Kobe: Melo harder to defend than Lebron.

[Dagouch]

http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/knicksblog/lakers_kobe_knicks_melo_harder_to_Z3BArq3dSUIbgHPA uK3M2L#axzz2EtqrPkBa

[Mr. Incredible]

He still isn't better than LeBron.

[red1]

why is kobe even talking about defense? :yaohappy:

[funnystuff]

:roll:

Kobe is so insecure.

[DuMa]

Thats not Kobe's place to talk. Its Metta. in fact Metta takes every superior wing assignment every night and Kobe gets the weaker one.

[TaLvsCuaL]

Maybe, but Lebron is thousand times better defender and passer.

[Just2McFly]

Of course, Kobe almost died trying to guard Melo in the 09 WCF

[dabulls23]

well I think in one on one, melo is more lethal and I think that's where kobe is going at

[poido123]

:lol Coming out saying that Melo is the MVP and that Melo is harder to guard than Lebron, is showing some serious insecurity :rolleyes:...Ironic that it comes after his team is sinking and knowing that Lebron is chasing his legacy. He wants Melo to get the title and MVP knowing he is no threat to his All time position :lol:

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

:lol Coming out saying that Melo is the MVP and that Melo is harder to guard than Lebron, is showing some serious insecurity :rolleyes:...Ironic that it comes after his team is sinking and knowing that Lebron is chasing his legacy. He wants Melo to get the title and MVP knowing he is no threat to his All time position :lol:

He was asked those questions dude.

[selrahc]

everyone knows this already

[Sharmer]

What a load of crap, Melo > Lebron

[TheBigVeto]

Kobe is trying too hard to butter up Melo, so that Melo will go soft on the Lakers in the next game.

Good effort Kobe. Good job good effort.

[andremiller07]

Well yeah Melo has more moves and is a better shooter, but Lebron is still a far superior player.

[BEAST Griffin]

When was the last time he's defended either of them?

:lol

[oh the horror]

I dont get it.


He was asked, and he answered.



Honestly from the looks of it, some of you here are the insecure ones.




Kobe is a multiple time champion. Whats the problem?


Get over it. Lets keep it level headed.

[chazzy]

poido beastgriffin duma thebigveto

[oh the horror]

poido beastgriffin duma thebigveto



The Fantastic Four of d-baggery.

[Mr. Jabbar]

poido beastgriffin duma thebigveto

Well educated in the arts of phagotry.

[tpols]

:lol Coming out saying that Melo is the MVP and that Melo is harder to guard than Lebron, is showing some serious insecurity :rolleyes:...Ironic that it comes after his team is sinking and knowing that Lebron is chasing his legacy. He wants Melo to get the title and MVP knowing he is no threat to his All time position :lol:
You really think Kobe gives a fvck about anything you just said??:lol We here care more about this shit than the actual players.. which is retarded.

[KOBE143]

LeBron offense is very predictable and plus, he has no skills at all..

[Metroid]

I don't get why people are saying Kobe is being insecure. It doesn't mean that he thinks that Melo is the better player.

In fact, Kobe said that for him, the hardest person to guard in his career was Reggie Miller. Doesn't mean Miller is the best player he's ever faced.

[oh the horror]

Honestly, it doesnt mean one is "better" overall than the other like the above poster said. For KOBE, maybe he personally has more trouble guarding Melo?

[TMT]

I have no problem with what he said. It's clearly going to be a tougher task handling guys like Durant, Melo, Pierce because of their elite midrange games and ability to shoot the long ball.

[Just2McFly]

Honestly, it doesnt mean one is "better" overall than the other like the above poster said. For KOBE, maybe he personally has more trouble guarding Melo?
Melo has one of the sickest arsenals in NBA History. Lebron is still rounding out his game and is more effective, but Melo keeps you guessing.

He has range to go with a smooth baby ass jumpshot, sick footwork on the wing, elbow and block, deceptive speed and strong as an ox.

I don't understand why this guy hasn't won multiple scoring titles already.

