The Lebron Thread (2015-16 Pt. 3)

[Dupp]

Even though we had a million defensive breakdowns in the second quarter the supporting cast did enough today. This loss is pretty much all on lebron and i thought lue was pretty terrible too.

Just one of those things. The paint was packed and lebron was trying to find his shot but it wouldnt fall. Like you guys said i dont know what he did in the off season but he needed to address his jumper more. I think confidence is a major issue as we saw what happened game 3 with no pressure.

I think its pretty clear he worked on his handles in the off season but the jumper has gone bye. I assume he worked on it but not enough. Hope he doesnt go to the olympics and shoots 4000 times a day.

[MyUniBroDavis]

They're great, but beatable. Cleveland isn't a good matchup and tbh has been unimpressive.

Yeah all you need is all defensive nba team talent players at 4 positions...

And some athletic defenders. R Jeff isn't gonna cut it, and Kyrie can't defend to save his life. OKC could keep up with length and ball movement. Cleveland can keep up with Lebron and a ton of shooting.

Kyrie has been absolutely great on defense this series imo. I realize he wasn't the only guy getting curry, but he was doing a really, really good job at denying him the ball.

[Krodis]

Yeah all you need is all defensive nba team talent players at 4 positions...

And some athletic defenders. R Jeff isn't gonna cut it, and Kyrie can't defend to save his life. OKC could keep up with length and ball movement. Cleveland can keep up with Lebron and a ton of shooting.

Kyrie has been absolutely great on defense this series imo. I realize he wasn't the only guy getting curry, but he was doing a really, really good job at denying him the ball.

He's been a complete and utter disaster in literally every other respect on defense. Dying on picks, losing his man, getting beat backdoor, offering absolutely zero resistance on mismatches, not hustling back in transition. Watching the second half of the game last night it seemed like 80% of the Warriors baskets involved Kyrie screwing up somewhere. He's stayed with Curry, but I don't think his lateral quickness was ever the question. He's just a dumpster fire everywhere else on defense.

[makaveli_99]

Even though we had a million defensive breakdowns in the second quarter the supporting cast did enough today. This loss is pretty much all on lebron and i thought lue was pretty terrible too.

Just one of those things. The paint was packed and lebron was trying to find his shot but it wouldnt fall. Like you guys said i dont know what he did in the off season but he needed to address his jumper more. I think confidence is a major issue as we saw what happened game 3 with no pressure.

I think its pretty clear he worked on his handles in the off season but the jumper has gone bye. I assume he worked on it but not enough. Hope he doesnt go to the olympics and shoots 4000 times a day.

I don't know if its all on lebron, but it is pretty sad that he can't consistently hit open jumpers. He relies too much on driving to the rim, and GS knows that. He was too passive early on when he had opportunities to score.

The stats look good and all, if you did not watch the game, but pretty underwhelming performance for lebron today, did not expect him to go out like this. I think 8-10 of his points came in the last 1 minute, when GS let him drive to the rim.

21 shots in a must win game is just too little for my liking (4-5 of them in the last minute), and i know he likes to distribute, but he has to be more aggressive than that.

[Krodis]

I don't think aggressiveness is LeBron's problem, he's just not going to get very many good looks isolating against ser defenses as good as the Warriors are. If anything he's forcing it a little too much.

[makaveli_99]

They're great, but beatable. Cleveland isn't a good matchup and tbh has been unimpressive.

I know what you are saying by beatable..b/c OKC almost did it...but name 1 team other than OKC that has a shot of beating GS next year if fully healthy... i can't think of one (and no the spurs can't imo - just too old now, unless they revamp the roster). There's not a single team in the east that can beat GS in a 7 game series.

that's how scary GS is.

[te887848]

Tough finals loss for LeBron because he had a fully healthy squad this time, but unfortunately ran into the arguable GOAT team.

LeBron's lack of midrange game and jumper from 15-18 feet have made it tough to score against this elite Warriors defense. Can't keep a defense honest if you're unable to make or unwilling to take shots from that far out.

Shooting is the most essential, critical skill in basketball.

