Lebron's (lack of) blocks

Phreak50 · Post #1 » by **Phreak50** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 2:02 am

Hey all,

More an 'athletic defender' fan than a Lebron fan and not having watched Heat games this year, was wondering why James' blocks are so low?

He is usually close to a block a game for his career, yet suddenly is 0.3 this season.

Have his defensive assignments changed or is he just reserving gas in the tank for the offensive end suddenly?

Yaphet Kotto · Post #2 » by **Yaphet Kotto** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 2:41 am

Phreak50 wrote:Hey all,

More an 'athletic defender' fan than a Lebron fan and not having watched Heat games this year, was wondering why James' blocks are so low?

He is usually close to a block a game for his career, yet suddenly is 0.3 this season.

Have his defensive assignments changed or is he just reserving gas in the tank for the offensive end suddenly?

He is being asked to do WAY too much this year, Spo is gonna ride his horse til its dead

Post #3 » by **KingDavid** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 2:56 am

I dont think teams get anywhere near the amount of fastbreaks against us as they did against cleveland. Lbj has also been getting dunked on quite a bit. Theres reasons for his blocks being low. But it isnt sound defense for him to go for every block. Check again during playoffs.

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BballMania47 · Post #4 » by **BballMania47** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 3:23 am

LeBron is also very discipline with his defense, he would rather stay down and in front of his opponent instead of risking a foul for a highlight block. I wish some of our point guards would value this as well

CWebb2491 · Post #5 » by **CWebb2491** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 4:11 am

I've noticed Lebron isnt giving it all on defense this year. He might be saving him self for the playoffs. I've seen alot of him laying off when the opoonent gets near the rim, especially on fast breaks he used to be
famous for the chase down block from behind but thats been very rare this year.

Phreak50 · Post #6 » by **Phreak50** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 7:29 am

Yeah I was wondering if that was more the case. I simply don't buy any of this 'disciplined on d' stuff.

Chaos Engine · Post #7 » by **Chaos Engine** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 7:35 am

I've seen him not attempt nearly as many chasedowns as he usually does, even when he's in position to do so.

DWadeno3 · Post #8 » by **DWadeno3** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 10:20 am

He's just coasting more than in previous years defensively.

RSCD3_ · Post #9 » by **RSCD3_** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 1:39 pm

Chaos Engine wrote:I've seen him not attempt nearly as many chasedowns as he usually does, even when he's in position to do so.

A lot of the time a pg is running and chalmers or cole just stand under the rim watching which prevents wade and bron chasedowns

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thinktellectual · Post #10 » by **thinktellectual** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 2:17 pm

He's been coasting hard on D this season.
And I don't blame him. In fact, I am happy he seemed to be saving himself for the playoffs. He's been playing a lot of minutes lately, though, but hopefully all that coasting (especially on the defensive side) kept him relatively fresh. I think the load he had to carry with the Heat was far less than what he used to do with the Cavs, so even if he's a few years older I hope he'll be energized for the playoffs and ready to have the best playoff of his career.

whitehops · Post #11 » by **whitehops** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 7:19 pm

he's playing position on D mostly. seriously, he hardly even jumps to contest shots when he's on defense. he also doesn't contest that many shots at the rim.

pretty sure he's just conserving energy, I'm not too bothered with it.

Sign5 · Post #12 » by **Sign5** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 7:38 pm

Effort and playing consistent man defense. Even Wade who is usually at 1 block+ a game is at around half a block a game this season. I don't even see him try and block shots as frequently as he did in past years besides last night.

Constantly playing the passing lanes, trying to blocks shots + playing solid man defense is a rigorous task to ask from LeBron when he shoulders the offensive load and even Wade who is just now getting healthy. I think you'll see more spectacular chasedown blocks/highlights from both as the playoffs come around and they rev it up.

Sorkoram · Post #13 » by **Sorkoram** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 7:57 pm

DWadeno3 wrote:He's just coasting more than in previous years defensively.

Yeah, this is definitely what it is, especially given the defensive philosophies that Miami has. Trapping and closing out all game, while also being the weakside defender will tire a guy out.

Post #14 » by **kyphi** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 10:10 pm

Joel Anthony used to take care of it. Lebron is doing so much for this team this year that this seems somewhat trivial to focus on his lack of blocks.

King_John · Post #15 » by **King_John** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 12:14 am

kyphi wrote:Joel Anthony used to take care of it. Lebron is doing so much for this team this year that this seems somewhat trivial to focus on his lack of blocks.

I would call it nitpicking