off by saying that this is not to slander or discredit the knowledge of these basketball fans. In fact I would appreciate if you guys followed everyone of these people on Twitter. The whole point of this post is to help you guys better understand what it is I am referring to in my video up top. With that said, several weeks ago Court Vision asked the following question down below and you can clearly see my answers.

The question of top 5 shooting guards was on display in a public forum (Twitter). So my top 5 Consist of the following as you can see in my Tweet above.

1. Michael Jordan

2. Dwyane Wade

3.Kobe Bryant

4.Reggie Miller

5.George Gervin

@CourtVisionNBA Jordan,Wade,Kobe,Reggie Miller,Gervin
— Brendan Taylor (@ThatboyBTaylor) July 26, 2013

Minutes after posting my tweet answering the question many people attacked my list with a bunch of tweets about how Kobe is better then Dwyane Wade but gave me no concrete facts. After I stated that Wade is a more efficient player then Kobe, Court Vision even said that FG percentage isn't everything when it comes to determining how great a player is. He is right but it is certainly the foundation in which we judge how great a player, which is exactly the reason Michael Jordan is held in such a high regard 

@ThatboyBTaylor @NBAsNewsDaily FG% isn't everything my man.
— Court Vision (@CourtVisionNBA) July 26, 2013

While I continued to get many more tweets which lacked any kind of facts or logic to back up the opinion the Kobe is a better shooting guard than Dwyane Wade, I pulled an article from ESPN's John Hollinger which ranked the greatest NBA Finals performances ever. The article was basically a guide or reference if you will of how great certain players played on the games biggest stage. In the 2006 NBA Finals vs Dallas, Dwyane Wade put the Heat on his back from a 2-0 deficit to their 1^st ever NBA Title. His statistical averages were beyond crazy.

Dwyane Wade's 2006 Finals Statistics

34.7 PPG 7.8 Rebounds 3.8 Assists 46 FG% 33.8 PER (Highest In NBA Finals History)

So think about that for a second this guy is a 6'4 shooting guard and averaged 7.8 rebounds a game in the NBA Finals. He leads his team to a championship down 2-0 to a very good Dallas team lead by Dirk Nowitzki. To top it all off in the process of doing that he averages just under 35 points per game and collects the highest player efficiency rating at 33.8 in Finals history. Kobe Bryant NEVER played at that level on the biggest stage in basketball. To make matters worse Kobe Bryant isn't even in the top 10 all-time statistically as far as finals performances go, Wade has 2 top 10 performances (2006,2011).   

If you think Kobe Bryant is better then Dwade then you are probably a Laker fan or just uninformed here you go http://t.co/V5bo76k5jL. READ!
— Brendan Taylor (@ThatboyBTaylor) July 26, 2013

I then posed the challenge of to any Kobe/Laker fans to debate me on why Kobe is better then Wade using facts and it didn't happen.

This Tweet is directed at ALL my Laker/Kobe Followers...If Kobe is better then Wade give me just a few logical reasons why and back it up
— Brendan Taylor (@ThatboyBTaylor) July 26, 2013

One of the funnier responses basically said Kobe was better than Wade based solely on the fact that he gets comparisons to Michael Jordan and Dwyane Wade doesn’t. That’s because Kobe plays offense like him to a degree. Kobe has never been a shutdown defender and most likely will never win defensive player of the year. The premise of that statement is nonsense.

@ThatboyBTaylor @CourtVisionNBA Kobe is no MJ but he at least gets comparisons.
— SportsFeedDaily (@SportsFeedDaily) July 26, 2013

So after that I was tweeted a picture placing Wade and Kobe's accomplishments next to each other. Keep in mind that Kobe has played in the league 7 seasons longer then Wade and the accolades were still close (which was sad by the way). Wade has done more in his 10 years then Kobe has in 17, its about number of seasons not accolades. Again this comes back to efficiency and in terms of making all-star teams and the playoffs in that department Wade is more efficient than Kobe as All NBA Talk says down below.

