LeBron James

[CTownSportsFan]

While other contending teams have all-stars or potential all-stars to rely upon.

Cavs have GOAT and Love both all stars . How many other teams have more than 2? GS and it’s very debatable Thompson and Green wouldn’t be all-stars on any other team. I’m not going to bother going through all the top teams and listing them for you . It’s easy enough to see if you remove any teams top 2 guys , the rest are rotational players. Hell OKC has Westbrook , George which everyone and their momma wants and Adams who has reached GOD level (even though he’s under 50% in head to head match ups)on these forums for reasons unknown to me and they fucking blow ass.

 

[BrutX15]

Cavs have GOAT and Love both all stars . How many other teams have more than 2? GS and it’s very debatable Thompson and Green wouldn’t be all-stars on any other team. I’m not going to bother going through all the top teams and listing them for you . It’s easy enough to see if you remove any teams top 2 guys , the rest are rotational players. Hell OKC has Westbrook , George which everyone and their momma wants and Adams who has reached GOD level (even though he’s under 50% in head to head match ups)on these forums for reasons unknown to me and they fucking blow ass.

I think you misunderstand my meaning of rotational players. If you remove the top two players from the other contending teams, a few have all-stars or potential all-stars, then legitimate starters, then serviceable starters, and then rotational players. We go from Love straight to rotational players. JR, Hill, and TT (even Nance if he keeps the Job) are nowhere near what other teams have to offer. Then we have Hood... Anyone after that arguably wouldn't see minutes on any other contending teams roster.

You can disagree with that all you want, but I firmly believe that you are overvaluing our players, most likely because of homerism. Would they perfom better with a better coach? Sure, but other than Hood/Nance who could become starter material, the rest would still be nothing more than rotational players.

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

This is the first season that there is an evident statistical decline from LeBron. (Well...it started last year but has gotten worse)Now, it’s all defensive stuff...and the eye test tells us he’s the same guy we’ve had here the last 3 years when he WANTS to be...but alas...and I posted this in the game thread....there are 4 areas where the Cavs have struggled the most...giving up points in the paint, giving up points off of turnovers, giving up 2nd chance points, and giving up 3 pointers.

Paint scoring-
LeBron has given up the most points in the paint per 100 possessions on the Cavs team for the entire year. At just over 36, he is at the top “or bottom” by a full 5 points per hundred possessions, followed by defensive stalwart Isaiah Thomas(just over 31).





Points off of turnovers:
We’ve all see it, LeBron getting beat down the floor the entire game by any assignment that is willing to lightly jog down the court. Extra fun if LeBron thinks he got fucked on a call (he probably did..but turning a missed layup into a 4-5 Point swing isn’t exactly the best way to handle it). Anyway, “leading” the team in this clear “not giving a fuck” category is LeBron James at 13 points per 100 possessions. Second worst on the year? That little green monster of purse, Isaiah Thomas at 11.

2nd chance points:
We all know we’ve been getting killed by lack of rebounding and it’s easy to look at lack of size...even Nance has struggled in this stat because of the giants he’s gone up against. But again the clubhouse leader here is LeBron James at 9.7 per 100 poss, far ahead of Nance at #2(basically...LBJ likes to let his perimeter assignments steal rebounds and put them back in while pointing at whoever else was close).

3Pt Defense

Sporting a career worst figure of giving up 36.4% from 3, at least he’s not the WORST in the team in this stat. Just 1% shy of that. For example he’s defended the 3 slightly better than IT, TT and Crowder this year...to name a few.



All of this is sporting a DRTG of 112. Which is flat out sad. His situation certainly hasn’t helped. His DRTG when we won the title was 102, and last year when he started to truly get lazy it was 107, for point of reference.


The Cavs don’t have a great defensive roster, but LeBrons decline defensively has been one of the main reasons the team flat out doesn’t defend. There is a clear difference in his on court play when he takes interest in certain games, and it shows itself in the stats as well.

