LABron James Discussion: The Final Year?

i don't get this 1, why is huerter lebrons man on this play?

 

I think it's fair to blame Lebron here but it was a weird defensive setup. They had Westbrook on Barnes instead of Lebron as the setup? Not sure what defense they were trying to run frankly

 

On his last 3 point shot he did go in the paint and it completely clogged and then moved outside to get away from the inside trap. The whole offense was terrible once the Kings brought their starters back in and Ham took out Schroeder to try to shore up the D

 

I also feel like I’m AD’s absence I’ve seen plays go the other way; Bryant or Gabriel are spaced out to the perimeter, so the opposing ball handler blows by their matchup and have a wide open path to an uncontested lay-up. And afterwards players are looking around as if they had expected Lebron to drop down into the paint (the way he did on this possession) to anchor the defense as if he was the small ball 5.

I saw that play as a miscommunication/scheme issue, not laziness or stat padding. Laziness might make a little more sense, but the suggestion that Lebron was trying to pad his rebounding stats in a crunch time scenario is asinine.

 

i mean, i guess it's possible that gabriel's assignment could have been "guard both guys on your side while lebron guards nobody", but i doubt it?

to me, lebron is tracking huerter to start the action, then falls off. if i'm gabriel, i'm not expecting to have to pick up the guy cutting out from the lane to the 45 when lebron is standing at the elbow and i'm on the baseline. if that's a defensive design, it's a bad design.

looked to me like lebron lost huerter, and by the time he found him and pointed at him for gabriel to cover his a**, it was too late.

 

Getting his a** down low and trusting his midrange J more is an alternative

 

but that's not how a play like that works. it's not like if gabriel were prime scottie pippen he'd have contested that shot. you can't have a weak link against modern nba offenses.

 

It’s a pet peeve of mine when fans oversimplify the situation to “LeBron needs to drive more” when clearly the paint is super congested. But you’re right, there are probably better alternatives to our atrocious crunch time offense then just chucking perimeter shots or driving into a brick wall of defenders.

We should be trying to get more creative with Lebron playing off the ball. Have him set up in the post, or even be the roll man in the P&R. Like maybe offensively he SHOULD be playing more as the “small ball 5” role in AD’s absence rather than the PG in these scenarios.

 

As a small ball 5 , yes there should be more Westbrook - Bron PNR

One thing is sure : the " my turn , your turn to play iso in the clutch" is a disaster

 

All I saw Westbrook do in crunch time was get himself into trouble - got stuck in the lane among the trees and try desperate passes after that. He's turned into a bizarro late career Shaq like player: pretty good during the first 44 minutes of a game but in crunch time against good teams you just don't what do with him or in the Lakers injured state without him.

 

I’ve noticed in a few recent games that when teams switch to zone against us we’ve struggled to penetrate into the centre of the floor.

A big reason for that is our three best drivers don’t have 3 pt shots in Lebron, Russ and Schroeder. So it means when they’ve got the ball at the top of the key the zone doesn’t stretch out to pick them up because of the long ball danger.

This is something we’re gonna have to figure out a counter for.

 

*cough*rozier*cough*

 

We just won't agree on Rozier. When his shot isn't falling, he is a negative on the court. His shot has shown to be up and down throughout his career (similar to Ariza) and he has lost it this year. On top of that he just isn't that good of a finisher at the rim.

 

we won't. not sure how he's up and down as a shooter except this year. he wasn't a 3pt shooter his first two seasons (few attempts, low %). since he started taking them, he's shot 38, 35, 41, 39, and 37% from deep. he's shooting poorly this year as the sole offensive creator, a role he's not suited for. he wouldn't be in that role here. but what he definitely CAN do is the thing you just asked for (present a threat to punish you from deep as well as make plays). you think teams will leave him like they do schroder? i do not.

anyway, as i said before, i think everyone would be on board with fred vanvleet, whose career three point percentage is nearly identical to rozier's (and is also having a down year), who's the same age, who's similarly defensively meh, and who's a FA likely to get paid substantially more by someone next year. guessing people would give up a 1st for him when rozier could be had for no firsts, imo.

 

On another note...I take my shots at Lebron on occasion, but I have to put this out there.

Over the last 4 seasons....

Lebron 38...has played in 203 games

Kawhi 31... has played in 109 games

Paul George 32...has played in 164 games

Anthony Davis 29.. has played in 163 games.

The old man is still a physical marvel IMO.

 

Guess we're going for it tonight

 

You need to chill the f out