What the hell is wrong with LeBron's shot?

[RRR3]

Dude is making Rondo look like Steph Curry. Now before trolls ruin this thread, let me point out that this is particularly bizarre because LeBron's jumpshot is something that he has worked hard on over the years and made noticeable improvements on. So why has he completely forgotten how to make a jumper in the playoffs? This is a huge problem, and it is hurting his team.



Look at the discrepancies between some of his past shooting numbers and his shooting numbers in these playoffs:

2013 Playoffs: 49.1 FG%, 37.5 3P%, 43.4% on long two pointers
2014 Playoffs: 56.5 FG%, 40.7 3P%, 41.8% on long two pointers
2015 Playoffs: As of right now he is 3-16 in today's game. So that brings him to 41.7 FG% and an atrocious 15.3% from 3PT territory in these playoffs. Before tonights game he was also shooting terribly on long twos, at just 32.8%



One can argue that he is being forced to shoot more and has less spacing than he had in Miami, which is true, but LeBron has NEVER shot this bad from 3 in the playoffs, even when he was younger and really struggled from outside. His previous worst was 25.7% in the 2008 playoffs. Furthermore, LeBron has shot at least 33% (which is hardly impressive, it's just relatively respectable) from 3 in 9 of his 12 seasons, and in every season since 2008-09. He has shot above 35% from 3 five times. As far as long two pointers, he is a career 38.8% shooter, well above his current mark.




So, what do you guys think explains the unprecedented drop-off? LeBron has never been an elite shooter, but he had become an above average 3PT shooter over the last 3 years. I am not unfamiliar with him struggling with his shot, but it's never been anywhere near this bad. And he had improved enough as to where I thought this should no longer be a problem.



If there's anything positive about his shooting from these playoffs, his FT shooting has returned to more familiar levels after he had a noticeable drop off in said field this season.

[keep-itreal]

he never had a jumpshot

[BigBoss]

2 all stars at minimum have to be on the floor for Lebron to shoot well.

[Kobe_6/8]

http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/lebron-smallest-violin.gif

Small sample size, he's just getting warmed up.

[Alamо]

he never had a jumpshot


Pretty much this. Don't know what else to tell you :confusedshrug:

[RRR3]

he never had a jumpshot
He's been a respectable and at times very good 3PT shooter most of his career, which is the main focus of this thread. His midrange is also much worse at the moment.

[RRR3]

2 all stars at minimum have to be on the floor for Lebron to shoot well.
Must be why he shot 50/40/73 in the 2010 playoffs.

[RRR3]

It's like some of you ignore how much LeBron has improved his shot :lol

His shooting percentages these playoffs are incredibly inconsistent with his norms, and you want to act like he's always been incapable of hitting a jumper :facepalm

[daily]

His legs are gone, best days are behind him. This is the Lebron of the future only it'll get worse. He'll have good games and go through stretches where he plays well but these types of numbers will be the norm

[Kingwillball]

If he finds it in the finals and Cavs win nobody will remember all the struggles.

[RRR3]

His legs are gone, best days are behind him. This is the Lebron of the future only it'll get worse. He'll have good games and go through stretches where he plays well but these types of numbers will be the norm
Thank you for giving me a legitimate, non-trolling answer :cheers: (refreshing)


I realize he has declined, but that shouldn't affect his jumpshot so much. Isn't the point of working on your shot to give yourself something to fall back on when your athleticism fades? I'm not saying LeBron was ever a knockdown shooter (even at his best he's too erratic) but he's usually been capable of hitting contested shots fairly well and certainly was a good 3PT shooter until recently. To act like LeBron in recent years hasn't been a good 3PT shooter is asinine. At worst, he's solid. I'm not saying great, just that his 3PT shot was an effective part of his game.

[RRR3]

If he finds it in the finals and Cavs win nobody will remember all the struggles.
If he doesn't, Warriors in 4.


I am honestly finding it infuriating how his shooting is being largely ignored.


Either it's


"Hurr durr LeBrick always been da worss shoota evah doe! DERP"


or it's

"LEGOD! BEST PLAYER IN DA LEAGUE DOE!" (ignores shooting percentages completely, gives vague reasons why he is "da bess")


Both sides are completely missing the point.

[Lebron23]

The game is not yet over. He averaged 31 ppg on 46 FG% in the first 2 games of the series.

[inclinerator]

he needs to catch and shoot some instead of creating a jumper also would like to see him shoot some post fadeaways

[Indian guy]

The issues started late regular season and just kinda continued from there. Part of it can be explained by the fact that his two best teammates are out, so both the volume and the degree of difficulty of his shots has greatly increased, but it still doesn't explain a decline to this extent. Because he has essentially returned to how he played pre-2011, but he still managed to have a couple of good perimeter shooting postseasons in '09 and '10. The 3pt shooting is the biggest shocker. Even when he couldn't shoot a lick(pre-2009), he still had twice the % from 3 he does this postseason. It just doesn't make any sense.

[RRR3]

The issues started late regular season and just kinda continued from there. Part of it can be explained by the fact that his two best teammates are out, so both the volume and the degree of difficulty of his shots has greatly increased, but it still doesn't explain a decline to this extent. Because he has essentially returned to how he played pre-2011, but he still managed to have a couple of good perimeter shooting postseasons in '09 and '10. The 3pt shooting is the biggest shocker. Even when he couldn't shoot a lick(pre-2009), he still had twice the % from 3 he does this postseason. It just doesn't make any sense.
:cheers: Thanks, good post. Exactly my point, even before his shot improved, he generally managed to shoot 33% from 3 (not necessarily in the playoffs, especially in 2007 and 2008, but even then he was at 28% and 25.7%, respectively. While those are very bad percentages, I'd certainly take them over what he's doing now).


