The LeBron James Thread

[SoxFan01605]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

LeBron had the talent and FAILED! what's your excuse now Heat/LeBron bandwagon fans???

Where are Heat bandwagon fans? If anything, there seems to be more bandwagon haters than fans...lol.

The Heat and Lebron will be fine. They've got a year together under their belt and should be able to learn from this. The "big three" didn't play as well as they could have in the finals, but let's not act like they're all of a sudden scrubs. They came within 2 games of winning it all. It's not like they were bounced in the first round...goodness.

[LionsFanNJ]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Man, too me it seems LeBron has all the talent in the world, but when it comes down to it, he's not that finishing instinct that a lot of the greats have. He seems somewhat hesitant to be agressive. Yet i'm reminded of the LeBron that dropped 25 straight on Detroit at the Palace. Where is that LeBron?

[pietasterp]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Man, too me it seems LeBron has all the talent in the world, but when it comes down to it, he's not that finishing instinct that a lot of the greats have. He seems somewhat hesitant to be agressive. Yet i'm reminded of the LeBron that dropped 25 straight on Detroit at the Palace. Where is that LeBron?

Well, I think that had as much to do with Detroit's defense (or lack thereof) as it did with a great performance by LeBron...Don't get me started on Flip Saunders' defensive "schemes"...

[BlastX21]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

The Heat and Lebron will be fine. They've got a year together under their belt and should be able to learn from this. The "big three" didn't play as well as they could have in the finals, but let's not act like they're all of a sudden scrubs. They came within 2 games of winning it all. It's not like they were bounced in the first round...goodness.

This. Its really a shame that after hitting all kinds of clutch shots to get them to the finals, and beating two top three defenses on the way, LeBron will only be remembered for not being a ballhog against the Mavs.

[HMcCoy]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

This. Its really a shame that after hitting all kinds of clutch shots to get them to the finals, and beating two top three defenses on the way, LeBron will only be remembered for not being a ballhog against the Mavs.

MIAMI -- Speaking at the Heat’s practice on Saturday, LeBron James was given the chance to explain his shooting woes in the Finals. His answer was interesting.

“One thing about me, you just be aggressive,” LeBron said. “And when you have the shot, you take them. Some of the same shots I've taken in the other series, they went in. They're not going in for me right now; that won't deter me from taking that opportunity once I get them again.”

Herein lies the problem.

This 25-footer was LeBron James' latest attempt at hero-ball.
Back in the Chicago and Boston series, LeBron hit some impossibly tough shots with the game on the line. He played hero, nailing every pull-up jumper, every fadeaway, every ill-advised shot. He hit them all.

When hero-ball goes well, it's addictive. As we’re seeing now in the Finals, it’s the hardest of basketball drugs to kick. All the roaring crowds, the perpetual highlights on "SportsCenter," the chest bumps from teammates? That is a high. And LeBron wants to feel that way again.

So in Game 5, when LeBron pulled up from 25 feet with Jason Kidd guarding him and the Heat down by two points with a shade under two minutes remaining, that is LeBron desperate for his next fix. That is pure hero-ball.

There were 10 seconds left on the shot clock, but instead of driving against the 38-year-old Kidd, James pulled the trigger on a shot that would have given the Heat the lead. He fell prey to the dramatics. After the shot release, LeBron kept his right hand high, holding his follow-through for all to see when the ball splashed through the net.

And the ball clanked off the back rim.

Those aren’t high-percentage shots, but they are electrifying when they go down. I mean, look at these shots he hit against Boston in Game 5. There is absolutely no difference between those shots and the one he took against Dallas in Game 5 -- except for the result.

“So the same shots that he gets talked about [for],” Dwyane Wade said Saturday, “missing the 3 here, missing the 3 there, shouldn't have took that, should've attacked -- it's the same shot he hit against Boston at the end to close it out, two big 3s.”

This is troubling. Wade justifies James’ current shot-taking purely because LeBron hit similar shots in the past. Hero-ball has this effect. No matter how many times LeBron or Wade hit backbreaking 3-pointers in Chicago or against Boston, it is still a low-percentage shot, and one of the lowest on the totem pole of Good Idea shots from LeBron or Wade.

Of course, everyone’s piling on LeBron now for his propensity to settle for 3-point jumpers instead of driving to the basket. But these shots are nothing new. The poor decision-making was there all along, but most people were blinded by the results. But not everyone.

