LABron James Discussion: The Final Year?

12-15 shots per game

Put more effort on defense

Cut to the basket more

Let Reaves/Luka handle more of the ball-handling duties

If he can do that, it unlocks a new potential for this team.

It's a shame his 3P shot isn't falling because if he could knock down wide open threes, he'd be a huge threat.

Lakers suffer when LeBron holds onto the ball because it just makes having Luka/Reaves pointless. Those two at this point of their career can get to their shot quicker and better than LeBron can. He should be able to get 10 points just off cutting and fastbreak every game. LeBron's still played like AD was on the team so that was a big problem.

 

Old Man gets his flowers from me for that dive.
Moar of this and less of the bad shot selection.

 

The better play was Smarts steal right after the botched jump ball!!

 

I can’t believe that everything before the last couple of games has to be disregarded.
X is so lame- mostly for prisoner of the moment takes like this, every single day.
He is actually starting to fit in, unlike the majority of the season.
I deal in Truth, not fantasy.

 

Meh. He's also been ripped and wished to be gone from many all season way more than deserved, considering having no camp and missing so much at the start and needing to get up to speed. Then games when one of Luka or AR out and he organically in the game needs to spend time on ball at times or while the other creator sits. A lot of mind reading and projecting as well. Opinions .... we all got em.

 

Have to give it to him, he’s playing great as the third option. He was defending like a demon in the 4th, I saw him taking KD 1 on 1, defending Capela in the post, taking on Thompson on the perimeter. Switching onto anyone, fighting for loose balls.

Good stuff!

 

Stephen A. Smith calls out Charles Barkley for constant Lakers criticism: "Charles needs to calm down, stop whining"

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/articles/stephen-smith-calls-charles-barkley-065700907.html

 

Flowers again for the Old Man.
He played mostly great last night.

 

Some of the time sure, to what you're saying. But let's not forget a lot of the time after he came back one or the other of Luka or AR was out of the lineup (including Smart) and he of course was needed to be a second on ball creator, including at times in games where it developed organically and when one of the other guys sat with the rotations. It sure as hell wasn't Gabe fulfilling that role. And as I'll continue to say a lot of anti LeBron peeps reading his mind and/or projecting the worst selfish intentions about him.

 

well...again, right? because we looked good to start the year, too, and he seemed bought into the role briefly then, too. then adversity, then back to control.

but maybe he needed it proven to him again. i'll take it, though. getting after it defensively, falling in line on offense behind the two engines and being a connector/finisher/tertiary creator.

 

I think that’s a really great point. It’s not like the big 3 had played much together this year and everyone was calling for LeBron’s head saying he wasn’t deferring. As a second option running the second unit, he had to be the table setter.

At the beginning of the year when he came back he had the lowest usage of his career and over the last stretch it’s been the same.

 

I was hard on Lebron too, but I do realize that he has to change/sacrifice his game the most out of our 3 stars. It's easy to point out what we want out of him, but it must be hard when your game (mostly 3P shot) drops off so dramatically over the summer, and having to adjust on the fly.