Some stats regarding LeBron's 3's this season.

[MG1]

Here is some stats regarding Lebron's 3's this season:

When Lebron takes >=5 3's a game, Cavs is 13W-11L, with win% of 54.2%
When Lebron takes <=3 3's a game, Cavs is 12W-0L, with win% of 100%

When Lebron makes >=4 3's a game, Cavs is 5W-3L, with win% of 62.5%
When Lebron makes <=1 3's a game, Cavs is 24W-4L, with win% of 88.2%

So it is quite clear, The more Lebron takes 3's, the more likely to lose the game. If Lebron takes less 3's or doesn't takes 3's at all, we will more likely to win.

Lebron is not a good 3 point shooter and Cavs doesn't need him to take 3's anyway. Cavs has much better 3 point shooters of AP, Mo, Boobie, West, Z and Jamison. All of them shoot 3's better than Lebron.

I think Lebron should really stop taking so many 3's, it is hurting the team.

[Triumph36]

Well now you just have to convince MB to tell him to stop shooting them.

Good luck?

[Sock]

Damn. I was in the middle of writing LeBron's New Shooting Touch : Beneficial or Detrimental.

[kookoo]

Those are some staggering statistics. Did Rabman get another account? Oh wait, no table nvm.

I think we all know this anyway, but it's good to see the numbers. I don't mind him taking a few if he's on a roll (doesn't hurt my fantasy league either) but it often comes at points that hurt our team. He never does it in the flow of the game.

In all honesty, I don't care about the 3s he takes before the 4th. They don't hurt us as much. But when we're on a roll, up 5 with 5 minutes to go and all he does is jack up some pointless out of rhythm jumper, it kills our offence. If you want to stay up, drive to the hole. The best finisher in the game needs to realize that. This isn't the RCF NBA 2K9 league, you're allowed as many 'points in the paint' as you want.

[panchan]

Good list and point taken - and I doubt that anyone here loves to see Lebron force up 3`s. I do think that part of this is correlation for cause however. Lebron sometimes forces up more 3`s in games where defenses are more effective, other players are ineffective, he is tired, the team as a whole is lacking in intensity, etc. - I think someone could easily add to this list. Those are also the games we tend to lose.
What should he do in those situations? There is certainly not one answer for every situation but perhaps the moral of the story is that jacking up more 3`s is not the answer either.

[hoops23]

Last 3 games his name has been LeChuck..

Seriously though, the 3's kill me at times.. I understand when you're hot, but when you're down 4 with a minute to play, DRIVE to the basket and extend the game!

The 4th quarter for LeBron was quite terrible, to say the least.

He's the best player in the NBA and nobody can stop him but himself.

[Northstar]

I agree that it seems like LeBron shoots more threes against the elite teams for whatever reason.

Also, while there is some correlation, I wonder how many of those threes he jacks up in games we lose come as a result of losing? If we're down 8 with 3 minutes to play, he's more likely to jack up a three than if we were tied or down by 1 or 2 with three minutes to play.

[Earl]

Last 3 games his name has been LeChuck..

Seriously though, the 3's kill me at times.. I understand when you're hot, but when you're down 4 with a minute to play, DRIVE to the basket and extend the game!

The 4th quarter for LeBron was quite terrible, to say the least.

He's the best player in the NBA and nobody can stop him but himself.

Beautifully put. He can score whenever he wants, but sometimes he goes for the highlight reel stuff instead of the easy baskets..

[buzzdog]

Beautifully put. He can score whenever he wants, but sometimes he goes for the highlight reel stuff instead of the easy baskets..

I disagree. Do people here really believe that LeBron can truly drive and score, or get fouled every time and any time he wishes to do so? That defenses can never stack themselves to stop him, and that at times the refs simply are not going to call a foul no matter how much contact there is? In yesterday's game against the Magic I believe Lebron really didn't think he was going to be able to drive and either score or get fouled. I think if you asked him he would say at the end of the game he thought his highest percentage chance of scoring was to shoot over the defense.

And I'd like to see the percentages on missed three point attempts by his teammates in crunch time, when LeBron has drawn the defense and he kicks it to them. Without having those stats in front of me, I would bet they're abysmal.

Having said that, I never want to see LeBron jacking up 9 3 pointers unless he's absolutely on fire. But his current 3 point percentage is 34.9%, which is respectable. In order for him to be able to drive he has to shoot enough from the outside to make teams respect his outside shot. I know it would be better if he stuck to only open three point attempts, within the flow of the offense. But for whatever reason it seems like the Cavs are racking up more shot clock violations this season than in past seasons, and not even getting a shot off is the worst thing that can happen on an offensive possession.

I agree with the comments that on most occasions the extra 3 point attempts are a secondary outcome of a game that is already being lost because of other reasons....they're not the primary cause of those losses.

[MG1]

It happens frequently Lebron shoots 3's 1-N (with N>=6)
(e.g. vs Nuggets 1-9, vs Lakers 1-9, vs Magic 1-6 etc)
So We have good reasons to doubt Lebron's 3 point capability.

Pill Jackson says 2 missed FTs = 1 turnover
Can we say Lebron's (N-1) missed 3's = (N-1) turnovers?

[Splitz]

The 3's he takes that make me the angriest are when we have a slight lead in crunch time and a chance to stretch it from a 2 possession game to a 3 possession game and he pulls up and launches one. I swear that we end up in closer games than we should because of these decisions. I love the guy and all but this is a glaring weakness.

[JiggleIt]

It's also annoying that he intentionally shoots them off-balance at times. I understand that you want to take a heat check, but can't you do it like Baron Davis does? That guy will take bizarre shots from all over the court, but he usually does it off of a pass and has his feet planted. If he does it off the dribble, then once again...he has his feet planted.

But I agree that some of these shots are just absolutely killing momentum. I have to hope Mike is discussing it with him, because much like the shit defense that's been played lately...it's causing losses.

[Kyrieville]

He is back to shooting off balance, intentionally, instead of shooting with proper form, like he was doing before the all star break... It's like he trys to be cool by doing it. This just ties into LeBron's immaturity.

[rabman_gold]

Let Jent work with him on that. He needs to take mid rangers to open up the middle, but the access to threes are enticing to him. He's not perfect, but he does have the ability to take them.

It simply needs the perfect balance. But LeBron likes them. Let him practice them until he's perfect taking them. You never when you you'll have a Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals down by 2 with 1.5 seconds left.

[Gimme Some Mo]

Just another thing that makes me believe LeBron's bball IQ is lower than most think. Sorry, since you will all ridicule that statement, I mean LeBron's ego is so big that it makes him take those shots, but they aren't stupid shots, his ego makes him take them. Better?

It just frustrates me that this guy can penetrate almost every single time down the court, yet he makes playing defense against him easy at times by holding the ball so long and then shooting stupid jumpers. If I am defending LeBron and the Cavs, when LeBron is holding the ball and shooting jumpers, I am extremely happy. When Lebron is driving and finishing or passing, I am shitting my pants.

I was watching a Denver game earlier in the season and the announcer said George Karl made a deal with Melo that he can shoot long jumpers as many times as he posts up, or something like that.

I would love for MB to make that same deal with LeBron. For every time you shoot a ridiculous fade away long jump shot, you have to get your ass in the post.