Maybe it’s not fair to ask LeBron to be even a league average defensive player given his offensive responsibility, but he also basically demands that responsibility with his style of play and lack of willingness to adhere to a system.


Now..will we all look back in two months if/when LeBron turns it on and is flattening the East siglehandedly and say...that man knows what he is doing!?? Probably.

Is the good worth the bad? Probably.

Is it unfair to ask this much of him? Possibly.

Is LeBron having the worst defensive season of his career? I think so. Maybe he was worse as a rookie? Idk.

 

[Mavaliersfan]

This is the first season that there is an evident statistical decline from LeBron. (Well...it started last year but has gotten worse)Now, it’s all defensive stuff...and the eye test tells us he’s the same guy we’ve had here the last 3 years when he WANTS to be...but alas...and I posted this in the game thread....there are 4 areas where the Cavs have struggled the most...giving up points in the paint, giving up points off of turnovers, giving up 2nd chance points, and giving up 3 pointers.

Paint scoring-
LeBron has given up the most points in the paint per 100 possessions on the Cavs team for the entire year. At just over 36, he is at the top “or bottom” by a full 5 points per hundred possessions, followed by defensive stalwart Isaiah Thomas(just over 31).





Points off of turnovers:
We’ve all see it, LeBron getting beat down the floor the entire game by any assignment that is willing to lightly jog down the court. Extra fun if LeBron thinks he got fucked on a call (he probably did..but turning a missed layup into a 4-5 Point swing isn’t exactly the best way to handle it). Anyway, “leading” the team in this clear “not giving a fuck” category is LeBron James at 13 points per 100 possessions. Second worst on the year? That little green monster of purse, Isaiah Thomas at 11.

2nd chance points:
We all know we’ve been getting killed by lack of rebounding and it’s easy to look at lack of size...even Nance has struggled in this stat because of the giants he’s gone up against. But again the clubhouse leader here is LeBron James at 9.7 per 100 poss, far ahead of Nance at #2(basically...LBJ likes to let his perimeter assignments steal rebounds and put them back in while pointing at whoever else was close).

3Pt Defense

Sporting a career worst figure of giving up 36.4% from 3, at least he’s not the WORST in the team in this stat. Just 1% shy of that. For example he’s defended the 3 slightly better than IT, TT and Crowder this year...to name a few.



All of this is sporting a DRTG of 112. Which is flat out sad. His situation certainly hasn’t helped. His DRTG when we won the title was 102, and last year when he started to truly get lazy it was 107, for point of reference.


The Cavs don’t have a great defensive roster, but LeBrons decline defensively has been one of the main reasons the team flat out doesn’t defend. There is a clear difference in his on court play when he takes interest in certain games, and it shows itself in the stats as well.

Maybe it’s not fair to ask LeBron to be even a league average defensive player given his offensive responsibility, but he also basically demands that responsibility with his style of play and lack of willingness to adhere to a system.


Now..will we all look back in two months if/when LeBron turns it on and is flattening the East siglehandedly and say...that man knows what he is doing!?? Probably.

Is the good worth the bad? Probably.

Is it unfair to ask this much of him? Possibly.

Is LeBron having the worst defensive season of his career? I think so. Maybe he was worse as a rookie? Idk.

Inserting more size in the lineup would likely solve at least 2 of the 4 areas:

Paint scoring and 2nd chance scoring. I've been on a rant today that Bron should not be playing the 4 anymore during the reg season and we should be going Big to allow Love & Nance to play their natural position - the 4.

Having more size might help his 3pt defense as well, knowing he has someone to cover for him if he gets beat on the perimeter. He could play up on guys.

 

[CTownSportsFan]

This is the first season that there is an evident statistical decline from LeBron. (Well...it started last year but has gotten worse)Now, it’s all defensive stuff...and the eye test tells us he’s the same guy we’ve had here the last 3 years when he WANTS to be...but alas...and I posted this in the game thread....there are 4 areas where the Cavs have struggled the most...giving up points in the paint, giving up points off of turnovers, giving up 2nd chance points, and giving up 3 pointers.

