LABron James Discussion: What Next?

I think LeBron needs to be the 3 defensively, not the 4. The difference between the 3 and the 4 defensively is really the difference between being a wing stopper vs. being the low man. I think LeBron is better at being the wing stopper, because it actually takes less effort. He's slowed down a ton laterally, but he still has the strength and smarts to stay in front of wing-sized ballhandlers, and he gets hyped up to defend in isolation. But when he's the low man, his responsibility is to help, rotate, provide supplemental rim protection and rebound when the 5 contests shots at the rim. That's when his wanting to conserve energy during the regular season really hurts us; he just won't do that stuff. That's why the LeBron/Rui at the 3/4 lineups counterintuitively worked better than the DFS/LeBron lineups in the regular season, because Rui is taking the low-man responsibilities in those lineups.

 

hmm...i've been under the impression that the 4 was the least taxing defensive spot. in part because it's rare your specific assignment is a handful and you're not designated as the last line of defense. but i guess it all depends on system, right?

 

Two GOAT’s.