[tpols]

I don't understand why this guy hasn't won multiple scoring titles already.
He doesnt get enough easy buckets

[poido123]

The Fantastic Four of d-baggery.

:rolleyes:

And so is anyone who claims kobe to be anything but perfect. I hate how there are so many Laker/Kobe fans on here who talk BS, your opinion is futile, you get swarmed on and negged for saying something offensive about Kobe or the Laker team. I am sick and tired of the Kobe fanatics who see no wrong in their hero, they are as insecure about his legacy as Kobe is himself.

There are a minority who can call out Kobe and be a Laker fan, but they are fewq and far between...

[ClutchOver9000]

I dont get it.


He was asked, and he answered.



Honestly from the looks of it, some of you here are the insecure ones.




Kobe is a multiple time champion. Whats the problem?


Get over it. Lets keep it level headed.

:applause:

BTW what about Kobe's statement is so incorrect?

He's not saying who's the better player, simply that Melo is harder to defend than Lebron. I'm assuming he's referring to guarding those guys in iso situations, in which case I think he is absolutely right, Melo is without a doubt a much tougher guard than Lebron. Melo is arguably the best iso player in the league. Lebron stans have to stop taking everything so personal.

[miggyme1]

Melo is the best pure scorer in the league. Lebron is all athleticism. When melo starts to "lose a step" he will still be a 20ppg a night guy if not 25. Look for lebrons assists to increase and his points to decrease as he ages

[jjayfive]

hahahaha... Lebron fans are the insecure ones.. Kobe has more credibility than any of you... Before you call me a hater or a kobe lover, I believe Lebron is the best player in the league because of his all around ability.. But on a pure offensive stand point, I see where Kobe is coming from because of Melo's arsenal.

[Dresta]

Well yeah Melo has more moves and is a better shooter, but Lebron is still a far superior player.
If that is true then why does Lebron have a higher career 3 point % while taking more shots?

There is really no justification for that statement.

[G-Funk]

No question i dont even thing Lebron is top 5 in that regard. Lebron is great because he can pass and rebound

[BEAST Griffin]

Lebron would make Kobe cry if he tried to defend him. I can see Kobe give more trouble to Carmelo.

[tmacattack33]

Artest used to say that Brandon Roy was the hardest for him to guard.

Durant looked good guarding Kobe over the past two playoffs, but against a lot of other players Durant struggled.



There's different matchups and factors to consider.

So maybe Kobe isn't being insecure or trying to deliver a mention, but he actually has a harder time guarding Melo because Melo is a better post up player and can post up Kobe and have a 3-4 inch advantage and 40 lbs over him?

[TheBigVeto]

The Fantastic Four of d-baggery.

LOL this phaggit is mad.
Your false god kobe is an overrated *******. You are a phaggit.
Deal with it.

:coleman:

[I.R.Beast]

Maybe, but Lebron is thousand times better defender and passer.
lebron is arguably the most overated defender in the nba who does he stop?????Carmelo's on ball defense has been visibly better than lebron's this season.

[chazzy]

If that is true then why does Lebron have a higher career 3 point % while taking more shots?

There is really no justification for that statement.
There's no justification for saying Melo is a better shooter than Lebron? There's more to shooting than just 3pt shooting %

[tpols]

If that is true then why does Lebron have a higher career 3 point % while taking more shots?

There is really no justification for that statement.
People dont play Lebron for the shot.. people play melo almost exclusively for his shot. Put them in an empty gym and melo destroys bron.

[tpols]

Artest used to say that Brandon Roy was the hardest for him to guard.

:lol

Nah it was Mike Chafly from queensbridge though.. best all time.:cheers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFFn-kH7WMw

[Vertical-24]

So by saying Melo is the hardest player in the league to guard...suddenly he's insecure? Lebron is the best ALL AROUND player in the league and Kobe didn^t say otherwise. Melo is a premier scorer in this league and maybe its most lethal offensive weapon. And yes befause of offensive skillset, I would imagine him to be the tougher cover. Some of you ISH'ers are complete airbags man.

