Is Lebron protecting his FG%?

[Massamba]

People are so used to see players witzh 0 bball IQ and ball mouvement in a team that we don't understand why LeBron passes the ball. He doesn't have the ball that much in his hands and everybody can participate to the game. It's a 5 on 5 game.
If LeBron takes any shots he won't be efficient because the heat share the ball. So, taking shots and missing them won't help his team. If he forces the shots to be efficient it will break the team offense and chemistry. Trying to be the most efficient is the only way he can still be dominant in this team.
Yes, he is protecting his gf% , but for basketball reasons.

You're such a Lebron apologist that when you're trying to make sense of something, it's complete garbage.

Lebron has the ball in his hands plenty. He initiates the offense and well as handles play making duties. The Heat can still have great ball movement too. You're making LBJ out to be an off-ball player for the sake of ball movement. You seem to think that in order to have good ball movement that you have to turn Lebron into a touch passer. Lebron is great. He's not the type who will receive the ball and stand there for a few seconds to stall the offense then procede to ISO. He'll do what he can with the ball to shift defenses to either make plays for his teammates or himself.

It's lame to say "if Lebron takes shots, he won't be efficient bc the Heat share the ball." It's obvious Lebron is taking shots. How else is he scoring points?

This is a great way to debate.

"if Lebron takes shots, he won't be efficient bc the Heat share the ball." I was talking about taking "any" shots. That's why we are debating on the LBJ fg% right? We all agree he is protecting his fg%. We don't agree on the reason.

If LeBron tries to take take only good shots don't you think it's for a reason? What's the reason? Losing games? Not being mvp again? Having 60fg% at the end of the season and post it on twitter? In my opinion it's more than just a contemplation of stats.
You can think what you want, but don't come here calling garbage or star apologist someone who doesn't say this star is stupid to play like that.

My point is:
Yes he is protecting his FG%
Because he wouldn't be as efficient as a scorer without breaking the heat offense. We all know he can score 30 and give 10 assist a night, but the heat need a team that can win as a team more than another LeBron Cavs dependance. In my opinion, it's all about chemistry of the team. If i'm wrong, LeBron is stupid and put his FG% over his obsession with being the best, the MVP and wins.

[nyhuskyfan]

LeBron essentially plays point guard in the half court much of the time. Sometimes point guards make a concerted effort to get others involved. Or sometimes the game plan/mid game adjustment is to try to attack the basket and eschew the three-pointer early in the shot clock. If he's giving up an open look with 5 seconds on the clock to put a teammate in jail, you can fairly say that's a problem, but early in the shot clock, it could be any number of things.

[Tave]

Lebron is one of the best finishers of all time. The work he did on his post game has allowed him to attack more from the low- and mid-post rather than the wing, meaning a lot more of his touches are in and around the basket. This is a good thing, a very good thing. It's what we've all been begging him to do since his rookie year.

Lebron is a career 33% 3-point shooter and is currently putting up 3/game. That's probably about right. Yes, both his mid-range jumper and long ball have improved over the years, but if he can get to the rim at will and is so much more effective there, why worry about him passing up a couple 3s? That's what you want him to do!

And let's not forget confirmation bias. Lebron runs PG half the time and teams usually sag off on him. He probably has, what, maybe 20 looks at an open 3 early into the shot clock every game? And the fact that he checks off a few in the 3rd quarter of a game the Heat won tells us.........what exactly?

Poor guy racks up 25 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, and 4 steals on only 2 turnovers, wins the game, and people are angry with him for not jacking up some longer 2s and maybe scoring 28-30 points.

[john248]

People are so used to see players witzh 0 bball IQ and ball mouvement in a team that we don't understand why LeBron passes the ball. He doesn't have the ball that much in his hands and everybody can participate to the game. It's a 5 on 5 game.
If LeBron takes any shots he won't be efficient because the heat share the ball. So, taking shots and missing them won't help his team. If he forces the shots to be efficient it will break the team offense and chemistry. Trying to be the most efficient is the only way he can still be dominant in this team.
Yes, he is protecting his gf% , but for basketball reasons.

You're such a Lebron apologist that when you're trying to make sense of something, it's complete garbage.

Lebron has the ball in his hands plenty. He initiates the offense and well as handles play making duties. The Heat can still have great ball movement too. You're making LBJ out to be an off-ball player for the sake of ball movement. You seem to think that in order to have good ball movement that you have to turn Lebron into a touch passer. Lebron is great. He's not the type who will receive the ball and stand there for a few seconds to stall the offense then procede to ISO. He'll do what he can with the ball to shift defenses to either make plays for his teammates or himself.

It's lame to say "if Lebron takes shots, he won't be efficient bc the Heat share the ball." It's obvious Lebron is taking shots. How else is he scoring points?