@CourtVisionNBA @thatboybtaylor Wade missed playoffs/all stars 1x, Kobe did twice. Both missed all NBA team 2x. Gotta think abt # of seasons
— All NBA Talk (@OnlyNBATalk) July 26, 2013

A new Kobe supporter decided to join the conversation and asked if I was serious about my pick of Wade over Kobe Bryant, of course I told him yes and backed it up with facts as you can see down below.

@NBAsNewsDaily @CourtVisionNBA Wades better on defense, oiffense and you can't sit here and tell me that he isn't a winner because he has 3
— Brendan Taylor (@ThatboyBTaylor) July 26, 2013

@NBAsNewsDaily @CourtVisionNBA rings and at 31 years old shot the highest % of his career at 52% at 31 years old your boy Kobe shot 45%
— Brendan Taylor (@ThatboyBTaylor) July 26, 2013

Real acknowledges real as you can see down in he tweet below!

@ThatboyBTaylor @courtvisionnba @nbasnewsdaily this dude is speaking with all facts! Efficiency makes players great!
— All NBA Talk (@OnlyNBATalk) July 26, 2013

In a very empty statement I get another opinion on from what I think is Kobe supporter.

@ThatboyBTaylor I've been watching basketball as long as you've been alive Wade is great but he's just not in Kobe's class, no knock on wade
— rellimsportingview (@rellimsportview) July 26, 2013

One last opinion based statement.

@rellimsportview I'm not getting any reasons though besides your opinion and an opinion without facts is just words
— Brendan Taylor (@ThatboyBTaylor) July 26, 2013

Had to let my followers know its love and that I love talking basketball with them at the end of the day.

Just wanted to let all my followers know that regardless of what I say to you I love talking hoopswith you guys #Salute
— Brendan Taylor (@ThatboyBTaylor) July 26, 2013

I know many would beg to differ on my opinion on the NBA's top 5 shooting guards but I feel like Wade is better then Kobe. He has accomplished as much in a decade as Kobe has in 17 seasons and has been more efficient as far as shot made along with displaying a better shot selection. As a basketball player you need to have a great since of self and stay within yourself while not trying to do that. Wade does that, Kobe doesn’t which explains why he is a more efficient player than Bryant. If you disagree with me feel free to tweet me @Thatboybtaylor or @Truschoolsports.

Kidds Off The Hill: Grant Hill and Jason Kidd Retire

Everything in life has a transitional period and in the game of basketball it's no different. Over the last few seasons fans like myself have seen guys they grew up watching play retire from the game such as Shaq, Rasheed Wallace and Baron Davis. In the last few days 2 players who I grew up with and have been in the league for as long as I can remember retired from pro basketball. I am speaking about Grant Hill and Jason Kidd of course, who both shared rookie of the year honors in 1994.

Both of these talented players careers take on a different meaning. For Grant Hill it was a bunch of “What if's” due to injuries throughout the course of his career he was never ever able to hit his peak as a basketball player. For Jason Kidd he was a game changer who reinvented himself several times and took the perennial cellar dwelling New Jersey Nets to new heights taking them to the finals twice. Regardless of what happened though both had their fair share of great moments on the basketball court.

Grant Hill had all the hype coming in from Duke capturing 2 national championships garnering hype from many of the biggest names in basketball at that time. “He is simply a marvelous player who can do it all” Larry Brown said. He at one point was heralded as “The next Michael Jordan” and had the explosiveness to prove it just go on youtube. In fact Michael Jordan back in an interview stated the following about Grant Hill”I think Grant Hill's skills are unbelievable, he is definitely the type of player that can take over a game, he's probably top 4 players in the game today”. To actually get that praise from the guy you are being compared is a big deal.

For all the praise Grant received he also was unable to show the NBA world what his ceiling was due to many injuries. From 1999- 2008 Grant had problems staying on the court and never played 75+ games in that time frame. It makes you wonder what a healthy Grant Hill and Tracy Mcgrady could have done in Orlando with the Magic. They most likely wold of been contenders in the east year in year out.

