The Lebron Thread

PCProductions · Post #1221 » by **PCProductions** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 8:36 pm

I noticed that, and I admire his dedication to fixing his flaws rather than accepting them. Anybody can become good at free throw shooting, it's just a matter of consistency in your form. Ray Allen is quite literally the perfect mentor for it as well.

PCProductions · Post #1222 » by **PCProductions** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 8:37 pm

SideshowBob wrote:
PCProductions wrote:Lebron's durability is arguably his greatest strength as a basketball player. What's the longest he's ever been injured?

2007-08, missed 5 straight games (and played half a game) in November/December due to a sprained finger.

Remarkable, to say the least.

SideshowBob · Post #1223 » by **SideshowBob** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 8:37 pm

PCProductions wrote:
SideshowBob wrote:
PCProductions wrote:Lebron's durability is arguably his greatest strength as a basketball player. What's the longest he's ever been injured?

2007-08, missed 5 straight games (and played half a game) in November/December due to a sprained finger.

Remarkable, to say the least.

Yup. Cleveland went 0-6 in that stretch.

SideshowBob · Post #1224 » by **SideshowBob** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 10:47 pm

I'd expect 40 tonight, and then 40 or close to it again in Portland. He's had 1 40 point game against the Pacers every season since 09, and has gone for 40 2 of his last 3 games at the Rose Garden (38 in the game there last season).

He's already made comments about being agitated with the Pacers' players, so I'd expect him to be a bit riled up tonight.

PCProductions · Post #1225 » by **PCProductions** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 11:24 pm

SideshowBob wrote:He's already made comments about being agitated with the Pacers' players, so I'd expect him to be a bit riled up tonight.

Is this in relation to last year's playoff series?

toodles23 · Post #1226 » by **toodles23** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 11:28 pm

SideshowBob wrote:I'd expect 40 tonight, and then 40 or close to it again in Portland. He's had 1 40 point game against the Pacers every season since 09, and has gone for 40 2 of his last 3 games at the Rose Garden (38 in the game there last season).

He's already made comments about being agitated with the Pacers' players, so I'd expect him to be a bit riled up tonight.

I got tickets to the Blazers game, so I hope you're right.

Lebron always seems to go off at the Rose Garden, he averages 31/10/7 on 51/50/71 (59 TS%) there for his career, and that includes a terrible 8/4/6 outing as a rookie. Remove that game and it's 34/11/7 on 61 TS%.

I don't really expect 40 though, he just doesn't really have outlier games these days. He's too consistent.

Also some rare Lebron highlights I found earlier today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRav_MrcZ3g

toodles23 · Post #1227 » by **toodles23** » Wed Jan 9, 2013 1:09 am

Looks like Wade's going off for 40, not Lebron. Lebron did look aggressive early with his shot selection, but he just threw up bricks. Bron looks gassed to me tonight, hope this isn't the end of his 20 point streak.

IG2 · Post #1228 » by **IG2** » Wed Jan 9, 2013 1:14 am

toodles23 wrote:Bron looks gassed to me tonight, hope this isn't the end of his 20 point streak.

Injuries. He has a sore knee(Miami's even talked about sitting him a few games) and turned his ankle the last game. His mobility is clearly limited tonight.

SideshowBob · Post #1229 » by **SideshowBob** » Wed Jan 9, 2013 1:15 am

toodles23 wrote:Looks like Wade's going off for 40, not Lebron. Lebron did look aggressive early with his shot selection, but he just threw up bricks. Bron looks gassed to me tonight, hope this isn't the end of his 20 point streak.

Indeed it does. Close enough

IG2 · Post #1230 » by **IG2** » Wed Jan 9, 2013 1:48 am

Looks like LeBron's about to have his 2nd 'off' game of the season and I could see it coming within the first minute after tip-off. He just did not look right.

SideshowBob · Post #1231 » by **SideshowBob** » Wed Jan 9, 2013 1:59 am

IG2 wrote:Looks like LeBron's about to have his 2nd 'off' game of the season and I could see it coming within the first minute after tip-off. He just did not look right.

The way he's moving in the full court is indicative. He's just off tonight.

Ursusamericanus · Post #1232 » by **Ursusamericanus** » Wed Jan 9, 2013 3:16 am

Well at least the 20-point streak continues. Now at 33 on the season and 38 since last season.

