Lebron's style prevents his team from running optimal, equal-opportunity offenses

[3ball]

Lebron's role players are the same caliber as any other team - guys like JR Smith, Mosgov, Tristan Thompson and Shumpert are as good (even better) than the role players on other teams.. However, Lebron's low-assisted, pg-style from the sf position doesn't allow his teams to run optimal, equal-opportunity offenses.. This is why the story is always how Lebron's supporting cast underperformed AGAIN.

Due to Lebron's suboptimal, ball-dominant style, the offense of Lebron's teams are not built for teammates to make decisions - it's built for teammates to become ACCUSTOMED to Lebron making all the decisions.. When Lebron is on the floor, his teammates are just tricks waiting on Lebron to toss them a dime.. Naturally, it's no surprise that when he leaves the floor, they collapse trying to become playmakers all of a sudden.. And again, when he's on the floor, they're just Lebron's tricks and therefore less of a threat to the defense than if they were playmakers themselves.. Multiple playmaker team > 1-playmaker team.

This is a stark contrast to the NBA's elite teams, who run more optimal, "equal opportunity" offenses that REQUIRE role players to make playmaking decisions at all times, while the star player is on the floor.. Guys like Diaw and Patty Mills don't just wait around for Duncan to toss them a dime - instead, Mills and Diaw are tasked with making plays just like Parker and Duncan are - ditto for guys like Shaun Livingston or Barnes.. So when Duncan or Curry leaves the floor, the role players just continue what they've been doing - making offensive decisions - they don't have to go from tricks waiting for Duncan toss them a dime, to playmakers all of sudden when Duncan goes to the bench - they can just continue being playmakers like they were when Duncan was on the floor.

And ditto for everyone that played in the triangle - the triangle was an equal-opportunity offense, as Phil Jackson describes here.. Every player got the chance to catch it on the post, turn-pivot, explore all the options and make a play - the lesser players like Kerr and Longley normally handed off, but they had the power to make a play if they chose.

Consequently, role players like Mills, Diaw, Kerr, and Longley play better and have a bigger impact than their more talented Cavs counterparts (shumpert, jr smith, mosgov, tristan thompson), who are just tricks waiting on Lebron to toss them a dime.. That brand of basketball has never won, and never will win..

Instead of having the capacity within his game to foster the growth of teammates, superior strategy, and an optimal brand of basketball for the team to play, Lebron can only go 2/4 by teaming up with unprecedented supporting talent (i.e. a 10-time all-star and 20/10 player as his 3rd option, Bosh).. Lebron is really a Karl Malone-level player that teamed up with Drexler and Mchale to go 2/4.

Otoh, when you have a guy leading the league in scoring by getting his points like the GIF above (off-ball) - this is highly optimal.. Playing off-ball and having a high assisted rate MAXIMIZES the play-making capacity of the team and maximizes teammates' opportunity to get an assist - MJ's off-ball game and his goat scoring was a reservoir of playmaking and assist opportunities for teammates.. No wonder his role players never underperformed - his relentless off-ball game made it easier for teammates to playmake.. Here's more of MJ scoring off-ball on Michael Cooper:

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...6&postcount=42

MJ's teams were eventually perceived as one of the NBA's "smart" teams that used the best strategy and had played the best brand of basketball, just like the Warriors, Mavericks and Spurs of today's game.. MJ's goat offensive sophistication enabled him to fit a goat scoring production seamlessly within an optimal, winning framework.
[COLOR="White"]In b4 tldr[/COLOR]
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[ShawkFactory]

Literally the exact same thread you've made multiple times

This won't be open long

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Poor LeBron fans man.

They gotta be pulling their hair out reading 3ball's posts.

[AirFederer]

I agree

[riseagainst]

I agree

[3ball]

look at the percentages, for each guy, and they tell the exact story of what you saw on those teams.

Sure, let's look at each guy individually - Wade, Love, Bosh - alongside Lebron, their assisted percentage was up (more play-finishing), but their own assist percentage was WAY down (less playmaking).. Lebron's ball-dominance turned them from playmakers into play-finishers, which is suboptimal.. There, I destroyed you again.

Lebron is pretty unique as a player, so I doubt this "like front court players are supposed to be" notion really applies.

Oh, he's unique alright - his ball-dominance turns a high-assisted position into a low-assisted one, thus lowering the assist capacity of his team.. That's super-unique... Unfortunately, his ball-dominance prevents his teams from playing the best brand of basketball (equal-opportunity).. Since Lebron's teams don't play the best brand of basketball, equal or less-talented opponents have the opportunity to pull the upset by playing a superior brand of basketball.

the majority of Lebron's teammates throughout his career have career highs in assisted percentage years they play alongside him... i.e. Wade, Bosh, Love

Alongside Lebron, their assisted percentage was up (more play-finishing), but their own assist percentage was WAY down (less playmaking).. Lebron's ball-dominance turned them from playmakers into play-finishers, which is suboptimal.. The suboptimal brand of basketball that Lebron's style encourages leaves his team susceptible to being upset by equal or lesser talented teams.

Superior chemistry and brand of basketball is what allows ANY team to overcome a stalemate or disadvantage in talent.. In Lebron's case, his style prevents his team from playing an optimal brand of basketball (equal-opportunity), which makes them susceptible to getting upset by equal or less-talented teams that CAN play equal-opportunity and a superior brand of basketball.

