Seems everything i do in my life starts with a ball in my hands.

Car to my left, gold, Trans am, detailed to perfection, edges so smooth, wouldn't have turned there if the ball hadn't slipped from my hands. House behind the car, spacious front yard, hoop, backboard, horrible engineering but damn i want to jam that rim. A few blocks down, ball through the legs, crossed over a lamp, "A + A = BFFL".

Walking with a swag, dodging the cracks on the ground, bag on my back, ball left to right, stolen by a breeze from the west, smooth recovery only to see a pretty girl checking my moves. Without my ball she would pass me by. Yet with a ball im suddenly an irresistable blend of Brad Pitt-like looks and Johnny Depp-like manner, want to take me on one on one? Maybe i can take you out to dinner, see what you like, get to know you is all I'm saying. As long as i got that ball in my hands I'm moving your emotions with every hesitation i make, jab step i take or unstoppable shake 'n' bake. Ball slips out of my hands, few steps down, not so smooth recovery, now she's gone.

Got to work on my handles, visions of Kobe, streaming down court, I'd oop it to you, only i got L.O running down my back, oh wait, Shannon Brown, fly baby fly... "Where you been all day?" Sarcasm in their tone...

"Ball in my hands, where do you think i was?" Offense in my manner...

"Put that ball down, it's done nothing for you" The judgement's been passed...

Can't hold a steady job because my body is aching for a court in the big time, can't seem to get over the hump since my body went down the breakdown line, breath, heavy, sigh, myself, ball in my hands, walk a few more blocks.

5 oclock, friday, balling on a commision unit court.

Defender on my line, ill triple threat you. Stare me down i dare you. Jab step right, pull up jumper. off the front of the rim, damn. Time for me to defend. Force him into a corner, crosses me left i run with him then he crosses me right and it's all over, run in for the easy dunk.

Give me that ball im not done with you.

Jab step right, pull up jumper, teases the rim but doesn't go in. Don't worry ill defend again. Triple threats me, jab step left, pull up jumper, i just got schooled.

Give me that ball I'm not done with you.

Triple threat you, jab step right, pump fake... he fell for it... quick first step with one dribble and a step back... Ass is on the floor...

Get up, I'm not done with you...

Ginger get up, defends me loose, dribble hard down the right hand side, half a spin to the elbow, dribble once, spin back, dribble once, now he's trailing me... Spin back to the dotted line, his ass is floored again, pull up short jumper, nothing but chain net...

Get up if you dare, I'll never be done with you..

Dark night rocking me to sleep. Moon up high, shimmering off my mind, Orion so bright, Canis major so loyal, Taurus so ready. My Tf1000 snuggling close to my chest, my TF250 in a deep sleep after a rough day. I might never reach the big time promised land, but it seems so right to me that it should all end, with a ball in my hands.

Water Vs Fire

Sun Vs Moon

Kobe Vs Jordan

This is up there, this is something, this is memorable. This has finally turned into a debate, 5 championships to 6... 6 Finals Mvp's to 2... Legend to Legend... By now, the whole basketball world has realized that Kobe is something special, a once in a generation, an innovator... Jordan has long been acknowledged and while many thought what Jordan accomplished could not be challenged, Kobe Bryant knocks ever so cunningly on the door of greatness, daring Jordan to try and keep it shut. But alas, it has swung open, the separation between Jordan and Kobe is no longer a shut door, but an open one, leading to a room reserved for legends.

This fan post is the beginning in a series of fan posts relating to the subject of Kobe Vs Jordan... We will analyze simple statistics, ideas, myths if you may, that make the Kobe Vs Jordan debate so well and alive and break them down on an easy to understand level that hopefully appeals to all...

Before beginning, I must note, this debate is not a debate for who the G.O.A.T (Greatest Of All Time) is, this is merely a comparison between two of the more popular and iconic players of the last 2 generations of basketball... It aims to open your mind if you considered this debate well and truly one-sided and it aims to hopefully introduce new ideas to some of you, though i hope all of you will find it entertaining and insightful in an easy-to-stomach way...

This first installment is a comparison of the basic career statistical categories for both players. For logical purposes PER stats will not be discussed, sure they are great indicators of a players efficiency, but they leave out too many factors such as, heart, intimidation, good positioning, coaching failures, injuries, era (though slightly accounted for by adjusting pace) and the list goes on... I don't have firm belief in them, but please, feel free to comment using PER stats as I'm sure some will be interested in that particular field...So with that brushed aside like a continental can of vegetable soup amidst a stampede of meat-burger hunters....

