The Lebron Thread (2015-16 Pt. 3)

[Kendrick Lamar]

Lebron is so disciplined defensively.

I think that's what I'm most impressed with today. Staying in front of his man, not falling for pump fakes, amazing help defense. He's looking like 2013 Bron right now.

[Dr Spaceman]

I'm at the point now where I may not ever watch CLE in the regular season again because it leads me to say negative things I have to go back on. They are DAMN good.

Kyrie is the main guy for me, I don't know what it is but his style of attack is so much more potent when the rest of the team is playing high-energy ball. In reg season grind fests he can be prone to shot selection issues, but holy crap is he dangerous in games like this. All last playoffs I talked about how smart he looked about his offensive game there, and he's coming back and doing the same thing again. Little things like going right into the heart of the paint when Derozan got caught under the basket on the other end, or how he can freeze and entire defense in semi-transition with just a half-beat hesitation dribble, or the way he walks defenders right into the lap of a screener with his wicked handles.

Can't be,I've I'm writing basically a Kyrie Irving love post, but yeah there it is.

[SideshowBob]

143.0 ORTG / 95.3 DRTG in the 1st half.

[RSCD3_]

If they can hold up defensively like they have been with LeBron in this game, this offense + focused defense is above what the thunder and warriors can reach I believe.

[kayess]

Kyrie in a nutshell there: fakes using the screen, gorgeous layup.

Next possession, no one else touches the ball, takes a difficult baseline turnaround early into the shot clock.

Anyone else feel slightly sad at that Bron fastbreak? A few years ago, that would've been a dunk!

The Lebron break is just not even a twinkle of what it used to be. Has to use finesse in order to get that when it used to be him leaping over both defenders.

Yeah - in a way, it's reassuring because he's still like 90% of the player he is with far reduced explosiveness.

Still, if he got the ball in that situation as recently as 3 years ago - he would've dunked over 2 people guaranteed.

[kayess]

I'm at the point now where I may not ever watch CLE in the regular season again because it leads me to say negative things I have to go back on. They are DAMN good.

Kyrie is the main guy for me, I don't know what it is but his style of attack is so much more potent when the rest of the team is playing high-energy ball. In reg season grind fests he can be prone to shot selection issues, but holy crap is he dangerous in games like this. All last playoffs I talked about how smart he looked about his offensive game there, and he's coming back and doing the same thing again. Little things like going right into the heart of the paint when Derozan got caught under the basket on the other end, or how he can freeze and entire defense in semi-transition with just a half-beat hesitation dribble, or the way he walks defenders right into the lap of a screener with his wicked handles.

Can't be,I've I'm writing basically a Kyrie Irving love post, but yeah there it is.

It's night and day with the Cavs.

Also, very interesting take - by that do you mean he's the catalyst, or that he's THE main guy? His ball handling in semi-transition (hell even in the half-court, offof just a screen), and the Cavs' playcalling have enabled his strengths, but his weakness still sometimes shows because the ball can still stick for far too long - case in point, the very next possession after he drains an open J, no one else even touches the ball and he hoists up a shot after 5s.

I think his integration into the offense deserves just as much credit as his level of play, bar one improvement I really wanna praise him for - his D. Staying with guys, challenging shots, not giving up on plays - the effort level is there on defense, too, and they'll really need that against Lowry, and later, against Curry/WB.

[MisterHibachi]

Best looking free throw he's shot all year.

[SideshowBob]

Toronto should hack-a-Bron

[SideshowBob]

Oooh first miss of the game probably pissed now

[toodles23]

Best looking free throw he's shot all year.

It predictably didn't help him any on the next one.

This has been an awesome game by Lebron. Everything to the rim, played great defense, looks energetic. Of course as I'm typing this he puts up a bad transition three, but he's still 10-12.

[kayess]

exactly what I'm talking about right there - just can't take guys 1v1 anymore

[Dr Spaceman]

I'm at the point now where I may not ever watch CLE in the regular season again because it leads me to say negative things I have to go back on. They are DAMN good.

