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Originally Posted by King Glorious
Of course you would think the best way to play him is to give him space. That's no different than Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan. I'm not saying he's as good a shooter as those two but you've got to try to take something away and that's got to be his driving. Why on earth would anyone want to play up on him and take away the jumper and allow him the driving lanes?
I'm actually surprised by the amount of criticism he gets. He easily scores 30 a night and if he wasn't so unselfish, could probably be up around 35-40. He single-handedly beat Detroit in the East Finals a couple of years ago and led his team to the championship series. Of all the teams to face the Celtics in the playoffs last year, his team played them the tightest and anyone that disagrees that that happened because of LeBron just doesn't know basketball. He's the reason guys like Gibson and Sczerbiak get the open shots they do. When he's going to the basket, he's getting the attention of every single defender. That's what enables their big guys to get offensive rebounds. I remember the same thing used to be true of Dominique Wilkins. His coaches would say that sometimes, a bad shot by Dominique was a good shot for the team because it led to offensive rebounds and easier shots. When guys are open, he finds them. He's the best passer in the league, including point guards. No doubt that he has weaknesses in his game. His defense could use some work. His jumper could use some work. He needs to shoot better from the line. But the Cavs would probably not finish in the upper half of the ACC without him.
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OK..now I'm upset.
I admit I am sure I don't know nearly as much as you...but some things are self evident.
Over time I have admitted that James is clearly far and way the best on the team. He's the best at driving the lane in the league and agree the best passer. Other things you mentioned go hand in hand with all that.
He's a bad 3 point shooter and takes far too many 3's. He's not good at the line...which diminishes he's driving ability. He's no special player on defense.He has more holes than I believe you may want to admit...he's also selfish most of the time. No guy who falls well below the league average in 3's should be taking so many 3's...for one thing.
Then about the Cavs without him. Of course they're not good....you can say that about a lot teams if all of a sudden their best player went poof! It's just a poor and unfair characterization. That said..the main reason the Cavs played Boston so well was team defense.....no way it was all James. There are some good players on that team. I didn't say all stars ,but people like to bash them as if they wouldn't even play 10 minutes for any other team.
James is what he is;a great athlete with a little more to go before he becomes a great player.He had one big game against Boston..the rest were not sa hot to horrible.