Who guards Lebron?

[ClipperRevival]

GS has 3 players who might guard Lebron. Barnes, Green and Iggy. Barnes is the natural match up as both are 3s but it will be interesting to see how Kerr tries to defend Bron.

Barnes has the best mix of size, length and athleticism but Green is more gritty and tougher to push around. The issue with Green is his foot speed and he might struggle with Bron on the perimeter. Obviously when GS' s bench is in and Bron is on the floor, Iggy will get the assignment.

I would probably initially go with the natural match up in Barnes and see how he does but one side of me tells me to put Green on Bron the entire time and see how he handles it. But putting Green on Bron means your 4 is away from the basket and you give up height down low and Tristan and Mosgov might be too much.

Thoughts?

[HelterSkelter]

I think it should be Iggy. He has the speed and built to guard LeBron.

Tank vs Tank.

[Jameerthefear]

They will all 3 see a fair amount of time on LBJ

[LikeABosh]

I think it should be Iggy. He has the speed and built to guard LeBron.

Tank vs Tank.
Iggy has never even slowed Lebron down.

[ClipperRevival]

I think it should be Iggy. He has the speed and built to guard LeBron.

Tank vs Tank.

Yeah but Bron outweighs Iggy by 40 lbs. Iggy will be able to keep Bron in front of him in the perimeter but lacks the size to push back once Bron gets a head of steam. Of course Iggy will guard Bron in stretches. I just don't know if you want him to be your primary defender on Bron.

[ClipperRevival]

If I am Kerr, I would see how Barnes handles it initially. See if he can put Bron in front of him in the perimeter and see how he handles the pounding down low. Barnes has the best mix of size/athleticism to defend Bron but if he is having issues, I put Green on Bron all day. I just think even though Green lacks the foot speed of Barnes or Iggy, he can do the best job on Bron. The guy is a very versatile defender and it would be fun watching this match up. Besides, Bron's shooting has been off these playoffs so you can give Bron a bit of a cushion on the perimeter so he can better play the drive. Green would be able to bang with Bron down low too. The big issue is how he handles Bron in the perimeter.

Who Kerr puts on Bron might be the most crucial coaching decision he makes this series.

[BigBoss]

I do.

[Legends66NBA7]

Barnes will intially guard him; Green or Klay will guard him on a switch.

Iggy and Livingston will guard him coming off the bench. Livingston only if GS is in major foul trouble, length can bother Bron but Bron can just power him down in the post. So that makes 5.

[imnew09]

I would put Green on him



or the shortest player on GSW

[ClipperRevival]

The purist in me wants to see Green mirroring Bron the entire series and see how that plays out.

[navy]

The purist in me wants to see Green mirroring Bron the entire series and see how that plays out.
If you have green on Lebron you cant play small with him at center like the Warriors like to do. Im sure the Warriors will just throw the house at him like they did last time.

[ClipperRevival]

If you have green on Lebron you cant play small with him at center like the Warriors like to do. Im sure the Warriors will just throw the house at him like they did last time.

True. GSW likes to go small at times so they can speed up the tempo. But in a playoff series, you have to adjust and game plan based on each opponent. Slowing down Bron should be focus number 1. And if that means sacrificing tempo, I do it because if you hold Bron to an average series, GS is all but guaranteed to win because Clev clearly lacks the depth and overall talent of GS. Bron needs a legendary type series to have a chance at beating GS.

[bobeticus]

i'll put Green on him.. and flash some old tweets of Bron in the BIGSCREEN... :rockon: :rockon: :rockon:

[AirFederer]

Brons shot is broken so give him space and cover JR and Dell etc. Don't let him fast break. Then they might slow him down. They will surely not stop him

[CarlosBoozer]

Curry

[masonanddixon]

Lebron is shooting like 40% in the playoffs. It doesn't really matter who guards him because hes going to take a shitload of shots and miss most of them regardless.

[sd3035]

is it too late to get Jason Terry?

[r15mohd]

Lebron is shooting like 40% in the playoffs. It doesn't really matter who guards him because hes going to take a shitload of shots and miss most of them regardless.


it's his 3pt shot that's pretty broken this playoff, and he's shooting close to 50% on everything under the arc, albeit many of his shots have been near-rim but his 3pt shot is just completely lost right now

leave the 3pt to the specialists and camp down low in the post. one thing I rarely see Lebron do much of is pump-fake when in the post to get the defender in the air...pretty sure most will bite on it...I know he has the athleticism to power up a shot at will but I'd personally put their starters in foul trouble early with the move and just coast the game over with the laid-back defense afterwards.

[lilteapot]

Bron has shit on Iggy whenever he's been guarded by him.

Likely that Iggy guards him the most though, followed by Barnes and then Green. As everyone is predicting he'll see an assortment of defenders thrown at him.

I think it's funny though how people think it'll wear Lebron out to see different defender but it won't wear others out to defend him. It goes both ways.

[Taller than CP3]

I'd put Barnes, Iggy, and Green on him.

Give Bron different looks and keep my defenders fresh at all times.

[scm5]

GSW will let Lebron get his and shut everyone else down because that's the smartest thing to do.

I think they'll be okay with Barnes or Iggy on him. If Lebron gets too hot, they'll try putting Green on him. I don't think Lebron will be the priority, it'll be stopping JR Smith and Kyrie. That team goes hard when those two get hot and look very beatable when they rely on Lebron to take on most of the scoring load.

[jayfan]

The rim.



.

[Goldrush25]

GSW will let Lebron get his and shut everyone else down because that's the smartest thing to do.


That is the tried and true way to beat him. It's easier said than done because it's counterintuitive.

Big picture, Lebron is not a truly bad shooter from the field. He's just not elite in that area. To let even an average NBA shooter get his shot off uncontested is an incorrect strategy in most cases. NBA players are trained to close out on a shooter. It takes a disciplined team to stick to it, especially if he hits a few early on. Warriors can't react to that because that feeds into Lebron getting everyone else involved when they start closing out on him, which is what he really wants to do in the first place.

If Lebron is hitting his shot, Warriors just have to grin and bear it.

[Haymaker]

Brons shot is broken so give him space and cover JR and Dell etc. Don't let him fast break. Then they might slow him down. They will surely not stop him

Yup. Their best bet is to let Bron get his and swarm their shooters. Also take Thompson off the paint at the defensive end. Those second chance points are fuel to the Cavs fire.

[ImKobe]

Bogut is the only player Bran wouldn't back down

I say let Lebron get his and just make sure to neutralize his teammates, don't double him too much and just protect the paint, force him to shoot.

Stats show he shoots around 20% outside the paint while his teammates shoot 40% from 3.

Barnes/Green will guard him, Klay and Steph are too small, Iggy isn't going to get that many minutes, someone else has to defend Bran at least half of the game.

I see them throwing different bodies at Bran, but they won't focus their defense on just pressuring him.

Also, another form of defense is attacking him when they are on the offensive end, hopefully Bran tries to guard Curry and they run him through a ton of screens to wear him down.

Cavs can't afford to push the pace too much because they will get killed in transition.

[TheReal Kendall]

Kerr better play him straight up and not double. Stay on the shooters and let Bron get his.

[Eric Cartman]

Kerr better play him straight up and not double. Stay on the shooters and let Bron get his.
That's the game plan so far