The Lebron Thread (Pt. 3)

PCProductions · Post #401 » by **PCProductions** » Fri Jun 14, 2013 4:46 pm

I think the Heat need Game 5 as much as the Spurs do. I really think that if there was ever a turning point in this playoffs for Miami, it would have been Game 4. That was a virtuoso performance from a big 3.

therealbig3 · Post #402 » by **therealbig3** » Fri Jun 14, 2013 4:53 pm

PCProductions wrote:I think the Heat need Game 5 as much as the Spurs do. I really think that if there was ever a turning point in this playoffs for Miami, it would have been Game 4. That was a virtuoso performance from a big 3.

I disagree. It's obviously extremely important that they take game 5, because even if games 6 and 7 are at home, they would still need to beat a veteran Spurs team 2 times in a row, which would be very difficult. But I don't think they need it as much as the Spurs do, because game 5 is basically the series for the Spurs. As disciplined and well-executing as they are, beating Miami two straight times on their home court is damn near impossible.

E-Balla · Post #403 » by **E-Balla** » Fri Jun 14, 2013 4:54 pm

JulesWinnfield wrote:During this postseason Lebron has jumped from 17th to 9th on the all time playoff scoring list. Passed Hakeem and Havlicek last night. Of the 8 guys currently in front of him, only MJ and West have higher scoring averages.

No love for Iverson and TMac?

therealbig3 · Post #404 » by **therealbig3** » Fri Jun 14, 2013 5:17 pm

GC Pantalones wrote:
JulesWinnfield wrote:During this postseason Lebron has jumped from 17th to 9th on the all time playoff scoring list. Passed Hakeem and Havlicek last night. Of the 8 guys currently in front of him, only MJ and West have higher scoring averages.

No love for Iverson and TMac?

Iverson doesn't have as many total playoff points as LeBron, and T-Mac doesn't have the total points nor the scoring average.

JulesWinnfield · Post #405 » by **JulesWinnfield** » Fri Jun 14, 2013 5:33 pm

GC Pantalones wrote:
JulesWinnfield wrote:During this postseason Lebron has jumped from 17th to 9th on the all time playoff scoring list. Passed Hakeem and Havlicek last night. Of the 8 guys currently in front of him, only MJ and West have higher scoring averages.

No love for Iverson and TMac?

I was only talking about the guys who are ahead of him on the total scoring list

For what its worth, Lebron is 5th all time in playoff scoring average (MJ, Iverson, West, Durant). Iverson as usual was scary inefficient.

toodles23 · Post #406 » by **toodles23** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 1:05 am

It's weird, Lebron's hardly getting touches in this game.

JNelson43 · Post #407 » by **JNelson43** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 1:25 am

Weird reversal in this game. Lebron is getting quite a bit of scoring in but doesn't seem to be facilitating the offense as much so far. At least it hasn't shown up in the box score, Wade has been handling the ball and has 6 assists to Lebron's 1.

They may have to rely on him more in the 2nd half if they want to pull this off.

NaturalThunder · Post #408 » by **NaturalThunder** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 1:25 am

He finally got aggressive the last 4-5 minutes of the half. i want to see more of that in the second half. This game is crucial and he can't be as passive and hesitant as he was the first quarter and a half. He's got to get more touches, too.

toodles23 · Post #409 » by **toodles23** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 1:31 am

NaturalThunder wrote:He finally got aggressive the last 4-5 minutes of the half. i want to see more of that in the second half. This game is crucial and he can't be as passive and hesitant as he was the first quarter and a half. He's got to get more touches, too.

He was barely touching the ball for most of the game, there's no way to be aggressive. He was only more aggressive at the end of the quarter because they finally called a couple plays for him, and he got a couple of transition buckets.

I'm a little confused as to why Wade is doing the ball handling and running the offense today, he's just an inferior version of Lebron in that role. I wonder if this is a Spo thing, or a Wade thing? Maybe it's because of how much Lebron's struggling in this series?

Late in the third, Lebron looks tired. Possibly a sign of all the minutes he's played the last 2 years? His jumper looks a little weird tonight too, no two jumpers have had the same form.

nikomCH · Post #410 » by **nikomCH** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 2:17 am

Miami seems to be that team that loses all the pivotal games and yet still wins the series, I think they will take it in 7 like the Lakers did in 10.

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TheChosen618 · Post #411 » by **TheChosen618** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 2:25 am

I expect a monster game 6 by Lebron but I think Miami will still lose that game.

GetItDone · Post #412 » by **GetItDone** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 2:40 am

LeBron sub par performance again.

He doesn't even look like he's trying.

Mutnt · Post #413 » by **Mutnt** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 2:41 am

This is not an excuse, James has played pretty pedestrian (especially in the second half) but one an someone blind or completely ignorant can't see the dude is tired as hell. His lift and quickness is severely diminished which is causing him all kinds of trouble. I don't recall him missing so many shots in the paint, getting blocked easily, missing transition layups repeatedly, even missing alley-oops..

He won't magically recover his athleticism and lift in the following games so no, I don't expect any 30 point games from LeBron in the next two games, let alone anything more than that, unless of course his jumper is sizzling like in Game 4.

