Critics of Lebron are always looking for a chink in his armor. First it was his ability to win, then it was his defense, then it was his clutchness, now people question his ability to make players around him better. To be honest, this may be his one weakness right now and I thought of posting a thread like this myself. I've noticed that a lot players do slump when joining the Cavs. This big trade will either give credence to this theory or explode it like all the other ones already have. I suspect the reason that players don't do as well on the Cavs doesn't have as much to do with Lebron as with other factors, such as:
- this team has been filled with players like Hughes, Gooden and Snow who either took bad shots and made bad decisions or simply couldn't shoot worth a damn. Its not Lebron's fault that he has had guys like this on his team.
- the Cavs have been generally bad other than Lebron and Z making the players around them bad. When you have backcourts like Snow and Hughes that can't shoot or do anything else it makes it harder for everyone to score. This isn't Lebron's fault.
- we haven't had a true PG in years to setup the offense or create plays for players. Atleast PGs like TJ Ford, Andre Miller, Devin Harris or Jason Kidd can drive to the basket and create scoring opportunities for players even though they can't shoot, but the Cavs never had someone This isn't Lebron's fault and its a big reason why he's had to dominate the ball so much.
- Mike Brown is simultaneously one of the best defensive coaches and one of the worst offensive. This isn't Lebron's fault and it obviously makes all the other players worse offensively. In fact this may be partially Lebron's fault indirectly because Lebron's prowess allows Brown to be complacent about offense and just let Lebron take care of everything instead of looking for and creating real improvements.
Also I might add some of the examples are just plain false. Zydrunas is as much of a midrange shooter as he is a post up player. His FG% has always been about the same during his time with Lebron and has only declined slightly this year, which can be attributed to ageing more than anything.
Lebron does dominate the ball too much which probably does hurt the players around him. But as noted above this isn't his fault but its a role he has been forced into due to not having a PG, having Brown for a coach and it being the most effective thing we have.
This trade however completely shakes the team up. Now Lebron has more shooters and the closest thing he has ever had to a true PG. It also dispenses with the worst shooters and decisionmakers on the team in Hughes and Gooden. I fully expect the Cavs to be one of the better offensive teams in the league now.
