Kilroy wrote:tamaraw08 wrote:Landsberger wrote:
It reminds me of "late career Jordan". Still one of the best players but that gap had closed quite a bit. Bron is very ball dominant and feels comfortable with everyone playing off his ability to get to the basket. Little in the way of offside motion when he's on the floor.
If we're keeping he and Davis we need a coach that runs a motion offense that has enough juice to tell LeBron it's time to be part of a team and have the team be part of you.
OMG, lebron comes back and now he is the problem? Was he to blame when with the horrible losses to Houston, Dallas and NY too?
I am not saying his game is flawless, yes, those iso plays and horrible 3pt shots makes me sick too but it is possible that you guys ar cherry picking?
Beat top teams like Denver 2x, beat the Bucks, Memphis, Kings, great come back vs Dallas on the road.
Boston needed OT's, twice to be beat them same with the Sixers, most of these was having to work with the ill fitting Russ, was the he problem too back then?
This particular game, Bulls shot 45% from 3, 54% FG, was James to blame, really?
AD had horrible/passive games before, with or without Lebron. There are people who tend to relax when there are other good hard workers around, and it's very possible too that AD is very exhausted. This guy is not built to work very hard for like 15-25 games straight.
Again I am not saying Lebron's style has a negative effect to this team, sure, he tends to hold the ball too much and affect the flow but for me, it's also about getting familiar with new teammates and working with a rookie coach.
About keeping Lebron and DAvis, I hope and PRAY, that Rob will not extend them after 2025. I anticipate a regressing James and AD by that time, so hopefully, they would have a few solid players to complement the new Free agents by that time.
We were a sub-500 team with essentially no shot at the playoffs with LeBron leading and AD out... Lebron's game is fine in a vacuum, but he's the leader of this team and it's time for him to accept he can't carry a team to the playoffs by himself anymore... He needs AD to do most of the heavy lifting and he needs his shooters to stay engaged... And he needs to play Defense and not watch as Pat Bev torches him to the basket...
And can someone explain to me why every time there's a game (with the Lakers or previous teams) where you think heading in that, "LeBron's going to light it up tonight!!!" Lebron comes out flat and seems to take the team with him? Every time we have a big game... Christmas, Play-in, whatever... If it's a huge game, LeBron comes out flat every time and takes pretty much until the second half to get going... Why?
The only time he shows any intensity from tipoff is in the playoffs and even then, there's been a few closeout games we seemed to sleep walk through the first half...
I don't think Lebron is that stupid to know that he can't carry this team alone. At age 26, he left his home team to team up with 2 superstars, most of his haters called him a colluder.
He comes back to Cleveland knowing Kyrie would be there plus a top pick which was traded for a guy who averaged 26pts and 12.5 rebs from Minnesota.
After one year here, he recruited Anthony Davis. When they won it all, Lebron actually took less attempts/game in the playoffs with Davis taking 17 shots/game.
The guy is 38 years old, it takes time to get his rhythm back, Kobe quit at 37. It's been well documented that he usually struggles shooting the ball after 3+ days rest (42.2%) as compared to back to backs (52.2%).
When he came back, he came from the bench and let the starters get their rhythm and only took 11 shots. This particular game they lost because of bad defense, Bulls getting hot and them committing 18 turnovers with AD just taking 8 shots. It's very easy to blame one player why AD just had 8 attempts but I remember Ewing and Shaq yelling that at their teammates if they don't get enough touches, you wont see AD doing that. I strongly believe Davis is exhausted and not built to play 20-25 straight games.
You think AD should lead this team in the playoffs? If they have 2-3 days rest between games, yes, but if not, no I don't think so.