Analysis of the shots LeBron James takes

[3ball]

1. KD was a bad matchup for LeBron.

lol

lebron can't begin to guard him

guys like Beverly and cp3 did better on Durant, or Tony Allen, so MJ might shut him down even more.. even if MJ can't stop Durant, they don't play the same position.. MJ was never at the mercy of another guard, whereas numerous SF's kill Bron, and he avoids PF's like Duncan or Dirk.

LeBron was shouldering most of the load.

Actually, he had the best help ever (Kyrie's 29 ppg) - highest-ever for a 2nd option

but he blew it by letting Durant get 10 above his normal average - 10 points was more than the average margin of loss, so lebron simply needed to hold Durant to his normal averages for the Cavs to win - this makes:sense because 29 ppg should be enough help to win.

He also blew it by employing a "your-turn-my-turn" approach with Kyrie, which was predictable and didn't make the opponent's work/adjust or wear them down defensively.. so they had more capacity for offense and played above their normal level..

Lebron's slow ball-domination doesn't apply as much pressure as the zippy ball movement he faces at the championship level, so opponents are always fresher with more capacity to go off on offense.. that's why opponents always seem to play great offensively against bron

he was tired

MJ and Kobe had to do all that too - MJ had to score much more infact, with higher usage and much higher shot attempts or clutch shot attempts

getting 3-5 more points per game over thousands of games really adds up and takes a toll

He averaged a 30 point triple double throughout the Finals.

92' Finals..... 92 pace... 110.8 drtg... Jordan 35.6 ppg.. 34.2% of pts
93' Finals..... 89 pace... 113.0 drtg... Jordan 41.0 ppg.. 38.3% of pts
98' Finals..... 82 pace... 105.0 drtg... Jordan 33.6 ppg.. 38.3% of pts

17' Finals... 100 pace... 114.6 drtg... Lebron 33.6 ppg.. 29.2% of pts


Lebron's 33.6 was weak considering the fast and easy scoring (high pace and ortg).. he also carried a smaller load (% of pts) and basically had an equal-scoring partner, while MJ carried a record load and scored 15-20 more than his sidekick.

Durant also had the luxury of 2 great shooters and great spacing (Klay and Steph)

Lebron had 2 great shooters too in Kyrie and Love

Lebron also had great spacing and 3-point shooting

2. he got locked down in 07' because none of the Cavs players could offer James offensive help. The team was poor in 3 point shooting

The 86' Bulls were a 30-win, 8 seed and had less help and spacing then the 50-win, 2-seeded Cavs from 07'

yet MJ averaged 44 on 50% against the #1 defense in the league (celts), while lebron was at 22 on 36% vs spurs..

MJ accomplished this on mostly jumpers (like all big games), and lebron is several dimensions lower as a jumpshooter

So your excuses are lame.. lebron got locked up in the 08' ecsf too - what's your excuse for that?.. his teammates played great to extend the peak celts to 7 games DESPITE bron's aids



CONTINUED....
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[3ball]

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CONTINUED...

The Cavs defense and offense were subpar. Dont act like it was only LeBron James fault...

If the best player is playing among the worst defense in the league, then the team CANNOT be good defensively.

3. Yes, LeBron James didnt have good supporting casts. .. We discussed this before.

His casts were good relative to the conference - no one had a good team many years and weak casts were routinely winning the East (Dwight, AI, Kidd, etc)

4. Please try to keep your narratives consistent. You blame LeBron for ¨stacking the deck¨ but you dont blame KD for doing it too???

KD got an advantage, but he was just offsetting lebron's edge from 11-14' (and the 15' Cavs were league favorites in the pre-season and pre-playoffs before Kyrie's injury).

This is going nowhere. LeBron James is easily better than KD. According to your criteria, LeBron James is better than KD b/c he have won more ¨as the man¨ as you would say.

No KD is better because he's a better scorer and shooter (better skillset) and smashed Bron heads-up..

KD beat more talent than Lebron ever did, aka Lebron/Kyrie/Love is a better prize than beating Curry/Klay
..

[RRR3]

3ball is a very sick man. Just stop it already.

[3ball]

3ball is a very sick man. Just stop it already.

Who stop it.. me or the mod who changed the title

I was just trying to make a simple point that lebron doesn't take contested jumpers, which is a massive leak and extremely exploitable..

There's no defense for contested jumpshooters, so they command a double.. A weak shooter doesn't command a double, especially if they're a long dribbler, which is preferred by opposing coaches over double-teaming and facing ball movement - Kerr snd SVG said they preferred to "let him dribble" rather than face ball movement.

Ultimately, Lebron's low adjustment weak shooting and long-dribbling doesn't wear down defenses like the zippy ball movement he faces at the championship level, so opponents are always fresher with more capacity to go off offensively (14' Finals - lebron couldn't fight fire with fire)

It's funny because some coaches would be so mind-f*cked vs Kobe that they'd start doubling him before he got hot or even got going at all.. or they'd double when he was frigid (end of 10' Finals).. that's the kind of control and fear/strategic confusion that a potential hot hand can cause, aka win the attrition battle.. Kobe was so deadly that coaches preferred doubling and facing ball movement

[Turbo Slayer]

lol

l




Lebron's 33.6 was weak considering the fast and easy scoring (high pace and ortg).. he also carried a smaller load (% of pts) and basically had an equal-scoring partner, while MJ carried a record load and scored 15-20 more than his sidekick.



Lebron had 2 great shooters too in Kyrie and Love

Lebron also had great spacing and 3-point shooting



The 86' Bulls were a 30-win, 8 seed and had less help and spacing then the 50-win, 2-seeded Cavs from 07'

yet MJ averaged 44 on 50% against the #1 defense in the league (celts), while lebron was at 22 on 36% vs spurs..