I can't speak to his midrange shots, but his 3PT issue seemed to have start in the playoffs.



In his last 20 regular season games, he shot 39-98 on 3 pointers (39.8%)

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jamesle01/gamelog/2015/


Love being out hurts spacing for sure, but he was shooting poorly even with Love. Furthermore, he has played with worse teammates offensively and shot better.

[Marchesk]

How come nobody outside of ISH is mentioning Lebron's FG%? It's all about how Lebron is dominating and still the best player in the league.

[#number6ix#]

He's aiming his shots instead of just letting it fly naturally

He needs to loosen up and just play instead of over dribbling and forcing the issue

Instead of catching the ball and sizing up the defender for 15 sec everytime down he needs to catch and shoot or catch and drive quickly before the defense gets set

[RRR3]

How come nobody outside of ISH is mentioning Lebron's FG%? It's all about how Lebron is dominating and still the best player in the league.
Because the narrative hasn't changed yet. LeBron is still "the best" until the narrative changes and "they" decide someone else is the best, at which point said player may continue to be called the best even after someone else has surpassed them. Same thing happened with Kobe being called "the best" even after LeBron had surpassed him. Furthermore, Durant is injured which gives people an "excuse" to "forget about him".

[RedBlackAttack]

There's no doubt in my mind that part of the problem right now is how much is being asked of LeBron on a nightly basis with Kyrie and Love both out of the lineup. He sort of started fighting with it in the last third of the season, but losing those guys and everything they bring to an offense has sent it into the depths.

Right now, LeBron is doing so many other things, I doubt he has a ton of energy to devote to getting his jumper right. And, you're talking about losing two of the best pure shooters in the entire league. That's going to impact your game somewhere.

With all of that being said, there's obviously something else going on and probably a combination of things. The most obvious, imo, is that the guy has played more games and minutes in the last four years (and beyond, really) than any player in the modern era.

All of those games and all of those minutes wear on you. I don't care how crazy your genetics are, it is going to eventually show up somewhere. Having a consistent jumpshot is as much about your legs as it is your hands/arms. I've seen signs of wear all season at different points and, because he's borderline superhuman, he's been able to overcome most of those signs.

The jumpshot is the one area that he hasn't been able to overcome and the injuries to Kyrie/KLove have exacerbated it.

My two cents.

[RRR3]

There's no doubt in my mind that part of the problem right now is how much is being asked of LeBron on a nightly basis with Kyrie and Love both out of the lineup. He sort of started fighting with it in the last third of the season, but losing those guys and everything they bring to an offense has sent it into the depths.

Right now, LeBron is doing so many other things, I doubt he has a ton of energy to devote to getting his jumper right.

With all of that being said, there's obviously something else going on and probably a combination of things. The most obvious, imo, is that the guy has played more games and minutes in the last four years (and beyond, really) than any player in the modern era.

All of those games and all of those minutes wear on you. I don't care how crazy your genetics are, it is going to eventually show up somewhere. Having a consistent jumpshot is as much about your legs as it is your hands/arms. I've seen signs of wear all season at different points and, because he's borderline superhuman, he's been able to overcome most of those signs.

The jumpshot is the one area that he hasn't been able to overcome and the injuries to Kyrie/KLove have exacerbated it.

My two cents.

Thanks for your input :cheers:


What is worrisome is that his jumpshot is unbelievably bad right now it's almost like I'm watching a different player than the LeBron of just a year ago. I can understand a slump where he may be around 28% from 3, but this is ridiculous.

[100grandman]

Saying he never had a jumper is B.S. He could hit an occasional jumper. As for an answer to the question, I thought it was just a matter of him not putting enough work in on the jumper. But now, I think it's something bigger than that.

[Im Still Ballin]

I feel like his gradual weight gain from the beginning of the season when he was noticeably smaller might have played apart.

Shooting is all about technique and rhytmn and weight gain can affect this

[RedBlackAttack]

There it is again... borderline airball on a set, wide open 16-footer...

I'm seeing tired legs.

[RRR3]

There it is again... borderline airball on a set, wide open 16-footer...

I'm seeing tired legs.
Honestly, though, at some point you'd think he'd stop shooting jumpers. Post up.

[Alamо]

I'm not joking or trolling at all when I say this, but I think Kawhi stole his jumper when he stole his soul in the finals. Just speculation though. I'll keep watching to further my studies.

[Marchesk]

Why not play Lebron less the rest of this series? It's not like Atlanta is going to come back and win it.

[inclinerator]

There it is again... borderline airball on a set, wide open 16-footer...

I'm seeing tired legs.
most of his shots have been long

[RRR3]

I'm not joking or trolling at all when I say this, but I think Kawhi stole his jumper when he stole his soul in the finals. Just speculation though. I'll keep watching to further my studies.
He shot fine from 3 this past season (35.4% on 4.9 attempts per game). I'm not expecting him to turn into Durant, but he's always been capable of producing in volume from 3.

[RedBlackAttack]

most of his shots have been long
...which can be the result of overcompensation. It is just tough to find the range when you're not getting the lift you're accustomed to.

[Alamо]

He shot fine from 3 this past season (35.4% on 4.9 attempts per game). I'm not expecting him to turn into Durant, but he's always been capable of producing in volume from 3.


My theory makes sense then. He needs to beat Kawhi Leonard in order to get his jumper back

[DMV2]

He missed a lot of his shots on offensive rebounds. Like, he's not eve in position to iso or set plays.

I wouldnt care about it, this ECF series is over. Only concern is that would it cause LeBron to play conservatively in the Finals seeing how poor his FG% is currently.