[STATUTORY]

If that is true then why does Lebron have a higher career 3 point % while taking more shots?

There is really no justification for that statement.

cause no one respects his 3 and let him shoot it uncontested :confusedshrug:

[pauk]

Its probably because Carmelo looks to score more, have no idea...

[Rysio]

its a fact. i dont even know why lebrick stans are so mad in here. lebrick aint nothing in half court.

[Dragonyeuw]

Melo has more of a scorer's mentality and has a more varied offensive game, it's not a shocking statement. Actually, it's pretty amazing when you look at Lebron's career scoring numbers because he's more passing-oriented than scoring-oriented in terms of mentality and instincts.

[RoundMoundOfReb]

i guess half court he may have a point but no one runs the break like lebron.

[RoundMoundOfReb]

lebron may be the only player in NBA history to average 30 ppg and scoring not be his best asset.

[Indian guy]

Meh. You would get a similar response from LeBron too, if asked who's tougher to guard between 'Melo and Kobe. He'd pick 'Melo in a second.

[White Mamba]

Lebron would make Kobe cry if he tried to defend him. I can see Kobe give more trouble to Carmelo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR6Paxum3pE :kobe: :lebronamazed:

[Segatti]

I want to see Kobe defending the post against Lebron :lol

[pauk]

No, really... have no idea what Kobe is talking about, he never had any problem against Carmelo whatsoever.... but Lebron? Different story...


http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc500/pauk666/kobe-carmelo.png
http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc500/pauk666/kobe-lebron.png

Its not just the stats/wins, but watching all those games Carmelo was not able to torch Kobe/Lakers as Lebron did and neither was he able to defend Kobe as well as Lebron did, not even close... Meanwhile Kobe was able to torch & defend Carmelo more often than not, but against Lebron, no...

In those games Carmelo would avoid to defend Kobe and offensively what he did most of the time against Kobe was to face up, wait 1-2 seconds, 1 jabstep and then shoot a perimeter or midrange jumpshot... sure its hard to swat it, but thats really it.... but Lebron was doing that but did also blow by Kobe 24-7 and breaked his ankles and ragdolled him in the post backing him up... and has been defending him very well... Meanwhile Kobe was sweating his behind of trying to guard Lebron, especially when Kobe would try to full-court press defend Lebron bringing the ball up, he had to play MUCH more defense against Lebron...

[White Mamba]

No, really... have no idea what Kobe is talking about, he never had any problem against Carmelo whatsoever.... but Lebron? Different story...


http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc500/pauk666/kobe-carmelo.png
http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc500/pauk666/kobe-lebron.png

Its not just the stats/wins, but watching all those games Carmelo was not able to torch Kobe/Lakers as Lebron did and neither was he able to defend Kobe as well as Lebron did, not even close... Meanwhile Kobe was able to torch & defend Carmelo more often than not, but against Lebron, no...

In those games what Carmelo did most of the time against Kobe was to face up, wait 1-2 seconds, 1 jabstep and then shoot a perimeter or midrange jumpshot... sure its hard to swat it, but thats really it.... but Lebron was doing that but did also blow by Kobe 24-7 and breaked his ankles and ragdolled him in the post backing him up... and has been defending him very well...

Kobe only care about playoffs I think, It was hard for him in 2009 vs Denver.

If you heared the interview he didn't bring LBJ name up it was SAS. He said "for me Its Melo"

those regular season games you pointed don't say much because its not like they go against each other 48 minutes.

in 2009 Lakers were without MWP, Ariza was a bit injured in that series and Kobe guard Melo the whole series. that's why I think he said it, no disrespect to Lebron.

[christian1923]

I don't get how people can question Kobe's opinion, he plays and is actually on the court and has practice against these guys. If he thinks melo is harder to guard than who are you to question him lol

[pauk]

Kobe only care about playoffs I think, It was hard for him in 2009 vs Denver.

