Didn’t Draw Iron - an NBA Basketball Blog

I’ve seen bits and pieces of information about Michael Jordan’s 55 vs Kobe Bryant’s 61 thrown around. I thought I’d try and gather the relevant facts of each performance, along with some video of both:

MINUTES PLAYED
MJ: 39
KB: 37
SHOOTING
MJ: 21/37 - .568
KB: 19/31 - .613
FT’s
MJ: 10/11
KB: 20/20
REBOUNDS
MJ: 4
KB: 0
ASSISTS
MJ: 2
KB: 3
DEFENSE RANK
95 NYK: #1 in the league @ 95.1 per game (they gave up 113 - 18 above their average)
09 NYK: #22 @ 106.5 per game (they gave up 126 - 25 above their average)

POINTS OF INTEREST
• The 3pt line was shortened to a uniform 22ft in 1995 (changed back in 98). About 1.9ft closer at the top of the key vs today’s line.
• MJ scored nearly 49% of his teams points, KB scored 48%
• Contrary to the often stated - MJ did not have a well rounded game. Both players were all scoring and not much else.

ESPN created a nice highlight package of MJ’s game:

Wish I had MJ’s entire game so I could isolate every shot (yes I’m that sick, and I’m working on it).

It’s been done for Kobe - here’s every shot (courtesy of elderdrn/youtube):

I’ve laid out the facts so you can be the judge on evaluating both performances. My opinion? Could have just been the shots ESPN picked to show, and defensive rank aside; the 95 Knick’s defense on Jordan doesn’t look all that much better than the 2009 Knicks (Jordan had a way of doing that though). Both had a lot of single coverage (as stated in the highlights, MJ was single covered much of the game by 6′3″ John Starks). Both had defenders sagging a few feet off them, which they punished. The video seems to back up the general belief that MJ was quicker and stronger to the hoop (that baseline post move was nasty), and Kobe has a bit more range (some of those shots were just sick).

End.

► Drew Gooden, ever the king of style and former sporter of the “pube tail”, has an all new look these days. Rumor is it’s inspired by Captain Jack from The Pirates of the Caribbean, but he reminds me more of another character…

Could just be me, but I see a similarity.

► If you’re an Orlando Magic fan, don’t get too excited over your 13-5 record and current spot at #3 in the East. Hidden is the fact that NONE of those 13 wins come against a team over .500. They have played 4 teams over .500, and lost to them all. Then there was that loss to Memphis…

► Portland on the other hand, has been more than impressive. They’re not only beating the teams they should, but also a few they shouldn’t. With 2 big wins over New Orleans and Detroit, and big play from Brandon Roy, Portland hasn’t been this happy since Paul Allen bought the team. To many’s surprise, they might actually be contending for a title before Oden turns 38 (next year). The “Jail Blazers” era has almost completely faded from memory. Before it does though, let’s revisit a few of the bozos from Jail Blazer past and see “where are they now?”

• Rasheed Wallace: His act has gotten tired in Detroit, and the team seems to be headed down, not up. AI is sure to help his attitude.
• Shawn Kemp: Signed a contract with an Italian team in 2008, but was cut before he showed up. The team must have balked when they discovered the “per diem for all my children” clause.
• Ruben Patterson: Scored a double/double in 2007; was cut by the Clippers and failed to register as a sex offender in Cincinnati. Nice.
• Quintel Woods: Signed with the Greek League in 2007, but somehow it didn’t make the “another NBA star signs overseas” radar. He was caught using pot and terminated.
• Bonzi Wells: Four teams with “yeah, but he’ll play for us” delusion later, he’s reportedly expected to sign with a club in China or Spain.
• Damon Stoudamire: The former rookie of the year is unsigned and unseen.
• Mike Dunleavy: Currently ruining the Clippers (as impossible as that seems).
• Zach Randolph: Currently helping Dunleavy ruin the Clippers.

Bonzi once famously said: “The fans really don’t matter to us. They can boo us every day, but they’re still going to ask for our autographs if they see us on the street.” Yeah - but they’ll have to recognize you first.

Guess what goes around really does…

► Andrew Bynum is finally starting to work himself into the form we saw last year (meaning everything that is thrown near the basket is dunked). He had a particularly nice gift for the top of Joey Graham’s head Sunday night:

Consider it an early Xmas present I guess…

End.