Dime’s 1-On-1 NBA Tournament: Kobe Bryant Vs. Derrick Rose
Kobe Bryant (photo. Chris Sembrot)
*If you haven’t, you can still vote for the Carmelo Anthony/Dirk Nowitzki matchup. Voting will continue until 11 A.M. EST on Wednesday.*
Kobe’s lost a step. He relies on a diverse platter of get-off-me pull-ups and KG’s-got-nothing-on-me fadeaways. Less breathtaking? Probably. Less impressive? Definitely. Less efficient? No chance. Until his body literally shuts down, Kobe will continue to reinvent himself. When he first arrived on the NBA scene, he was a ferocious dunker with a psychological makeup that was fearless bordering on reckless. Eventually Phil Jackson reeled him in and Kobe developed a more refined outside game. But then the knees started to go and the jump shot went from another weapon to the weapon. Then his knees really went, and now Kobe contorts his body in every which way to create space.
But that’s Kobe, really. There’s no angle he can’t score from. Just when you think you’ve got him cornered, he’ll rise up and remind you why he’s got five rings. He’s constantly changing, manipulating, adjusting.
Derrick Rose’s transformation has been even more impressive. Not the whole above average NBA point guard-to-MVP thing, but his jump shot. That thing went from Chris Dudley free throw embarrassing to moderately effective. Not to mention his passing and finishing ability.
Derrick Rose (photo. adidas)
No matter who Kobe plays, he’ll get his. But so will Derrick Rose. Clearly enough of you believe in Rose’s ability to finish against Dwight, so imagine what he’ll be able to do only having to deal with Kobe’s length. Kobe may be a great defender, but Rose is three steps quicker. So he’ll have to compensate, giving Rose some space to rain jump shots if he’s feeling confident. And this will be the dilemma D-Rose faces each round – can he knock down the shots to win?
Kobe is consistency. There are no surprises or tricks. He’s going to shoot over, around, and underneath your contest. Derrick Rose is the one who will decide the winner. His effort, intensity and swagger will be there. He’s definitely aware of the grumblings that he only won the MVP by default. He knows that he’s still considered a notch below the NBA’s best. This platform will further allow his inception of us. His MVP already planted the idea – the belief that Derrick Rose is the best player in basketball. If D-Rose wins this tournament, it could fully take hold.
But Kobe is not ready to give up his power. He may not be the best right now, but he’s still in the conversation. Rose is the encroacher. So this game will be a statement – a chance for Kobe to assert his dominance.
updated bracket w/ included equivalent scores (based on voting %)
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July 12th, 2011 at 1:04 pm
k to the mart says:
first!!!!! gimmie jelly bean jr all day!
July 12th, 2011 at 1:06 pm
LakeShow84 says:
After watching Kobe play Bow Wow 1on1???
Ima go Rose lmao
July 12th, 2011 at 1:18 pm
Arshdeep says:
Kobe would do it to Rose like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hDh2U1hVrw
July 12th, 2011 at 2:40 pm
ctkennedy says:
i got kobe …he will get more stops
July 12th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
Jordan says:
@Lakeshow84. Kobe was playin wit Bow Wow and still scored 11 straight on him; and Kone wasnt even trying at all.
But back to Rose vs Kobe. DANG!….. This is tough; these are my 2 favorite players in the whole NBA and both players are top 5 (my top 5 is Kobe,Rose,Wade, Dirk Durant). But this is kinda like the Wade vs Durant; both players play two TOTALLY different styles of games. Kobe will just murder Rose in the post easily; Kobe is ALOT stronger than he looks. IF Rose can get some rebounds; then he may be able to beat Kobe to the rack a couple of times; but speed in one on one is not nearly as useful as it is in five on five becuz 1 on 1 is all halfcourt. And Kobe is the best player at scoring in halfcourt situations. But I cant see Rose winnin’ this one.
I say score Kobe-11 Rose-7.
Kobe is just too long and big for Rose to handle in the halfcourt. Also Kobe is still a monster one on one defender(probably the best halfcourt one on one defender in the league). The only thing Kobe has trouble defending is battling thru picks; but there iz no screens set in 1 on 1 so it will be tough for Rose to score.
Basically whoever takes advantage of the advantage they have over each other; if Kobe takes advantage of Rose in the post; then Kobe wins easily; if Rose takes Kobe off the dribble then Rose wins; but still in a hard game.