If you heared the interview he didn't bring LBJ name up it was SAS. He said "for me Its Melo"

those regular season games you pointed don't say much because its not like they go against each other 48 minutes.

in 2009 Lakers were without MWP, Ariza was a bit injured in that series and Kobe guard Melo the whole series. that's why I think he said it, no disrespect to Lebron.

Sure, but my point is Kobe had factually MUCH more problems defending Lebron (including Durant) rather than Carmelo... speaking of Durant, playoffs & Kobe, take a look at what Durant did against Kobe in the playoffs... Lebron/Durant have been much more evil against Kobe... Carmelo has not done anything against Kobe infact, have no idea what Kobe is talking about...

[Pointguard]

What's so wrong about the statement. Lebron would be harder to handle if he posted up more but he doesn't. Mello has a much better jab step, applies more skills in the post, has more moves, gets you off balance more, and mixes up the jump shot and dribble manipulation much more. Mello is much more likely to use his combo of speed, skills, creativity and strength than Lebron will.

Lebron usually commits to the jump shot or drive. The only critical moment in defending Lebron is when he tries to victimize you with his first step to get by you (but he give you a clue as to when he will do this by backing out to the 30 foot line to begin his move). To a much lesser extent he will use his body on you in the post, but this is rare. Mello is more likely to use his strength in the post against a defender in a game than Lebron is. And this is even true when Mello is being guarded by powerforwards (Mello gets bigger players off balance and then uses his power on them). With Mello, you have no idea of when the attack will begin, which way to lean, will he continue after his first, second or third move, when will he pull up, he has no favorite spots to deny him and rarely will you see the same move twice in the same game. You don't know when he is going to spin, juke, powermove, or finesse his way. Mello is manipulating the second he gets the ball and has a great versatile attack.

Lebron has the capacity to do what Mello does but he keeps it really simple. It's unlikely you can match his power but he's much more likely to use his speed to beat you.

[White Mamba]

Sure, but my point is Kobe had factually MUCH more problems defending Lebron (including Durant) rather than Carmelo... speaking of Durant, playoffs & Kobe, take a look at what Durant did against Kobe in the playoffs... Lebron/Durant have been much more evil against Kobe... Carmelo has not done anything against Kobe infact, have no idea what Kobe is talking about...

Kobe guard Westbrook for the most part, MWP guard the both players you mention.

If Kobe guard them 3 or 4 times a game it doesn't mean much.

[HardwoodLegend]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR6Paxum3pE :kobe: :lebronamazed:

Rookie LeBron.

[bluechox2]

all the lebron stans :lol trying to make sense of this

[White Mamba]

Rookie LeBron.

Rookie? its 2006. 3rd year.

My point is Kobe won't cry guard anybody.

[bluechox2]

melo has a better chance at a longer career than lebron at this point unless lebron learns to shoot a jumper consistently

[jlip]

No big deal here. It's the same thing as when I heard Drexler say that Ralondo Blackmon was the toughest player for him to guard. This is not about who's the best player. It's about who is the toughest matchup. Just like in the playoffs, team X may be clearly better than team Y, but team Y, considering how they are constructed, may be a tougher matchup.

[chazzy]

pauk
What do head to head regular season numbers have to do with who is harder to defend? None of those guys are assigned to each other much anyway, so this is just based on their few in game match ups and more likely the team USA practices.

[ripthekik]

hilarious seeing all the bron fans get all worked up, pauk with the stat screenshot :roll: :roll: :roll:

[stallionaire]

lmao kobe is insecure as hell

he barely defends either

[longtime lurker]

This thread shows the posters that actually have a brain(hint its not the ones getting worked up over someones opinion). I trust Kobe's opinion over anyone on a message board the man has eat, slept and lived basketball the majority of his life. Funny thing is that he didn't even bring up Lebron yet his stans always get in a fury if someone doesn't think Lebron is the MVP, defensive player of the year, 6th man of the year, father of the year whatever.

[Dragonyeuw]

This thread shows the posters that actually have a brain(hint its not the ones getting worked up over someones opinion). I trust Kobe's opinion over anyone on a message board the man has eat, slept and lived basketball the majority of his life. Funny thing is that he didn't even bring up Lebron yet his stans always get in a fury if someone doesn't think Lebron is the MVP, defensive player of the year, 6th man of the year, father of the year whatever.

