Originally posted by LA9erFan:
Originally posted by Joecool:
Originally posted by LA9erFan:
Originally posted by 49ersMyLife:
Haha yea, I don't even understand why ppl care that a player is a douche?
Anyway, I agree that Lebron didn't have as good a game last night offensively - but when you play 44+ minutes out of 48 in a tie game - it's tough to be + for the game. Derrick Rose played fewer minutes than Lebron and was completely gassed by the end of regulation, and Lebron was giving 110% on the defensive end as well, whereas Rose is guarding Bibby or Chalmers mostly. That's been the most impressive thing about James. He is playin' ridiculous amounts of minutes, and is still great in the 4th quarter.
...and again, when it really mattered - Lebron delivered, on both ends of the floor, scoring wise and making the right passes, and then playing terrific defense on Rose down the stretch. Honestly, Rose has gotten maybe couple of easy baskets in each of the last 3 games and that's it. Miami's defense in playoffs is one of the best I've seen in recent times.
In the last 3 games, Bulls/Rose haven't figured out what to do. Does he need to be more aggressive? Does he need to pass the ball? They have tried both, and neither strategy resulted in a win, or found much success in the 4th quarter. Miami's D is the single biggest reason for the playoff success so far, and it starts with D-Wade and Lebron James.
This is the best I've seen Lebron play defense. He has been a pretty decent defender last few years, but he has been special this year...and that has def. hurt his efficiency on the other side a little bit - but I'll take that when your defense can restrict the other team around 90 pts consistently.
I disagree that he's been coming through down the stretch on both ends when it matters. Miami got exactly 2 points in the last 2 minutes of regulation, on a look that Bosh created on his own. This included an offensive foul with 8 seconds left, when LeBron had no business doing that with that much time left on the clock and it jeopardized the game. Neither he nor Miami has been very good in crunch time in this series on the offensive end, but the Bulls have been much worse. He's been great on the other side on the defensive end, as the entire team has been in 4th quarters and in the clutch. When the other team isn't scoring at all, eventually you're going to make some plays on the offensive end that win the game.
Miami's D IS the biggest single reason for their playoff success. I agree. The Bulls are averaging 15.7 points per 4th quarter in the last 3 games. LeBron has been phenomenal defensively, but so has Wade, Anthony, & Chalmers. Rose being God awful is the difference in this series, and (as you said) he's being mostly guarded by Bibby/Chalmers and whichever big is defending the pick and roll.
James in the 4th quarter this series:
Game 1: 3 of teams 19 points: loss
Game 2: 10 of the teams 14 points
Game 3: 10 of teams 28 points
Game 4: 7 of the 22 teams points and 6 of teams 16 points in OT
In the last three games, James has been the most consistent offensive player for the Heat in the 4th quarter. Championship caliber teams always have a different player here and there who comes through during the series (Haslem, Bosh, and Miller) but James has been the only consistent player in just about every game in the 4th quarter which is what teams with great players always have.
Of course he's gonna put individual numbers up when he has the ball in his hands as much as he does. Look at the team points in each of those 4th quarters. Aside from Game 3, when he was great, all low totals. No one else is gonna be all that productive in 4th quarters when he dominates the ball like that. Bosh has been consistent and effective when he's gotten the ball in this series...he's just not getting it much in the 4th quarter. As a big, he can't pass the ball to himself.
That can be said for any player though. It's not like he's taking high volume of shots. He is shooting well also. Ever since the end of the Boston series, it almost seems as though his primary focus is on defense until the 4th where he turns it on at both ends. There's a lot of other things he does that MIA would not win without. He is actually having a presence in the key on the defensive end.
He's averaging 7 rbs per game this series, 6.75 assists,
2.25 steals,
2 blocks, and 25.25 pts per game.
The bold is very impressive since the second leading blocker in the post season was Tim Duncan with 2.5 per game. In steals, the highest ranked player was Manu with 2.6. Lebron is having a great series considering how gritty these games have been at the defensive end.