OMG... LeBron only 8 pts in an NBA Finals game

[jax98]

LeBron's having his worst season since 06-07 despite being one of the best shooters in the NBA. Can't you see something wrong with that?

Erhm, come again?

You mean ''scorers'' and not ''shooters'' right?

(And if not, lie and say you did anyway)

[mopper8]

The Heat staff preach to their players the need to "change speeds" and control their pace and "pick their spots" and all that other coach speak. I think people are mistaking Lebron playing a smarter offensive game, that requires less of him physically, to allow himself to play with more intensity on the defensive end, as somehow being a sign of athletic decline.

[Sedale Threatt]

The Heat staff preach to their players the need to "change speeds" and control their pace and "pick their spots" and all that other coach speak. I think people are mistaking Lebron playing a smarter offensive game, that requires less of him physically, to allow himself to play with more intensity on the defensive end, as somehow being a sign of athletic decline.

I think there's something to this, especially as it relates to an alleged "athletic decline."

I mean, just a few weeks ago he was finishing off one of the more clutch series in recent history. Now he's suddenly "finished" athletically.

But as for last night's game, I'm not sure there's any way to spin 8 points on 3 for 11 with four turnovers. That's just a poor performance, and it probably cost his team the game.

[Kerosene]

"James converted an incredible 71.2 percent of his attempts at the basket area. To fully appreciate this mark, consider that nobody since 2004 has sunk more than 70 percent of their shots in that area with at least 150 attempts. Now consider that James had had 601 attempts -- nearly eight a game. When he wasn't dunking, he was dishing -- he had a 5.83 pure point rating that was easily the best among non-point guards.

The chink in the King's armor is that he's quite mortal if you can manage to keep him away from the basket. James hit only 39.1 percent of his 2-pointers that weren't at the rim, and that was a career high. Similarly, his other shooting numbers are mediocre: 33.3 percent on 3-pointers and 76.7 percent from the line."

I wouldn't necessarily call him one of the best shooters.


http://espn.go.com/nba/player/hollinger ... bron-james

[Slava]

Another overlooked fact in this is that Lebron's inability has caused Wade to log some really hard extra minutes so far this series and it remains to be seen how well his endurance holds up if this does go to 7 games.

Spoelstra is used to sitting one of the big 3 out from time to time and still have a highly operational offensive unit on the floor but with Lebron struggling he needs to have that play making ability from Wade on the floor all the time.

[Biohazard]

Lebron is going to talk live on sports center in 20 minutes

[Dat Pass]

Whats really crazy about LeBrons 8pts:

2pts came from the free throw line after a blatant flop
2pts came from a breakaway dunk that Wade handed him
2pts came from a basket interference on a put back

[JNelson43]

I don't see how people can think that it's decline in athleticism. I can buy that he's already declines some, but a guy like Kobe still looks like he's trying in the Finals... even if he has a bad shooting night. Wade's three years older, he's flying all over the place. Any number of excuses in that direction is just weak, Lebron is a freak and with diminished athleticism is still more athletic than anybody on either team.

Heck, take Dirk even. 100+ fever, in his thirties, you can tell that he's trying.

[primecougar]

I don't see anything lacking with his athleticism, either.

How does LeBron remotely resemble this player anymore - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkG6OdZU ... re=related

I've seen him making the exact same run outs throughout this series. He's had a couple of half-court dunks that made me sit up, too. So I haven't seen anything to suggest he's declined physically. Look at Kobe Bryant -- THAT is a player who has lost a step. But LeBron? I just don't see it. Sorry.

If we're going to go the youtube route, which I generally detest, this guy doesn't look like he's lost anything. Not physically, anyways.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPi_D7mMmWU[/youtube][/quote

vertical leap is not a good assessments to tell if a players declining. i mean look at what Kobe did in the playoffs this year and that's after injuring his ankle.

im not saying lebron lost his athleticism but i don't think hes the same athlete he once was in Cleveland
most of this can attributed to him putting more size. i mean he doesn't have to be 270+ when he doesn't post up.

i think he should go back down to 250 because i don't think hes as quick/fast or explosive as he was before. hes still a top 5 athlete in the league

[LuckedO]

I don't see how people can think that it's decline in athleticism.

Nobody is blaming last night on his body. Read the thread. We're talking about his general struggles in this series, these playoffs, regular season and WHY he plays the style that he does after being a dominant slasher the previous 7 years of his career.

Lebron is a freak and with diminished athleticism is still more athletic than anybody on either team.

LeBron isn't the best athlete on his own team.

[LuckedO]

"James converted an incredible 71.2 percent of his attempts at the basket area. To fully appreciate this mark, consider that nobody since 2004 has sunk more than 70 percent of their shots in that area with at least 150 attempts. Now consider that James had had 601 attempts -- nearly eight a game. When he wasn't dunking, he was dishing -- he had a 5.83 pure point rating that was easily the best among non-point guards.

The chink in the King's armor is that he's quite mortal if you can manage to keep him away from the basket. James hit only 39.1 percent of his 2-pointers that weren't at the rim, and that was a career high. Similarly, his other shooting numbers are mediocre: 33.3 percent on 3-pointers and 76.7 percent from the line."