This is how I plan all of this to go out:
LBJ beats Pierce and advances to next round to play Kevin Durant wen KD beats Wade. Dirk beats Carmelo in a very long drawn out game (Dirk’s length and jumpshooting ability is just too much for Melo.) Kobe advances.
Next round: LBJ vs Durant: Durant wins 11-10 becuz of his length and jumpshooting ability and LBJ is very limited in halfcourt situations and Lebron hates playing against players with length(that’s why he could not score on Marion in the finals
DIRK VS KOBE: Kobe wins this one kind of easily becuz Kobe and Melo play similar but Melo most scores in the mid post but Kobe can score anywhere and Kobe will just take Dirk to the perimeter and blow by him easily. Kobe also has much better handles than Melo and his hesitation moves, crossovers, and headfakes will be too much for Dirk. Score Kobe-11 Dirk-6
Finals: KEVIN DURANT VS KOBE BRYANT: This game will be very, very, very tough and drawn out. Durant can shoot over Kobe; but the advantage Kobe has over LBJ is that he can post Durant up. Even though KD is taller; he is weak and very skinny. Kobe posted up KD alot in the 2010 playoffs. Also Durant is not a great defender. I say Kobe wins 11-10. The reason I chose KD over Wade and James is becuz Wade is just too short to bother KD’s shots and Lebron lacks an array of one on one moves. But Kobe has the biggest array of moves and his length can bother Durants shot a little bit.
CHAMPION=Kobe
July 12th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
Me says:
i dunno. yall giving kobe too much credit. he has the knees of a 40 year old. What he did against a cocky no bball talent havin midget shouldn’t matter.
I think Rose could have a chance if his jumper is falling. Kobe can’t jump with him so Rose has only to drive and rise, he can control his body with contact so basically layups galore (can’t see kobe giving him dunks but it won’t matter). Of course he’ll get tired/hurt doing that so he’ll have to earn some points on jumpers, which Kobe will give him the space for in order to prevent the drives.
Then again, Rose has nothing for kobe when kobe’s got the ball. Rose’s biggest weakness is Kobe’s greatest strength. So as much as I hate to admit it, Kobe wins this one.
Only person I can see Kobe losing to, (and losing badly), is Durant. Kobe doesn’t have anything to stop him with, Durant can pull from damn near anywhere and Kobe ain’t chasing his ass all around the perimeter.
July 12th, 2011 at 3:08 pm
panchitoooo says:
@jordan
you should get that book published
July 12th, 2011 at 3:12 pm
OverPowered says:
@Jordan, “speed in one on one is not nearly as useful as it is in five on five becuz 1 on 1 is all halfcourt”
huh?
drose would blow by 99% of league easily with no help defenders, don’t even talk about an old kobe…it comes down to rose not being able to stop kobe…he made jeff teague look like the next coming of allen iverson…
July 12th, 2011 at 3:32 pm
LakeShow84 says:
Lol calm down
Kobe wins because as CT said he will get more stops.. Kobe can post up Rose damn everytime and dissect him..
Rose will blow by him (YES even in halfcourt) but he wont be able to finish EVERYTIME.. I imagine Kobe would hard foul his ass a few good times lol
Plus Rose would have no chance of stoppin the Mamba on the baseline..
@ ME
i dont think Durant would go HAM on Kobe.. best player to put Kobe down would be a Melo or Pierce player.. someone stronger than Kobe who can take him to the rack with his body and still hit the midrange..
Kobe would push Durant off all his spots, hes stronger than Durant.. Shit hes watched Artest do it 2 seasons now..
July 12th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
LakeShow84 says:
And aint nothing less impressive about a GREAT FADEAWAY DIME..
Shit half the people i know cant even keep their balance to get the shot off..
A clean fadeaway is fuckin beautiful..
July 12th, 2011 at 3:37 pm
LakeShow84 says:
Specially when u running full speed to rim, ur defender cuts u off dorcing u baseline, u stop on a dime, pump fake once, watch his reaction and jump back and tag that baseline fadeaway???
all that in 2-3 seconds damn near??
