Booker Question

sinsay

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How is it that Kobe played like Jordan

Booker plays like Kobe but Booker does not play like Jordan

I am a fan of all 3 but it's odd to me
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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How is it that Kobe played like Jordan

Booker plays like Kobe but Booker does not play like Jordan

I am a fan of all 3 but it's odd to me
Kobe had the athleticism to physically dominate virtually every player he came up against like Jordan did. Booker can on limited occasions but neither as consistently nor as completely as those two.
 

Suns_fan69

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Don't forget the defensive end. Booker is at least 2 steps down on Jordan / Kobe on that end. Could be about the athleticism that Ouchie mentioned but I don't think Booker will ever get to those guys' level defensively.
 

95pro

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Don't forget the defensive end. Booker is at least 2 steps down on Jordan / Kobe on that end. Could be about the athleticism that Ouchie mentioned but I don't think Booker will ever get to those guys' level defensively.

And physically. Just going off the eye, booker looks shorter in height and limbs. And maybe smaller hands.
 

itlnsunsfan

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Here you go:
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The dude was just sickening. Sometimes I watch old school greats and wonder if they'd be as great playing in today's game. I watch Jordan and just think, "That's not fair". Nobody played like young Jordan. There's no comparison.
 

1tinsoldier

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Jordan played smarter than Kobe and Booker. Booker's not as selfish as Kobe was on offense, but when Book goes 1 on 1 he doesn't have as many moves as Jordan or Kobe.

tonight's Nets game epitomizes why i want out of Booker. he hasn't got the bb-iq to lead a team to a championship and never will

he's been bumbling the ball all season trying to break through double teams in crunch time

sure, he's made some tough shots
but i don't want my team TAKING tough shots when the game's on the line
i want them taking high percentage shots

Paul was hot and can always be counted on to take high-percentage shots, yet Booker decided it was time for Booker-ball again (and his defense in the 4th sucked too)

i don't care if he was player of the week
i've been watching him for years and his decision-making still lacks too far behind his physical ability

unless he can learn from Paul and the Suns become real contenders, i'd trade him for a young, solid star or a top pick when Paul leaves.
 

AzStevenCal

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The dude was just sickening. Sometimes I watch old school greats and wonder if they'd be as great playing in today's game. I watch Jordan and just think, "That's not fair". Nobody played like young Jordan. There's no comparison.

A young David Thompson comes close. Very close.
 

AzStevenCal

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Some David Thompson highlights. Maybe I'm bias in favor of Jordan, but it's not close at all for me.

For a career Jordan does blow him out of the water. But Thompson, before his heavy cocaine use wore him out, was as close to Jordan as I can remember seeing. Dr J and Connie Hawkins were cut of the same cloth but Thompson was doing similar things at 6'4 so he stands out as more similar. Also, Dr J and Connie both entered the league in their later 20's (26 or 27) and much of their best basketball was behind them when I first had a chance to see them.
 

1tinsoldier

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tonight's Nets game epitomizes why i want out of Booker. he hasn't got the bb-iq to lead a team to a championship and never will

he's been bumbling the ball all season trying to break through double teams in crunch time
...
unless he can learn from Paul and the Suns become real contenders, i'd trade him for a young, solid star or a top pick when Paul leaves.

i want to be a Booker fan, but he makes it hard -- demonstrating his key flaw again in the very next game. things were tight until his head got hotter than his shot and he started picking up fouls and complaining. Paul eventually steered the team back in the right direction with good shots, good leadership, and 19 assists.

Booker can still be a great player without being the team leader. but he'll have to accepts his role and less than the max in the future for us to go all the way with him, because we'll have to pay another 2 stars to get it done
 

1tinsoldier

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oh, and Booker's leadership flaw may be why the refs don't seem to respect him. he certainly doesn't get the abundance of calls that other aggressive stars get, and when the refs do blow the whistle it's too often an offensive foul on him.
 

AzStevenCal

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oh, and Booker's leadership flaw may be why the refs don't seem to respect him. he certainly doesn't get the abundance of calls that other aggressive stars get, and when the refs do blow the whistle it's too often an offensive foul on him.

