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

GameOver25 · Post #261 » by **GameOver25** » Wed Jun 8, 2011 2:33 pm

He don't have the offensive skillset of Jordan, Kobe, or even Wade. If he doesn't have an easy way to the hoop, then it's either a standstill jumper or low efficiency off balanced shot.

NbdyBeatsTheWiz · Post #262 » by **NbdyBeatsTheWiz** » Wed Jun 8, 2011 2:35 pm

phd1969 wrote:Didn't you watch the games, Lebron is a two way player ..... just ask Marion and Terry.

I think Terry gleefully answered that question as he went off in the 4th last night with Bron on him.

picc · Post #263 » by **picc** » Wed Jun 8, 2011 2:48 pm

He's not tired or worn down, he's just content with letting Wade handle the offense. Which, depending on your view, is perfectly fine, as Wade is doing anything he wants to Dallas.

The heat have played 3 five-game series in the playoffs so far, other teams have gotten to the finals playing many more games and weren't gassed.

Dat Pass · Post #264 » by **Dat Pass** » Wed Jun 8, 2011 3:02 pm

GameOver25 wrote:He don't have the offensive skillset of Jordan, Kobe, or even Wade. If he doesn't have an easy way to the hoop, then it's either a standstill jumper or low efficiency off balanced shot.

Yea I feel the same way. Once he loses 15-20% of this atheleticism, his decline is going to be severe.

dm17415 · Post #265 » by **dm17415** » Wed Jun 8, 2011 4:02 pm

Free Rider wrote:Wade must be thinking that he should have recruited Melo instead. Here he is killing himself, doing everything he can to get his team a win, grabbing boards, blocking centers, driving into the lane and attacking the rim meanwhile LeBron's playing like it's a preseason game. I don't think I've ever seen Melo play as passively as we've seen LeBron play in the last two preseasons in such important games.

If you're going to bring Lebron down at least do some research before saying Melo never had a bad game in the playoffs. Lebron was 3/11 (.273) last night, Melo has had games in the PO where he went 1/16 (.063), 3/16 (.188), 5/22 (.227), 4/16 (.250) and 6/22 (.273).

Dat Pass · Post #266 » by **Dat Pass** » Wed Jun 8, 2011 4:46 pm

dm17415 wrote:
Free Rider wrote:Wade must be thinking that he should have recruited Melo instead. Here he is killing himself, doing everything he can to get his team a win, grabbing boards, blocking centers, driving into the lane and attacking the rim meanwhile LeBron's playing like it's a preseason game. I don't think I've ever seen Melo play as passively as we've seen LeBron play in the last two preseasons in such important games.

If you're going to bring Lebron down at least do some research before saying Melo never had a bad game in the playoffs. Lebron was 3/11 (.273) last night, Melo has had games in the PO where he went 1/16 (.063), 3/16 (.188), 5/22 (.227), 4/16 (.250) and 6/22 (.273).

He didnt say that Melo hasnt had bad games, he said "I dont think Ive ever seen Melo play as passively", and I completely agree. There is a huge difference between an off game, and playing like you dont even care. And going back to last years playoffs agaisnt Boston, this is the 4th playoff game Ive seen LeBron play like its a preseason game.

Shkodran_Plako · Post #267 » by **Shkodran_Plako** » Wed Jun 8, 2011 4:50 pm

hes just not a finesse player, once a team stops that first half-assed attempt at a bucket he either just settles for a long jumper or passes the ball. He doesnt have those dirty spin moves that wade has on his resume to get away from his defender. He's just too big and strong.

WD · Post #268 » by WD » Wed Jun 8, 2011 4:52 pm

He needs a day off to himself

MaxRider · Post #269 » by **MaxRider** » Wed Jun 8, 2011 4:54 pm

i think his elbow is hurting

LuckedO · Post #270 » by **LuckedO** » Wed Jun 8, 2011 4:54 pm

That's the real issue with what happened last night. It's not that LeBron sucked, it's that he didn't even try.

That said, it's annoying to still keep reading posts where people wonder why he doesn't attack the rim, why he can't beat Kidd off the dribble, why he keeps taking jumpers and so on. It's like nobody's capable of watching a player on the court and determining WHY he plays the style that he does.

NEWSFLASH: LeBron is FINISHED athletically. He wasn't attacking the rim, struggling to beat 38 year olds and taking little besides jumpers the previous 90+ games of the season too. Nothing's changed on that front in these Finals. What HAS changed is his effort and his refusal to actually shoot the ball.

JWiLL02 · Post #271 » by **JWiLL02** » Wed Jun 8, 2011 5:05 pm

Stunnaboy2K11 wrote:
semi-sentient wrote:
cs hauser wrote:Question: Has Jordan ever performed that badly in the NBA Finals? Has Kobe?

Jordan hasn't, but Kobe came close in Game 3 against the Pistons in 2004 when he dropped 11 points on 13 shots. That was against an epic defense though, and the Pistons ran away with that game in the 2nd half.

LeBron is like the modern day Wilt -- always disappearing when it matters most.

So we are gonna ignore his 4/20 8/5/3 game against he Pacers

Wasn't Kobe 21 at the time?

dacher · Post #272 » by **dacher** » Wed Jun 8, 2011 5:08 pm

It's good for the fans. If LeBron was bringing it, the series would be over already.

And Heat dynasty commences.

Maybe Lebron is sandbagging to extend the series. If he suddenly brings it next 2, and Heat dominate the Mavs like game 1, I will suspect that's exactly what's going on.

