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Marbury Article

Sun Jan 02, 2005 6:58 am

Knicks: Marbury says: I'm best at point, not Kidd
Saturday, January 01, 2005
BY COLIN STEPHENSON
Star-Ledger Staff



GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- All week Stephon Marbury promised to be a more aggressive point guard, offensively and defensively. Apparently he intends to be aggressive in answering the media, too.

Until yesterday Marbury would always say "no comment" whenever Jason Kidd's name was mentioned. However, on the eve of the tonight's New Year's game between the Knicks and the Nets at Madison Square Garden, Marbury said he doesn't compare himself with the Nets' All-Star point guard -- because in his mind, he's the better player.


"Don't get me wrong -- I love Jason Kidd. He's a great point guard," Marbury said. "(But) how am I comparing myself to him when I think I'm the best point guard to play basketball? That doesn't make any sense. I mean, how can I sit here and compare myself to somebody if I already think I'm the best? When I go on the basketball court, if I think about what you're all saying, I'll lose my mind."

He was talking about all the unflattering comparisons since they were traded for each other in the summer of 2001. The Nets sent Marbury to Phoenix for Kidd and immediately ascended to the NBA elite, reaching the NBA Finals two years in a row. But Marbury said it is unfair to compare him with Kidd because their styles are so different.

"Me and Jason Kidd are two different players," Marbury said. "The way you see basketball, and the way I see it, it's not the same thing. You can't compare both of us. We don't play anything alike. We're totally different. You may feel he's better, there's another person that feels different."

Marbury, 27, is enjoying what is shaping up to be a career season. He is averaging 20.2 points and 8.6 assists while shooting 45.5 percent from the field. And he has become more of a leader, who is improving the play of his teammates.

Kidd, 31, is coming off microfracture surgery on his right knee and slowly working his way back into top shape. He is averaging 28.1 minutes, 8.3 points, six rebounds and six assists. Kidd brought career averages of 14.8 points, 9.4 assists and 6.4 rebounds into this season. And he is the NBA's active leader in triple-doubles. Marbury entered this season with career averages of 20.4 points and 8.3 assists.

But Kidd has played in 73 playoff games and seven All-Star Games. Marbury has appeared in 18 playoff games and two All-Star Games. And in current All-Star voting, Marbury is sixth among Eastern Conference guards with 151,749 votes as of yesterday. Kidd is fifth with 306,359.

"I don't care about (the voting)," Marbury said. "That stuff doesn't matter to me."

He admitted that when he was younger, playing in the All-Star Game was important to him. And he did say that "playing in the All-Star Game is always fun, because you're recognized as being one of the elite players." But he won't be disappointed if he's not among the All-Stars Feb. 20 in Denver.

"As long as I'm playing come April, (trying to) win the championship, that's the most important thing," he said.

Penny Hardaway, who has played with both Kidd (Phoenix Suns) and Marbury (Phoenix Suns and Knicks), refused to be drawn into the debate.

"I don't really like to compare them because they're two different type players," he said. "Jason is more of the playmaker who looks for the pass first. And Stephon is more of a scoring point guard who is very aggressive on the offensive end. ... They're two different types of guards; they're both really good at what they do."

At Nets practice, Richard Jefferson danced a bit, too, although he did place Marbury in the upper echelon with Kidd.

"I think right now, (Marbury), Steve Nash and Dwyane Wade are playing at an extremely high level," Jefferson said. "And he's right there with them. J-Kidd is still getting his legs underneath him. The last time I checked, if (Kidd) would have scored a few points, he would have had triple-doubles in the last two games. That's pretty impressive considering he's only playing 32, 34 minutes a night."

Kidd did not talk to the press yesterday.


I can understand that he thinks he is the better PG because its his own ego, but still... I know we had a discussion about this in another thread and to say he is the better PG is pretty wrong, but it is his OWN opinion. He said that you can't compare them because they play differently which I agree. Mabrury is just more of a SG than a PG so that's why you can't compare them. :lol: That's like Iverson playing PG in Philly now. You know AI is a SG, but the Sixers trust his ball handling ability, but that doesn't mean he is a PG.

