Protoss wrote:Doctor MJ wrote:[1] Wow. So you think that the guy who went to Miami to win as many titles as possible, and who has won back-to-back titles as the best player in the land, is purposefully NOT racking up the most glamorous kind of stats in order to stat pad to the detriment of his team?
[2] Feels like you're just round the bend. You have certain expectations for how LeBron ought to go about playing, and no about of data will be enough for you to become convinced that you're wrong.
Along those lines, I don't really know what to give to try to convince you.
[3] Oh and relating to what you asked for - the problem with that data is that it doesn't account for the state of the game. Obviously if LeBron's on the bench because of a blowout, that shouldn't be held against him. I can tell you though that with the game on the line last year, the Heat had an ORtg of 120.7 and a DRtg of 87.1 with LeBron out there, which is about the equivalent of blowing out the other team by 30 points.
1 - I disagree that when LeBron is scoring, it's "detrimental" to the Heat. He is their best player on both sides of the court, and also one of the most efficient in the NBA. Why does he take fewer than 3-4 field goals in some quarters? Look at the game going on right now. LBJ has taken 3 shots and the Heat might score fewer than 40 pts in the first half against the Magic. I know it's a regular season game, and some players have off-games, but it's something I think happens way too often.
2 - LBJ's biggest strength is still his scoring and passing. His teammates aren't as good at scoring as him. I prefer he "take over" games more often. I also believe that players don't take more than 23 shots often (except maybe Melo and Kobe) because it's expected they don't. What if the best shots on the floor are still for them to keep shooting? If it were accepted that some superstars score 35 PPG without being labeled ballhogs, I see no reason why LBJ and KD couldn't. They are much, muchbetter than anyone else.
I'm not the one accusing detriment, you are. You spoke of LeBron stat padding, and you spoke of it in the context of believing he was capable of doing something better. You are thus alleging that he is sabotaging his team so that he individually looks better.
And that's clearly crazy. One does not stop doing the most individually glamorous thing there is in order to make oneself look better.
Now from the other things you say, I glean that what you actually mean is that you think LeBron coasts when he can. Okay, and what of it? Everyone conserves energy when they can.
I could understand a rational complaint more if LeBron's scoring was far below other stars' volume...but it isn't. He's 3rd in the league in scoring. So he's scoring comparably to his peers, yet he alone draws your ire. Why?
Presumably because:
1) LeBron specifically at times makes it so easy-looking that it's clear to you when he conserves energy.
2) More generally, probably because you aren't seeing volume scoring tendencies as part of a general trend. We haven't moved away from 35 PPG scoring out of some politically correct duty to let everyone have a shot, it's happening because it's a more effective way to play offense.
So the ideal you're holding LeBron to would seem to speak to an idealization of what amounts to bad basketball strategy.
Of course, all that said, there is something real to be said for LeBron more than anyone else in a long time seeming to have the ability to defy those convention. Perhaps the Heat would actually be better off if he applied a more old world approach to basketball, eh?
But then I would also point out that LeBron's team has won the last two titles and they've been monstrously successful in close games now that they've finally, successfully re-defined their offensive strategy into something extremely new world. So while I wouldn't be so bold as to say that LeBron's doing everything exactly as he should, I don't think there's really any leg to stand on to say he's playing "bad basketball".
Well done. Yeah, I also don't believe that Durant made a huge jump in his ability to create shots; he's certainly done a better job of directly setting up his teammate than he did in the past; but in terms of where and how he gets his shots, his game is still mostly the same, in essence. It's also the same in approach; the dynamic in OKC is still Westbrook first, then Durant where pressuring the defense is concerned (this is not to say that Westbrook is the better player, of course).