Mutnt · Post #1233 » by **Mutnt** » Wed Jan 9, 2013 3:41 pm

The biggest problem I saw in comparison to his Cleveland days was the reluctance to attack the basket due to his limited explosion from set standing positions (in other words, when he doesn't have a head full of steam). He's improved in that area this season, although it's still nowhere near his prime, but I accepted a long time ago it never probably will, so this is about as best as it will get from here on, since his athleticism isn't getting any better with him nearing his 30's.

What bugs me the most this season though, is his lack of free throw shots. Not the actual FT%, I think that will get better as I see him finishing around 75% when the season ends. But rather the lack of trips to the free-throw line. I don't know why. Clearly he can get to the rim better than his previous two years in Miami, but yet he's averaging 2nd lowest in his career. I want him to attack the basket more. I mean, even Bryant with the mileage he has on those knees is averaging over 8 FTA's this season.

There was a nice 3 game stretch around new year where he averaged 14 free throws. I thought he finally stopped coasting or taking it easy and decided to be more aggressive, sort of a new years resolution if you will... But as it turned out, it was more of a fluke than anything. Now, I don't think it's rational to expect almost 15 FTA per game, but I would like to see him set a mark like 8 to 10 FTA per game, depending on game situation.

When he'll drive, a lot of times I see him avoiding contact or being satisfied with light contact, throwing up a wild shot rather than just barrel into the helpless defender like he used to.

So what do you guys think? Is he scared of being injured? Does he not feel the need to do so, since Miami will probably get the 1st, 2nd seed with him and everybody just chucking perimeter shots?

SweetTouch · Post #1234 » by **SweetTouch** » Wed Jan 9, 2013 4:13 pm

It was scary when big Hibbert landed on his ankle

toodles23 · Post #1235 » by **toodles23** » Wed Jan 9, 2013 10:29 pm

SweetTouch wrote:It was scary when big Hibbert landed on his ankle

Yeah, on the replay it looked like it should've snapped his ankle, but somehow he hardly noticed. Dude's been banged up big time lately, I think it's about time for the Heat to rest him a few games.

Miami's rebounding is also becoming a major worry. How the hell can they fix this? Because they're not going to keep winning games while getting dominated on the boards.

Mutnt · Post #1236 » by **Mutnt** » Thu Jan 10, 2013 3:01 am

toodles23 wrote:
SweetTouch wrote:It was scary when big Hibbert landed on his ankle

Yeah, on the replay it looked like it should've snapped his ankle, but somehow he hardly noticed. Dude's been banged up big time lately, I think it's about time for the Heat to rest him a few games.

Miami's rebounding is also becoming a major worry. How the hell can they fix this? Because they're not going to keep winning games while getting dominated on the boards.

Sign people who can rebound would be the first step. Second step would involve getting rid of 'Small-Ball' or saving this tactic only for certain (playoff) teams that don't have good rebounding front courts. More precisely, no more Bosh playing C and even more importantly, no more Battier playing PF. Third and final step, somebody needs to get on Chris Bosh's skinny arse. I know Bosh is no rebounding machine, but there's no reason he shouldn't average close to 10 a game. He already has a couple of times in Toronto... Its somewhat evident that Haslem likes to go get every rebound even if it means stealing it from teammates, so you might use that as a fringe reason, but Bosh isn't crashing the glass when he's the lone big man on the court for the Heat ,so yeah...

IG2 · Post #1237 » by **IG2** » Fri Jan 11, 2013 4:08 am

Looks very focused so far against the Blazers, but you can tell the bounce he had displayed all season is gone from his game. He's not moving well going up and down the court.

SideshowBob · Post #1238 » by **SideshowBob** » Fri Jan 11, 2013 4:17 am

Playing with a knee contusion, ankle issues, and other nagging injuries with little rest time will do that to you. Earlier in the season they were barely playing 3 games a week. Lately the schedules been loaded and Lebron's been tweaking something or another each night. It's expected

IG2 · Post #1239 » by **IG2** » Fri Jan 11, 2013 4:54 am

SideshowBob wrote:Playing with a knee contusion, ankle issues, and other nagging injuries with little rest time will do that to you. Earlier in the season they were barely playing 3 games a week. Lately the schedules been loaded and Lebron's been tweaking something or another each night. It's expected

And the schedule provides no respite for at least a week more. We could be stuck with this mediocre LeBron for a while.

SideshowBob · Post #1240 » by **SideshowBob** » Fri Jan 11, 2013 4:57 am

And that's the effect of all those minutes he's piled on. Had this been 06, he'd be going out playing dominantly 43 minutes a game right on through these injuries. With all that's said about his durability, his ability to play strongly through injuries isn't what it once was