Sun Jan 02, 2005 7:19 am

Why you didn't post it to my point god thread????
Anyway he is stupid,too big ego,He is better than Kidd?? What else? Is Yao shorter than boykins? NO
He will NEVER make it to the finals.
Kidd: 2:0 in that case.
I don't care about scoring,it's about winning and leadership.
Kidd is still better.Who thinks that ego man is better than him,then i don't know then you should burn yourself!

Sun Jan 02, 2005 8:21 am

Didn't the Knicks get rocked by the Nets last year in the playoffs? Case closed.

Sun Jan 02, 2005 10:12 am

You guys may just want to look up the nba Schedules for tonights game, Nets@knicks... and yes the knicks did get rocked by the nets in last years playoffs which is why Marburys hype'in up tonights game. Its the first time the nets have hit the garden floor since last year plus taking in the fact that the nets have something that the knicks really wanted "vince carter" so theres even more hype for tonights game so iam guessing you are all getting the picture now.

Dont read to much into what Marburys saying its all just hype.

Sun Jan 02, 2005 10:50 am

Why is this a big deal? These stupid sportswriters are turning the nba into a soap opera "omg marbury thinks he is better than kidd"... what a joke. Just report on the game instead of all the little things...

Sun Jan 02, 2005 10:55 am

TheCambyManVol3 wrote:"omg marbury thinks he is better than kidd"...


Well... Marbury is thinking that he is "the best point guard to play basketball" so he's not only saying that he's better than Kidd, he's saying that he is better than Magic, Stockton etc.

Sun Jan 02, 2005 11:03 am

But who cares what Marbury thinks? It's almost gotten to the point that we expect way to much from athletes. Sure they get paid alot of money to play a sport, but when they arent allowed to think and have their own opinion without it being drawn out and an entire article made about it, thats wrong.

But do we see positive articles? About Larry Hughes playing awesome? Or The Bulls going well? All we mainly see is negative shit that has virtually nothing to do with the game.

Sun Jan 02, 2005 12:17 pm

yeah, i agree...so what if marbury feels that way? if that makes him play better, so be it. does it even matter if he thinks he's the best?i don't see what is the big deal here..like he said it:
""Me and Jason Kidd are two different players," Marbury said. "The way you see basketball, and the way I see it, it's not the same thing. You can't compare both of us. We don't play anything alike. We're totally different. You may feel he's better, there's another person that feels different.""

Sun Jan 02, 2005 1:32 pm

well it looks like all that hype gave his team a lost lmao...marbury scored 31 pts and had 8 asts, while kidd had 13 pts, 3 asts...marbury had the better night, but his new position should be SG and despite him scoring 31, his team still lost.

Sun Jan 02, 2005 3:17 pm

Dude, it shouldnt be classed as hype imo.. it was nothing. Every player probably feels he is better than the next guy. The Knicks need Houston to step up as the second scorer while crawford is out..

Sun Jan 02, 2005 4:15 pm

well marbury shot more 3pointers than houston took shots soo.....plus houston shot 2 for 7 from downtown taking only 8 shots...they relying on the 3 too much

Sun Jan 02, 2005 9:47 pm

If Kidd was the type of player to get spurred on by those sort of comments, then maybe Marbury was actually doing it to help Jason Kidd out. Those comments are never a bad thing.

Mon Jan 03, 2005 12:03 am

He was high.... (N)

Mon Jan 03, 2005 12:09 am

As Matthew said, everyone thinks they're better than everyone. I mean Primoz Brezec deep down probably thinks he's better than Shaq, I think I'm better than Milt Palacio and so on. It's an ego thing, the NBA is based around confidence and ego's.

Mon Jan 03, 2005 1:48 am

Erick Dampier said this year that he's #1 after Shaq @C...man that had me laughing....at least he knows that he aint #1

Mon Jan 03, 2005 7:47 am

(doing my best Peter Vescey imitation)

This just in: Stephon Marbury was seen leaving a Brooklyn 7-11 with Rasheed Wallace, Damon Stoudamire, Christian Laetnner and Keon Clark with 55 bags of Cool Ranch Doritos in tow. :mrgreen:

Mon Jan 03, 2005 8:15 am

Starbury has the right of saying hes the best cause he can beat anybody 1 on 1... In game with the team... Highly doubt it lol.