JWiLL02 · Post #273 » by **JWiLL02** » Wed Jun 8, 2011 5:09 pm

I think LeBron needs to spend this summer trimming down. There's really no reason for him to be heavier than 245 lbs. He simply doesn't have the post game for that extra weight to matter, and at 245 he could still easily post smaller wings.

He needs to make use of his quickness and explosiveness while he still can. Imagine the difference it would make cutting 15-20 lbs? He'd be getting up near rim level again.

Sedale Threatt · Post #274 » by **Sedale Threatt** » Wed Jun 8, 2011 5:10 pm

Still a phenomenal player, best in the league for my money, but that was pretty weak. Must have been at least twice when I wondered when Spoelstra was going to get him back in the game, only to see that he already was. Did some nice things in other areas, but he's way too good a player to be held to eight points.

Dat Pass · Post #275 » by **Dat Pass** » Wed Jun 8, 2011 5:10 pm

dacher wrote:Maybe Lebron is sandbagging to extend the series. If he suddenly brings it next 2, and Heat dominate the Mavs like game 1, I will suspect that's exactly what's going on.

This cant be a serious post.

Sedale Threatt · Post #276 » by **Sedale Threatt** » Wed Jun 8, 2011 5:12 pm

JWiLL02 wrote:I think LeBron needs to spend this summer trimming down. There's really no reason for him to be heavier than 245 lbs. He simply doesn't have the post game for that extra weight to matter, and at 245 he could still easily post smaller wings.

He needs to make use of his quickness and explosiveness while he still can. Imagine the difference it would make cutting 15-20 lbs? He'd be getting up near rim level again.

What he needs to do is develop a post game. With his size/strength/vision, he'd be an absolute beast on the block, especially considering the Heat don't have a low-post presence. But I suppose he'd rather take advantage of his speed/quickness while he still has it.

Even then, that shouldn't preclude him from adding another wrinkle to his game. He'll never be a great shooter, but he should still have a few more weapons in his arsenal. If I was Spoelstra, I'd lock him in a room with tape of Magic's last few years. There's nothing Magic did that LeBron couldn't in that spot.

Post #277 » by **Slava** » Wed Jun 8, 2011 5:22 pm

Lebron actually has a post game and its very effective. He used his back to basket game very well whenever he faced Artest who was denying him the ball in straight catch situations. The problem is that he rarely uses it and tries to rely too much on his quickness and bulldozing to the rim.

I'm not sure if he can emulate Magic's game though. Magic played like a PF when he needed to score and he had those nice hook shots in his arsenal. Lebron doesn't seem built for such kind of aesthetic style.

tedwilliams1999 · Post #278 » by **tedwilliams1999** » Wed Jun 8, 2011 5:23 pm

Sedale Threatt wrote:

What he needs to do is develop a post game. With his size/strength/vision, he'd be an absolute beast on the block, especially considering the Heat don't have a low-post presence. But I suppose he'd rather take advantage of his speed/quickness while he still has it.

Even then, that shouldn't preclude him from adding another wrinkle to his game. He'll never be a great shooter, but he should still have a few more weapons in his arsenal. If I was Spoelstra, I'd lock him in a room with tape of Magic's last few years. There's nothing Magic did that LeBron couldn't in that spot.

I wonder what exactly Lebron does in the off season. I'm sure he spends plenty of time in the gym, but I can definitely see him goofing off and not taking his shooting seriously. I don't get the feeling that he has the D-Rose work ethic.

A reporter last night asked him if he would spend some extra time in the gym to try to get the rhythm on his jumpshot back. I think Lebron said something like "I don't plan to, but if I feel like I need some more shots after practice I will get some extra work in."

Just from his tone of voice though, I got the sense that he wasn't going to be doing any extra shooting after today's practice. And that just makes no sense to me.

Post #279 » by **NO-KG-AI** » Wed Jun 8, 2011 5:26 pm

LeBron's jumper has steadily improved yearly, he definitely works at it.

I don't think weight, loss of athleticism, lack of skill, or any of that was to blame. He's just not attacking aggressively, and he's standing there in the triple threat, or with his back to the basket far more than usual, instead of making a quick and precise move.

The difference between Wade and James right now is that Wade isn't holding the ball in one spot, he's moving as soon as he catches it.

I don't buy that Shawn Marion is that great of a defender, this is all on LeBron, and he needs to get it together, or they aren't going to win.

At least in Kobe's 6/24 game, I felt like he was attacking and missing shots. LeBron was just giving the ball up, or standing there and making it way more difficult than it needed to be.

The most aggressive thing he did all night was steal the ball from Wade to get an easy dunk.

Sedale Threatt · Post #280 » by **Sedale Threatt** » Wed Jun 8, 2011 5:39 pm

SlavaMedvedenko wrote:Lebron actually has a post game and its very effective. He used his back to basket game very well whenever he faced Artest who was denying him the ball in straight catch situations. The problem is that he rarely uses it and tries to rely too much on his quickness and bulldozing to the rim.

I'm not sure if he can emulate Magic's game though. Magic played like a PF when he needed to score and he had those nice hook shots in his arsenal. Lebron doesn't seem built for such kind of aesthetic style.

That's what I mean by developing, in addition to your excellent point about not using what skills he does have.

I don't see him playing the exact same way Magic did, but he won't have to. Magic was a finesse, below-the-rim player. LeBron is much bigger, stronger and more athletic. Combined with his ability to see the court and deliver the basketball, the results would be scary.

Otherwise, the I think the comparison was apt. Magic's game was pretty basic. Draw the double team, create an easy basket for a teammate. Single coverage, get to the rim and score or draw the foul. Simple stuff. I don't see any reason why LeBron couldn't take the same general approach, albeit in a drastically different style.

And quit settling for the BS fadeaway.