When James took down the Celtics, TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott wrote, “In knocking off the Celtics, LeBron James hit some tough contested 3s, which delighted many but left me doing that little low, whistle-under-your-breath thing. Lucky. A 33 percent 3-point shooter hitting two guarded 3s go in in a row, that's not greatness. That's rareness.”

Hero-ball flared up in the Chicago series, and in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, but now it’s coming back to bite them. After the Heat took the first game in this series, I set off the warning sirens, saying that hero-ball shot-making wasn’t sustainable. Even though LeBron and Wade rationalize these shot attempts by claiming they’ve hit them before, it still doesn’t make it sound basketball. This hero-ball addiction is something they’ll have to shed if they want to win the next two games.

Because sometimes, the only thing that separates a hero and a fool is the result.

LeBron James and the hero-ball drug

[arsenal123gunners]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

This. Its really a shame that after hitting all kinds of clutch shots to get them to the finals, and beating two top three defenses on the way, LeBron will only be remembered for not being a ballhog against the Mavs.

ONLY remembered? Yeah, right, the guy tanked it for his team

[celg35]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

the guy didn't tank. his stats surely didn't say he tanked.....last time i remembered, its a team sport.

[lisinas]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

LOL I love this forum
like year ago i was hatin on LJ here on these forums ,not really hatin but pointing out facts that all his points come from his physical ability , that he doesnt have that killer instinct , he isnt very skilled , all he does is uses his amazing body and his amazing athleticism to score points , but most of this forum replied to me like i have no knowledge of basketball and that i probably havent seen him play , that he is very skilled and body and his athleticism is almost nothing to his game
now all of the sudden when he failed (kinda ? Not really) everybody here starts hatin on him , that he doesnt have skill or anything , all he does is uses his body and bla bla bla
Come on guys , have your opinion. Thats not the first time this happened in this forum and i truly hate it .
P.S Some of you even compared him to Jordan and some of you EVEN SAID HE IS BETTER
And now all of the sudden...

[seasprite]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

the guy didn't tank. his stats surely didn't say he tanked.....last time i remembered, its a team sport.

Did you happen to even watch the finals? He most definitely tanked and his stats show it. He averaged 9 points less than his season ppg and that is the highest drop off in history........tanked

[LingeringRegime]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

982 pages only? I thought we would be well into the 1,000's, after this Finals were over.

Someone really needs to reach out to him (LeBron) at this point, and help him handle things on and off the court. For everything he has physically, mentally he is just as deficient. Not saying that he is unintelligent (far from it), but some of the things he says indicate that he just doesn't understand the bigger picture.

I would really like to see Charles Barkley reach out to him, because his production could possibly get worse going forward. First thing I would tell him is to cut out all the social media. Focus on the game of basketball, and to hell with all the global icon stuff. That will come once you get a handle on who you are as a man as a player. He still is a young guy, who has never had anyone stand up to him that he respects. This is what he needs most right now imo.

[tehova]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

so will the hate for lebron be just for this season, or is this for the rest of his career?

[TheMatrix31]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

The hate for LeBron, Wade, and Bosh will last for much longer than this season. Why? Because their actions on and off the court have made it impossible to like them. Unless they do some growing up real ****in' quick, stop the charades, stop the manufactured nonsense, stop the flopping, stop the whining, stop the whoring, it'll last for a long *** damn while.

[Jasong7777]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

so will the hate for lebron be just for this season, or is this for the rest of his career?

The rest of his life. The hate will transfer over to his kids and their kids.

[seasprite]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

so will the hate for lebron be just for this season, or is this for the rest of his career?

After his comments last night about people waking up and having their same personal problems, I would say the hate from people will continue. I dont hate the guy, but comments like that make it hard to really like the guy imo.

[Drewski]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

The hate for LeBron, Wade, and Bosh will last for much longer than this season. Why? Because their actions on and off the court have made it impossible to like them. Unless they do some growing up real ****in' quick, stop the charades, stop the manufactured nonsense, stop the flopping, stop the whining, stop the whoring, it'll last for a long *** damn while.

Actually, I think Bosh comes out of this season/post-season gaining alot of respect from people who lumped him in with the Bron/Wade stigmas. I know I don't have any "hate" towards the guy, I don't expect many people to lay into the guy through the summer. LeWade on the other hand... that presser didn't help