[Joao Saraiva]

I don't think aggressiveness is LeBron's problem, he's just not going to get very many good looks isolating against ser defenses as good as the Warriors are. If anything he's forcing it a little too much.

I feel it's more of a wrong approach with a lot of over dribbling in the post instead of faster movements.

Also at times there is too much passing to the perimeter when he's in good position. Gotta shoot those if there is no clear advantage in the perimeter.

[Joao Saraiva]

Even though we had a million defensive breakdowns in the second quarter the supporting cast did enough today. This loss is pretty much all on lebron and i thought lue was pretty terrible too.

Just one of those things. The paint was packed and lebron was trying to find his shot but it wouldnt fall. Like you guys said i dont know what he did in the off season but he needed to address his jumper more. I think confidence is a major issue as we saw what happened game 3 with no pressure.

I think its pretty clear he worked on his handles in the off season but the jumper has gone bye. I assume he worked on it but not enough. Hope he doesnt go to the olympics and shoots 4000 times a day.

I don't know if its all on lebron, but it is pretty sad that he can't consistently hit open jumpers. He relies too much on driving to the rim, and GS knows that. He was too passive early on when he had opportunities to score.

The stats look good and all, if you did not watch the game, but pretty underwhelming performance for lebron today, did not expect him to go out like this. I think 8-10 of his points came in the last 1 minute, when GS let him drive to the rim.

21 shots in a must win game is just too little for my liking (4-5 of them in the last minute), and i know he likes to distribute, but he has to be more aggressive than that.

Agree with almost everything except the amount of shots. I'd have no problem with it if the defense was collapsing and he was making the right passes. And that was not the case.

[afox]

Shooting is the most essential, critical skill in basketball. Of course, you have to show up in the 4th first...

[ShreddedBoi]

Reminder, the only way to get LeBron to commit to playing the 4 full time is to pair him with a 3 that can slide between the 3 and 4, and guard 4's for him. That's how Miami did it via Battier (and Rashard Lewis in 2014). I don't think Shumpert or Smith fit that mold, so it probably has to come via a pickup or trade.

LeBron needs to man up and start guarding 4s. I hate how whiny he is regarding this saying it is "too taxing." Making Battier who is smaller, less athletic, and weaker guard 4s because he is a whiny little brat that wants to play in the perimeter.

[lorak]

People are talking about LeBron being passive or his lack of jump shot and thus struggles. But the thing is another great scorer, with better shooting skills played vs the same Warriors team. And he didn't do too well either (as a scorer). So maybe all those people who criticize James should consider that GSW are elite defensive team and arguably the best team ever overall, so there's nothing surprising in losing to them or playing worst than against any other team. They simply are so good, that they make elite scorers look bad.

[bondom34]

They're great, but beatable. Cleveland isn't a good matchup and tbh has been unimpressive.

I know what you are saying by beatable..b/c OKC almost did it...but name 1 team other than OKC that has a shot of beating GS next year if fully healthy... i can't think of one (and no the spurs can't imo - just too old now, unless they revamp the roster). There's not a single team in the east that can beat GS in a 7 game series.

that's how scary GS is.

I think the Spurs or Clips have a shot. And GSW could still lose free agents.

[JulesWinnfield]

They're great, but beatable. Cleveland isn't a good matchup and tbh has been unimpressive.

I know what you are saying by beatable..b/c OKC almost did it...but name 1 team other than OKC that has a shot of beating GS next year if fully healthy... i can't think of one (and no the spurs can't imo - just too old now, unless they revamp the roster). There's not a single team in the east that can beat GS in a 7 game series.

that's how scary GS is.

The scarier thing is, they clearly weren't fully healthy. Steph Curry's PER doesn't drop over 25% from the regular season to playoffs (and his w/s per 48 cut damn near in half) simply because the pressure got to him, or because teams were better game planning. He is obviously not himself, and it didn't matter. Have we ever seen a team win a title with their best player having this big a playoff drop off compared to their regular season? Not to my recollection. They are a shell of the team they were all year and they're still going to wind up planting their flag atop the NBA mountain. Klay and Dray haven't had their best seasons yet either barring injury

[bondom34]

OK they're good but man oh man its getting a bit much. They're beatable. Just because the Cavs can't doesn't mean 2-3 west teams have no shot, and that's where I'd put it.

