The Lebron Thread (Pt. 3)

[ceiling raiser]

I think this was one of the top offensive seasons of all time, Magic/Bird/Jordan/Nash territory and no one else. Its hard for me to consider him as good defensively, because I don't know that anyone in the 3PT era has been that good and James is nowhere near the best defense player of the 3PT era (certainly one of the best though).[/quote]

I think for the regular season it'd definitely be something more like a +7.0 OFF / +2.0 DEF split (I haven't submitted my values to the project yet, so these are rough at the moment) since last season he was more consistent defensively, but I think the intensity on that end definitely improved in the playoffs.

No way. Lebron would need at least a +6.0 DEF which is like Russell territory or something.

Do you think +5.0 OFF / +4.0 DEF is reasonable?

How do you see the defensive peaks of Robinson/Olajuwon/Howard/Duncan/Garnett?

I'm not sure, but probably in the +6.0 - +8.0 range.

[PCProductions]

So what does Lebron need to work on in the offseason?

Pure shooting, basically. Anything else he's as good as he'll ever be at it.

[SideshowBob]

I think the back-to-basket game needs work. BIG TIME. I didn't really see anything special from him in the past two seasons to be honest, nor was it something he went to frequently when he needed go-to buckets. It's purpose has essentially been served for improving spacing and he's more comfortable looking to pass out rather than to finish.

I've seen a lot of talk of how he was really aggressive with it last postseason, but all I saw was him shooting baseline turnaround fadeaways, and this season, he wasn't even comfortable with those (left hook off the right shoulder was his move of choice). That's not going to cut it if this is to be a dominant scoring strength. He needs to work on his footwork and really get comfortable with some dominant finishing moves and not look for the counter as the go-to option. Take it from being a skill he has to a skill that he effectively utilizes.

[dynamic duo]

Age 28

[ardee]

So what does Lebron need to work on in the offseason?

Post game. I want to see Indiana game 3 more.

Maybe make his jumper a bit more consistent.... It worked out this time but there might come a time when it hurts his team if it goes missing for a few games like it did.

Otherwise he just needs to take a break I think. 18 months straight of top level basketball is going to wear him down.

[TheChosen618]

So what does Lebron need to work on in the offseason?

FT shooting should be an obvious one.

His post scoring is pretty reliable, but he doesn't go to it enough. It might be on Spo, not Lebron. Lebron is pretty reliable down in the post but he is just so use to the perimeter that it's hard for him to stay there. It's essentially a bad habit although it's not all that bad considering how dangerous he is from the perimeter too.

[DMVleGeND]

To be fair, I do believe 2009 James would've been more equipped to attack the paint (if his jumper was shady, like it has been for the most part of the series) than this version of LeBron.

I don't know, I feel like a lot of people are underestimating the player LeBron was in Cleveland, he was a beast, sometimes it takes a little bit of luck (and teammate production) to win titles.

CLE LeBron with this Heat team would've had 3 rings instead of two. The reason why the Heat didn't win vs. the Mavs in 2011 was because LeBron couldn't get into the lane due to his diminished quickness.

[IG2]

So what does Lebron need to work on in the offseason?

At this point, it's more about mentality than skill. He should be a far more willing jump shooter than he is. Good defensive teams, particularly in the playoffs, will take away the driving lanes and shut down the paint, yet LeBron's all too content in continuing to do the same thing(drive) over and over again against this strategy, leading to some prolonged periods of passive play that a superstar should be able to avoid. Especially when that superstar's help was as inconsistent as Wade and Bosh were in these playoffs. The finals shouldn't have been anywhere close to as difficult as LeBron made it on himself. Is it any surprise his 2 best games of the series were by far the ones where he was willing to take perimeter shots early and often?

Taking a lot of perimeter shots and not caring about missing them - that's the biggest thing he needs to work on.

[Mutnt]

Age 28

Yes, but the pace at which Jordan continued to rack up accolades was unreal (even with his baseball vacation). It's gonna be hard for LeBron to top that, not impossible by any means, but very hard.