Lebron lost 3 times with equal or greater talent - the 2009 ECSF, 2011 Finals and 2014 Finals.. But it never happened to MJ, because his style allowed his teams to play an optimal brand of basketball - [COLOR="Navy"]opponents could never upset the Bulls by offsetting a talent disadvantage with a better brand of basketball[/COLOR].. That's why MJ went 6/6 and never underachieved, while Lebron is 2/6 with several upsets/underachievements on his record.

No you dumb ****, not a stat you made up.

I didn't make up the stat - team possessions per game/team assists per game has always existed and been available, regardless of whether the mainstream media ever uses it - this shows how in-the-box of a thinker you are... For you, it's only a legit stat if you've seen it on espn.. The stat couldn't be simpler, but it's "fake" to you because you never saw it in mainstream media before..

That's pathetic bud - you'll never have a good understanding of the game watching espn, so you'll continue to be routinely surprised by things that happen on the court (i.e. wow, i didn't think so-and-so would be that good"... or, "wow, that team really surprised me", etc, etc.. You scratch your head while I scratch my beard.. )

[ShawkFactory]

The fact that Lebron needs his team to play suboptimally for him to be elite hurts him compared to his peers - the reality that he isn't capable of getting elite stats within an optimal, equal-opportunity offense makes him inferior to many greats and puts him outside of the top 15 all-time.

Basketball isn't an experiment to see how many stats you can get - basketball is about WINNING - so the very best wing players of all time MUST be able to get elite stats within optimal, equal-opportunity offenses - Lebron isn't capable of this - he can only get elite stats within suboptimal offenses that need exorbitant levels of supporting talent to win (i.e. having a 10-time allstar and 20/10 player as your 3rd option, Bosh).

Didn't read.

[ISHGoat]

holy shit, does this guy not realize that practically nobody reads his threads and his shit just screams "plagarize me for essays"

[90sgoat]

3Ball is building a thesis of Jordanology. You uneducated bofoons just don't see it. Step by step he is testing hypothesis against peer review, gradually arriving at a comprehensive 'theory' backed by scientific facts. When you attack him, you strengthen his argument, forcing him to further refine his argument, backing it up with more fact.

You are doing the work for him, it would be best if you just didn't respond but its too late, damage has been done.

[ISHGoat]

3Ball is building a thesis of Jordanology. You uneducated bofoons just don't see it. Step by step he is testing hypothesis against peer review, gradually arriving at a comprehensive 'theory' backed by scientific facts. When you attack him, you strengthen his argument, forcing him to further refine his argument, backing it up with more fact.

You are doing the work for him, it would be best if you just didn't respond but its too late, damage has been done.

this.

OP if you read this i suggest you stop posting your shit on here and write a book or open a blog, atleast youll make some $$ out of it

[90sgoat]

this.

OP if you read this i suggest you stop posting your shit on here and write a book or open a blog, atleast youll make some $$ out of it

Imagine if 3Ball had some screen presence lol, he would make a killing trolling Kobe and Lebron fans on Youtube.

[3ball]

holy shit, does this guy not realize that practically nobody reads his threads and his shit just screams "plagarize me for essays"

Nobody reads my threads yet my last thread had 9 pages in a day.. .. As for this thread, the title says it all anyway..

Lebron isn't capable of getting elite stats within an equal-opportunity offense, which makes him inferior to Jordan.. Lebron can only get elite stats within suboptimal offenses that need exorbitant levels of supporting talent to win (i.e. having a 10-time allstar and 20/10 player as your 3rd option, Bosh).. This simply puts him well-below the tier of MJ or Bird.

To get elite stats within an equal-opportunity offense, you have to play off-ball, but Lebron could never play off-ball and average 30+ like MJ - people don't realize how much better this makes MJ, especially considering MJ was better as a primary ballhandler too.

MJ's stats and performance as a PG for 24 games (30/9/11 including 10 triple-doubles in 11 games) was better than anything Lebron has done in an entire CAREER as a point guard.

[Indian guy]

PLAYOFFS

1) Heat (2011-2014) 109.8 ORTG (+4.0 over league average)
2) Bulls (1990-1993) 113.3 ORTG (+3.8 over league average)
3) Lakers (2008-11) 110.5 ORTG (+3.1 over league average)
4) Thunder (2011-14) 108.6 ORTG (+2.9 over league average)
5) Celtics (1984-1987) 113.2 ORTG (+2.8 over league average)

[3ball]

3Ball is building a thesis of Jordanology. You uneducated bofoons just don't see it. Step by step he is testing hypothesis against peer review, gradually arriving at a comprehensive 'theory' backed by scientific facts. When you attack him, you strengthen his argument, forcing him to further refine his argument, backing it up with more fact.

You are doing the work for him, it would be best if you just didn't respond but its too late, damage has been done.

I missed this genius post.. You're a smart man my friend.

Indeed, MJ led the league in scoring within an equal opportunity offense.. Lebron barely lead the league in scoring in a Lebron-only offense, let alone an equal opportunity one.

[Beastmode88]

I literally cant tell if 3ball is a jordan stan or a lebron stan at this rate.