[JulesWinnfield]

OK they're good but man oh man its getting a bit much .

They are a 73 win back to back champ who just still won a title with their best player a shell of his regular season self. "They're good" is the understatement of the century

[bondom34]

OK they're good but man oh man its getting a bit much .

They are a 73 win back to back champ who just still won a title with their best player a shell of his regular season self. "They're good" is the understatement of the century

They're amazing. But they match up well with CLE, so this series being lopsided isn't any shock at all. They'd be a good series w/ the Spurs, Clips, and OKC. They avoided LAC entirely and went 7 with OKC.

And Curry being a "shell" of his RS self is due to opposition as well.

[JulesWinnfield]

OK they're good but man oh man its getting a bit much .

They are a 73 win back to back champ who just still won a title with their best player a shell of his regular season self. "They're good" is the understatement of the century

They're amazing. But they match up well with CLE, so this series being lopsided isn't any shock at all. They'd be a good series w/ the Spurs, Clips, and OKC. They avoided LAC entirely and went 7 with OKC.

And Curry being a "shell" of his RS self is due to opposition as well.

I personally don't think San Antonio matches up well at all (not to mention time is not on their side, even with a recent rebuild on the fly that will keep them highly competitive). We have to go back to the Mark Jackson era to make any case that the clips pose Golden State any problems at all. That's another lifetime ago. Not to mention the clippers have never shown themselves trustworthy in a big spot, their best player is aging and Blake is coming off a major injury and might have quite possibly already peaked because of that.

The Thunder have the best chance, but I'd be careful about reading into this year series as a sign that those two teams are as close as 7 games would indicate. And that's assuming Durant even stays

[bondom34]

They are a 73 win back to back champ who just still won a title with their best player a shell of his regular season self. "They're good" is the understatement of the century

They're amazing. But they match up well with CLE, so this series being lopsided isn't any shock at all. They'd be a good series w/ the Spurs, Clips, and OKC. They avoided LAC entirely and went 7 with OKC.

And Curry being a "shell" of his RS self is due to opposition as well.

I personally don't think San Antonio matches up well at all (not to mention time is not on their side, even with a recent rebuild on the fly that will keep them highly competitive). We have to go back to the Mark Jackson era to make any case that the clips pose Golden State any problems at all. That's another lifetime ago. Not to mention the clippers have never shown themselves trustworthy in a big spot, their best player is aging and Blake is coming off a major injury and might have quite possibly already peaked because of that.

The Thunder have the best chance, but I'd be careful about reading into this year series as a sign that those two teams are as close as 7 games would indicate. And that's assuming Durant even stays

The Clips darn near beat them multiple times this year. The Spurs were good against them too iirc, and OKC is younger with a lot more room for improvement. I'd be floored if KD left, they have a new coach, and were the youngest conference finalist in years (if not ever, can't remember). GSW may lose Ezeli, Barnes, then Iggy and Bogut w/ Livingston in a year. They're an atg team, but they're far from unbeatable, quite a few teams showed it this year. Just turned out the Cavs weren't one and despite me wanting them to win it looks like they're somewhat a product of a bad conference.

[therealbig3]

People are talking about LeBron being passive or his lack of jump shot and thus struggles. But the thing is another great scorer, with better shooting skills played vs the same Warriors team. And he didn't do too well either (as a scorer). So maybe all those people who criticize James should consider that GSW are elite defensive team and arguably the best team ever overall, so there's nothing surprising in losing to them or playing worst than against any other team. They simply are so good, that they make elite scorers look bad.

The thing is, Durant offensively isn't as good as LeBron at basically anything other than shooting the ball. LeBron with a reliable jumper (like he had in Miami) in addition to the other things he's able to do well would allow him to be much more effective against this defense imo.

They're basically daring him to shoot every time, and he's unable to capitalize.