5 Ways LeBron James Can Keep His Game Sharp During the Lockout

With the way NBA stars are coming out and openly offering their feelings on possibly playing overseas next season due to the lockout, it has come as a surprise that we have yet to hear anything too defining from LeBron James.

The Miami Heat star has been laying low since the team's Finals loss to the Mavericks and for good reason. He suffered one of the worst postseason series of his career by averaging only 17 points per game and shooting well below 50% as his team couldn't find any way to recover without him helping to lead the way.

James had helped the Heat annihilate the Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics, and Chicago Bulls for the past month with huge shots in the late moments of most of the Heat's victories against those three teams.

With the lockout in full effect and the high prospect that there's going to be no NBA season, players are going to either have to find work in a different country or just wait until this lockout ends and taking this as an unpaid vacation.

NBA players, including LeBron James, will have to find ways to keep their game sharp and possibly improve as well with all the newfound time.

After a difficult series against Dallas, LeBron should be taking full advantage of this offseason by getting in as much practice as possible to improve upon his subpar performance. Here are a few of those improvements that James could make over possibly the next year.

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Improve Jump Shot

With so much time to waste over possibly the next few months, perhaps even a year, LeBron James should attempt to improve the few offensive aspects of his game that could use some work.

One of those aspects that could use some work would be his inconsistent jump shot, which he relied on too heavily by the end of the Miami Heat's postseason run.

The Dallas Mavericks zone defense forced James into submission by causing him to shoot from the perimeter, but even before then, James would sometimes rely too heavily on or settle with a jump shot.

For someone as athletic as he is, he shouldn't be taking so many shots from beyond 15 feet, especially if it's a part of his game that he has yet to perfect. Until that shot becomes a consistent and reliable part of his game, LeBron should be looking to drive on every single possession and attempting to score as near to the basket as he could possibly get.

He's one of the NBA's greatest enforcers in the lane, as well as one of its best slashers, but he should continue to add some more weapons to an already volatile offensive repertoire.

If he can add a reliable jump shot to his game that extends as far out as the perimeter, he would easily be the league's top offensive player as well as reassuring that he is the league's best.

For now, the only consistent part of his game is his athleticism and that is an aspect that won't always be there to rely on.

Of course, James won't have to worry about that for awhile considering he's only 27 years old, but he will have to look for more ways to score than just driving in the future.

Over this lengthy offseason, James should continue to improve his jump shot. He has a deadly mid-range and deep game at times when he's in the zone, but it can sometimes fail him as it did in the Heat's NBA Finals loss.

When it was there helping the team in their series wins against Boston and Chicago, it should have also been reliable in their series against Dallas as well.

Stay Consistent in Pressure Situations

When you were 10 years old shooting on your hoop in your front yard, there was always that moment you would create where the ball was in your hands with only five seconds left on the clock and your team trailing by one.

You count down the seconds and let the ball go at exactly one where then you will decide if your imaginary team takes home the title.

I'm not saying that LeBron James should do this to build his confidence in pressure situations, but it would probably be fun to try.

NBA players get the moniker of being known as a clutch player for consistently coming up big in pressure situations. LeBron James might have come up huge during the teams Eastern Conference playoff run, but he failed to follow through with the sudden clutch gene once he reached the NBA Finals.

The combination of the Mavericks stubborn zone defense, the constant heckling from the Mavericks, and the pressure of nearing a championship got to James and the LeBron from seven years past made its ugly appearance.

Suddenly developing the ability to be clutch isn't something that you practice, it just happens to those that are mentally strong. There are those who are ready and live for the chance to be the hero and there are those that shy away and either pass up the shot or throw up a shot in desperation.

For the course of the regular season and years prior, James appeared to be that player to throw up desperation shots in pressure situations.

When James was hitting those shots against Boston and Chicago, he was confident with every shot he took. Even if the majority of the shots were taken from the perimeter, LeBron had the mentality that every shot was going to go in.

The confidence that he emits whenever he steps out on the court eventually led to him making the big shot and coming up as the hero.

Over the offseason, James is going to need to improve what he brings to the game mentally rather than physically. Maintaining consistency in clutch situations is going to be priority No. 1 for the two-time MVP.