Less impressive my ass lol
July 12th, 2011 at 8:29 pm
Clutch says:
Kobe will just take Rose to the Post every time and unlike Dwight has the moves and handle to do so. Kobe is stronger, bigger and more skilled that Rose, while rose has an iffy jumper (see miami series) and would be forced to finish at odd angles, and while Rose will certainly create his fair share of body contorting spinning wonder shots, He simply cannot defend Kobe in any way shape or form. However Kobe will simply play against rose the same way he does against Rondo and Westbrook, sag off, use his length to close on jumpers and dictate the angles.
July 12th, 2011 at 8:31 pm
I'mRichbitch says:
@ LakeShow84
Portland Game you talking about??
July 12th, 2011 at 8:53 pm
UncheckedAggression says:
I haven’t been able to keep up with any of this because I’m in the field outta the country but it’s interesting to see varying opinions on how these would turn out.
I’d take Kobe. He’s just a better all-around one on one player. I think Rose would fall into the common one on one problem of taking jumpshots that are ill-advised and are only gonna work for him if they all go in.
July 12th, 2011 at 9:20 pm
Mandirigma says:
Kobe Bryant would post up Derrick Rose when the game is tight.
Back, back, power dribble, jump hook.
Game over.
DRose is going to blow by KB24 yes, but I’ve played and seen a lot of big brother vs younger brother games to know KB’s going to school someone.
July 12th, 2011 at 9:38 pm
David Gamboa says:
Derrick Rose is the best player in the NBA. He didn’t win the MVP by default. He carried a Bulls team to the number 1 seed when NO ONE thought he could. He was just a beast every night. I was actually scared for the guy guarding him.
July 12th, 2011 at 9:43 pm
K Dizzle says:
Kobe 11 – DRose 7
Next….
July 12th, 2011 at 10:59 pm
wall says:
Its funny how people say that all kobe would do is defend rose like rondo and give him the jumper. If Kobe gives Rose the midrange hes more than capable of hitting that shot consistently. I would have preferred to see a 1 on 1 positional contest where all elite players face each other. Its more entertaining to see point guard matchups like Rose versus Paul, Westbrook vs. DWill and forward matchups like Lebron vs. Melo etc.
July 13th, 2011 at 2:08 am
Ty says:
I was surprised Rose managed to get through D12…..esp. when D12 could dunk the shit outta Rose every single time. Every time.
And this is gonna be fun lol…….Kobe gonna’s post up,up and up Rose and rain on him.
On the other hand, Rose can blow by Kobe too…..
Am gonna go with Kobe 11 – 8 Rose. Kobe’s simply too good…..Esp. after seeing that 360 dunk at Kobe Camp, his knees seem to be just fine
July 13th, 2011 at 2:22 am
j10 says:
D12 cant beat Rose because there is no way you are posting up your man from the 3pt line all the way to the rim, you need to have at least a decent dribble.
kobe on the other hand is a superior dribbler, he’ll back down Rose everytime and if he tries to steal, he’ll just spin for an easy bucket.
July 13th, 2011 at 11:50 am
juwan says:
Rose is an underrated post defender. I’ve seen him play all year long and while he still has a ways to go on defense – mainly getting through screens and sometimes he’ll fall asleep on a ballhandler and the ballhandler will get a step on him – he defends well when a bigger guard tries to post on him.
Rose is very strong for a pg. Bigger 1′s like Chauncey or Deron have had no success at all this year trying to post Rose up. And Rose does ok when a 2 or 3 tries to post up on him ala Wade, Pierce, Stephen Jackson are the three that stick out right now.
Joe Johnson in the playoffs got some buckets on Rose in the post on quite a few switches this year and that was probably the most successful someone had been against Rose in the post all year.
I’m not saying Rose is going to shut down Kobe. But Rose will get more stops than you think if all Kobe is going to do is try and back Rose down.
But if Kobe digs into his entire repertoire – with more face up offensive moves, it’ll get significantly harder for Rose.
At this level of Rose’s development, I think Kobe can still jab fake Rose and take Rose to the hole all day.
I’ll give Kobe a significant edge most days. But, if Rose’s jumper is on fire that day I’ll give Rose a very small edge.
July 13th, 2011 at 12:28 pm
Spydermaan says:
I guess we all agree Kobe wins this one, I wanted to disagree but we’ve played these matchups on 2k11 blacktop and I must say it aint pretty for D rose.