There are many ways we can look at the career of Grant Hill. We can say “Here is Grant Hill who couldn't stay healthy, who let the fans down, Fila down and never maximized his potential”. Or we can say “Here is Grant Hill who didn't live up to the hype but was still a 7 time All-Star who fought his injuries to the very end to still become a productive role player in the league". If you want to know how great Grant Hill was at one point look at the tweet from ESPN's stats twitter account down below and you will see how great Grant was.

Grant Hill retires. He's 1 of 6 players to average 20-5-5 in his first 6 NBA seasons.It's an impressive list twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/…
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 2, 2013

Jason Kidd is different then Grant though he had hype but was more durable to prove it to be true. He came into the league as a guy who could do a little of everything Score,pass, rebound and was a bit bigger and stronger then most point guards which allowed him to get 107 Triple-Doubles over the course of his career.

Jason Kidd will always be known to most basketball fans as the guy who elevated the then New Jersey Nets franchise to new heights taking them to the finals 2 times. The only problem is the Nets ran into the 2 biggest dynasty’s of this era in the Lakers and Spurs but make no mistake about it Kidd was a game changer. Whether with Vince Carter, Kenyon Martin, Richard Jefferson or Kerry Kittles Kidd made the Nets a must watch team in the NBA and played some of the most exciting basketball of the 2000's leading the league in assists 5 times in his tenure with the Nets. So to the Brooklyn Nets Organization retire #5 at the Barclay’s center.

Of course all the accolades with Nets were great but the legacy of Kidd was cemented in 2011 when as a member of the Dallas Mavericks where he earned his 1^st and only championship ring beating Lebron James and the Miami Heat. From that part of his career to now he had to transition his game from a guy who liked to get to the basket to a guy who became a shooter and worked tirelessly to improve his perimeter J. As he leaves the league he is the 3^rd greatest shooter in NBA History which is a testament to how hard he worked as a player.

So to the careers of Jason Kidd and Grant Hill I on behalf of many basketball fans say so long, It was a joy to watch you play.

Playoff Time 2013: Dwyane Wade

As the Playoffs are set to begin in the next few days the Miami Heat will enter the playoffs as the Number one seed with the a huge target on their back. During the regular season they made a lot of things look easy and had an impressive span of basketball reeling off 27 straight wins for one of the NBA’s longest winning streaks in history. This was due in large part to Dwyane Wade figuring out, accepting and executing his role on this Heat team to the Highest level possible.

Before  The Big 3 was formed Miami was  “Wade County” It was his team and the offense ran through him, there was no such thing as “too many” touches or “too many” shots. When Lebron James and Chris Bosh Came to the Magic City  the Heat were expected to click right away but that’s not how basketball works. Lebron&Wade struggled to figure out how to work within the flow of the offense and that Cost them a Championship in the 2011 Finals vs Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks.

Fresh off a championship this season we have seen Dwyane Wade settle into his role as the 2^nd option on the team to Lebron James as well as him relinquishing the team to James. Wade has stated several times “This is Lebron’s team” but it seems like this year he has accepted that fact and grew more comfortable with his role on the team. At 31 years of age Wade has been pacing himself playing only 66 games and resting  more often this year. He also is playing at a much more controlled pace you don’t see him play like “Flash” Anymore exploding to the rim with no regard for human life in conjunction with contorting his body while in the air. We have seen Dwyane limit the falls and stay healthier and that’s the main thing for him at this point of his career.

This season has seen a more controlled matured Dwyane Wade which has led to less shots in the offense but a Career high in Field Goal percentage at 51%.  At 31 years old Wade remains one of the NBA’s premier shooting guards and as the Heat enter the 2013 playoffs look for him to turn his game up. There is is still plenty left in the tank and as the Heat Look to repeat Wade looks to remind people that he isn’t “too old” or “Too slow”. He is still one of the NBA’s premier perimeter defenders on one of the top Defensive teams the league has to offer . While Lebron James will be the focal point of the Miami offense look for Wade to have nights that remind people that while he is the #2 option he can carry a team and dominate both ends of the floor.