As far as LeBron working on his game:

Still, post game is far from solid. Outside of Game 2 vs. Indiana it wasn't even a threat (or option) for most of the playoffs. He absolutely needs to be more decisive with his moves. Dribbling the ball and backing down your defender for 8 seconds usually isn't a great way to attack from the post. Establish position, dribble, dribble, fake direction, spin middle or baseline and shoot. Needs to be confident he'll make it. Also, he has to to expand his arsenal of post moves. So far it's the middle hook shot or the lefty banker, if you take that away he's got nothing in the post. Maybe develop a step-through, a fadeaway wouldn't be a bad counter, would absolutely love to see him learn how to pump fake (a very underrated aspect when close to the basket), because he basically rarely fakes his defender when he's close to the basket.

I think he'll definitely be a 80% FT shooter next year. Hope he maintains the 3PT percentage as well, that's kick ass.

Other than that, he just needs to rest and rejuvenate his body and he'll be fine. I still believe he has the potential to have a better year in 2014 than this year. It all depends on his mindset (if he'll feel the need to dominate consistently), his role and the play of his teammates.

[PCProductions]

My opinion on the need for a post game improvement:

Does anyone else think it's maybe still too early in his career to need to be going down there? I think if he had a more threatening jump shot, he would confuse defenses much better because he still has the quickness to go to the bucket. With a legit 50/50 on Lebron's success as an off the dribble jump shot versus attack the rim, I really don't see how a defense could play it properly. When Lebron's ability to attack the basket declines with his athleticism is when I think he should move down low more reliably, in my opinion.

[dynamic duo]

[Tim_Hardawayy]

would absolutely love to see him learn how to pump fake (a very underrated aspect when close to the basket), because he basically rarely fakes his defender when he's close to the basket.

This, this, this, this, this.

If there's one major issue LeBron has down low that could make him much better than he currently is, its the use of the pump fake. I think its something he's not used to because for most of his career, his time in the paint has been basically spent running in and immediately getting the shot up.

He has to learn to fake his defender out, you can have all the athleticism in the world, but if you always go straight up with your shot, you make yourself much easier to defend. Its one thing he could really learn from Wade about post play, Wade is fantastic at utilizing pump fakes when he's posting his man.

[Mutnt]

Yeah, I though Wade was the better post player in this PS. Granted, he's never so tightly defended and doubled as LeBron is, but Wade always gets wherever he wants in the post and has a lovely hook shot to finish.

[bballcool34]

Wade is so good at pump faking he overuses it.

[JulesWinnfield]

Final Raw on court/off court Heat numbers in the 2013 postseason for Lebron and Wade

Postseason Total
Lebron on= +133
Lebron off= +15

Wade on= +36
Wade off= +112

Take out the Bulls series....
Lebron on= +85
Lebron off= minus 3

Wade on= minus 19
Wade off= + 101

In the Pacer and Spur series, Heat were a minus 47 with Wade on, and a plus 70 with him off

[shoefly1]

I agree another session with Hakeem would be helpful, but I think the bigger thing is he needs a little more rest, both this summer and particularly during the regular season next year.

He performed wonderfully, but I do think he really wore down in the last two series. I think it was his explosion and finishing that was as big a problem as his shooting late and I think it's because he's worn out.

He's a physical marvel, but he again played 38 minutes a game during the regular season. Adding a lane clogging big and cutting his minutes in the RS would really help.

[Ginobili]

So what does Lebron need to work on in the offseason?

Definetely post up game, the guy is still awful with it.

Refine his jump-shot, just maintain the current level with practice and repeating.

[toodles23]

So what does Lebron need to work on in the offseason?

Jumper and post game. He needs to get to the point with his jumper where it won't disappear on him for 5 out of 7 games like it did in this series. As far as his post game, he needs to get better at scoring in the post. It doesn't need to be complicated - develop a reliable jump hook with either hand, add in some pump fakes, develop his drop step more, and add an up and under or fadeaway jumper as a counter.

[MaliBrah]

He needs to

-Rest
-Continue to work on his shot and make it even better
-Freethrow shooting
- Continue to work on post game and getting into post moves quicker and making faster decisions there
- Finishing off the post up and having a softer touch after backing down someone hard.

He was great this year and can still take his game to new levels , crazy.

[RayBan-Sematra]

In the Pacer and Spur series, Heat were a minus 47 with Wade on, and a plus 70 with him off

Did you watch the Finals?

Wade absolutely carried the Heat in many halves and had a number of huge games in the Finals.
He even outplayed Lebron in 3/7 games during that series.

They would have lost in 4 or 5 to the Spurs without him.

Miami would not have gotten past Chicago or Indy without him either.