2009 and 2010 cavs were the best fitting teams for LeBron

[2ball]

2009 and 2010 cavs teams were the best fitting teams to LeBron’s play style and it's why they won more in the regular season than the heat and later cavs teams. Great defensive team and the best 3pt shooting cast in the league. They just lacked the necessary leadership and determination to win. That and LeBron's poor shooting and turnovers did them in

[hiphopanonymous]

It was definitely the way he preferred to play - the coaching was non existent which is exactly how I think he prefers it to be. He waves out all his teammates to stand still surrounding the 3 point line and freezes the ball to dribble drive and kick it out if the defense collapses on him. It's problematic for teammates though because they aren't even warmed up and can't ever catch it in rhythm or on the hop. They also don't get ball handling time to get a feel for the ball.

This was simple and for pro level, crude. Drive and kick "playing downhill" basketball - which was effective in the regular season because he was such a dominant athlete and it would catch teams off guard being that his team was only played sporadically on their schedule but he frustratingly realized he needed coaching and sophisticated teamwork to win when teams could scheme for him for 7 game series. Now I think he's a smarter player than he used to be but he's old now and doesn't have the same athleticism so he needs to depend on teammate production more now than ever. He's wiser so he lets it happen. But when he was younger yeah the 2009-2010 was his perfect team considering he loved to waive people out of his way so often.

[ImKobe]

He definitely had his limitations that people tend to overlook when discussing that Magic series. Shot really poorly from 3 apart from 2 games, missed some late game FTs and just dominated the ball way too much, which is what SVG game planned to do in order to take Lebron's shooters out of it. He's like Shaq in a sense that he needs a closer next to him. Can put up great numbers but is limited in crunch time, which is why he only won when he had teammates in Wade, Allen & Irving to close out games for him.

Look at his shooting numbers
2009

10-16 FT - 28.8%
16-3PT - 38.8%
3PT - 34.4%

2010

10-16 ft - 34.4%
16-3PT - 39.8%
3PT - 33.3%

Wasn't a 40+% mid-range shooter until the 2011 season.

The issue really wasn't the team, but it had more to do with him improving his shot, which ultimately saved the Celtics series for Miami in 2012 and got them their first championship. Spurs, Celtics, Magic & Mavs really exposed his lack of shooting ability & he improved on it to his credit.

[Turbo Slayer]

He definitely had his limitations that people tend to overlook when discussing that Magic series. Shot really poorly from 3 apart from 2 games, missed some late game FTs and just dominated the ball way too much, which is what SVG game planned to do in order to take Lebron's shooters out of it. He's like Shaq in a sense that he needs a closer next to him. Can put up great numbers but is limited in crunch time, which is why he only won when he had teammates in Wade, Allen & Irving to close out games for him.

Look at his shooting numbers
2009

10-16 FT - 28.8%
16-3PT - 38.8%
3PT - 34.4%

2010

10-16 ft - 34.4%
16-3PT - 39.8%
3PT - 33.3%

Wasn't a 40+% mid-range shooter until the 2011 season.

The issue really wasn't the team, but it had more to do with him improving his shot, which ultimately saved the Celtics series for Miami in 2012 and got them their first championship. Spurs, Celtics, Magic & Mavs really exposed his lack of shooting ability & he improved on it to his credit. Just like when Gasol came to the Lakers to save Kobe's ass from losing constantly in the Playoffs without Shaq? Ridiculous and lol at saying that LeBron is not clutch when in reality he have been clutch in the regular season and POs multiple times.

The Lakers won the championship so that induces winning bias.
In the 2009 Finals Kobe shot horribly too.

Game 1: 16-34
Game 3: 11-25
Game 4: 11-31

Wow! An all-time great Finals series by Kobe Bryant! I applaud him even though he shot horribly in some of the games and was outperformed by LeBron in the previous series against Magic too! :applause:

[light]

2009 and 2010 cavs teams were the best fitting teams to LeBron’s play style and it's why they won more in the regular season than the heat and later cavs teams. Great defensive team and the best 3pt shooting cast in the league. They just lacked the necessary leadership and determination to win. That and LeBron's poor shooting and turnovers did them in

No, the 2013 Heat was LeBron's best fitting team. 66-16 and won 27 games in a row.

But the fact that LeBron won 66 games in 2009 with Mo Williams and Delonte West as his wingmen is absolutely phenomenal.

Out of all of the teams in history that won 65 games or more the 2009 Cavs and the 2007 Mavs had by far the least amount of talent.

[2ball]

No, the 2013 Heat was LeBron's best fitting team. 66-16 and won 27 games in a row.

But the fact that LeBron won 66 games in 2009 with Mo Williams and Delonte West as his wingmen is absolutely phenomenal.

Out of all of the teams in history that won 65 games or more the 2009 Cavs and the 2007 Mavs had by far the least amount of talent.
Nope those heat teams won on pure collusion and stacked deck alone. They actually didn’t mesh that well

[light]

Nope those heat teams won on pure collusion and stacked deck alone. They actually didn’t mesh that well

Yeah you're right they didn't mesh at all

https://cdn.lowgif.com/full/296b6d2b686cc1c1-memphis-grizzlies-miami-heat-12-13-6pm-est-the.gif

[Monta Ellis MVP]

No, the 2013 Heat was LeBron's best fitting team. 66-16 and won 27 games in a row.

But the fact that LeBron won 66 games in 2009 with Mo Williams and Delonte West as his wingmen is absolutely phenomenal.

Out of all of the teams in history that won 65 games or more the 2009 Cavs and the 2007 Mavs had by far the least amount of talent.

