Be like Mike? Maybe he's better

All season long I tried to brush it off. It just couldn’t be true. As Tom Cruise is saying a lot today, it was impossible. But after watching the second half and overtime of last nights Suns/Lakers game six, I’ve finally cracked. As a Chicagoan and huge Bulls fan, this is getting difficult to say. But here goes: Kobe Bryant is as good of an offensive player as Michael Jordan was in his prime.

Here was my argument from November up until last night: Kobe averaged 35.4 points a game, and that included games of 62 and 81. Jordan averaged 37.1 in 1987, and his high game was only a mere 61 points. So night in, night out, Michael was scoring more then Kobe. And MJ was doing this on a team whose number two scorer was Charles Oakley with 14.5 a game. Those two were the only Bulls who averaged double-figures in scoring. So everybody in the league knew that if the Bulls were going to win, it was Jordan who was going to lead them. Now Kobe didn’t have much support either this year, since LA’s number two man is Lamar Odom, who puts in 14.8 a game, along with two other players who average double figures in scoring. But the NBA has 30 teams now, compared to only 23 in ’86, meaning the level of talent has lessened on the average team. And with zone defense in place now, it’s easier to drive to the lane and get a foul.

Last night changed all that. It’s not like this was the first Laker game I saw in 2006. I’ve watched KB8 all season long. I knew he was good. I think you don’t even need to understand basketball to realize that Kobe is talented. But his performance against the Suns, in the playoffs mind you, was amazing. That fade away three from the corner was something out of a Harlem Globetrotters game, except the ‘Trotters are playing against a team that’s paid to lose and Kobe’s in the NBA playoffs against a team that won 54 games in the regular season. And that pump fake-pivot-second pump fake-twist-fade away against Shawn Marion that was so smooth the net didn’t even move. And I haven’t even mentioned his TWO buzzer beaters in game four or his ‘Vince Carter over the entire county of France’ type dunk over MVP Steve Nash in game two.

I was born three months after Jordan’s amazing season finished, so the only video I’ve seen from that year was either on MJ’s highlight tapes (I own all of them), or on ESPN Classic. And from what I’ve watched, all that Michael did was drive to the lane and get fouled or shoot his unstoppable mid range J. He didn’t shoot threes, he didn’t take his man off the dribble or shoot floaters and rainbows. Kobe does it all. There is no shot in basketball that I wouldn’t trust #8 in making. You can take Kareem’s sky hook, George Girvin’s finger-roll, Reggie Miller’s three-point stroke, the Dream Shake, and Vince Carter’s hops. I’ll take Kobe Bryant’s game, and I’d like my chances. So will Kobe and his Lake show be eliminated in round one like MJ’s Bulls did in 87? I picked the Lakers to win in seven, so I can’t get off the bandwagon now that were so close to the station. Lakers 101-96 tomorrow night to set up a Lakers/Clippers Western Conference Semifinal.

Other thoughts on the world of sports:

-Good run by the Bulls versus the Heat. They just didn’t have enough inside muscle to stop the Big Fella, and since their shots weren’t falling from the outside, they couldn’t match Miami point for point. A lot of people are saying that all the Bulls have to do is acquire a superstar like Kevin Garnett or Paul Pierce and that will put us over the hump and become Pistons challengers in the East. Correct me if I’m wrong here, but didn’t the Timberwolves and Celtics both miss the playoffs with these guys? I say we hold on to all our young guys, try and deal one of our lottery picks for a nice big man (somebody like Marcus Camby or Al Harrington), pick up a good complementary player in the draft like Brandon Roy with the other first round choice, and keep our young nucleus intact.

-After what he did yesterday, and how the Bulls played earlier in the evening, can John Paxon and Scott Skiles honestly say that Tim Thomas wouldn't have helped the Bulls this season?

-I turned on game five of Cavs/Wiz just as overtime was nearing completion. And I must say, Washington played by far the worst defense I had ever seen a professional team play, especially in the playoffs. The first thing is, you never let the man with the ball go to the baseline. The second thing is, you never let the opponent’s best player catch the ball on the side of the court that the in-bounds passer is on. The Wiz did both of those things, and LeBron made ‘em pay. You never saw Michael Jordan or Reggie Miller have game-winning lay-ups, because the D always forced them to shoot a jumper. Washington pretty much told LeBron that he could win the game for Cleveland. And even after the lay-up, the Wizards still had .9 seconds left. It may not seem like much, but you can still get a shot off. But Eddie Jordan doesn’t call timeout, doesn’t bring the ball up to half-court and instead forces Gilbert Arenas to make a full-court heave. I guess nobody in Washington can think clearly these days.

- I promised myself on wouldn’t go on a long ramble about how poorly the Cubs have been playing, so I won’t.

- Kentucky Derby is this weekend. I know as much about horse racing as Homer Simpson does in being a nuclear safety inspector, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make a pick. My strategy: pick somebody with bad odds and a cool name. So here it goes
Win- Cause to Believe (50-1)
Place- Sinister and Minister (12-1)
Show- Steppenwolfer (30-1)