Kyrie is the main guy for me, I don't know what it is but his style of attack is so much more potent when the rest of the team is playing high-energy ball. In reg season grind fests he can be prone to shot selection issues, but holy crap is he dangerous in games like this. All last playoffs I talked about how smart he looked about his offensive game there, and he's coming back and doing the same thing again. Little things like going right into the heart of the paint when Derozan got caught under the basket on the other end, or how he can freeze and entire defense in semi-transition with just a half-beat hesitation dribble, or the way he walks defenders right into the lap of a screener with his wicked handles.

Can't be,I've I'm writing basically a Kyrie Irving love post, but yeah there it is.

It's night and day with the Cavs.

Also, very interesting take - by that do you mean he's the catalyst, or that he's THE main guy? His ball handling in semi-transition (hell even in the half-court, offof just a screen), and the Cavs' playcalling have enabled his strengths, but his weakness still sometimes shows because the ball can still stick for far too long - case in point, the very next possession after he drains an open J, no one else even touches the ball and he hoists up a shot after 5s.

I think his integration into the offense deserves just as much credit as his level of play, bar one improvement I really wanna praise him for - his D. Staying with guys, challenging shots, not giving up on plays - the effort level is there on defense, too, and they'll really need that against Lowry, and later, against Curry/WB.

Oh no that was a wording issue- I meant "main guy who proves me wrong in the postseason". Obviously LeBron is the most important player on offense and regardless of the assist count he's dominated this game with his passing IMO.

There's just this certain gear they reach seemingly every game- Cleveland gets in these defensive stretches where their activity is off the charts and Irving is pushing the ball and getting guys off balance. I mean he's actually disorienting to play against- you just made a mistake that cost your team the ball on one end and here Irving is spinning around you and hitting a shot in your face. Opponent mistakes have a way of compounding and Irving just feeds off that and digs their grave for them. It's a really beautiful thing. Kyrie feeds off the defensive energy and then the crowd gets into it and then it's a 20-4 run and the game is over.

[SideshowBob]

exactly what I'm talking about right there - just can't take guys 1v1 anymore

That has to do with the weight/mass loss. It has yielded less explosiveness to take-off of one leg full speed on the break and less upper body mass makes it tougher for him to finish through contact (though his body control has gotten better). Still retained a good amount of speed/quickness (might be quicker than his better Miami years), but with Lebron its definitely about finding an optimum as opposed to being too massive (11, 12) or too slim (15, 16).

That said, I imagine less mass is going to reduce pressure/load on his joints so it should help him stay healthy longer.

[MisterHibachi]

What a pass.

[kayess]

I'm at the point now where I may not ever watch CLE in the regular season again because it leads me to say negative things I have to go back on. They are DAMN good.

Kyrie is the main guy for me, I don't know what it is but his style of attack is so much more potent when the rest of the team is playing high-energy ball. In reg season grind fests he can be prone to shot selection issues, but holy crap is he dangerous in games like this. All last playoffs I talked about how smart he looked about his offensive game there, and he's coming back and doing the same thing again. Little things like going right into the heart of the paint when Derozan got caught under the basket on the other end, or how he can freeze and entire defense in semi-transition with just a half-beat hesitation dribble, or the way he walks defenders right into the lap of a screener with his wicked handles.

Can't be,I've I'm writing basically a Kyrie Irving love post, but yeah there it is.

It's night and day with the Cavs.

Also, very interesting take - by that do you mean he's the catalyst, or that he's THE main guy? His ball handling in semi-transition (hell even in the half-court, offof just a screen), and the Cavs' playcalling have enabled his strengths, but his weakness still sometimes shows because the ball can still stick for far too long - case in point, the very next possession after he drains an open J, no one else even touches the ball and he hoists up a shot after 5s.

I think his integration into the offense deserves just as much credit as his level of play, bar one improvement I really wanna praise him for - his D. Staying with guys, challenging shots, not giving up on plays - the effort level is there on defense, too, and they'll really need that against Lowry, and later, against Curry/WB.

Oh no that was a wording issue- I meant "main guy who proves me wrong in the postseason". Obviously LeBron is the most important player on offense and regardless of the assist count he's dominated this game with his passing IMO.

There's just this certain gear they reach seemingly every game- Cleveland gets in these defensive stretches where their activity is off the charts and Irving is pushing the ball and getting guys off balance. I mean he's actually disorienting to play against- you just made a mistake that cost your team the ball on one end and here Irving is spinning around you and hitting a shot in your face. Opponent mistakes have a way of compounding and Irving just feeds off that and digs their grave for them. It's a really beautiful thing. Kyrie feeds off the defensive energy and then the crowd gets into it and then it's a 20-4 run and the game is over.