Paint scoring-
LeBron has given up the most points in the paint per 100 possessions on the Cavs team for the entire year. At just over 36, he is at the top “or bottom” by a full 5 points per hundred possessions, followed by defensive stalwart Isaiah Thomas(just over 31).





Points off of turnovers:
We’ve all see it, LeBron getting beat down the floor the entire game by any assignment that is willing to lightly jog down the court. Extra fun if LeBron thinks he got fucked on a call (he probably did..but turning a missed layup into a 4-5 Point swing isn’t exactly the best way to handle it). Anyway, “leading” the team in this clear “not giving a fuck” category is LeBron James at 13 points per 100 possessions. Second worst on the year? That little green monster of purse, Isaiah Thomas at 11.

2nd chance points:
We all know we’ve been getting killed by lack of rebounding and it’s easy to look at lack of size...even Nance has struggled in this stat because of the giants he’s gone up against. But again the clubhouse leader here is LeBron James at 9.7 per 100 poss, far ahead of Nance at #2(basically...LBJ likes to let his perimeter assignments steal rebounds and put them back in while pointing at whoever else was close).

3Pt Defense

Sporting a career worst figure of giving up 36.4% from 3, at least he’s not the WORST in the team in this stat. Just 1% shy of that. For example he’s defended the 3 slightly better than IT, TT and Crowder this year...to name a few.



All of this is sporting a DRTG of 112. Which is flat out sad. His situation certainly hasn’t helped. His DRTG when we won the title was 102, and last year when he started to truly get lazy it was 107, for point of reference.


The Cavs don’t have a great defensive roster, but LeBrons decline defensively has been one of the main reasons the team flat out doesn’t defend. There is a clear difference in his on court play when he takes interest in certain games, and it shows itself in the stats as well.

Maybe it’s not fair to ask LeBron to be even a league average defensive player given his offensive responsibility, but he also basically demands that responsibility with his style of play and lack of willingness to adhere to a system.


Now..will we all look back in two months if/when LeBron turns it on and is flattening the East siglehandedly and say...that man knows what he is doing!?? Probably.

Is the good worth the bad? Probably.

Is it unfair to ask this much of him? Possibly.

Is LeBron having the worst defensive season of his career? I think so. Maybe he was worse as a rookie? Idk.

I love the long breakdown with fancy stats and all. But could any of LeBron’s defensive decline have anything to do with not having Kyrie to share the offensive duty’s rather than sorta hinting he’s declining due to age ?

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

I love the long breakdown with fancy stats and all. But could any of LeBron’s defensive decline have anything to do with not having Kyrie to share the offensive duty’s rather than sorta hinting he’s declining due to age ?

Well he saw a similar decline from the 15-16 season to the 16-17 season. And he didn’t even have Kyrie for half of the 15-16 season and was absolutely fine defensively during that time.

We all saw it last year it was the first year where our defense was a wreck for a big portion of the season and LeBron was obviously not trying on a regular basis.

The thing that rings true is the team goes as LeBron goes. On offense AND defense. Right now our offense is just above average, not elite. LeBron + Love has been a consistently great offense ever since we traded Dion. Kyrie has obviously taken it to the highest levels, but in terms of pure impact the numbers favor the LeBron+ Love + shooters groups over basically anything and everything else. Now, We will miss the fuck out of Kyrie in playoff situations obviously. But the team had a top 2-3 offense, right up with Houston and Golden State, when Kev was healthy but before Isaiah came back.(he ruined everything)

I’m of the opinion that a healthy Kevin Love will easily make us a top 5 offense, and improve our rebounding and therefore our defense. And once we get playoff LeBron into that mix...I really think we’re going to be just fine in the East.