Let the comparison begin...

Up first, stats... Nothing fancy, nothing difficult, nothing your average Joe wouldn't understand... These are the statistics generally told to compare Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan:

Michael Jordan Career Stats:

Scoring average per game: 30.1... Assists per game: 5.3... Rebounds per game: 6.2... Steals per game: 2.4... Blocks per game: 0.8... 

Field Goal Percentage: 49.7%... Free throw percentage: 83.5%... Three point percentage: ... 32.7%

Kobe Bryant Career Stats (so far):

Scoring average per game: 25.3... Assists per game: 4.7... Rebounds per game: 5.3... Steals per game: 1.5... Blocks per game: 0.6... 

Field Goal Percentage: 45.5%... Free throw percentage: 83.8%... Three point percentage: 34%...

On first look, yes Jordan is clearly the leader and go-getter... He leads in every statistical category, impressive... Even it would seem as far as efficiency goes, Jordan is the leader... Of course I have yet to factor in the playing style of each player, but this will be done soon enough... For now though there is one glaring fault in these statistics, these stats do not factor in the logic that the first 2 years of Kobe's career were spent with him coming off the bench, enduring minimal minutes... It would not be a fair comparison to have Kobe's first 2 years included in his general statistics when Jordan enjoyed the beefing up of college and did not have to come off the bench even as a rookie... So I went out and excluded the first 2 seasons that Kobe played in the NBA (let's think of these 2 years as Kobe's beefing up period, just as Jordan had his in college) and recreated the general statistics of Kobe Bryant... Here is the final result:

Kobe Bryant Career Statistics (excluding first 2 years):

Scoring average per game: 27.6... Assists per game: 5.2... Rebounds per game: 5.8... Steals per game: 1.7... Blocks per game: 0.6...

Field Goal Percentage: 46%... Free throw percentage: 84%... Three point percentage: 34%...

As you can see, after this slight adjustment to account for simple logic, the Kobe and Jordan statistics debate is well and truly heated... Indeed Kobe is not as far behind as many people once thought and for those saying yeah take out two of Jordan's worst seasons and his stats will also go up, you are suggesting a totally different scenario... The two seasons i removed for Kobe, he played a ridiculously low 15.5 minutes per game in one and 26 minutes per game in the other, mind you he started a total of 7 times in those two seasons... To put this in perspective for you, the lowest amount of minutes Jordan played WHILE HEALTHY (looking in your direction anyone who wanted to comment on the 85 - 86 season) was 37 minutes flat... That is incredible... Over the span of their careers, Jordan has played an extra 1.6 minutes per game, in other words he has played 1 minute and 36 seconds more than Kobe per game, that is an extra 2 offensive possessions and 2 defensive possessions assuming that both teams played out the full 24 seconds, which never happens and that there were no sudden turnovers from either end, so realistically Jordan would have had an extra 4 possessions offensively and defensively to rack up stats (so to speak)... And when the gap between the two players is this small, i think it is fair to assume that the gap could have been even smaller had both players existed in a dream world and entered the league in identical situations for the benefit of our comparisons more than two decades down the track...

Another handy statistic involves removing the 3 point line, yes you heard it... The reason i would like to do this, is because career wise, Kobe scores 26.2 points per 20 shots, while Jordan scores 26.3 points per 20 shots.. If you are not shocked already then you should be, for those of you that aren't shocked, this means that Kobe scores almost an identical amount of points to Jordan with a lower field goal percentage... yeah so? Well this means that Kobe must shoot more from the three point line, I mean he is almost 1000 free throw attempts short of Jordan's total amount of free throws, so there must be another way that Kobe is keeping such close company with Jordan's per 20 attempts points average... That other way is the 3 point line, just like Jordan has attempted 964 more free throws (just felt like being anal about detail here) Kobe has MADE 722 more three pointers than Jordan and the amazing thing is, he shoots three pointers at a higher field goal percentage than Jordan... What does this mean you may be asking?... Well this means Kobe is a more versatile scorer, he consistantly finds ways of scoring virtually impossible shots from further out and is not limited to shots within the arc... Incredible yes?... Of course this doesn't mean Jordan is a horrible shooter or anything like that, however, this does mean that Kobe through this statistic could well and truly be labeled as the more dangerous offensive weapon... Of course many of you are going to say yeah, Kobe shot more three pointers but Jordan was twice as efficient within the arc than Kobe... Unfortunately for you, not true... Here is where my handy statistic mentioned earlier comes into play... Remove the 3 point line... Kobe is shooting throughout his career a dazzling 48.75% from within the arc to Jordan's amazing 51%... So once again, numbers are consistently showing that this debate is far closer than many, including myself, anticipated.

