Reasons why Lebron's 2015 finals performance was one of the greatest

[3ball]

.
Efficiency [COLOR="Red"]WITH[/COLOR] Lebron James on the floor in 2015 Finals:

JR Smith
Delly
J. Jones
Shumpert

Total 56/171 (32.7%)


As you can see, those guys shot horribly WITH Lebron on the floor, which is pretty standard - it's become typical for Lebron's teammates to underperform alongside him in the Finals, for obvious reasons:

It's statistical fact that Lebron reduces his teammates' APG and increases their assisted rate, thus turning them from playmakers to play-finishers.. [COLOR="Navy"]Not surprisingly, their simple play-finishing roles no longer find success against the best playoff teams[/COLOR]..

With teammates playing under capacity, the TEAM plays under capacity and eventually loses to an opponent they had the capacity to beat (i.e. losing as the favorite in 2009 ECF, 2010 ECSF, and 2011 Finals, or losing when it was 50/50 - 2014 Finals).

Ultimately, Lebron's reduction of teammates into play-finishers prevents the kind of equal-opportunity offenses that the Mavs, Spurs, Warriors, and 90's Bulls used, where all 5 guys share the playmaking duties - since Lebron prevents the best brand of basketball, his teams are susceptible to equal or less-talented opponents pulling upsets by playing a better brand of basketball (2009, 2011, 2014).

That's the difference between 2/6 underachievement and 6/6 perfection: MJ's off-ball style got the most out of his teammates (elevates teammates), so the team plays to capacity and never loses as the favorite, while Lebron's ball-dominance turns teammates into play-finishers, leading to team underperformance and losing as the favorite.

Now the question is WHY SPECIFICALLY does Lebron turn teammates into play-finishers?.. The reason is twofold.

[riseagainst]

[QUOTE=GIF REACTION]LeBron James finished the 2015 NBA Finals with averages of 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 8.8 assists per game.

LeBron James is the first player in NBA Finals history to lead both teams in points, assists and rebounds for the entire series.

Without James on the floor, Cleveland

[aj1987]

.
Efficiency [COLOR="Red"]WITH[/COLOR] Lebron James on the floor in 2015 Finals:

JR Smith
Delly
J. Jones
Shumpert

Total 56/171 (32.7%)

They shot 0% with him off the court, you massive [COLOR="Black"]f[/COLOR]aggot.

[The Iron Fist]

They shot 0% with him off the court, you massive [COLOR="Black"]f[/COLOR]aggot.

They lost six times with him on the court

[3ball]

.
Lebron's stats were achieved with the most ball-domination of all time:

Time of possession:

Lebron 15' Finals:[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR]12.2 minutes (8.3 for RS leader Wall)
Harden 19' Reg Seas.:[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR]9.3 minutes

So the Cavs' ball-movement suffered and brand of ball was outmatched:

Team Assists

Warriors. 15' Finals:[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR] 138
Cavaliers 15' Finals:[COLOR="White"]...[/COLOR] 95

Lebron's approach of turning teammates into spot-up shooters doesn't compete well on the championship level, nor does it develop teammates/teams, and infact only wins with excess talent (2 ready-made stars) to offset the reduction in brand of ball/ball movement/team development.
.

[And1AllDay]

LBJ vs Dray, Klay, Igudola
36-13-9 on 40%

Mike vs 6'1 Payton
27-5-4 on 41%

Pick one

[StrongLurk]

Lebron only made the finals that year because he was in the East. He wouldn't make the finals out West with Love injured and Kyrie playing at 70% (before breaking his knee cap).

However, if Love/Kyrie were healthy then the Cavs would have won the finals that year. 2016 Warriors were better than 2015.

[StrongLurk]

.
Lebron's stats were achieved with the most ball-domination of all time:

Time of possession:

Lebron 15' Finals:[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR]12.2 minutes (8.3 for RS leader Wall)
Harden 19' Reg Seas.:[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR]9.3 minutes

So the Cavs' ball-movement suffered and brand of ball was outmatched:

Team Assists

Warriors. 15' Finals:[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR] 138
Cavaliers 15' Finals:[COLOR="White"]...[/COLOR] 95

Lebron's approach of turning teammates into spot-up shooters doesn't compete well on the championship level, nor does it develop teammates/teams, and infact only wins with excess talent (2 ready-made stars) to offset the reduction in brand of ball/ball movement/team development.
.

Lebron did dominate the ball (way more than usual) in 2015 finals because the Cavs had no other options. Dellavadova struggled to bring the ball up and Shumpert/JR are not point guards.. They slowed the game down to try to even out he series since the Warriors were >>> with Love/Kyrie out. Lebron would have had less stats but more efficiency with Love/Kyrie playing and the Cavs would have won the chip in 2015.

The 2016 Warriors were a good bit better than 2015 so they were slight favorites over the Cavs in my opinion, but the Cavs were slightly better in 2015 than the 2015 Warriors with Love/Kyrie healthy.

[And1AllDay]

They shot 0% with him off the court, you massive [COLOR="Black"]f[/COLOR]aggot.

[3ball]

Lebron did dominate the ball (way more than usual) in 2015 finals because the Cavs had no other options. Dellavadova struggled to bring the ball up and Shumpert/JR are not point guards.. They slowed the game down to try to even out he series since the Warriors were >>> with Love/Kyrie out. Lebron would have had less stats but more efficiency with Love/Kyrie playing and the Cavs would have won the chip in 2015.

The 2016 Warriors were a good bit better than 2015 so they were slight favorites over the Cavs in my opinion, but the Cavs were slightly better in 2015 than the 2015 Warriors with Love/Kyrie healthy.

Anyone can bring the ball up the court but that isn't the issue

The issue is what happens AFTER the ball is brought up

Ball movement has always gotten better looks for role players than 1 player dominating the ball in the halfcourt..

Unfortunately, Lebron-ball's low ball-movement and spot-up shooter approach didn't give teammates an opportunity to shine and predictably got out-produced.. if lebron had the skills to get the same 35 ppg without dominating the ball, then the Cavs would've had a much better team and played much better BASKETBALL (ball movement)
.

[TheCorporation]

Anyone can bring the ball up the court but that isn't the issue

The issue is what happens AFTER the ball is brought up

Ball movement has always gotten better looks for role players than 1 player dominating the ball in the halfcourt..

Unfortunately, Lebron-ball's low ball-movement and spot-up shooter approach didn't give teammates an opportunity to shine and predictably got out-produced.. if lebron had the skills to get the same 35 ppg without dominating the ball, then the Cavs would've had a much better team and played much better BASKETBALL (ball movement)
.

Why do you keep running from the thread you got crushed in?

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=465435


3ball like:



Where ever LeBron was proven to be superior to Jordan, I waaaas runniiing (away)