And with the way the Spurs are shooting the ball and the shots they're making I expect them to take the title as well...

toodles23 · Post #414 » by **toodles23** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 3:00 am

GetItDone wrote:LeBron sub par performance again.

He doesn't even look like he's trying.

Every time Lebron has a bad game, this is what people say. It's possible to try and still not play well. I thought he tried plenty hard enough - his "passiveness" in the first half was because he was barely touching the ball for long stretches, and in the 2nd half, he was just missing shots.

And yeah, Lebron's clearly tired. It's really hurt his ability to finish in the paint, something he's struggled to do since the Chicago series. He doesn't really have much quickness or lift right now. His only real hope is that he gets hot with his jumper, which doesn't look particularly likely - I thought his shot looked weird tonight, he changed his form on every shot, and even his 2 made jumpers didn't look that smooth or confident. Whether Miami wins the title or not, this has to be considered a disappointing playoff run for Lebron. I'm looking forward to next season, to see what he does after having a real offseason.

My bet is that Miami comes out guns blazing and takes game 6, only to come up short in game 7.

therealbig3 · Post #415 » by **therealbig3** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 3:09 am

Honestly, my feeling is "whatever" about this game. SA needed this a hell of a lot more than Miami, because they couldn't afford to go into Miami down 3-2.

Of course, I think Miami has a really tough uphill battle to fight now, because they obviously haven't shown the ability to beat this Spurs team 2 straight times. But they have HCA, after taking the one game in SA that they needed. I think this might be better for Miami, because their back is against the wall now, and we all know that they play WAY better as a result, especially LeBron.

I don't even think his game was that horrible today. He wasn't annoyingly passive like he was in games 1-3, he just missed shots. Can't really do anything about it when you're aggressive but your shots aren't falling. I thought he was fine...Miami's defense was the real problem. They never slowed SA down and let them shoot almost 60% for the entire game. They're not going to win with defense that porous. Throwback games for Manu and Duncan, Parker had a monster game, Green continues his historic shooting, and Leonard was great tonight as well. Every player in their starting lineup was fantastic tonight.

The most concerning thing for Miami though is that Wade was very good tonight as well. What are the chances that Wade is going to keep playing well? Not very high, imo.

GetItDone · Post #416 » by **GetItDone** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 3:19 am

Some of you need to stop with the excuses fro him and what not. The "tired" and just saying he playing "ok" or "fine".

I am a LeBron fan and this the same guy being compared to guys like MJ and Magic. A guy who shot close to 60% in the regular season and dominated. He has simply not dominated at all this series and has played below HIS average. Maybe his play is good comparable to other guys, but not of the stature a GOAT candidate should be playing.

NaturalThunder · Post #417 » by **NaturalThunder** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 3:29 am

GetItDone wrote:Some of you need to stop with the excuses fro him and what not. The "tired" and just saying he playing "ok" or "fine".

I am a LeBron fan and this the same guy being compared to guys like MJ and Magic. A guy who shot close to 60% in the regular season and dominated. He has simply not dominated at all this series and has played below HIS average. Maybe his play is good comparable to other guys, but not of the stature a GOAT candidate should be playing.

I think this is where you draw the line when reading what other people are posting on here about him after Finals games. I'm having to do the same thing as you, because the excuses and "nothing wrong with that game" comments I've seen a few times in this thread over the last week or two are rubbing me the wrong way, but only because I'm personally holding him to the standard set by the very best to ever play the game. If you look at it separately, though, I can see some validity in what some people are posting. But if you want to compare him to Jordan (which seemed to become common not just on here this year, but on other boards and in the media) then you better expect some criticism after a game like tonight.

Yes, the 25-8-4 stat line looks good, and he wasn't getting touches in the first half. But he was back to passive/standing in the corner mode some during the 2nd half tonight, and was something like 2/10 or 2/11 from the floor in the 2nd half. Yes, he was worse in games 2 and 3, but he was not good tonight. Wouldn't describe the game as "bad" but when comparing him to the other "best of the best" it was another underwhelming game.

And that's become the best way for me to describe LeBron in the Finals at this point in his career: LeBron James is a consistently underwhelming Finals performer.

D.Brasco · Post #418 » by **D.Brasco** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 4:14 am

MJ had a pretty crappy by his standards finals in '96 and the Bulls still came away. It doesn't really matter overall whether he's been up to his regular season standards just that he can get his team to a win. That's really all that matters in terms of legacy.

Chalky White · Post #419 » by **Chalky White** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 4:23 am

D.Brasco wrote:MJ had a pretty crappy by his standards finals in '96 and the Bulls still came away. It doesn't really matter overall whether he's been up to his regular season standards just that he can get his team to a win. That's really all that matters in terms of legacy.

Not comparable in the slightest.

E-Balla · Post #420 » by **E-Balla** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 4:24 am

He should've taken a back seat to Wade but playing bad (2-11 in the second half including many missed layups) in inexcusable. Especially with Diaw on him. He actually took 2 contest shots with Diaw on him instead of driving.

Slightly OT but who wins Finals MVP for each team if this continues. If Miami wins at this rate (with D Wade outplaying him in both games) it could be close and Green/Parker are close too.