Oh, it's deja vu. LeBron, for the 2nd year straight, has met a defensive powerhouse that is daring him to shoot from the outside, and for the 2nd straight year, it's working.
Watching the Celtics absolutely lock down LeBron has been a little frustrating for me, because this happened last year.
My buddies, who I've watched these games with, have claimed that LeBron's inability to shoot a long range jumper is the difference between him and Kobe Bryant.
To me, that is a difference, but not the difference.
I've wondered to myself for all of these past two games why LeBron insists on trying to attack the paint against a team packing it in and living with him shooting long range jumpers.
It doesn't add up. It just seems like a lost cause, and it has been so far.
How about this Mr. James...Post up! You are 6'8 and weigh 260 pounds according to recent reports. That is Elton Brand size. That is Carlos Boozer size.
He has every bit the size, length, strength, touch and footwork of those guys, plus even greater quickness and better passing awareness upon receiving double teams.
Why hasn't he, or those around him, figured this out yet?
Instead of conforming to what fans want him to do by developing the shot of a shooting guard, he needs to go the opposite way and use his strengths. Develop the post game of a power forward.
This would counter-balance different defensive schemes thrown at him. He is practically already there too, he just needs to become comfortable doing it.
The bottom line is this. LeBron is a decent shooter, but people need to stop trying to make him into something he isn't going to be.
Don't get me wrong either, he is a small forward for the duration, but for pinches like this where defense gets tough, he needs to get down on the block and abuse these small forwards who simply won't be able to check him down low.
He has all the tools of a great post player, but those tools are being wasted. What a shame.
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5 months ago
What is interesting is that, in the limited times that I've seen LeBron post up smaller defenders in the block, he has had incredible success.
I would love to see LeBron catch the ball and operate only 6 feet away from the basket instead of trying to shake two defenders from 30 feet away as he has been in this Celtics series.
But how scary is it that LeBron has no post game and is just a streaky outside shooter and still led the league in scoring? The sky's the limit
from 5 months ago
You also have to remember that he is a mediocre free throw shooter as well. It seems like someone with a completely one dimensional offensive game like LeBron would struggle more often, but teams can rarely stop his drive.
5 months ago
I will never u nderstand how people can see a player like LeBron or Dirk doubled and tripled as they are and then be blamed for not beating the tema by themsleves.
People expect them to be able to do this.. that's not how basketball works. ANY player can be tken out of a game if their teammates don't hit shots to take the pressur eoff them. It doesn't matter who they are.
Michael Jordan didn't win a championship until he was 28 years old for this reason. Do you think Jordan wasn't good enough to lead a tema to a championship then? Of course he was good enough.. ti was his team that finally got good enough around him to aloow him to win those championships.
People said the exact same thign aobut Dirk when the Warriors upset them.. and just like LeBron Dirk would try to post Stephen Jackson or the other defenders up and the warriors would send 2 or 3 guys at him and just take the ball out of his hands.. it doesn't matter how great of a post player you are.. look at Shaq.. he ALSO didn't win a championship until he was 28. He had gretat clutch shooters to spread the floor for him to allow him to domiante like he did.. Horry was his power forward.. one of the best shooting bigmen ever. Horry has been on 6 championship teams spreading the floor with his clutch 3 point shooting at the power forward position.
But not only do you need great shooters.. you need a great coach like Phil jackson too..
I think they should be posting Born up more and having him pass out to Big Z.. Z is a good shooter for a big.. they could milk that all night..
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