When it comes to assists, I think it is fair to assume that both players are ridiculously good for scorers in the triangle offense, though at first glance it appears that Jordan has the upper hands in assists with a 0.6 assist difference... Once Kobe's first 2 years were excluded, the gap is merely 0.1... I think it is only common sense to say they are dead even on this skill... Statistically speaking of course... Because lest we forget these two spent and are still spending most of their careers in the triangle offense, which primarily means, wave goodbye to high assist numbers... Yet, it is worth mentioning that the best season in terms of assists saw Kobe yield 6 per game while Jordan dished out 8 per game... Though it is worth mentioning that in Jordan's last championship run, he assisted less, considerably, than Kobe's recent championship run (assuming it is his last)... Just to give you the numbers...

Jordan's last 3-peat - 4 assists per game

Kobe's latest championship run (Including the NBA finals run in 2008) - 5.1 assists per game

Finally, i will very quickly look at the scheme of things defensively... Since this is from a statistical stand point, i believe that the stats clearly point to a better defender in Jordan and no amount of adjustment or logic could really swing it the other way... Jordan was the better man to man defender and was great at cutting the passing lanes near the top of the key... Though Kobe is a really good defender, Jordan was simply a better one...

Now that the first part of the series is done, I hope that this article has opened up your mind a little bit to the Jordan Vs Kobe debate, which many thought carved in stone as Jordan being the begin all end all... And i also hope this first installment has not only made you realize just how special Kobe is, but how amazing Jordan was and still is to the basketball world... Through these statistics, Jordan has truly beamed how great of a player he really was, even after adjusting the statistics to common logic, which served Kobe's purpose, Jordan's statistics do not at all fall behind, not even slightly... In fact if i had a firm belief in PER (which i don't) Jordan would practically bury Kobe Bryant career wise... As I've said throughout the article, these statistics merely show us that the Jordan Vs Kobe debate is well and truly deserved and warranted... And also help us appreciate the wonderful talent we are seeing today from Kobe Bryant...

Until the next installment of the Kobe Vs Jordan debate... I say... Live long and prosper...

For those of us familiar with Kelly Dwyer (Yahoo analyst) and his articles, this is for you... And for those of you not familiar, now is a better time to familiarize yourself...

Kelly Dwyer is a yahoo analyst, he is famous (among internet bloggers) for his witty writing at times, ability to stir controversy among Kobe fans, his insightful articles at times and for being confused by new comers as a female writer. As i mentioned his writing is sometimes quite insightful and offers new perspective on topics widely considered stable and unchanged. I have kept my mouth shut about many things Mr Dwyer has written. Such as not mentioning Kobe Bryant as a top defender at the guard position, mentioning Lebron as a better player than Kobe purely on statistical measures and just generally kissing lebron's valley of the butt however, this time... Kelly.... You've gone too far.

Your attempt to gain blogging publicity by underrating popular players has not pushed beyond my level of patience, however this list of the NBA's best point guards has. This list is a sham in so many ways and add an e to the end of that and indeed it is also a shame. Full of contradictions, full of double standards, full of pure bowing down to the media queens that it is beyond absurd and indeed deserves a full fan post to bring its weaknesses to light and indeed show your stupidity for putting out such a poorly written list to the devoted basketball public.

Before any of you read my analysis borderline bashing of this article (well it is more of a series of articles to make one big blog of crap) if you have not yet read the list please do so or you will find this post lacking in purpose... The first part is the list of point guards from number 30 - 21...  The second is from 20 - 11 and the third and final part of this list is from the number 10 - 1...

