Lebron's weak first step makes his postgame moves slower and less explosive

[3ball]

what gives him fits is an intelligent defense

CHUCK DALY:

[COLOR="black"]"We knew how dangerous he was. And we knew we had to devise something special.. And so we most definitely devised, what we called, THE JORDAN RULES[/COLOR]"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIY_4vIxGEE&t=22m49s

Otoh, defenses on Lebron actually take the opposite approach: rather than expend all their energy trying to stop him, they ALLOW him to repeatedly shoot wide open (2013) and isolate without double teams (2015).

Both times the opponent was exploiting Lebron's poor efficiency by allowing him to take shots over and over that were low percentage for him (jumpshots and isolations).
.

[G-train]

Why do people expect Lebron to be perfect?
Nitpicking at the best player in the world.... not sure how anyone can ask more of him at this point.
Thought all this ended with the titles and clutch play, the MVPs werent enough initially.

[Sarcastic]

I wonder if the weak first step has anything to do with him having 6 toes.


http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=226380

[Kvnzhangyay]

CHUCK DALY:

[COLOR="black"]"We knew how dangerous he was. And we knew we had to devise something special.. And so we most definitely devised, what we called, THE JORDAN RULES[/COLOR]"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIY_4vIxGEE&t=22m49s

Otoh, defenses on Lebron actually take the opposite approach: rather than expend all their energy trying to stop him, they ALLOW him to shoot wide open (2013) and isolate repeatedly without double teams (2015)...

Both times the opponent was exploiting Lebron's poor efficiency by allowing him to take shots over and over that were low percentage for him (jumpshots and isolations).
.

And such the defense is intelligent

By isolating, the chances of being called for a foul is exponentially lower

[3ball]

And such the defense is intelligent

By isolating, the chances of being called for a foul is exponentially lower

It's not intelligent defense to let someone shoot wide open or isolate repeatedly without double-teaming..

These were GIMMICKS that worked on Lebron because his poor shooting efficiency and isolation FG% made him expoitable enough that gimmicks could work and were the optimal thing to do.

It's funny - I actually found an instance where the Bulls isolated Jordan and put ALL FOUR TEAMMATES behind the 3-point line.. You could see the looks on the defense's faces (1992 Knicks in playoffs) - it looked so dangerous to see MJ all alone on an island, that he was instantly triple-teamed - the defense was like "oh HEELLLLL no".

Like, without any hesitation, it was a no-brainer - no way they would EVER let him isolate so blatantly like that.. There was a poster on ish who looked at a bunch of games and determined that MJ was like 55% on isolations or something ridiculous (Lebron shot 33% on his many isolations in the 2015 playoffs).
.

[Kvnzhangyay]

It's not intelligent defense to let someone shoot wide open over and over.. It's not intelligent defense to let someone isolate repeatedly without double-teaming..

These are GIMMICKS that worked on Lebron because his poor shooting efficiency and isolation FG% made him THAT expoitable, that a gimmick would work and was the optimal thing to do.

It's funny - I actually found an instance where the Bulls isolated Jordan and put ALL FOUR TEAMMATES behind the 3-point line.. It was the first time the defense had seen such a setup, and you could see the looks on their face (1992 Knicks in playoffs) - it looked so dangerous to see MJ all alone on an island with a single defender, that he was INSTANTLY triple-teamed - the defense was like "oh HEELLLLL no".

Like, without any hesitation, it was a no-brainer - no way they would EVER let him isolate like that.... You just don't leave MJ all alone on an island... There was a poster earlier who looked at a bunch of games and determined that MJ was like 60% on isolations or something ridiculous (Lebron shot 33% on all his isolations in the 2015 playoffs).
.

And as such it IS an intelligent defense, especially how this year Lebron was an unusually bad shooter, as proved by the drop in his 3 point field goal %. (Lebron shot 5.4 3pointers a game last year in the finals at 51.9%, while this year shot 7 a game at 31%) Why not take advantage of it, just as how the Pistons took advantage of how young Jordan was not a willing passer?

Also, being "instantly" tripled teamed makes scoring actually easier, as since it didn't happen until he caught the ball, the movement of the triple team towards the player gives them forward momentum, making them unable to prevent a drive as they would have had they stayed put. Another example of a simple defensive scheme

[3ball]

as such it IS an intelligent defense

It's not intelligent to let a bad shooter shoot - it's a NO BRAINER.

Ditto on letting a bad 1-on-1 player go 1-on-1... It's no different then letting Deandre Jordan shoot FT's via hack-a-Deandre...

These things are not intelligent defense - they're gimmicks that only work if players are sufficiently bad at something (i.e. Deandre's FTs, Lebron's shooting, Lebron's 1-on-1 ability).

being "instantly" tripled teamed makes scoring actually easier

For the team, yes... But obviously, not for the guy being triple-teamed.

This is another reason MJ was better - he got double and triple-teamed more than any player ever, which made it easier for his TEAM to score.
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[ShawkFactory]

Well this thread sucks now

[3ball]

just as how the Pistons took advantage of how young Jordan was not a willing passer?

The Pistons double-teamed MJ because he was the greatest scorer the game has ever seen and his teammates were garbage - these are facts and well-documented.

So why try to change the story 25 years later by saying he wasn't a willing passer??... He averaged more assists than Lebron in the playoffs and Finals thru his first 3-peat (thru 30 years old, the same age Lebron is now) - so your statement that he was doubled because he wasn't a willing passer, holds no truth compared to him being the goat scorer and having bad teammates.

However, this isn't as bad as your previous attempt to rewrite history.. Remember that?.. You guys tried to counter my claim about today's spacing and weakside spacing, by citing rare exceptions to say the 80's ALSO had spacing..

But everyone knows the 80's didn't have spacing or weakside spacing - this truth isn't reversed by rare exceptions, it's proven by them.

[Kvnzhangyay]

The Pistons double-teamed MJ because he was the greatest scorer the game has ever seen and his teammates were garbage - these are facts and well-documented.

So why try to change the story 25 years later by saying he wasn't a willing passer??... He averaged more assists than Lebron in the playoffs and Finals thru his first 3-peat (thru 30 years old, the same age Lebron is now) - so your statement that he was doubled because he wasn't a willing passer, holds no truth compared to him being the goat scorer and having bad teammates.

However, this isn't as bad as your previous attempt to rewrite history.. Remember that?.. You guys tried to counter my claim about today's spacing and weakside spacing, by citing rare exceptions to say the 80's ALSO had spacing..

But everyone knows the 80's didn't have spacing or weakside spacing - this truth isn't reversed by rare exceptions, it's proven by them.

You, my friend, are the one changing the story. Actually, it's not changing the story if you weren't alive back then, sorry. It's that you learned wrong.

[3ball]

[G-train]

When people try to meticulously compare the NBA between the late 80's/early 90's and 2010's, I know they haven't grasped NBA basketball.

[Prometheus]

3ball how tall are you?

[3ball]

3ball how tall are you?

6'7" 220

with larry bird-sized hands

[Prometheus]

6'7" 220

with larry bird-sized hands

Lucky bastard.