The 1^st round of the NBA Playoffs start April 20^th and the Heat will match up with the 8^th seeded Milwaukee Bucks.

Keep It Money Orientated

On the internet they’re are a plethora of well written, insightful publications but some need to know what lane they are in and stick to it. Before I get into what I want to say let me first acknowledge that I like Forbes magazine and that they give people around the globe great info on celebrity networth’s and are always putting together solid content, I’m a fan of Forbes. On the Flipside Forbes need to stay in their lane. They just released a countdown featuring the top 10 most overpaid players in the NBA Using Career stats vs per year Salary coupled with advanced metrics. Now I Must say the list was pretty accurate but there was one particular player That has no business being on there and I’m talking about Future Hall of Fame seven footer Dirk Nowitzki.

Dirk’s Numbers might be dipping down but Lets look at the facts, He took he Dallas Mavericks to Unparalleled Heights that they never reached before his arrival. He made them Contenders, He filled seats in Dallas, He made the Franchise value increase he deserves every last cent for turning what was once a mediocre franchise and turning them into a marquee team.

In the Forbes article they expressed the following ”An obvious Hall of Famer, and yes, he was hurt earlier this season. But Nowitzki’s numbers have dipped for a couple of years now as he pushes age 35. The stats say he’s worth about $13 million at this point of his career”. Obviously he isn’t playing at a top 5 player in the NBA Level currently but think about it this season he’s averaged the least amount of minutes per game (31.3) since his rookie season when he played 20.4 minutes per game. Less minutes means less touches which means a less then impressive scoring line.

They had him as #6 on the list, now I want you to think to yourselves how many Titles combined have these players won. Carmelo Anthony, Hedo Turkoglu, Ben Gordon, Joe Johnson. None of those dudes have a ring but Dirk is more overpaid then them? That makes no sense at all

Again Lets look a facts. The Mavericks since Dirk arrived have done the following.

·        Made the Playoffs 12 times (6 before Dirk)

·        Won a Championship

·        Had 11 straight 50+ win seasons

·        Averaged 20,000+ fans 6 seasons straight

·        Became relevant year in and year out

Dirk has also became familiar with elite company becoming part of the 20,000 point club which is something only 38 players in he entire of history of the NBA have accomplished, He is currently in 18^th.  The Mavericks Might not even be an NBA Team if it wasn't Dirk he saved basketball in Dallas.What I’m trying to say is that Forbes Don’t talk about basketball keep it strictly money when talking about any sports, Stay in your lane!!

The Queen City's Future: Kemba Walker and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

Hope- A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

There was not much of this in Charlotte last season for the Bobcats but when you watch Kemba Walker and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist play you get to visualize and enjoy the hope these 2 bring to the city. Last night in a rare NBA TV appearance the Bobcats Defeated the Dallas Mavericks 101-97 in a OT thriller. A team they had previously been 0-16 against and in that game we saw just how dangerous Kemba and MKG can be. Kemba was just a monster with 26 points 6 rebounds 7 assists and 8 steals. MKG recorded his 1st double-double with 25 points and 12 rebounds. As you can see these two can fill up a stat sheet but there is more to them numbers. Kemba Walker looks rejuvenated after struggling last season he looks like the guy this nation fell in love with at Uconn he is playing intense, stress free basketball and its just enjoyable to watch. He lived in the gym this off-season and playing in  new coach Mike Dunlap’s system Walker has been what I said he would be in the July and that is a candidate for the NBA’s most improved player award, Refer to my “Vegas Summer league” article. MKG has great energy and does so many things well and is just a joy to watch. He finishes around the rim well and just gets after it defensively and being the youngest player in the league at 19 years old he has a tremendous amount of upside and time to work on that jump shot of his. The Bobcats are 2-3  with wins over the Pacers and Mavs playing tough, Physical, Respectable basketball and these 2 are a huge part of that. In my opinion playing in the East an 8th seed playoff appearance is not out of question for the young Charlotte team. They certainly won’t win any Championships this year but the Future looks bright in the QC and behind these 2 franchise cornerstones progress seems inevitable.