This is a great way to debate.

"if Lebron takes shots, he won't be efficient bc the Heat share the ball." I was talking about taking "any" shots. That's why we are debating on the LBJ fg% right? We all agree he is protecting his fg%. We don't agree on the reason.

If LeBron tries to take take only good shots don't you think it's for a reason? What's the reason? Losing games? Not being mvp again? Having 60fg% at the end of the season and post it on twitter? In my opinion it's more than just a contemplation of stats.
You can think what you want, but don't come here calling garbage or star apologist someone who doesn't say this star is stupid to play like that.

My point is:
Yes he is protecting his FG%
Because he wouldn't be as efficient as a scorer without breaking the heat offense. We all know he can score 30 and give 10 assist a night, but the heat need a team that can win as a team more than another LeBron Cavs dependance. In my opinion, it's all about chemistry of the team. If i'm wrong, LeBron is stupid and put his FG% over his obsession with being the best, the MVP and wins.

I don't view him as protecting his FG%. Even if he talks to Wade about shooting over 50%, I feel he's just proud of the fact that he made more than he missed and just counts that as a good game, and for him and Wade to challenge each other into putting the ball into the hoop. I know you didn't mention this, but it's leading to my point.

While the game is going on, I never thought Lebron was a guy who thought "well, I'll pass up this shot because of my stat line." There may be exceptions to this like heaving a last 2nd shot at the quarter is winding down, but I don't believe this to be true on the whole. Why? Well, he's still scoring at a similar rate. Sure he's taking a few less attempts, but he's also make more in.

This is just how I see Lebron trying to get better. Why take an 18 foot jumper when he could use his freak physique and drive the lane more? If he's going to take a long jumper, it better be from behind the arc. I don't see him as passing up open shots to protect his FG% rather than trying to manage what to do for 24 seconds.

Also, no where did I say he was stupid to play like that; that's just you being defensive. I just thought your points were rather lame. Really, you said "forces shots to be efficient." LOLWUT

[Don Draper]

I keep seeing people arguing that yes, LeBron is protecting his FG%, adding the caveat that at some point its going to come back to haunt his team. But yet, the team has the highest EFG% in the league by a comfortable 1.5% margin. So the "its going to hurt the team" argument makes no sense, as its actually lead to the best team offense in basketball.

Beyond that, when OP says he saw LeBron pass up several open 3's in last night's game, he forgot to mention that a few of those were early in the shot clock (within the first 10 seconds).

I dunno, to an extent I'd agree LeBron plays it safe with his shot selection, but I can't agree with those saying its to the detriment of his team. And its not as if he doesn't increase the amount he shoots when the situation calls for it, we've seen him do that in the playoffs, so the warning that he might not know when to flip the switch just sounds silly to me.

It doesn't have to affect his team for it to occur, but that doesn't mean it isn't happening. I don't know how much clearer I can get.

As to those passed up shots being early in the shot clock I don't think it matters. A few were set shots (the corner 3) and all were wide open. Offenses work to get the best, most high percentage shot available. How many better looks do you expect to get than a wide open 3 from a 43% shooter?

[LastNameEver]

Never seen a player get criticized so much for techniques that are proven to win games.

[SlowPaced]

He is, but it doesn't cost anything, it actually is good for the team from time to time. So it's all good.

[TheOUTLAW]

Had it been for the 4th quarter passes by LeBron to 3 pt shooters they'd have lost last night.

[CoachKobe]

Never seen a player get criticized so much for techniques that are proven to win games.

miami had far and away the easiest schedule so far.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/lea ... ml#misc::6

lebron is absolutely not challenged as a franchise player.
that's why people question hist "techniques".
he can do whatever he wants, miami will win games anyway. the entire regular season is just a training camp for him.

[dice]

lebron james, one of the best players ever, is having the best scoring season of his career without question. whatever his mindset is, it's clearly the right one. if he's passing up heaves at the end of quarters, that's grounds for criticism. beyond that...

[Jimmy Recard]

If you want to call taking quality shots, high percentage looks, sharing the ball, and playing within the team offense 'protecting his FG%', then so be it. I wish more players in the league protected their FG%.

[springz]

Agree it's good. Even though his mindset might lead to passing up a few good looks, it leads to passing up alot of mediocre looks.

One thing he for sure protects is his 3p%. Notice how he doesn't take those end of quarter shots from half court anymore? He used to take those all the time.

Can't blame him really. That .406 last year looks damn nice and it's there forever. Must feel pretty good.

[andrewww]

Agree it's good. Even though his mindset might lead to passing up a few good looks, it leads to passing up alot of mediocre looks.