The first example of stupidity comes in the form of Kelly mentioning John Wall as a top 30 point guard... John Wall is a good player from what i have seen and heard... However, he has not even stepped foot on a basketball court in an NBA game. This kid hasn't played Deron Williams at his best, Chris Paul, Rondo, hell he hasn't even played Fisher... yet Kelly has the audacity to place John Wall at number 17... 17!!!.... Think about this, he put John 'haven't-played-a-game' Wall, at number 17, the kid is ahead of the likes of Aaron Brookes, Jose Calderon, Moe and Lou freaking Williams... This is just ludicrous, how can you put him at number 17? Based on what? I know Kelly is a stats man, so based on what stats? Based on which memorable performance? Based on which achievement, on what success on what failure... John Wall has so far done enough to be acknowledged as an exciting draft pick for the Wizards, as a promising prospect, even as a good player, so let us acknowledge him for that, why is Kelly so eager to put this kid in a place he does not belong yet, have we all forgotten Kwame Brown?

This ridiculousness of putting John Wall on the list leads us to the next problem, Derek Fisher. Kelly put John Wall on the list and not Derek the intangible fish? Derek Fisher has solidified himself this season as one of the best role players in recent history, his regular season left much to be desired, but how can you put a list of 30 point guards and not take into consideration the one point guard who defied everything we thought we knew and gifted the Lakers a game they would not have won without him, how? How can Kelly justify this? Fisher has earned the right to be mentioned among the most reliable point guards in the league when it matters... And you want stats? Show me John Wall's and I'll show you Derek Fisher's...

Kelly's list also publicly flashed humangusaurus-like double standards.. I will give you one example only for the sake of keeping this article to a bearable length... Kelly rated Tony Parker as number 9 on the list... And judging on last season yes, i would rank him there also... Injuries held him back, Spurs didn't perform to the standard they have been accustomed to in the playoffs, fine number 9 is good, yet, he put Chris Paul as number one? uno? The guy who missed half a season with injuries as number one? The guy who's team has just been crashing? Chris Paul is a great talent, i am not debating otherwise, yet Kelly in the Tony Parker explanation just said that injuries played a part in why Tony was ranked so low and that indeed Tony Parker is a top 5 when firing on all cylinders, so according to this explanation these rankings are based on last seasons performances yes? Well last seasons performances dictated that Chris Paul was injured and definitely was not the top point guard in the league, Deron Williams played with an injury and was the most effective point guard in the league, Rondo reached the damn NBA finals, Russel Westbrook was one of the top two reasons (the other being Kevin Durant) that the Thunder put up more than just a fight against the Lakers and Steve Nash has just been defying any and all critics by playing as good as a top 3 point guard would... Look i don't care if Chris Paul is number one, when playing his best with no injuries he is arguably number one, but based on last season, you cannot be in the right mind and put Chris Paul even in the top 3, i just named 4 point guards who did much more than Chris Paul did last season and i didn't even have to think hard about it.

I have named three glaring weaknesses (borderline stupidity characteristics) evident in the list presented to the yahoo public by Mr Kelly Dwyer. For the sake of time and practicality i will leave it at three. I could easily go on a killing spree with the list and detail where i think players should be ranked and so on, however this is a matter of opinion and preference of players. The three glaring weaknesses i have mentioned have nothing to do with opinion, rather they are glarring weaknesses of Mr Dwyer's basketball knowledge and writing skills.

Respectful as i am to the few insightful articles he has presented us with, this article is not one of them, this list along with the explanations can not and should not be allowed to pass as acceptable blogging. This is not just if Kelly Dwyer writes it, but if any blogger even here were to write such crap we should all stand up against it and let them know. This type of rubbish being fed to us lacks insight, knowledge, impartiality and consistency. All things that should be standard and expected of professional writers. I urge you all to voice your opinions and even boycott certain writers if you feel they do not live up to the standards we as devoted basketball readers should be getting. I am not at that stage with Kelly Dwyer yet, but this list is really just a reflection of the absolute crap being fed to us by the media. Basketball deserves so much better than the media and it's propaganda is feeding us. And all this media and propaganda is embodied in this horrible list by Kelly in order to feed us crap and make him a few pennies.

It is all a sham... But add an e to the end of it... And truly, it's all such a shame...

As the free agency period begins its slow and steady death many of us are left in different bowls of soup... Some begin the ever strong debate of who will win next season? Who will be MVP? What has been altered? Will it ever be the same? The loyalty of one player or the lack of loyalty.. Some of us simply have enough and decide to take a break from ESPN, from Yahoo sports, from NBA.com or god in heaven forbid from SSR itself!! But some of us, myself included do what we were doing when the free agency madness began...

We ball...

Im a 20 year old basketball player in Australia, though not Australian bred i appreciate life as long as i have a basketball in my hands... As a 15 year old i was a professional prospect and many expected big things, life and destiny had it that my body would break down three separate times and shatter my dreams... I fell into depression, i even got suicidal and yet through all this harshness something in me made me push... 

