tsherkin wrote:G35 wrote:Lebron sets the tone for the team and he keeps shooting three's and missing. Teams aren't even trying their best to beat the Lakers, they are getting beat with teams C effort.....
Of course teams aren't trying their best to beat the Lakers; Los Angeles has a presently incompetent offense, so even with their high-end defense, the opposition need put in only so much effort. That was just empty air, man.
As far as "setting the tone,"
you need to step back from your usual approach to Lebron and consider what's actually happening here. He's taking just shy of 14 shots per game from inside the arc and he's shooting over 56% on them. He isn't
just shooting threes, he's simply replacing the long twos he used to take with threes. He hasn't shot this well from the line since 2012 (though of course it's extraordinarily early to consider that as a seasonal truth). He's averaging almost 9.5 rpg and 7.2 apg.
More specifically, he hasn't been asked to shoulder this much scoring load since 2008, so it's also not surprising that he's adding to his shooting volume with 3pt shooting. Blaming Lebron for how this team has performed over the first five is just wildly inappropriate. Westbrook is shooting 30.9% from the field. Anthony Davis missed one of the games (their second-leading scorer) and can't hit a jumper to save his life. Pat Beverly is shooting 17.6% from 3, Kendrick Nunn 23.8%, Lonnie Walker 14.8%. They simply haven't been capable of making teams pay when they leave LA's player open on the perimeter. This is why they are so trash. Lebron's shooting will normalize eventually, and hopefully so will the rest of the team's. But this idea that Lebron is "setting the tone" in a fashion harmful to the team is ludicrous.
This is a ludicrous response...am I the only one who should step back from their usual approach to Lebron? Everyone else is making a reasonable analysis? Come on, this thread is not for honest analysis.
https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/la-lakers/If you open that link what you will see at the top is the following:
- 30th in FG% (last)
- 30th in 3P% (last)
- 30th in pts scored (last)
Lebron apologists move the goal posts point by point.
- Lebron is having to shoulder more of the scoring load...why is Lebron having to shoulder more of the scoring load? He has AD and WB on the team and they are capable scorers. But you say that AD is not aggressive enough and WB is too aggressive and a poor shooter...and? The big picture is Lebron brought in those players and everyone knew how they played. This is no surprise at how this is turning out. Lebron is carrying the scoring load because these are the players he decided to bring in. If Lebron fans did not realize that this was a potential outcome...well those are the Lebron beer goggles talking
- Beverly has never been known as even a good 3pt shooter, but Nunn shot very well while with MIA...why hasn't that translated while in LA? Lonnie Walker shot the three well in SA for four years...why hasn't that translated in LA? That could be due to leadership, culture, the locker room, chemistry, karma whatever you want to call it but blaming role players is never a good look.
Back to the main...we all see these Lebron impact threads about is he top 5, top 10, top 20 player. What does that even mean? Are we talking by production or by impacting the team's record. Before we use to label Michael Jordan just a scorer and not as good as Magic because he didn't win. The bottom line is winning and for someone making $44M, is a GOAT candidate, has so much power and influence, this is more of a bad look by trying to deflect blame and criticism away from Lebron.
There were some corny sayings from the past like "The buck stops here" or "I'm the leader and I take responsibility for when we lose". If your argument is that Lebron is no longer the leader of the Lakers, you will get no argument from me.
The Lakers need a leader and Lebron doesn't look like he is interested in that.....
I'm so tired of the typical......