As I'm typing this - WHAT A PASS!

Great observation though - he has a very frantic style of play that just snowballs into easy buckets. The main thing with him has always been, against a disciplined team that won't turn the ball over, and gets back on D, and forces a slower pace, will he just suddenly start chucking? I don't think we'll see that this round, but yeah.

[Dr Spaceman]

It's night and day with the Cavs.

Also, very interesting take - by that do you mean he's the catalyst, or that he's THE main guy? His ball handling in semi-transition (hell even in the half-court, offof just a screen), and the Cavs' playcalling have enabled his strengths, but his weakness still sometimes shows because the ball can still stick for far too long - case in point, the very next possession after he drains an open J, no one else even touches the ball and he hoists up a shot after 5s.

I think his integration into the offense deserves just as much credit as his level of play, bar one improvement I really wanna praise him for - his D. Staying with guys, challenging shots, not giving up on plays - the effort level is there on defense, too, and they'll really need that against Lowry, and later, against Curry/WB.

Oh no that was a wording issue- I meant "main guy who proves me wrong in the postseason". Obviously LeBron is the most important player on offense and regardless of the assist count he's dominated this game with his passing IMO.

There's just this certain gear they reach seemingly every game- Cleveland gets in these defensive stretches where their activity is off the charts and Irving is pushing the ball and getting guys off balance. I mean he's actually disorienting to play against- you just made a mistake that cost your team the ball on one end and here Irving is spinning around you and hitting a shot in your face. Opponent mistakes have a way of compounding and Irving just feeds off that and digs their grave for them. It's a really beautiful thing. Kyrie feeds off the defensive energy and then the crowd gets into it and then it's a 20-4 run and the game is over.

As I'm typing this - WHAT A PASS!

Great observation though - he has a very frantic style of play that just snowballs into easy buckets. The main thing with him has always been, against a disciplined team that won't turn the ball over, and gets back on D, and forces a slower pace, will he just suddenly start chucking? I don't think we'll see that this round, but yeah.

Yep. The main thing is Cleveland will get through the East without having seen a team that has intelligence/discipline/smarts enough to control mistakes and play good D AND the scoring talent to keep up- Atlanta and Toronto both have 1 but not the other. Against one of the West juggernauts is where we might see Irving's approach start to falter.

That said, I really just like to appreciate great ball while it's happening- so I'm on the Irving bandwagon for now

[MisterHibachi]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/espn/status/732757037839450112[/tweet]

[PCProductions]

I can't believe Lebron only has 4 assists.

[PearGreatness]

I actually think this is one of the best versions of Lebron we've ever seen. Not quite peak, but very close to it.

For a guy that's tough to criticize, Lebron's biggest weakness has always been his ball dominance and lack of off ball play. He still rests more than someone like Curry, but he's playing off the ball quite a bit, setting screens, and moving more than he ever has in the past. It's a big part of the reason why this offense has exploded, imo.

His vertical leap has fallen off a cliff, his shot kinda disappeared, and I don't think he's capable of carrying a sub-par team to contender status the way he once was, but at least part of me doubts that younger Lebron would be this successful with this offense.

That, and I'm really high on his defense this year. I think his defense is basically right there with his peak Miami/Cleveland years.

[SideshowBob]

I actually think this is one of the best versions of Lebron we've ever seen. Not quite peak, but very close to it.

For a guy that's tough to criticize, Lebron's biggest weakness has always been his ball dominance and lack of off ball play. He still rests more than someone like Curry, but he's playing off the ball quite a bit, setting screens, and moving more than he ever has in the past. It's a big part of the reason why this offense has exploded, imo.

His vertical leap has fallen off a cliff, his shot kinda disappeared, and I don't think he's capable of carrying a sub-par team to contender status the way he once was, but at least part of me doubts that younger Lebron would be this successful with this offense.

That, and I'm really high on his defense this year. I think his defense is basically right there with his peak Miami/Cleveland years.

Yeah I have this version pretty high given his level of play from March-May.