Good Take on LeBron's Supposed "Shrinkage"

Not nearly enough is my point. If every game was played like last night, the nba would be much bigger draw. 100s are high but 80s are awful. There's good defense but there's also bad offense.

I didn't see much bad defense last night. I saw great ball movement on both sides
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You see great ball movements, I see bad rotations

 

Its easy to rotate when offensive play is more stagnant.

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Maybe, but LeBron will need to show up. I dare say even more so than the triple double he got last night; simply because even with that the team lost. I'm not putting it solely on him, but he has been the basis of the conversation for a bit so..........., but he will need to show up for the Heat to have a chance. They certainly can't win it without him.

 

Sorry, had to post this. Thought it was pretty damn funny.

 

From the Twitter of center Damien Woody: "If u ask @KingJames for a dollar , he'll only give u 75 cents , he never gives you the fourth quarter"

 

Come on?? whats his beef..? People are lining up to pop shot this kid huh? Totally reminds me of A-Rod....before he won a ring...

 

good comparison. he does remind me of the basketball version of A-Rod

 

i really dont understand the hate on james. he is a damn fine player does more than score to help his team. so what if he isnt the greatest ever? he still hasnt realized his potential imo. i think playing with his back to the basket is the missing ingredient to his game.

i dont like the heat one bit, but i have no problem with lebron.

 

I can't believe Damien Woody of all people said that.

 

If you want to compare LeBron James to a great, it would be Julius Erving aka "Dr. J."

Both wants to amaze you with and make highlight plays and great in the open court. But both aren't closers or "killers" and would rather pass the ball in crunch time.

 

I don't think you're using the term "non-sequitor" correctly. That a team is better and then wins is a "sequitor". The part about you equating a non-necessary additional factor is the "non-sequitor". To me, "clutch" or "non-clutch" refers to the concept that some players play differently in big moments. However, that concept is based on anecdotal evidence. Whenever it has been studied empirically, the results have been that professional athletes tend to perform very similarly to their career averages whether the moments are big or not. In other words, the concept of "clutch" is a myth at least when it comes to professional athletes.

And I particularly have a problem with the idea of tying rings or any team accomplishments to individuals. I've been hearing the anti-Marino arguments too long to give them any credence. Marino didn't win b/c he didn't have the better teams, not b/c he wasn't a great QB or b/c he wasn't clutch.

 

i think the thing with lebron is when his shot is dropping he is as dangerous a player as you'll find. however when his shot isnt dropping he gives up and avoids trying to work out of it. great players work through their slumps. in basketball its usually by driving and getting to the line which wade and nowitzki were able to do when they were having trouble from outside. they force the points. with lebron, when the game isnt going his way he prefers to fade into the background

 

When Lebron's shot isn't falling he resorts to his best offensive skill which is as a passer. However, in today's "scoring is all that matters" myopia, that means he's shrinking. LOL. In reality he is working through it just like any great player just with a skill set that most fans and media don't recognize or value as much. As he continues to develop, I would guess that he'll develop a more diverse post-up game. He'll probably never be able to drive like a Wade does just b/c quickness isn't where he's elite. But he does have elite size for a ball handler. He'll have to get his points more like Magic did. When his post game develops then he'll be better able to draw fouls. But right now the smarter basketball decision is to be a facilitator first.

 

With all due respect this is a load of bull, first off we are talking about someone with a 28 point career average, not someone who scores half that, so when he continually comes up empty in the 4th quarter his apologists need to stop suggesting that he is not a scorer, he is, always has been. And what makes him great is not only is he a great scorer but a passer, rebounder and defender as well. And second off what also needs to cease is the thought that those who criticize him for his shortcoming don't know his game so they don't know what they are talking about, that's borderline insulting.

 

thats fine if you're mike miller but unacceptable if you're supposed to be the centerpiece on your team. you dont pass up one ones against jason kidd for outside jumpers or passes. you drive to the hoop. Then again if lebron could finish, his girlfriend wouldn't need rashard lewis.

 

rofl!

 

Things like 'The decision' are what have really set him up for all of this. People will be wanting him to fail for the rest of his career.

