Ric Bucher and his personal deity, Kobe Bryant - Egregious Examples #1 & #2

Re: Ric Bucher once again courts the favor of his personal deity, Kobe Bryant

Here's another Bucher "Kobe's Johnnie Cochran" piece by Bucher. I had forgotten about this one, but someone brought it back to my attention.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-060522

Bucher's is the second piece in the left-hand column. To even attempt to suggest that Lebron's playoff game 7 against the Pistons was remotely similar to Kobe's game 7 against the Suns takes cajones that shouldn't fit in anyone's jeans. Kobe quit, or whatever gentler verb you prefer. Lebron went out on his shield, sword swinging. The Pistons simply beat the Cavs into submission, whereas the Suns (with no Amare) offered zero defensive resistance. There is no comparison between Kobe's and Lebron's game 7's, and Bucher knows it. He just disingenuously chooses to ignore that fact. But we'll get to that later. First, let's take a look at some relevant statistics.

Final scores. Pistons-Cavs: 79-61. Suns-Lakers: 121-90. In the Cavs' game, shots were much more difficult to come by than in the the Lakers game, as someone as familiar with the NBA as Bucher would know given the Cavs' and Lakers' respective opponents.

Team FGA. Cavs: 65. Lakers: 91! That's right, there were 26 - yes, 26! - more shot attempts in the Lakers game available. With that incredibly disparate number, you would figure Kobe would have taken a vastly higher number of shots than Lebron would have taken based on simple math. Which leads to my next statistic.
Individual FGA. Lebron: 24. Kobe: 16. Now, as Bucher, you could have taken all kinds of lines of argument to try to elevate Kobe and put down Lebron in your game 7 comparison. You would've been wrong - as Bucher was - but you could have done so. Fine. But in a game where Kobe's team had 26 more FGA than Lebron's, Lebron ended up with 8 more FGA than Kobe. To try to argue that Lebron should be taking the same heat as Kobe the Quitter, given these statistics, is beyond inane and asinine. It's ludicrous. And Bucher knows it is, too.

FGA by half (total). Kobe: 13/3 (16). Lebron: 15/9 (24). This deserves a follow-up statistic to fully appreciate the magnitude of this difference. Team points in 2nd half: Cavs - 23. Lakers - 45. The Cavs scored roughly half the points the Lakers did in their game 7 second half. Even with twice as many points out there to take, Kobe had but 3 FGA's with his team's season on the line. Three! Lebron took three times that amount of shots, and yet Bucher's trying to equate their performances? Pathetic. But it gets even worse.

 

Re: Ric Bucher once again courts the favor of his personal deity, Kobe Bryant

(Pt. 2)​

Team FGA by half (total). Cavs - 39/26 (65). Lakers - ((can't find stat); Extrapolation based on total FGA and balanced scoring {46 points and 45 points} in two halves): "46/45 (91)" (yes, the FGA #s matches the corresponding points by half #s, that is not a mistake). Using this comparison, Lebron took over 1/3rd (9/26) of all his team's FGA in the second half of his game 7. Sound like a quitter? A gunner, maybe, but certainly not a quitter. Kobe doesn't come out looking so good: (3/45). 3 of freaking 45! Or 1/15th of his team's total FGA in the second half. Remember, this is the NBA's scoring leader for '05-'06. Looking at these stats, knowing these stats, Bucher is trying to tell you - the reader - that these two guys had about the same second halves of their game 7's. He thinks you're a rube, a moron.

There's one final "Bucher Defender's" counterargument to put-down here. Well, someone will say, there's more to playing than scoring points. True. So let's look at the other statistics for the two players. LJ: 8reb/2ast/1stl. Kobe: 4reb/1ast/0stl. Add to these damning stats the fact that the Pistons came out, specifically, in the second half determined to make Lebron pass the ball, running 2 or even 3 guys at him. The Pistons admitted as such after the game. Phoenix did nothing of the sort against Bryant. Yet Kobe managed but 1/15ths of his team's FGA in the second half to Lebron 1/3rd. Is there any basis of comparison here at all? None. Or as Bucher says in this version of the 'I Love Kobe Khronicles,' "nay."

There's only one reason Bucher printed this outrageously misleading piece: Propaganda. And damage control. Bucher knew Kobe's image has taken a potentially fatal blow by his seemingly quitting on his team on national television in a game 7 in the playoffs. If Bucher could rectify that image, and at the same time call Lebron's (i.e., Kobe's competition as 'the man' in the NBA) image into question, it would be perfect for Bucher's agenda.

That's what this piece attempts to do. And for all the uneducated hoops fans, or for people just clicking through ESPN, this is what gets fed to them. If ESPN wants to let this stuff out under their name, fine. But someone has to announce the emperor has no clothes. So, here goes: Bryant quit in the second half of game 7 against the Suns, as he had done before in a game against the Sacramento Kings. James played his ass off against the Pistons in his game 7 and was mugged by the Pistons for his troubles. Bucher knew all of this, but he wrote this junk article to fulfill his Kobe agenda.

One final thing on the article referenced in this post and the one referenced in the first post on this thread: If you compare the two, the 'reason' (read: excuse) for Kobe's quitting has changed. Bucher has gotten the new Kobe Memo and the second half meltdown in game 7 is now, officially, because of the knee that had surgery on it this past summer. No mention of that knee in the chronologically first article, is there? I guess Kobe must have taken one heck of a fall between the first and second halves of game 7 for that knee to bug him into taking only 3 FGA in the second half. Ric, thanks for the ex-post-facto injury update!

Don't believe all that you read. Know the agenda behind the stories. In this instance, it's just screaming out at the reader. Such is the case when Ric Bucher covers Kobe Bryant.

 

Re: Update - Ric Bucher and his personal deity, Kobe Bryant - Egregious Example #2

If I were Ric, I would strongly consider a restraining order.

You are waaaaay too interested in this.

 

Re: Update - Ric Bucher and his personal deity, Kobe Bryant - Egregious Example

Unnecessary. A "proximity order," now that might be required, to get me anywhere near him if we're at the same event. I don't suffer shills gladly. As much as I dislike, professionally, what he's become, I've got nothing personal against Ric. That's not an issue. Ric's gone from a very talented writer to a mere hack, and one with a large platform. Exposing hacks is a service to readers. That's my goal here.

The game 7 research speaks for itself, and the conclusion I reached is sound, particularly when you combine cited article #1, cited article #2, and many other recent Bucher columns, chats, radio appearances, etc. which deal with Kobe.

How disappointing it would be, 21, if you don't appreciate the value of good legwork. Particularly investigation done in the service of readers who would otherwise be misled for the sake of a compromised writer's agenda. Truth is never sought worthlessly.

Muckraking takes work. It also bears fruit. The article I cited in today's post was brought to my attention by someone sympathetic to my feelings on Bucher's recent work regarding Kobe, and I dissected it for its patent absurdness. That's it. No biggy. That's part of what I do in my job. I simply turned the lens on this Bucher piece and it was, unsurprisingly, found wanting.

I love the NBA. I care what's written about it. When Bucher writes about Kobe, his stuff doesn't pass the smell test, and hasn't for years. If you find that unimportant, that's your right. I, however, value standards of honesty and integrity in my writing. Especially when it concerns one of my favorite sports. Ric's Kobe bunk doesn't deserve a pass, and it isn't getting one from this precinct.