This is pretty much it. If Kobe himself is saying Melo is a tougher cover for him, who are any of us to say otherwise?! :facepalm

[jimmy77x]

This thread shows the posters that actually have a brain(hint its not the ones getting worked up over someones opinion). I trust Kobe's opinion over anyone on a message board the man has eat, slept and lived basketball the majority of his life. Funny thing is that he didn't even bring up Lebron yet his stans always get in a fury if someone doesn't think Lebron is the MVP, defensive player of the year, 6th man of the year, father of the year whatever.
:bowdown:

[boozehound]

lmao kobe is insecure as hell

he barely defends either
this. and never really has.

[boozehound]

This is pretty much it. If Kobe himself is saying Melo is a tougher cover for him, who are any of us to say otherwise?! :facepalm
he doesnt defend lebron and melo and really never has in his career.

[White Mamba]

he doesnt defend lebron and melo and really never has in his career.

Kobe guard Melo for the whole 6 games of the 2009 WCF.

He never said anything about guarding LBJ, SAS asked that.

He mention Melo and Pierce, both players that he guard during 3 huge series in the Lakers 3 finals.

[Replay32]

Kobe rarely guards melo or lebron because they play different positions. The only time I remember kobe guarding melo is a couple of games of the 2009 WCF. And I remember kobe doing a decent job on melo. Lebron defends kobe really well more often than not, because he's bigger faster and stronger.

But melo gives lebron fits. They actually play the same position and actually have gone head to head most of their career, especially when lebron was a cav and melo a nugget.

Lately though, spo will put Battier on Melo a lot to allow Lebron to save energy and stay out of foul trouble.

[ClutchOver9000]

:lol LBJ stans going ham in this thread....relax guys...its not an insult to your god.

If the man thinks Melo is harder to defend in the halfcourt than Lebron (which I agree), who am I to say no when he's the one who's played against them?

[Dragonyeuw]

he doesnt defend lebron and melo and really never has in his career.

He's defended both on occasions, and he's stated who he thinks is the tougher cover. We really gonna argue about the man's own words?

[RJChPD]

Kobe rarely guards melo or lebron because they play different positions. The only time I remember kobe guarding melo is a couple of games of the 2009 WCF. And I remember kobe doing a decent job on melo. Lebron defends kobe really well more often than not, because he's bigger faster and stronger.

But melo gives lebron fits. They actually play the same position and actually have gone head to head most of their career, especially when lebron was a cav and melo a nugget.

Lately though, spo will put Battier on Melo a lot to allow Lebron to save energy and stay out of foul trouble.

Actually, Melo shot in the 30's, percentage-wise when guarded by lebron in the playoffs last year. He had a much easier time with Battier guarding him.

[NewYorkNoPicks]

What do head to head regular season numbers have to do with who is harder to defend? None of those guys are assigned to each other much anyway, so this is just based on their few in game match ups and more likely the team USA practices.

Exactly.

How hard someone is to defend for an individual is subjective and therefore can not be quantified

[Replay32]

Actually, Melo shot in the 30's, percentage-wise when guarded by lebron in the playoffs last year. He had a much easier time with Battier guarding him.

That makes sense and I'm not surprised. My point was since they have Battier now, Lebron doesn't have to guard Melo the whole game anymore which allows him to save a little more energy.

[Legends66NBA7]

I wonder who Bryant thinks is harder to defend at his position.

I would think it's Iverson, McGrady, or Wade. Maybe even Carter (I'm talking about his past rivals too).

[longtime lurker]

he doesnt defend lebron and melo and really never has in his career.

How is it possible for someone to be this retarded?


He's defended both on occasions, and he's stated who he thinks is the tougher cover. We really gonna argue about the man's own words?

Don't you know posters on ISH know more about Kobe than Kobe himself! This site is filled with some unbelievable tools. :facepalm