OMG... LeBron only 8 pts in an NBA Finals game

[toodles23]

His jumpshot has nothing to do with it, it's because he's not anything like the player he was in Cleveland. Just watch a game from his Cavs days to see the enormous difference in athleticism. He looks like a shell out there.

You know I agree with this, but surely you aren't going to pin tonight's atrocity on his body? Because LeBron wasn't even trying out there. Even Cleveland-LeBron wouldn't have fared any better with an effort like this, barring converting the 2 open-court plays he blew today.

No, definitely not. Something was wrong, it was worse than game 5 IMO. No effort on either end, he let Terry blow by him like 12 times in the 4th quarter and gave little effort to recover. At least in game 5, he tried driving a little and got some FTs. It's just that a lot of people keep acting like he can get to the hoop any time he wants.

[Kobe 24 Revis]

Its like that Space Jam thing happened to Lebron and Gasol

[Benedict_Boozer]

What's really annoying is how empty his stat line really was. Aside from two dimes to Wade (the full court pass and the ally-hoop), the rest of the assists were only accumulated by pure luck. He passed so much that at some point he had to pick up an assist here or there.

I don't recall him getting any difficult rebounds either. WTF is he doing out there? As a fan I feel cheated. We all know he's capable of more, so what in god's name is he thinking?

He reminds me of a child who only tries when he feels like it. Grow the F up.

This is dead on. He is cheating the game. All the god given talent in the world, no heart.

[Roscoe Sheed]

Are you kidding me

You see game one, that dunk at the end where he got fired...

Then Game 2 where he had a monster dunk at the beginning of the 4th blowing past the defender?

Then game 3 Where had gotten to the rim for 2 dunks and acouple of lay-ups in the 1st quarter?

You're talking about of your ass buddy

It's obvious LeBron was particularly playing scared this game.

He was too passive to say he wasn't... He didn't want anything to do with the basketball this game.

This post really displays your limited understanding of things like quickness, agility & explosiveness. Alley-oops or open court dunks by themselves say very little. Even old men can show off in those situations. The fact that LeBron can have a couple of HIGHLIGHT dunks in this series yet still completely fail to penetrate should tell you something. Now think, why has this player continued to take jumpers all year? If he was scared today, then what was scaring him the previous 90-odd games? Think.

It should also be noted that they seem to be doubling him quite a bit- which is a major reason why he is passing the ball so much

[Dr Positivity]

Are you kidding me

You see game one, that dunk at the end where he got fired...

Then Game 2 where he had a monster dunk at the beginning of the 4th blowing past the defender?

Then game 3 Where had gotten to the rim for 2 dunks and acouple of lay-ups in the 1st quarter?

You're talking about of your ass buddy

It's obvious LeBron was particularly playing scared this game.

He was too passive to say he wasn't... He didn't want anything to do with the basketball this game.

This post really displays your limited understanding of things like quickness, agility & explosiveness. Alley-oops or open court dunks by themselves say very little. Even old men can show off in those situations. The fact that LeBron can have a couple of HIGHLIGHT dunks in this series yet still completely fail to penetrate should tell you something. Now think, why has this player continued to take jumpers all year? If he was scared today, then what was scaring him the previous 90-odd games? Think.

He's playing in a pretty different offense this year. He has to play off the ball more and shoot when defenders help off him - Hence the jumpers. As for his drives, the Heat's offense has been clogged down a lot compared to the Cavs when Anthony is playing, plus Chalmers/Wade provides way less spacing than Mo/Parker, Mo/Delonte

[stephanieg]

LeBron works for the mob.

[Dr Positivity]

His jumpshot has nothing to do with it, it's because he's not anything like the player he was in Cleveland. Just watch a game from his Cavs days to see the enormous difference in athleticism. He looks like a shell out there.

You know I agree with this, but surely you aren't going to pin tonight's atrocity on his body? Because LeBron wasn't even trying out there. Even Cleveland-LeBron wouldn't have fared any better with an effort like this, barring converting the 2 open-court plays he blew today.

No, definitely not. Something was wrong, it was worse than game 5 IMO. No effort on either end, he let Terry blow by him like 12 times in the 4th quarter and gave little effort to recover. At least in game 5, he tried driving a little and got some FTs. It's just that a lot of people keep acting like he can get to the hoop any time he wants.

Game 5 was worse for me cause Cleveland relied on him so much more to create and break down the defense and he was like "um... want the ball again Delonte?"

[toodles23]

He's playing in a pretty different offense this year. He has to play off the ball more and shoot when defenders help off him - Hence the jumpers. As for his drives, the Heat's offense has been clogged down a lot compared to the Cavs when Anthony is playing, plus Chalmers/Wade provides way less spacing than Mo/Parker, Mo/Delonte

Some of this is true, but he was able to get to the rim just fine pre-prime in '05 and '06 when he had worse spacing than he does now.

[Joao Saraiva]

I don't understand. He is being just too passive. Idk what's hapenning but this isn't the LBJ that dominated the Celtics and the Bulls. Game 5 may be his last chance to start going for a finals MVP. I hope he is way more agressive than he was in this game.

[triplet1984]

I have a new theory.

Lebron is one of these guys who gets turned on by being humiliated. Like subs straight out of the BDSM scene. uh, not that I would know anything about that... ahem.

But yeah, it totally fits. He loves wallowing in the humiliation!

[JNelson43]

Why do people keep calling LeBron a "shell", he just had a bad game. I don't know if people are just looking for odd way to excuse him or what, but he could come out next game and drop 40 points, breaking down Dallas's D multiple times and drawing a ton of FT's.