4 years later and finally able to run without pain, i haven't stopped balling for the past 6 months... Everyday I'm out there, running, jumping, perfecting and relearning... Why should i lie to you, i still have hope of one day playing in the NBA, reality are for those who quit, dreams are those truths deep within us... And so i feed off this truth, day in day out... However yesterday, i was playing a pickup game with 9 other people, a 5 on 5, such a sweet 5 on 5... My stroke was getting back, my fade-away was as sharp as ever, three in your face fade-aways from the mid-range and my dream of playing alongside Kobe was starting to take shape again.... I even did my signature move taken from the book of Kobe.....pump fake with a pivot foot 360 and drained the two around my opponent.... Beautiful..... i ran back to play D and through the corner of my eye i saw a teen watching the game, curious, ball in hand, i knew he was watching only me...

After a short while the pickup match stopped for a quick break and drink, instead of sitting down, i walked straight to the young teen... "You want to jump in lil man?" My voice came out like an old battled warrior, ready to pass the torch to someone who could keep it alight... "uhhhh sure" Unsure of himself, not yet tested, he wouldve been no older than 14 but i wanted him to play... Turning around to my teammates and new friends i announced that i would be stepping out and that young...... "Simon" he stuttered, his confidence was growing through mine.... Welcoming as ever my friends embraced him and introduced themselves...I sat on the side bench, hands leaning back on the bench.... Let the game begin....

The game was fast and quite beautiful, i mean on the court you had 2 guys who had played in Europe only to realise basketball wasn't to be their main goal in life, you had another player who had played professionally in Africa and also had spells in low divison Canada and America and you had 1 player who was offered a scholarship to go U.S and most players were currently rostered in well divisioned teams in Australia... Of course my little Simon was struggling, shorter, weaker than the rest, i could tell that for a 14 year old he had serious skill, but amongst men who ranged from the 6ft 1 range to the 6ft 11 range he was being blocked and harassed... Eventually he looked at me with a look of hopelessness and i dont know why i didnt spare him and substitute in for him, instead i gave him a quick wink and thumbs up.... The other team scored on a fast break dunk and the ball was in-bounded into the hands of little Simon, and as he grabbed that ball i don't know what it was that made me say this, maybe he was my memory, maybe i took a likening to the cute kid, i don't know, but i yelled out to him "All the way Simon"...

Simon put his head down and dribbled up the court, there was something strange about this particular play, the movement was so familiar, the style was deadly, he was far far away... He got to the perimeter and called for an iso... No arguments to be made all 8 players cleared out giving them a quick breather and also allowing the kid to finally showcase his one on one skills... he looked his opponent square in the eyes and crossed over from left to right, then all too quickly set his feet and pump faked, the defender scrambled to block it and all of a sudden off his pivot foot he did a 360 around his opponent, he was free....

swish....

Game, set, match...

After the game me and little Simon were talking about the awesomeness of the play and i made sure to never point out that he took the move off me... "Anyway Simon i must be off little man, stay around these courts, next time ill give you a match".... And indicative of the kids integrity he said "No way man, i learned that move off you, i couldn't fool you with it".... The comment was so simple, the comment was so honest, this child here didn't want the glory to himself even though i was trying to give it... I was trying to make him forget where he learned that move, i was trying to make him the man... But it dawned on me all too soon... My actions affect those around me.... And through this story i pose this to you dear readers...

Through this free agency maybe some of us have forgotten, maybe some of us know but see this period as great entertainment... But this isn't what basketball is about... Basketball isn't about a player whinging about a few more or a few less million, basketball isn't about which team gets who, basketball isn't about entertainment... Basketball is expression, it's about 5 on 5, its about the unity of 5 on 5, it's about taking our youth off the streets, it's about teaching each other how to be gracious in defeat and humble in victory.... More importantly, it's about dreaming and let dream... Maybe this free agency has been the most entertaining in history and the most controversial... But this isn't basketball, this is entertainment, basketball is bigger than the NBA, the NBA is the WWE with a sport you love but somewhere down the lines maybe we've all forgotten that basketball is not just a sport, it's a state of emotion, it's the pen to our paper, it's the perception to our vision, the projection of our repressions... So please... As you can see through my experience with little Simon...Basketball is too beautiful..... Don't let the NBA define Basketball...

Let Basketball define the NBA....