The Lebron Thread

SideshowBob · Post #1201 » by **SideshowBob** » Thu Jan 3, 2013 7:13 pm

USG% for the season is now back over 30%, close to 32% in his last few games.

Shooting numbers also looking good and trending upwards.

Hoopdata has 16-23ft at 42%, BBR has it at 40.3%, both solid and both trending upwards, though his attempts are clearly down from the last 6 seasons.

Hoopdata has 10-15ft at 46.3%, BBR has it at 42.9%.

Overall, BBR has his jumpshot eFG% at 47.7%, which is very strong and easily the best of his career (even ahead of 2011).

SideshowBob · Post #1202 » by **SideshowBob** » Thu Jan 3, 2013 7:18 pm

Also, strong December at 28/8/8 on 63% TS. He's starting to parade to the line again, and it's making him that much more effective.

As I've been saying since the early season, his scoring numbers will sort themselves out. He wasn't going to stay even as low as 25 a game. If anything, his ego can't handle it. We saw him last week come out and say that he could win the scoring title if he wants to, a statement he's made at least once before too, the first year he lost the scoring title to Durant (2010).

Ursusamericanus · Post #1203 » by **Ursusamericanus** » Thu Jan 3, 2013 8:16 pm

I've noticed him drifting in and out of his tenacity too. I think he'll put enough effort in to stay at the front of the pack in the MVP race. Guy could sleepwalk through a season and average 26/8/7.

Come playoff time though - the light switch will turn on. And stay on.

toodles23 · Post #1204 » by **toodles23** » Thu Jan 3, 2013 9:33 pm

http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamihe ... e-thursday

I'm hoping Lebron doesn't hit a wall this season, but I'm continually hearing about all these nagging injuries he has, and how tired he is. Hasn't shown on the court yet, but I don't doubt that it will if they don't manage his minutes right.

SideshowBob · Post #1205 » by **SideshowBob** » Fri Jan 4, 2013 3:29 am

December was a ridiculous month for the top 5 scorers.

Kobe - 33.8 on 57.2% TS
Carmelo - 32.6 on 61.1% TS
Durant - 31.0 on 65.2% TS
Harden - 27.7 on 63.0% TS
James - 27.5 on 63.0% TS

JordansBulls · Post #1206 » by **JordansBulls** » Sat Jan 5, 2013 4:45 am

Well tonight he had more FTA than he took for shots against the Bulls.

Ursusamericanus · Post #1207 » by **Ursusamericanus** » Sat Jan 5, 2013 9:27 am

JordansBulls wrote:Well tonight he had more FTA than he took for shots against the Bulls.

A great sign. His foul drawing has increased lately and that has coincided nicely with much improved free throw shooting.

Anyone else notice how different his form is right now? Looks like he's about to fall flat on his face after each free throw because of how much he leans! But hey, it's working. Out of his last 43 attempts at the line, he's hit 37.

branny · Post #1208 » by **branny** » Sat Jan 5, 2013 11:57 am

Hyaena wrote:
JordansBulls wrote:Well tonight he had more FTA than he took for shots against the Bulls.

A great sign. His foul drawing has increased lately and that has coincided nicely with much improved free throw shooting.

Anyone else notice how different his form is right now? Looks like he's about to fall flat on his face after each free throw because of how much he leans! But hey, it's working. Out of his last 43 attempts at the line, he's hit 37.

yeah at times I thought he left right after he shot it.. which was really weird

SideshowBob · Post #1209 » by **SideshowBob** » Sat Jan 5, 2013 5:32 pm

So, that's 36 straight 20+ games, 31 to start the season. 8 straight of 25+ and 3 straight 30+. 5 of his last 8 games he's gone over 30. TS% is steadily climbing, its just under 62% now and I see him finishing close to 63%. He's been just at 64% over his last 19.

ardee · Post #1210 » by **ardee** » Sat Jan 5, 2013 5:38 pm

SideshowBob wrote:So, that's 36 straight 20+ games, 31 to start the season. 8 straight of 25+ and 3it straight 30+. 5 of his last 8week games he's gone over 30. TS% is steadily climbing, its just under 62% now and I see him finishing close to 63%. He's been just at 64% over his last 19.

Animalistic. He's resembling his Cleveland self more statistically I feel. The assists are back up to where they were outside of '10 (major outlier year), I thought they were gone for good after he became a pseudo 4 in the '12 Playoffs.

toodles23 · Post #1211 » by **toodles23** » Sat Jan 5, 2013 9:06 pm

Lebron's midrange game has sharped up a lot over the last few weeks. Through the first 19 games he shot .366 from 16-23 and .379 from 10-15, but since then he's shot .456 from 16-23 and .500 from 10-15. Hope it continues.

Hyaena wrote:A great sign. His foul drawing has increased lately and that has coincided nicely with much improved free throw shooting.