But the thing is, nothing about it said that he was just having a bad game. We've all seen players, including Lebron, have bad games before. It doesn't look like this, at least in most of the games I've seen. Frankly even the numbers he has make his game look more impressive than it actually was. He didn't get ANYTHING in the half-court offense. Joel Anthony can get a couple of buckets and could score 8 getting the ball as much as Lebron did.

There's something up other than just a bad game... for Lebron I'd even call game 3 a bad game.

[walchy]

After watching the whole game the thing that surprised me most about his stat line was his minutes played. There was seriously long stretches there where I didn't realise he was even on the court.

[LuckedO]

Why do people keep calling LeBron a "shell", he just had a bad game.

When me and toodles say shell, we are talking about his body. Of course, he's still a good player. Top 5 in the league. But body-wise, like I've told you numerous time already, he's lost 25% of his ability. There's a reason why he's strictly a jump shooter out there. Why is this so difficult for people to understand? All I keep hearing is he's "settling" and "refuses to attack the basket". What do these people think, that LeBron just woke up one day and decided, "OK, I will just take jump shots this season after being the game's best finisher EVER the past 5 years". That's not what happened. LeBron shoots jumpers because he CANNOT drive.

I don't know if people are just looking for odd way to excuse him or what

It's not an excuse when it's a fact.

That said, neither me nor toodles are putting tonight's stink-job on his body. Hell no, dude wasn't even trying out there. With an effort like this ALL versions of LeBron would've had a similar game.

but he could come out next game and drop 40 points, breaking down Dallas's D multiple times and drawing a ton of FT's.

He hasn't done this all season, so why the hell would he do it in Game 5? The only way he can have a big game is through having a GREAT shooting night. Body wise, he indeed is a shell. No quickness, no agility, no explosiveness. He'll occasionally surprise you by getting high on a dunk, but that's about it.

[nyczlegacy]

[Roscoe Sheed]

Whitlock had this interesting take before game 4

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/LeBr ... ars-060611

[GameTime_3]

Whitlock had this interesting take before game 4

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/LeBr ... ars-060611

Wow...Great article...

[old skool]

Let's not pretend that we would not have our favorite NBA team acquire Lebron if he was available. He is a top player in the NBA. He has incredible talent and skill. He is not Michael Jordan. That puts him in a pretty big club. But he is still a multi-NBA-MVP.

He will likely win his first NBA ring this season. But for Lebron, it is not enough that he has to win a ring. he has to win a ring while leading his team in scoring and while hitting key shots when the game is on the line. And he has to look confident, but humble, while doing it or we will deduct major style points. And his mom has to behave properly and blah, blah, blah.

It seems like we are holding him to very high standards.

[Rerisen]

There's a reason why he's strictly a jump shooter out there. Why is this so difficult for people to understand?

Because you are making it up and exaggerating. That's why its so hard to understand. Where is the statistical evidence for your claim, not cherry picked play examples about how he doesn't go left to right anymore.

A “shell” of a player is Karl Malone or Gary Payton in the 2004 NBA Finals, or Shaq this year limping around overweight and broke down, not a guy still in his prime dominating the league both physically and statistically.

Up until this game, LeBron in the playoffs was averaging numbers neck and neck with Wade, the guy everyone has been heaping so much praise on these last few days – at least up until his struggles finishing the game tonight.

Are you saying LeBron can no longer dominate a game offensively and/or with scoring? He just did it about 3 times in the Chicago series against equally tough defense, both man to man and team based.

I really don’t get what the angle is with some of you guys. Mad Cavs fans?

Does LeBron have less agility in going at the rim than 2 or 3 years ago? Perhaps. But he’s adjusted to it all year and the impact it had on his stats this year was negligible.

At-Rim Scoring
2009: 6.6 ATT, 72%
2010: 6.8 ATT, 73.3%
2011: 5.9 ATT, 72.1%

Hardly a difference at all with his inside scoring. What little there is, a bit less volume, can easily be explained by having to share the offensive responsibility with two other stars in Bosh and Wade.

By contrast, his mid range percentages are up across the board, so naturally he is taking a (tiny) bit more of them. But its not like he’s turned into Kobe Bryant here, shooting 85% of his shots as jumpers. He shot 69% jumpers this year compared with 64% the last two years. So there is a little difference, but its minor not this earth shattering style change some of you are making out.

He’s still one of the most dangerous players in the league getting to the rim. Especially if you are talking just perimeter players. His points inside per game and finishing % bear this out.

[schematics]

LeBron James, 8 points in 48 minutes at Game #4 of the NBA Finals. And that's after Jason friggin' Terry called him out in the media.

Question: Has Jordan ever performed that badly in the NBA Finals? Has Kobe?

Jordan's lowest in a finals game was 22 points. His lowest series in the finals was 27.3 ppg.

Somebody needs to let Scottie Pippen know that a lot of this game DeShawn checked Lebron.

Marion had 16 points with James on him. Stevenson finished with 11 points and Dallas won.

That kind of thing would have NEVER happened to MJ.

[Dr Positivity]

Here's what I think is happening. All season the way Miami's offense has worked, is to quote Bill Simmons, a "pass the bong" system. When Wade has it going Lebron is Pippen. When Lebron has it going Wade is Pippen. The alpha dog changes nightly. In the Chicago series Lebron had it going and was the alpha dog.

In Game 2 Lebron tried to be the man during the Mavs comeback and the Heat lost. Wade said the ball should've gone to him in the post-game. I think Lebron decided Wade had a better matchup against Terry, had been here before, and should be the man in this series. Since Wade has been going off ever since Lebron has left the bong in his hands and put it on himself to be the 2nd option guy. After they won last game Lebron thought his strategy was working and didn't want to screw it up - didn't want Wade's 30ppg jive to be messed with. That's why I think he was passive.

I do think he's tired though. His poor defense in this game could be attributed to that.