But until Love is back, unless we are having a great shooting game...I don’t believe we are going to consistently win even against mediocre teams unless LeBron personally picks the defense up. It’s really that simple.

 

[CTownSportsFan]

Well he saw a similar decline from the 15-16 season to the 16-17 season. And he didn’t even have Kyrie for half of the 15-16 season and was absolutely fine defensively during that time.

We all saw it last year it was the first year where our defense was a wreck for a big portion of the season and LeBron was obviously not trying on a regular basis.

The thing that rings true is the team goes as LeBron goes. On offense AND defense. Right now our offense is just above average, not elite. LeBron + Love has been a consistently great offense ever since we traded Dion. Kyrie has obviously taken it to the highest levels, but in terms of pure impact the numbers favor the LeBron+ Love + shooters groups over basically anything and everything else. Now, We will miss the fuck out of Kyrie in playoff situations obviously. But the team had a top 2-3 offense, right up with Houston and Golden State, when Kev was healthy but before Isaiah came back.(he ruined everything)

I’m of the opinion that a healthy Kevin Love will easily make us a top 5 offense, and improve our rebounding and therefore our defense. And once we get playoff LeBron into that mix...I really think we’re going to be just fine in the East.

But until Love is back, unless we are having a great shooting game...I don’t believe we are going to consistently win even against mediocre teams unless LeBron personally picks the defense up. It’s really that simple.

Thanks again for the break down. I like how you mentioned the Combo of LeBron and Love is golden . I can buy in to the lack of Love theory also effecting our team D and LeBron milking it. It’s just difficult for me to accept LBJ is getting older . Like having that super model prize wife and then the day comes you see a wrinkle on that fine ass, ugh .

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

Thanks again for the break down. I like how you mentioned the Combo of LeBron and Love is golden . I can buy in to the lack of Love theory also effecting our team D and LeBron milking it. It’s just difficult for me to accept LBJ is getting older . Like having that super model prize wife and then the day comes you see a wrinkle on that fine ass, ugh .

I actually don’t think it’s a wrinkle on the ass, so to speak. Like,in LeBrons situation explained with your wife analogy... the girl is STILL a flawless dime piece...and when she came back and re-married you for the first couple years the bedroom was on fire. She was there for you every night and flat out still doing her best work on a consistent basis.


Then last year she started feeling a little tired. When she wanted to turn it up, she absolutely could and she still had her fastball. She was still physically perfect, But instead of 7 nights a week it was down to like 3 or 4 nights...and the anniversaries/holidays/special occasions were as flawless as ever...

Now this year....the body is the same, the skills are till the best of the best when she wants them to be...but you pissed her off by giving away her favorite cat(Kyrie) but you had to because it started shitting on the floor and threatening the toddler because your wife started ignoring it, and it obviously didn’t wanna be there anymore.

So now this year she really only goes through the motions on the majority of nights. A few times a month she’s in a good mood and shows she still has it, so you went out and bought her a “used” but new to her car(Nance, Jordan,Hill,Hood) to replace the piece of shit 2003 BMV that she just blew the transmission on (IT) and you have your birthday, anniversary and Christmas coming up and you know she’s going to be as amazing as ever on those occasions. The other big problem is that your couples therapist(Lue) is a moron, always sides with her no matter the level of bullshit, and keeps giving her bigger bottles of Xanax (ISO and excuses) every month. Luckily her best friend that keeps her in check is coming back from Paris in two weeks.(Kev)

So things are bad right now, but they’re definitely looking up and now it’s time to focus on having a great anniversary.

Because who knows...she might divorce you again this summer. There’s been a few coworkers trying to slide into her DM’s over the last couple months. She hasn’t cheated or anything but it wouldn’t be the first time she had a wandering eye for greener pastures...

 

[ACisKING]

I actually don’t think it’s a wrinkle on the ass, so to speak. Like,in LeBrons situation explained with your wife analogy... the girl is STILL a flawless dime piece...and when she came back and re-married you for the first couple years the bedroom was on fire. She was there for you every night and flat out still doing her best work on a consistent basis.