 

So basically, people will hate LeBron for something that ESPN concocted, and will turn to ESPN for the latest in LeBron hate. Man, what a racket.

While on this topic, a nice article in the LA Times (that’ll be the last time I say that…) about Heat hate:

 

Don't lump me in there, I don't hate the Heat. Do I want my team to beat them sure, but thats everyone else anyway. I've stated my piece, but I don't have to hate him/them to say what I've said.

 

Hey, if your problem with LeBron stems from The Decision, then your ire should be directed at ESPN for conceiving it.

 

I have a problem with LeBron? Really?

What exactly is my problem with LeBron? I'd love to know what it is.

 

I've never implied anyone's performance rises or falls. That conversation is obviously from someone else. What I've said is pretty simple. If you can find something to actually attribute this position to me, then by all means go ahead, but outside of that this has nothing to do with me.

I've only associated clutch with winning titles. Thats what I've said. That has nothing to do with being fundamentally tied into a player's performance rising or falling. That player can be clutch without raising his game, he can do the exact same things as before, but he can them on the biggest stage.

You can associate rings with individual performance. Their performance was included in the team's performance wasn't it? On every team there are indiviual accomplishments that occur, some help teams, some hurt, but they do exist and readily recognized through an MVP award for instance. That doesn't always go to the best player on a team, it goes to the guy who likely made the biggest contribution to the team winning the game/championship etc.

Those players stepped and made plays, and no that doesn't have to mean their performance was raised in any way, only that their performance occurred at a moment when the end result is/was more important; such as a championship. A guy could average 12 points a game, but if he gets those 12 points every time his team is trailing and his points help them take the lead then to me thats clutch, and his performance didn't chance, the moment it happened in did however.

 

Yes.

You're acting like ESPN put a gun to his head. Come on. Who gives a crap whose idea it was? It happened and it was obnoxious, to say the least.

 

If a player's performance doesn't change when he is playing for a title then the only thing that determines whether he wins or not is how good his team is or if he was lucky enough to be in the situation. You're basically saying "clutch" = "lucky".

 

I said before the season that Lebron was more of a Magic Johnson type player and that he should be more of a facilitator and less of a scorer. Pat Riley said the same thing to Lebron before the season. So now that Lebron puts up Magic type numbers (Magic career playoff avgs 19.5 pts, 12.5 ast 7.7 reb 1.9 stl .3 blks vs Lebron in finals 17.2 pts 7.0 ast 7.8 reb 1.8 stl .4 blks) I'm an apologist?

 

If the player's performance doesn't change then being "clutch" = just being lucky enough to be playing for a championship?

 

Clutch is just being at the right place at the right time.

Robert Horry would like to differ.

 

Horry shot 42.5% for his career and 42.6% in the playoffs.

 

Too bad LeBron James isn't much of a facilitator on the half-court offense.

 

The criticism on Lebron in these finals is his disappearance in the 4th quarter and sorry that's nothing like Magic, not to mention is not even close to Magic's assist average and is not even a full assist more than his own career average.

And I saw Magic play and there is nothing in Lebron's game that even hints Magic. Lebron needs to be Lebron, no one else, for them to win.

 

I would disagree. He isn't on the level of a Magic there but he makes very good passing decisions and passes the ball very well. And it's not an isolated opinion as I've heard at least a few of the announcers call him the best passing forward ever. Most people have the debate about whether James or Bird are best. Either way, he is a very good passer.

 

I just don't agree that he's disappearing. He had something like 4 assists in the last game in the fourth qtr. That's not disappearing unless all you care about is if he's scoring.

 

And if you really did watch Magic and you haven't forgotten that he also had bad games you should recall that in the finals against Boston he had a game where he was 5 of 14 and had 7 TOs. I remember two of those being in the final 2 minutes. McHale was even calling him "Tragic" Johnson at one point and and Riley was defending him b/c people were saying Magic had to prove himself as a winner and this was after he already had a championship! Fans romanticize past players but many of the great ones struggle and get criticized during their careers just like James is facing now.

 

No, you're saying that.

Its doubtful that the team and or the player got to that position by being lucky, I'd prefer to give the guys playing some credit for doing something to get there rather than just saying that collectively they're just lucky.