He has the same problem Amare had, he pisses the refs off with the way he reacts. Tonight, that female ref missed an obvious foul when Booker lost his balance and went out of bounds with the ball. After that, Booker kept glaring at her and yapping at her and the other refs and the refs responded by calling him for 4 quick fouls, one technical, and ignoring a few fouls by Pels on him. He has to figure out how to talk to them.
 

1tinsoldier

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again, he's got Jordan's jump shot, but without his bbIQ and decision making, he's just a great scorer

Book scores and blunders for the 3rd time in 1 week. Suns looking good against Charlotte, then:
*gets a charge reversed only to commit an offensive foul seconds later. sits in the 3rd with his 4th
*gets a technical soon after he finally gets back in
*mauls Ball on a drive in crunch time, complains about the call.
*doesn't get the foul call on the final 3 because the refs don't respect him

it's nice that some players spoke up about Booker's All-Star exclusion. but the coaches and refs don't respect him for a reason
 

elindholm

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again, he's got Jordan's jump shot, but without his bbIQ and decision making, he's just a great scorer

Book scores and blunders for the 3rd time in 1 week. Suns looking good against Charlotte, then:
*gets a charge reversed only to commit an offensive foul seconds later. sits in the 3rd with his 4th
*gets a technical soon after he finally gets back in
*mauls Ball on a drive in crunch time, complains about the call.
*doesn't get the foul call on the final 3 because the refs don't respect him

And on the four-point play, he pushed off against Hayward to get open. I was surprised that wasn't called.
 

Mainstreet

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And on the four-point play, he pushed off against Hayward to get open. I was surprised that wasn't called.

It looked like an offensive foul or a non-call but the referees reviewed it and said otherwise.

In the old days the non-call on Booker's final shot (when he was actually fouled) might have been considered a make up call.

Also referees frequently swallowed their whistle on last second plays back then.
 

Proximo

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I will agree Book's constant complaining with the Ref's is probably a reason he doesn't get as many calls as some stars get. He seems to be getting a little bit better about it, but I think the problem is he is just a bit hot headed.
 

GatorAZ

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The dude was just sickening. Sometimes I watch old school greats and wonder if they'd be as great playing in today's game. I watch Jordan and just think, "That's not fair". Nobody played like young Jordan. There's no comparison.

I think the closest version of Booker to Jordan is the 98’ version. He didn’t have the explosiveness (probably from the cigar/no sleep lifestyle) but he was dominating with footwork and IQ.

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Chaplin

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I will agree Book's constant complaining with the Ref's is probably a reason he doesn't get as many calls as some stars get. He seems to be getting a little bit better about it, but I think the problem is he is just a bit hot headed.
I don't buy it. Plenty of superstar players complain to the refs. Tim Duncan did it all the time, but didn't stop them from giving him preferential treatment. Lebron can arguably be in that group as well.
 

AzStevenCal

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I don't buy it. Plenty of superstar players complain to the refs. Tim Duncan did it all the time, but didn't stop them from giving him preferential treatment. Lebron can arguably be in that group as well.

I think Devin was viewed as just another loser on a loser team that thought he deserved unwarranted "star treatment". All it did was irritate the refs and as a result he developed a very poor reputation amongst the stripes. Amare, on a much better team, did much the same thing in that he was begging for superstar calls before the league was ready to consider him as such. Yelling "and one" every time he thought there was contact on a shot really pissed those guys (and gal) off. Booker doesn't yell "and one" all the time, his sin is that he looks like an entitled brat sometimes when he complains.

But to be clear, I really don't think Devin complains anywhere near as much as Lebron does or Tim Duncan did. And, unlike those 2 (and many others), he hasn't developed that annoying habit of whining to the refs in an attempt to dupe them into the wrong call. He complains sometimes when it's unjustified but all of us that have played basketball at any level should have an understanding of that dynamic - it's the reason referees are needed in the first place, we can't fairly officiate our own actions out there.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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I don't buy it. Plenty of superstar players complain to the refs. Tim Duncan did it all the time, but didn't stop them from giving him preferential treatment. Lebron can arguably be in that group as well.
I don’t think Duncan did it early in his career. And that may have been a big difference. Earned star status first and then started complaining. Didn’t earn the rep early. Once you earn a rep it’s tough to shake.
 
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