Then last year she started feeling a little tired. When she wanted to turn it up, she absolutely could and she still had her fastball. She was still physically perfect, But instead of 7 nights a week it was down to like 3 or 4 nights...and the anniversaries/holidays/special occasions were as flawless as ever...

Now this year....the body is the same, the skills are till the best of the best when she wants them to be...but you pissed her off by giving away her favorite cat(Kyrie) but you had to because it started shitting on the floor and threatening the toddler because your wife started ignoring it, and it obviously didn’t wanna be there anymore.

So now this year she really only goes through the motions on the majority of nights. A few times a month she’s in a good mood and shows she still has it, so you went out and bought her a “used” but new to her car(Nance, Jordan,Hill,Hood) to replace the piece of shit 2003 BMV that she just blew the transmission on (IT) and you have your birthday, anniversary and Christmas coming up and you know she’s going to be as amazing as ever on those occasions. The other big problem is that your couples therapist(Lue) is a moron, always sides with her no matter the level of bullshit, and keeps giving her bigger bottles of Xanax (ISO and excuses) every month. Luckily her best friend that keeps her in check is coming back from Paris in two weeks.(Kev)

So things are bad right now, but they’re definitely looking up and now it’s time to focus on having a great anniversary.

Because who knows...she might divorce you again this summer. There’s been a few coworkers trying to slide into her DM’s over the last couple months. She hasn’t cheated or anything but it wouldn’t be the first time she had a wandering eye for greener pastures...

This post was absolutely golden. Great work.

 

[bushwick_bill]

Well he saw a similar decline from the 15-16 season to the 16-17 season. And he didn’t even have Kyrie for half of the 15-16 season and was absolutely fine defensively during that time.

We all saw it last year it was the first year where our defense was a wreck for a big portion of the season and LeBron was obviously not trying on a regular basis.

The thing that rings true is the team goes as LeBron goes. On offense AND defense. Right now our offense is just above average, not elite. LeBron + Love has been a consistently great offense ever since we traded Dion. Kyrie has obviously taken it to the highest levels, but in terms of pure impact the numbers favor the LeBron+ Love + shooters groups over basically anything and everything else. Now, We will miss the fuck out of Kyrie in playoff situations obviously. But the team had a top 2-3 offense, right up with Houston and Golden State, when Kev was healthy but before Isaiah came back.(he ruined everything)

I’m of the opinion that a healthy Kevin Love will easily make us a top 5 offense, and improve our rebounding and therefore our defense. And once we get playoff LeBron into that mix...I really think we’re going to be just fine in the East.

But until Love is back, unless we are having a great shooting game...I don’t believe we are going to consistently win even against mediocre teams unless LeBron personally picks the defense up. It’s really that simple.

What seed realistically do you see the Cavs getting for the p offs.

 

[Ohio]

I actually don’t think it’s a wrinkle on the ass, so to speak. Like,in LeBrons situation explained with your wife analogy... the girl is STILL a flawless dime piece...and when she came back and re-married you for the first couple years the bedroom was on fire. She was there for you every night and flat out still doing her best work on a consistent basis.


Then last year she started feeling a little tired. When she wanted to turn it up, she absolutely could and she still had her fastball. She was still physically perfect, But instead of 7 nights a week it was down to like 3 or 4 nights...and the anniversaries/holidays/special occasions were as flawless as ever...

Now this year....the body is the same, the skills are till the best of the best when she wants them to be...but you pissed her off by giving away her favorite cat(Kyrie) but you had to because it started shitting on the floor and threatening the toddler because your wife started ignoring it, and it obviously didn’t wanna be there anymore.