Anyone else notice how different his form is right now? Looks like he's about to fall flat on his face after each free throw because of how much he leans! But hey, it's working. Out of his last 43 attempts at the line, he's hit 37.

He's trying to prevent himself from leaning back, a problem he's had on FTs since he entered the league.

LakerLegend · Post #1212 » by **LakerLegend** » Sun Jan 6, 2013 4:27 am

There's two things that need to be considered:

1. He's carrying more muscle in Miami
2. He's putting more effort/energy on defense.

JordansBulls · Post #1213 » by **JordansBulls** » Mon Jan 7, 2013 1:34 am

Couldn't really tell much tonight simply because of the opponent they were playing. Tuesday at Indiana will be a better game.

SideshowBob · Post #1214 » by **SideshowBob** » Mon Jan 7, 2013 2:06 am

And that's the end of the 25+ scoring streak. Looked solid in the first half, then was completely disengaged in the 3rd quarter, and that was before he rolled the ankle.

6 game road trip coming up soon. I expect his first 40+ point game to come on this trip, and his seasonal scoring average will be over 27 once they return to Miami. The last time he was this good was 2010, and this is around the time where his scoring really gets going. In January of that year, he had a 5 game road trip against the West where he put up 36.2/7.4/7.2 on 66.4% TS. This time its a 6 game road trip, with the game against Indiana, followed by 5 games against the West, concluding in LA. I think we can expect consistent dominance (assuming he bounces back strong from the ankle roll). He knows they've been struggling lately, and its crucial that this road trip comes out successful for them.

SideshowBob · Post #1215 » by **SideshowBob** » Mon Jan 7, 2013 5:21 pm

Since the Cleveland game (20 G)

Code: Select all

MP    PTS    TRB    AST    STL    BLK    TOV   TS%    eFG%   GmSc   ORTG
39.2  27.6   7.8    7.1    1.9    0.8    3.3  .640   .596    24.7   123

Shooting 78.1% from the line over that stretch. Spo really needs to manage his minutes better though, he's gone over 40 in 9 of his last 20 games, and 7 of those were 42+.

Last 8

Code: Select all

MP    PTS    TRB    AST    STL    BLK    TOV   TS%    eFG%   GmSc   ORTG
40.9  29.9   7.5    7.3    2.4    0.9    3.1  .648   .584    27.3   127

FT% of 85.5% in that stretch, and he's been getting to the line 8.6 times on 19.3 FGA a game, close to a .45 FTR.

Bled · Post #1216 » by **Bled** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 5:36 pm

I really love this thread. Wonderful information. Hopefully you are right sideshow and that Lebron starts going after this trip. Miami really could use the confidence boost by having a successful road trip here. I think tonight will be huge.

PCProductions · Post #1217 » by **PCProductions** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 8:08 pm

Lebron's durability is arguably his greatest strength as a basketball player. What's the longest he's ever been injured?

SideshowBob · Post #1218 » by **SideshowBob** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 8:19 pm

PCProductions wrote:Lebron's durability is arguably his greatest strength as a basketball player. What's the longest he's ever been injured?

2007-08, missed 5 straight games (and played half a game) in November/December due to a sprained finger.

SideshowBob · Post #1219 » by **SideshowBob** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 8:20 pm

Windy article on Lebron's FT shooting

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/16535/lebron-james-dream-now-on-the-line

Talks a bit about relationship with Allen, James setting goal for 50/40/90 club, improved balance on FTs, etc.

JLei · Post #1220 » by **JLei** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 8:34 pm

JLei wrote:He seemed to step forward over the line after every Free Throw (I thought he actually committed like 4 lane violations) but that was helping him follow through since most of his misses this season at the line have been short.

He changes his free throw stroke every 5 games so maybe this was just for today but it looked good coming off his hands at the line today.

"Still, not having proper balance is a mistake he defaults toward. Among other things, that was an issue earlier in the season with James often shooting free throws “on his heels” according to someone familiar with his game, letting his momentum sometimes go backward at the line.

Through working with the Heat coaches, talking with Allen and putting in extra work in practice, James has corrected this mistake. In an effort to get his balance forward he now puts nearly all his weight forward after releasing the free throw to make sure his momentum is correct.

This doesn’t have the greatest aesthetic quality because James sometimes looks like he’s about to topple over as the ball is on the way to the basket.

By rule, a player cannot step over the foul line until the ball hits the rim or passes through the net. In an effort to avoid that violation, James at times looks like he’s headed for a face plant in the lane as he leans forward waiting for the ball to get to the rim before at last putting a foot out to catch himself. He may even be bending the rule a bit by reaching his foot over the line even if he doesn’t touch before the ball reaches the rim, though officials would be hard pressed to whistle him for it. "

I had mentioned this a few pages ago. All of it makes sense to me. All his misses seem to be when he cheats and goes back to old habits but otherwise it has been very good.