I say Starbury is the best but Jason Kidd is better than him at his Prime.

Mon Jan 03, 2005 9:05 am

TheGuRu wrote:Starbury has the right of saying hes the best cause he can beat anybody 1 on 1... In game with the team... Highly doubt it lol.



can he beat Iverson 1 on 1? I know Marbury is stronger, but AI is faster, and will rob his pockets..and let's not forget AI crossovers.

Mon Jan 03, 2005 9:21 am

There equal on Offense. Except Starbury has more of a shot but AI has a better scoring when needed (Primacy for some people).

Starbury has some what defense. He can stick his man but not steal. And AI wouldnt be able to steal it due to Starburys crossover.

Mon Jan 03, 2005 9:59 am

i dunno man...marbury..iverson...francis..even rafer alston (Street ball legend we talkin) are all in the same class 1 on 1

Mon Jan 03, 2005 10:03 am

TheGuRu wrote:Starbury has the right of saying hes the best cause he can beat anybody 1 on 1... In game with the team... Highly doubt it lol.

I say Starbury is the best but Jason Kidd is better than him at his Prime.


We're talking about best point guards here. Marbury is a good point guard, being able to score and still dish out assists, but he's good in a sense that he's able to rack up stats for himself. In other words, he's not the player that actually makes his teammates better. Jason Kidd did that with the Nets, carrying them to two NBA Finals.

Steve Nash is, in my opinion, the best point guard in the NBA right now. He's averaging almost 11 assists per game, still being able to score nearly 16 points per game, and making his teammates look really, really good. Look at how good Amare, Marion, and Richardson have become. Look at the Suns' standings, having the best record in the league (if not, one of the best).

A point guard is a player that is unselfish, being able to make his teammates better, and change the momentum of the game. Steve Nash and previously, Jason Kidd did just that.

Mon Jan 03, 2005 10:45 am

I'd have to say that Nash is the best PG in the league right now. But a healthy Kidd would kick Nash's ass.

Mon Jan 03, 2005 11:14 am

Best pg is gotta be J-kidd. Then Iverson, Wade, Marbury, Nash, Francis and the list can go on....

Mon Jan 03, 2005 3:13 pm

According to this report from the NY Post, both Kidd and Marbury are losers-
Stephon Marbury disputes that Jason Kidd should be considered superior to him, feeling Kidd is no more a winner than he is because neither has won an NBA championship.

After reiterating his claim that he's the NBA's best point guard, Marbury said he believes if you don't have a ring, you can't be called a winner. Kidd has been to two NBA Finals with the Nets; Marbury has not been out of the first round of the playoffs.

"He's just like me," Marbury said of Kidd at yesterday's morning shootaround before the Nets beat the Knicks, 93-87. "He's a loser. We're both losers. Neither of us have won a championship. Tim Duncan is a winner. Kevin Garnett is a loser just like me. Charles Barkley is a loser just like me. [TNT partner] Kenny Smith is a winner.

"Magic [Johnson], Michael Jordan, [Larry] Bird, those guys are winners. Kobe [Bryant] and Shaquille [O'Neal] are winners. Isiah Thomas is a winner. Until you win championships, we're just like everyone else. It doesn't matter how far you get in the playoffs. It doesn't matter if you get to the Finals. You lost."

Marbury didn't back down from his New Year's boast that he considers himself the "best point guard in basketball."

"I'm just saying reality and answered a question," Marbury said. "I already know I'm the best point guard. It's like asking if it's raining outside. You're going to tell them it's raining."

Lenny Wilkens said, "I don't want to get caught in this. He has great confidence in who he is. That's wonderful. Other than that, I have no comments."

Marbury was behind four other point guards in the Eastern Conference All-Star voting: Allen Iverson, Dwyane Wade, Steve Francis and Kidd. Marbury has a chance of being named to the All-Star team as a reserve.



lol, marbury is a joker..oops, a loser

Tue Jan 04, 2005 10:16 am

My spanish teacher always tells me "When you dig yourself into a hole, stop digging." If only I could contact Marbury...
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