I wouldn't necessarily call him one of the best shooters.


http://espn.go.com/nba/player/hollinger ... bron-james

You do realize Hollinger's talking about the 09-10 season here, right?

[LuckedO]

The Heat staff preach to their players the need to "change speeds" and control their pace and "pick their spots" and all that other coach speak.

Here we go again . Why isn't any of this preventing Wade from playing the style he's done his whole career? He's flying all over the court whereas LeBron can't even take a 40 year old off the dribble....which, mind you, shouldn't be surprising in the least to anyone who has a clue about LeBron's game this season.

[LuckedO]

Erhm, come again?

You mean ''scorers'' and not ''shooters'' right?

(And if not, lie and say you did anyway)

No, SHOOTER. There's a site called hoopdata.com that charts every player's jumper percentages from 3-9 feet, 10-15 feet, 16-23 feet on the court. You won't find a scorer in the league who has a better combination of efficiency in all those areas than LeBron this season. Look it up. There's a REASON why LeBron's managed to stay a border-line Top 5 player despite adopting a completely jump-shot based playing style this season. His jumper has REALLY, REALLY improved.

[JNelson43]

I don't see how people can think that it's decline in athleticism.

Nobody is blaming last night on his body. Read the thread. We're talking about his general struggles in this series, these playoffs, regular season and WHY he plays the style that he does after being a dominant slasher the previous 7 years of his career.

Lebron is a freak and with diminished athleticism is still more athletic than anybody on either team.

LeBron isn't the best athlete on his own team.

Errr, Lebron hasn't struggled in these playoffs, not until this series. And all of his "general struggles" in this series could very well apply to what I said. He had the same issue in game 3, it just wasn't as obvious.

If you want to say that Wade is more athletic than him... I'm not going to argue because who cares, he's still a monster. To say otherwise is just being ridiculous. He still flies to the basket on fastbreaks. Claim he's lost some all you want, that still doesn't explain him not attacking at all.

Lebron's struggles are all mental. He had the same struggles last year too.

[LuckedO]

Errr, Lebron hasn't struggled in these playoffs

His efficiency in these playoffs is considerably down compared to the last 2 postseasons, this despite facing far less defensive pressure. He also goes through numerous stretches in games now where he disappears -> this happens a LOT even on his productive nights. He can get away with it because of who he plays with, but had he still been a Cavalier, he'd getting blown out in most of these games.

If you want to say that Wade is more athletic than him

What in GOD's name are you even seeing on the court that would make you question this?

he's still a monster.

Even though you won't be able to point to a single monstrous thing he's done on the court in these playoffs. Well, besides that dunk in Game 3, I guess. The dunk that was preceded by a slow-motion drive.

He still flies to the basket on fastbreaks.

What? . You mean that point-blank open-court dunk he had in the 3rd qtr last night where he barely got up? That one? Or the 2 layups he blew in the same situation?

Claim he's lost some all you want, that still doesn't explain him not attacking at all.

There's no excuse for him not shooting the basketball yesterday, yes. But there are plenty of excuses for why he does not attack the rim, and it's because he CAN'T.

Lebron's struggles are all mental.

Last night, yes. Every other game? No. He's just not physically capable anymore.

He had the same struggles last year too.

Err....no. Last year's LeBron puts his current self to shame. He averaged 29/9/8/50%/40%/29 PER in the playoffs. Now down to 24/8/6/46%/37%/25 PER.

[23AJ]

Worst game in the NBA Finals by a potential top five player ever.

Bron has to respond in game five, or this Finals may tarnish his legacy.

[Joao Saraiva]

LeBron James, 8 points in 48 minutes at Game #4 of the NBA Finals. And that's after Jason friggin' Terry called him out in the media.

Question: Has Jordan ever performed that badly in the NBA Finals? Has Kobe?

Yes, Kobe. I can still remember not wanting to pass the ball to Shaq and shooting less than 40% in 4 of 5 games in the finals, assisting less and rebounding less than LBJ in this game. I mean, he also scored like 11 points in one of those games...

The difference is that LBJ just didn't shoot till he had 20 points. But I wish he would have, cause when you're a scorer it's on you to get yourself going. He wasn't agressive enough, but I've seen Kobe doing worse.

[amil]

I honestly dont see how anybody can be a fan of his after last night. Hell I dont know how anybody could still be a fan after last year game 5.

[amil]

LeBron's having his worst season since 06-07 despite being one of the best shooters in the NBA. Can't you see something wrong with that?

[See5]

I think LeBron's performance has been both mental and physical.

LeBron's focus isn't consistent unlike his teammate Wade. He has a habit of drifting in and out of plays which boggles the mind. It seems that when Dallas does a good job of standing up to him, he won't keep attacking. It's strange.

Physically, I do think he's changing. He's not as explosive as he once was, but still better than 98% of players out there. I think he realizes that and is trying to improve his jumpshot. Almost every other wing player experienced the same type of gradual change as he has. Expect for Wade...he's the oddball IMO. Athletically I don't think he's dropped much if any from a few years ago. He's played way less minutes or games at this age than Jordan or Kobe though.

Hell, he hasn't played as much as LeBron either.