Improve Post Game

Aside from his jump shot, LeBron James actually has an even bigger weakness when it comes to playing offense.

Despite standing at 6'8", weighing in at a little over 250 pounds, and having more athletic ability and strength than any other small forward in the league, James fails to use it in the post when he's not driving the lane.

LeBron can always rely on his driving and sometimes on his jump shots, but he lacks incredibly when it comes to developing a post game. It's a disappointment for someone of James' size to truly not take advantage of his situation by abusing opposing small forwards in the post.

He's basically in the same situation as Dwight Howard before he got some help from Hakeem Olajuwon, limited to power moves and thunderous dunks.

With so much time over the off season to improve, James could either call upon an NBA post legend to help him out, ask Dwyane Wade for some help, or he could just teach himself the art of the post game.

It's a craft that takes some time to work out considering that you're back is to the basket and that you naturally have to know where to shoot in the split second you turn around, so that the defender doesn't have enough time to react.

For the first time this season, it appeared that James was giving his post game an honest chance. It didn't particularly work because he gave up on it before he could even begin to perfect it.

James will have a long time to work on his game and adding some post moves, or just learning how to post up first, would make James even more of a multi-dimensional scorer.

Stay Home and Hone Your Craft

If everyone went overseas to play basketball, would you follow them?

There have been a number of players to go overseas when they hit tough times during their NBA tenure and only a few that have willingly picked to play there rather than staying in the organization with Josh Childress and Earl Boykins being the most well-known.

Now that the lockout has hit, the idea of possibly playing overseas has occurred to everyone from the 12th man at the end of the bench to former MVP's.

A number of lower-tier role players have already signed deals to play overseas, but no one expected current New Jersey Nets point guard Deron Williams to jump at the opportunity to play basketball in a different country.

By signing with Besiktas, a team based in Turkey, Williams has given the initiative to other All-Stars that they too could possibly sign overseas to make a statement to the owners that they're not ready to give in.

Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, and Dwight Howard just to name a few have all talked about the possibility of playing in a different country, but there hasn't been a word out of LeBron James when it comes to playing somewhere else outside of the States.

The former two-time MVP hasn't given any indication of what he's going to do once the lockout impacts the NBA season and has remained surprisingly quiet throughout this summer.

Staying quiet is actually the perfect thing James should be doing after failing to come through with a championship last season. It also seems as if LeBron isn't interested in going anywhere either to play the game he was born to play.

Even if his teammates or any other star players go overseas, James should use the lengthy off season to his advantage by using it work on his mental game rather than his physical.

Aside from perfecting his game and working out the kinks, James should take a break from the game and work on his confidence and his overall mentality when playing.

Possess the Mentality to Always Attack

When you're as naturally gifted as LeBron James is, you need to know how to utilize your strengths to your advantage.

James has done that very well in his first eight seasons, as he is clearly well aware that he's strong enough and fast enough to beat out any opposing defender. Teams have gone as far as putting the smallest guards to the tallest forwards on him as an attempt to find a way to limit James.

There really isn't a way for an individual to stop him, but he can be stopped if a team plays the right defense together as a unit as the Mavericks did in their Finals win.

By utilizing his freakish athleticism to his advantage, James has won two MVP awards, has advanced to two NBA Finals, and is currently regarded as one of the top players in the NBA today.

He is fast enough to make his way past opposing guards and is strong enough to bully opposing forwards of all sizes. James' athleticism is one of the greatest advantages a player possesses today and it's allowed him to become one of the league's most feared players.

However, sometimes James strays away from utilizing his athleticism. At times, LeBron will become too dependent on his inconsistent jump shot, which greatly affects the offense and the course of the game is run.

When he isn't attacking, teams will be able to regain their energy back on defense and will be able to maintain the same amount of energy on both sides of the ball rather than wasting it all on defense when chasing James around and trying to limit him around the basket.

Even against the toughest individual or team defenses, James needs to always possess the mentality that he can get to the rim by any means necessary. His athleticism is the strongest part of his game and he needs to take advantage of it at all times.

Unless he works on his jump shot so much that it's actually consistent, James needs to have the mentality that he can score near the rim on every offensive possession.