So now this year she really only goes through the motions on the majority of nights. A few times a month she’s in a good mood and shows she still has it, so you went out and bought her a “used” but new to her car(Nance, Jordan,Hill,Hood) to replace the piece of shit 2003 BMV that she just blew the transmission on (IT) and you have your birthday, anniversary and Christmas coming up and you know she’s going to be as amazing as ever on those occasions. The other big problem is that your couples therapist(Lue) is a moron, always sides with her no matter the level of bullshit, and keeps giving her bigger bottles of Xanax (ISO and excuses) every month. Luckily her best friend that keeps her in check is coming back from Paris in two weeks.(Kev)

So things are bad right now, but they’re definitely looking up and now it’s time to focus on having a great anniversary.

Because who knows...she might divorce you again this summer. There’s been a few coworkers trying to slide into her DM’s over the last couple months. She hasn’t cheated or anything but it wouldn’t be the first time she had a wandering eye for greener pastures...

Post of the year so far

 

[Cavatt]

How come the team will cater to Lebron's every whim, but will not install a defensive system that fits the personnel when the best player in the world hates the system?

Like we say Lebron runs the org, but Longabardi seems to be completely untouchable and an unassailable.

 

[inliner311]

How come the team will cater to Lebron's every whim, but will not install a defensive system that fits the personnel when the best player in the world hates the system?

Like we say Lebron runs the org, but Longabardi seems to be completely untouchable and an unassailable.

Are we sure he doesn't like running this defensive system? I remember Lue saying they use it primarily to reduce the load on LeBron. I assume we will scrap it like usual when the playoffs start.

 

[Cavatt]

Are we sure he doesn't like running this defensive system? I remember Lue saying they use it primarily to reduce the load on LeBron. I assume we will scrap it like usual when the playoffs start.

I have no idea. It seems not to work at all. Def stats have gone down repeatedly since Longbo got here. He has never coached a top 10 defensive team. I dunno what they are doing. It seems like madness. I assume that Lebron Hates the system since he seems to frown and refuses to run it properly.

 

[LeeBuckeye]

I actually don’t think it’s a wrinkle on the ass, so to speak. Like,in LeBrons situation explained with your wife analogy... the girl is STILL a flawless dime piece...and when she came back and re-married you for the first couple years the bedroom was on fire. She was there for you every night and flat out still doing her best work on a consistent basis.


Then last year she started feeling a little tired. When she wanted to turn it up, she absolutely could and she still had her fastball. She was still physically perfect, But instead of 7 nights a week it was down to like 3 or 4 nights...and the anniversaries/holidays/special occasions were as flawless as ever...

Now this year....the body is the same, the skills are till the best of the best when she wants them to be...but you pissed her off by giving away her favorite cat(Kyrie) but you had to because it started shitting on the floor and threatening the toddler because your wife started ignoring it, and it obviously didn’t wanna be there anymore.

So now this year she really only goes through the motions on the majority of nights. A few times a month she’s in a good mood and shows she still has it, so you went out and bought her a “used” but new to her car(Nance, Jordan,Hill,Hood) to replace the piece of shit 2003 BMV that she just blew the transmission on (IT) and you have your birthday, anniversary and Christmas coming up and you know she’s going to be as amazing as ever on those occasions. The other big problem is that your couples therapist(Lue) is a moron, always sides with her no matter the level of bullshit, and keeps giving her bigger bottles of Xanax (ISO and excuses) every month. Luckily her best friend that keeps her in check is coming back from Paris in two weeks.(Kev)

So things are bad right now, but they’re definitely looking up and now it’s time to focus on having a great anniversary.

Because who knows...she might divorce you again this summer. There’s been a few coworkers trying to slide into her DM’s over the last couple months. She hasn’t cheated or anything but it wouldn’t be the first time she had a wandering eye for greener pastures...

So good I read it twice! HOF stuff right there lol

IBWT, any info on why LeBron is aiming to play in every game or at least has so far? Is this a personal goal of his because resting within games becomes even more of a glaring issue during the season if 82 game played is on his bucket list.