AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian
Welcome to the first in a new series called, "Head to Head", where I compare two premier NBA talents, in the games where they, well, went Head to Head. We're kicking things off with two of the greatest Shooting Guards of all time, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade.
Warning, this piece will utilize Alternate Win Score, a linear box-score metric devised by Dan Rosenbaum. Its essentially the best linear metric to use when evaluating individual games. Readers should also be familiar with this page, showing the game-logs of every Kobe/Wade Head to Head matchup. The following table is per-48 minutes.
Warning, this piece will utilize Alternate Win Score, a linear box-score metric devised by Dan Rosenbaum. Its essentially the best linear metric to use when evaluating individual games. Readers should also be familiar with this page, showing the game-logs of every Kobe/Wade Head to Head matchup. The following table is per-48 minutes.
It looks like Dwyane Wade has outplayed Kobe Bryant during the course of their head to head careers. Kobe has been the better scorer, but Wade has been better at almost everything else. Its close though, as Wade trumps Kobe by less then a point.
Now for a more interesting (and colorful) table.
Now for a more interesting (and colorful) table.
- The "Mutual Triumph" refers to the game where both Kobe and Wade were playing well, which refers to the second LAL/MIA matchup of this past season.
- The "Own" tabs refer to games where each player was basically destroyed by the other. Wade's victory comes in a Christmas game of the 06-07 season, while Kobe's comes in a 2003 game, where Wade was a rookie.
- The "Mutual Fail" tab alludes to a game where both players were struggling, which for this duo, occurred in the 10-11 season. It was the first meeting between the Big-3 of Miami, and Kobe's Lakers.
All in all, its pretty clear Wade comes out on top. His overall rating is higher, and he won all of the "sub" categories in the table above. Its also a blow to Kobe, that a significant portion of his rating came from beating up on a rookie Dwyane Wade in 2003. That's just mean.
- The "Own" tabs refer to games where each player was basically destroyed by the other. Wade's victory comes in a Christmas game of the 06-07 season, while Kobe's comes in a 2003 game, where Wade was a rookie.
- The "Mutual Fail" tab alludes to a game where both players were struggling, which for this duo, occurred in the 10-11 season. It was the first meeting between the Big-3 of Miami, and Kobe's Lakers.
All in all, its pretty clear Wade comes out on top. His overall rating is higher, and he won all of the "sub" categories in the table above. Its also a blow to Kobe, that a significant portion of his rating came from beating up on a rookie Dwyane Wade in 2003. That's just mean.