I have three words to say about tonight's game, if you don't mind me stealing a line from the great Bill Walton:

TERRRRRIBLE ENTRY PASS!

Where's Robert Horry when you need him, right, Laker fans?

A reporter just asked Shaq during the post-game press conference if he could still dominate the Finals the way he has in the past, and he answered, "Yeah, but they gotta get me the ball."

He always says that, after almost every game, but tonight he's actually right because they really weren't getting him the ball. There were so many horrible passes into him tonight that led to turnovers, and I'm not trying to make excuses for Shaq's 14-point performance -- he deserves a lot of the blame for that and picking up his 4th foul in the 3rd quarter -- but I think the poor passes were a big reason for his stink-fest, also.

I feel like Shaq should be dropping 30 on Detroit, easy. Maybe a clean pass to him in the post would be a good step towards that goal.

--REWIND--

You could almost see it coming during Tuesday night's Lakers-Pistons game. Not Kobe's game-tying three at the end of regulation -- although those of you who swear there are clutch players might say you could see that -- but Doc Rivers's response to that three, something to the effect of, "One thing comes to mind: Michael Jordan."

I almost felt bad for the guy. This was one of the greatest moments of his basketball career, in the Finals and in front of a nationally televised audience, and still he couldn't escape the comparisons to Jordan.

In a lot of ways, I think the MJ comparison is the worst thing that could've happened to Kobe. (OK, the second worst thing). For one thing, it's not a very good comparison -- not to mention, it badly underrates how great Jordan really was -- and because it's not a good comparison, it makes it easy for fans and analysts to focus on what Kobe isn't instead of on what he is.

I should know, because I do it all the time, and half the people I know do it all the time. In fact, anyone who isn't a Laker fan probably does it, too.

Kobe haters know everything about what he isn't and nothing about what he is. Or put another way, their perspective focuses on what didn't happen, instead of what did. And for the most part their gripes are pretty convincing, mainly because the Jordan comparison is so foolish.

Kobe isn't Michael Jordan. He isn't a 53% shooter, which is what Jordan was from his 4th through 8th year in the NBA.

Jordan's FG%'s in his first eight seasons (ages in parentheses):
84-85 (21): 51.5
85-86 (22): 45.7 (in 22 games)
86-87 (23): 48.2
87-88 (24): 53.5
88-89 (25): 53.8
89-90 (26): 52.6
90-91 (27): 53.9
91-92 (28): 51.9

Kobe's FG%'s in his first eight seasons:
96-97 (18): 41.7
97-98 (19): 42.8
98-99 (20): 46.5
99-00 (21): 46.8
00-01 (22): 46.4
01-02 (23): 46.9
02-03 (24): 45.1
03-04 (25): 43.8

Pretty significant difference, huh? Not that field goal percentage is the end all to player comparisons, but remember, this isn't a Mark West 53%, a player who takes maybe five shots a game, this is a Michael Jordan 53% -- a player who took over 25 shots a game and consistently used 35 to 40% of his team's possessions every season.

Think about that.

You can't underestimate how vital this difference is when you compare the offensive value of two players, especially when you grade basketball games from a per-possession perspective.

Kobe also isn't nearly as good a ballhandler as Jordan was. One of the most amazing qualities about Jordan was that, as busy as he was with the ball, he also took very, very good care of it. His career turnover rate (turnovers per 100 possessions) was 7.91, which is great, especially for a guy who spent so much of his game attacking the basket.

Kobe's career turnover rate? 10.2, which is really pretty average.

Again, this is just another example of how much more productive Jordan was with his possessions than Kobe.....

OK, do you see what I'm doing? I've only gone over two differences between Kobe and Jordan now, and already I've made it sound like Kobe Bryant is just another shooting guard in the NBA. I haven’t said anything about his incredible performances in the playoffs, or his scoring feats in the regular season, or that he’s been one of the two best guards in the NBA since 1999 (Tracy McGrady is the other, obviously). Why? Because I’m too busy pointing out what he isn't, too busy defending Michael Jordan’s honor -- or whatever you wanna call it.

The point is, Kobe Bryant isn't Michael Jordan, but neither is anyone else in the NBA today. That shouldn't take away from the fact that he's great in his own right, which is something haters refuse to acknowledge.

That’s the thing about Kobe. He either gets way too much credit because of the MJ comparisons, or he doesn’t get nearly enough credit because of the MJ comparisons. Either way, that comparison needs to stop.