One thing he for sure protects is his 3p%. Notice how he doesn't take those end of quarter shots from half court anymore? He used to take those all the time.

Can't blame him really. That .406 last year looks damn nice and it's there forever. Must feel pretty good.

I agree that he'll look to protect his 3FG% more than his FT%.

Why? Lebron will take less 3s than 2pt attempts like he has every year, meaning it's easier to bring down his 3FG% with 1 miss as supposed to a miss from 2 that won't bring it down. And more importantly, it's more unlikely for him to shoot 60% FG than it is 40% 3FG. Hence he'll always protect 3s more than 2s.

[LastNameEver]

Never seen a player get criticized so much for techniques that are proven to win games.

miami had far and away the easiest schedule so far.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/lea ... ml#misc::6

lebron is absolutely not challenged as a franchise player.
that's why people question hist "techniques".
he can do whatever he wants, miami will win games anyway. the entire regular season is just a training camp for him.

Well thats what happens when you get bored of the regular season. The whole FG% thing is like a min-challenge within the game to him. A meta-game so to speak.

"I gotta take no more than this much shots, make no less than 60 % of them, and behind the arc 50%. All while winning the game. Lets go."

[Custodian99]

The whole "Lebron is protecting his FG%" and "Wade vs Lebron >50% FG" posts are showing us two things:

1. Lebron and Wade not taking the regular season seriously. You don´t make such (dumb) competitions if you have meaningful games.

2. The record of the Heat is showing us, that Lebron don´t need to care to much about the Regular Season. They are crushing the league (and especially the east) no matter what.

Furthermore he wasn't protecting his FG% in the last 2 losses: 6/16 against Indy, 7/17 vs Bulls

[BBallFreak]

The whole "Lebron is protecting his FG%" and "Wade vs Lebron >50% FG" posts are showing us two things:

1. Lebron and Wade not taking the regular season seriously. You don´t make such (dumb) competitions if you have meaningful games.

2. The record of the Heat is showing us, that Lebron don´t need to care to much about the Regular Season. They are crushing the league (and especially the east) no matter what.

Furthermore he wasn't protecting his FG% in the last 2 losses: 6/16 against Indy, 7/17 vs Bulls

This competition has been going on between these two for about three years now. Never done them any harm. Both of them have always been uber efficient anyway. All this does is make sure the offense, as a whole, is more efficient.

[Boarder Patrol]

The whole "Lebron is protecting his FG%" and "Wade vs Lebron >50% FG" posts are showing us two things:

1. Lebron and Wade not taking the regular season seriously. You don´t make such (dumb) competitions if you have meaningful games.

2. The record of the Heat is showing us, that Lebron don´t need to care to much about the Regular Season. They are crushing the league (and especially the east) no matter what.

Furthermore he wasn't protecting his FG% in the last 2 losses: 6/16 against Indy, 7/17 vs Bulls

This competition has been going on between these two for about three years now. Never done them any harm. Both of them have always been uber efficient anyway. All this does is make sure the offense, as a whole, is more efficient.

I agree with you, but to play devils advocate: At some point, they'll have to start taking, and making, low % shots to win the finals anyway. So it might serve them well to get into that mindset instead of being passive and not realizing until the end like this year.

[narmerguy]

At first he was passing up shots because he couldn't shoot. Then he was passing up shots because he was too scared to take them. Now he's passing up shots because he is protecting his FG%. Spare me. I'm not going to lose sleep over a dude averaging over 25 pts a game while others cry that he's not taking enough shots.

[BBallFreak]

The whole "Lebron is protecting his FG%" and "Wade vs Lebron >50% FG" posts are showing us two things:

1. Lebron and Wade not taking the regular season seriously. You don´t make such (dumb) competitions if you have meaningful games.

2. The record of the Heat is showing us, that Lebron don´t need to care to much about the Regular Season. They are crushing the league (and especially the east) no matter what.

Furthermore he wasn't protecting his FG% in the last 2 losses: 6/16 against Indy, 7/17 vs Bulls

This competition has been going on between these two for about three years now. Never done them any harm. Both of them have always been uber efficient anyway. All this does is make sure the offense, as a whole, is more efficient.

I agree with you, but to play devils advocate: At some point, they'll have to start taking, and making, low % shots to win the finals anyway. So it might serve them well to get into that mindset instead of being passive and not realizing until the end like this year.

Wait, what?

They've been doing this ever since they got together three years ago...

That's three straight Finals trips and back to back championships.

I'd say they've managed to overcome any negative mindset it might have instilled in them during the regular season, and did so with aplomb...

[City Wok Guy]

LeBron James doesn't do what LeBron James does for LeBron James.

LeBron James does what LeBron James does because LeBron James is LeBron James.