LABron James Discussion: Olympics MVP

It was just a shooting drill but LeBron looked quick. Those are little things that tell a lot.

 

Lakers Twitter is grilling Ham for suggesting exactly this.

I unironically like it

Lebron at the 5 is a great tool to have in the modern NBA. It’s not something we want to put a 21 year veteran through on a regular basis, but against certain matchups it absolutely makes sense.

 

People often ask me... "Zen, why do you hate Bacon Pimple Goblin so much?"... I don't know what to tell them.




Goddamn moron's gonna butcher this season.

 

Bron isn't 30. You have to hide him on D and limit his time dribbling the ball in order to be effective. He has one foot in the grave already. This is absurdity!












I keed. But not a fan of Bron at the 5 unless the other team went super small. I don't see the advantage the other way around really.

 

lebron at the 5 has and will always be such a f***ing stupid idea

 

Lebron at the 5 just destroys the defense and plus why do it?
You have Wood at the 5 and even Hayes - doesn't make sense and we have enough sample size that especially in the regular season Lebron is not going to put the energy out like he did against Denver to make it work

 

I'm hoping, like in other cases, this is a Ham gets in front of the media and can't quit talking thing but last season makes you wonder. As you stated LeBron isn't putting out energy in the regular season on defense. Getting harder to hide him. Where do you put a statue on defense?...lol. Slight exaggeration but not much.

 

Well said. Riley’s statements sound more like those of an incoherent, bumbling old man with a lot of power instead of a sound minded basketball legend.

 

yeah, teams play even smaller than that, and if they're hurting you doing so, going to bron at center might be a trump card. i think people forget how big he is. obviously, you don't want this to be a staple lineup, in part because the center actually has a lot of defensive responsibilities (we hide lebron on defense by playing him at the 4, not the 5).

bron isn't worse defensively at the 5 than wood and hayes have been for their careers. this is sad but true.

 

Lebron at center with Rui and Vando at the forwards work. But if you bump a guard up to a forward, Lebron at C won’t work. The lack of rebounding killed those lineups last season.

 

https://x.com/JamesEdrick3/status/1710031831905505631?s=20

 

right. that was insane. if you play three guards, your two bigs have to be big. and honestly, bigger than our preferred two bigs. no three guard lineups anymore, please, for the love of god. our "smallball" lineups should be smaller at the big spots and bigger at the small spots.

lebron/rui/vando or prince/reaves/christie against smaller second units could be really effective, imo.

 

LeBron James said Thursday he will not play in the Los Angeles Lakers preseason opener against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday

 

Lebron at C just ain't going to work unless you put Wood in and call him a 4. Maybe in the playoffs but he's just not going to put the effort in the regular season.
If this was Lebron at age 31 with this team: hell yeah go for it - he's Draymond Green on steroids essentially but as bad as Wood and Hayes is on defense they at least will put in effort to move. Lebron at the 5 last year he was a statue and I don't see any reason for that to change this year.

Lebron aint' going to kick it on defense till the playoffs and it's a gamble that worked - he was a very good defender yet again in the playoffs. A bit depressing TBH as he was maybe the best solo defender against both Jokic and Murray.

 

He wants to play about half of them, fine by me.

 

^^^
Max Christie ‘is a dog’
The most common question for each player during their media availability over the first week of training camp? Some version of “Who has stood out most during camp?”

For Hayes, the answer to that inquiry was obvious.

“Max Christie,” Hayes said. “Max Christie is a dog. Max Christie is a dog. His game has stood out a lot to me. I watched him in Summer League. Obviously, Summer League is one thing playing against younger guys. He’s come out here and just kept the same energy and the same mentality so he’s been killing it.”

As Christie said during Media Day, the feedback he’s received is reassuring, but his primary focus in camp is establishing himself as a constant in the rotation. Ham, who will likely be deciding between Christie and Cam Reddishfor the backup shooting guard spot, laid out what he wants to see from Christie.

“He’s already competitive,” Ham said. “He has to have a defensive focus and just the right way offensively, which he does. And really turn up the aggression. He’s one of our most athletic players. He’s done a phenomenal job of working on his body this summer, too. He’s added some muscle. He can shoot it, just simplify — shoot the 3 when you’re open, when you put it on the floor make sure you’re going downhill if you’re not going into another action with a teammate.

“That’s what he can do: stay competitive, defend like there’s no tomorrow, keep it simple but yet aggressive offensively.”

Christie’s defense earned him rotation minutes in January last season. With the roster lacking a lockdown perimeter stopper, Christie’s path to regular minutes will likely stem from his value on that end of the floor. Ham views him as a multi-positional wing who can take on various types of assignments.

“Absolutely,” Ham said. “He has that capability and he’s solid. He doesn’t play outside of himself. You give him some marching orders and he’s going to execute whether it’s an individual assignment or where he has to be within concepts of team defense. A really, really smart kid. High IQ and really just solid all around.”