First off all, I think you are mixing arguements, when you start talking about shooting percentage, when the deabte is about being a quality passer. However, as I don't want to totally ignore the point, I would hope that you understand that Kobe seasons lately are hard to compare to those of Michael Jordan years because with the new zone rules in effect, it is signifcantly harder to shoot a higher percentage at the wing position. Even with that said, I never said Kobe is 'as good' as Michael. Frankly, he has not proven that yet. More importantly, the arguement that you are trying to back, is that Kobe is not even a good passer.
Second, I didn't mention that Kobe got Shaq a lot of dunks as proof or as the reason that Kobe is a good passer. It was actually an added validation onto the role he played in the championship years, as well as to quell the arguement that Kobe didn't play well with Shaq. I probably should have said he created a lot more easy scoring opportunities for him then other teammates, so I am sorry if I wasn't more clear.
Third, Kobe has a VASTLY different role in the offense this year, then he did during the championship years. As I mentioned before, during the championship years, Kobe was the facilitator of the offense. This year, he is playing the wing position, which is more of an attacker and a scorer. Lamar Odom, has taken the position of the facilitator. The facilitator is the position that Pippen played, if you need a point of reference to the Bulls team. Phil and Tex, have always given Kobe a high amount of credit for how well the Laker offense used to run during that time. You don't win the vast majority of playoff series without a great half court offense, and to take it a step further, it is almost impossible to have a good half court offense that is 'run'/facilitated by a poor passer. Now I understand that YOU believe that the offense was only profecient or good because of Shaq, and the attention that he recieved, but that is just faulty. I have a hard time believing that you watched with any sense of attention to the championship years. Especially, the series' against the Spurs, where Kobe absolutely destroyed that team on the offensive end with his scoring and his passing. Gregg Popovich and Shaq both said he was the best player in the world after those series, and gave him the credit for beating those teams.
Lastly, you obviously believe that assist to turnover ratio is the best judge of whether someone is a good passer. I myself, feel that it is a good statistic, but can't be the end all and be all. Unlike baseball, basketball value is hard to breakdown, by taking a strictly numbers approach. Numbers themselves can be a very good snapshot on a players value, but actually watching the way people play gives us a much better idea as to the value/talent of a player. You do realize also that an assist has 2 parts to it correct? You don't just get an assist because you make a great pass or put a teammate in a very advantageous position to convert on a FG? The fact is, the teammate then has to convert on the opportunity, which I think would be very hard to convince anyone that has watched the Lakers on the converting prowess of the majority of Kobe's teammates this year. Also, I think you must take into account the fact that for much of the season the team was learning a completely new offense, which no one other then Kobe and Luke Walton could even be considered proficient in, which I hope you would agree can lead to a skewed proficency in assist to TO. Fact is, there are many more factors that going into a statistic than just the raw numbers, or even the analysis of those statistics.
Is Kobe a great passer on the level of Stockton, or Magic, or Nash? No. However, to call him a poor or even below average is just wrong, especially if the thought behind it is strictly on assits vs. turnovers , and not actually watching the game. Kobe has a very good court awareness, and has been lauded by people for it with much higher basketball IQs then you and I have.