MJ accomplished this on mostly jumpers (like all big games), and lebron is several dimensions lower as a jumpshooter

So your excuses are lame.. lebron got locked up in the 08' ecsf too - what's your excuse for that?.. his teammates played great to extend the peak celts to 7 games DESPITE bron's aids



CONTINUED....
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1. Beverly and CP3 did not "shut down" KD better than LeBron did. KD went off in both Warriors vs Rockets playoffs (2018 and 2019) averaging around 32 points. So CP3 did not "shut down" KD. Tony Allen allowed 30 points from KD.

Beverly? Please... Beverly did no better than LeBron. KD was "shut down" by Beverly by scoring 35 points on his head. Once again, your argument fails. Try again.

LeBron James isnt a good defender? Man here we go... In 2013, the Heat allowed less points with James on the floor(allowed less 3.4 points per 100 possessions). James allowed a mere .84 points per possession while on defense.

BTW in 2013 Tony Allen was the leading vote getter for the NBA All-Defensive team and he doesnt have the same impact as James when guarding post-ups. James allowed .85 in those situations compared to Tony Allen...

James allowed 0.77 points when defending the roll man in 2013. So your point is flawed and shaky. Try again.

2. Kyrie was worst defensively than LBJ, KD, Curry etc.. contradicting your statement "best help ever."

He blew it with KD b/c he was tired and had to go hard offensively or else everything falls apart. LBJ literally played the most minutes in the 2017 Playoffs. He was fatigued guarding KD.

The offense is NOT the problem. The problem was defense. The Cavs gave up 121.3 ORTG higher than league average. Again offense was not the problem.

3. Again the offensive style is NOT the problem. In 14/17/18 he got torched b/c his teams werent playing better defense then their rivals.

4. MJ is the GOAT. Not sure why this needs explaining.

5. Yes Love and Kyrie were great shooters but were poor defensively than Steph and Klay.

6. LeBron James scored 45 points in Game 7 with heroic efforts. The Celtics formed their Big 3...

BTW whats the excuse for Kobe losing in 2008 Celtics in 5 games when the Cavs and the Hawks took the 2008 Celtics to 7 games with much worst/inferior supporting casts? Your point fails again.

EDIT: I had to remove most of 3balls post due to # of characters (letters) allowed...

[RRR3]

Sick in the head. Absolutely sick. On his way to another ban, but he just can't stop. ADDICTED to LeBron.

[Axe]

3ball is a very sick man. Just stop it already.

Not a new stuff anymore rofl.

[RRR3]

Not a new stuff anymore rofl.

He hasn't had new stuff in quite some time.

[Axe]

He hasn't had new stuff in quite some time.

Yeah but too bad nothing will burn down his persistence here unless he gets banishment from time to time.

[Turbo Slayer]

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CONTINUED...



If the best player is playing among the worst defense in the league, then the team CANNOT be good defensively.



His casts were good relative to the conference - no one had a good team many years and weak casts were routinely winning the East (Dwight, AI, Kidd, etc)



KD got an advantage, but he was just offsetting lebron's edge from 11-14' (and the 15' Cavs were league favorites in the pre-season and pre-playoffs before Kyrie's injury).



No KD is better because he's a better scorer and shooter (better skillset) and smashed Bron heads-up..

KD beat more talent than Lebron ever did, aka Lebron/Kyrie/Love is a better prize than beating Curry/Klay
..

1. Ok??? And what this supposed to mean...???

2. How about the Boston Big 3? Arent you forgetting that?

3. Good, you admitted that KD had a stacked team. Bravo!

4. Despite KD being a "better" scorer and "skillset" LeBron wins every single time.

Lets do your fav comparison. Points per 100 possessions and to sweeten the deal abit... in the Playoffs.

LeBron James- 37.2 points per 100 possessions

KD- 36.9 per 100 possessions

Not to mention that LeBron shoots better from 2 point land on greater attempts. The only knock on LeBron is FT and 3 point shots and LeBron is still the superior scorer despite having the "inferior" skillset.

[FromDowntown]

Have we ever been able to conclude what was MJ's best ring? I know it's nothing compared to 12, 13, or 16 LBJ, BUT just curious at this point.

[Turbo Slayer]

KD beat more talent than Lebron ever did, aka Lebron/Kyrie/Love is a better prize than beating Curry/Klay

My gosh. What a terrible post. The 2016-17 Cavs were worst defensively and offensively and had a worst SRS than the 2015-16 Warriors. Also GSW shattered the record for most wins in a season aka 73 wins...

Your point is invalid and inconclusive.

So LeBron beat more while KD beat less...

[Turbo Slayer]

No KD is better because he's a better scorer and shooter (better skillset)

After I decimated your argument in my previous posts (#170, #175, and #177) I noticed that you are shifting your criteria and narrative...

At least try to be consistent. At 1 point you try to argue that X player is better b/c he won more as the "man" and another point is that X player is best b/c he scores the more points or has the optimal "skill-set" ... WHAT??????

Your silly arguments are confusing and makes little sense to me. Just... try to be consistent.

Your arguments may work with other posters but it wont with me. Its just dumb...

[FromDowntown]

My gosh. What a terrible post. The 2016-17 Cavs were worst defensively and offensively and had a worst SRS than the 2015-16 Warriors. Also GSW shattered the record for most wins in a season aka 73 wins...

Your point is invalid and inconclusive.

So LeBron beat more while KD beat less...

Ouch

[Turbo Slayer]

Ouch

Thanks!