Mo Williams and Delonte were solid guards back then. Delonte was great at 3&D player that can handle the ball well too. Mo Williams could score and create his own shot at a high level. They were both good 3 point shooters that could space the floor for LeBron. I was disappointed when LeBron left to the Heat because he was building something in Cleveland and it wasn’t necessary.

[light]

Mo Williams and Delonte were solid guards back then. Delonte was great at 3&D player that can handle the ball well too. Mo Williams could score and create his own shot at a high level. They were both good 3 point shooters that could space the floor for LeBron. I was disappointed when LeBron left to the Heat because he was building something in Cleveland and it wasn’t necessary.

You usually need more than "solid guards" to win 66 games. It's different for LeBron, of course, but other players cannot do that. It's rare. Not impossible, but very rare.

[Monta Ellis MVP]

You usually need more than "solid guards" to win 66 games. It's different for LeBron, of course, but other players cannot do that. It's rare. Not impossible, but very rare.

The sum was greater than the individual parts. As a true team should be.

[Wally450]

Nope those heat teams won on pure collusion and stacked deck alone. They actually didn’t mesh that well

Collusion alone doesn't win 2 championships and make 4 Finals in a row.

[2ball]

Collusion alone doesn't win 2 championships and make 4 Finals in a row.

When you have the top 3 players in per all on the same team it’s an underachievement

[3ball]

Collusion alone doesn't guarantee 4 Finals in a row.




It's guaranteed when weak teams are rountinely winning the conference, aka 09' Magic, 07' Cavs, 03' Nets - so obviously a super-team will have a "streak"

But since weak teams could win the 00's East, lebron should've won as a massive favorite in 09/10 - there's no excuse - but he failed as the favorite and that's why he formed super-team (aka cheated in plain sight and hired media people to sell it as okay)

09' Dwight won the East with Rashard Lewis as sidekick - he easily wins the East 4 times if he had Wade/Bosh instead... It isn't rocket science - lebron cheated in plain view (formed super-team in a conference that weak teams were routinely winning).. Otoh, the 80's East required a juggernaut to win it - weak teams like 01' Sixers, 07' Cavs, or 09' Magic could never win it

[RRR3]

They fit well around him but he didn’t have a legitimate sidekick.

[Lebron23]

They fit well around him but he didn’t have a legitimate sidekick.

This. Pau Gasol was way better than Mo Williams

[3ball]

He definitely had his limitations that people tend to overlook when discussing that Magic series. Shot really poorly from 3 apart from 2 games, missed some late game FTs and just dominated the ball way too much, which is what SVG game planned to do in order to take Lebron's shooters out of it. He's like Shaq in a sense that he needs a closer next to him. Can put up great numbers but is limited in crunch time, which is why he only won when he had teammates in Wade, Allen & Irving to close out games for him.

Look at his shooting numbers
2009

10-16 FT - 28.8%
16-3PT - 38.8%
3PT - 34.4%

2010

10-16 ft - 34.4%
16-3PT - 39.8%
3PT - 33.3%

Wasn't a 40+% mid-range shooter until the 2011 season.

The issue really wasn't the team, but it had more to do with him improving his shot, which ultimately saved the Celtics series for Miami in 2012 and got them their first championship. Spurs, Celtics, Magic & Mavs really exposed his lack of shooting ability & he improved on it to his credit.

^^^ Overrated narrative because the Spurs successfully exploited his weak shooting in 13' and 14', and in more blatant fashion than pretty much anything before

In addition to Diaw sagging off his shot, SB Nation detailed how the Spurs targeted weak spot-up shooters - coming off Wade/lebron to help on each other's drives, forcing them to pass to each other for spot-ups

So he improved marginally - at no point has he been an elite shooter from any distance.. his passive, rarely-hot jumper and complete avoidance of contested jumpers results in him not getting doubled - there's zero incentive for teams.. let him dribble.. meanwhile, the Lakers play skilled jumpshooters that require doubles all the time so lebron's teams are at inherent disadvantage and having to work harder than opponent... the exception could be this Laker team because I saw AD get doubled..

[Axe]

You usually need more than "solid guards" to win 66 games. It's different for LeBron, of course, but other players cannot do that. It's rare. Not impossible, but very rare.
Key word: eastern conference

[ImKobe]

This. Pau Gasol was way better than Mo Williams

And the Cavs 3-8 rotation was way better than the Lakers'. Pau Gasol would be a terrible fit for Lebron anyways. It's not like he didn't play with Big Z, Carlos Boozer, Andy Varejao, Ben Wallace & Shaq in his Cavs days... All those guys did was take away his driving lanes.


^^^ Overrated narrative because the Spurs successfully exploited his weak shooting in 13' and 14', and in more blatant fashion than pretty much anything before

In addition to Diaw sagging off his shot, SB Nation detailed how the Spurs targeted weak spot-up shooters - coming off Wade/lebron to help on each other's drives, forcing them to pass to each other for spot-ups

So he improved marginally - at no point has he been an elite shooter from any distance.. his passive, rarely-hot jumper and complete avoidance of contested jumpers results in him not getting doubled - there's zero incentive for teams.. let him dribble.. meanwhile, the Lakers play skilled jumpshooters that require doubles all the time so lebron's teams are at inherent disadvantage and having to work harder than opponent... the exception could be this Laker team because I saw AD get doubled..


It's not though. He was a below-average/mediocre shooter in all his seasons in his first Cleveland stint, he improved his shooting quite a bit, which ended up helping his teams win big games. I'd say he'd still be ringless, had he never improved his shot.