LeBron James: I'm coming back to Cleveland (OFFICIAL)

[lilteapot]

Quote: Originally Posted by 702

To go to a different topic, I've been thinking... Not trying to insinuate anything absurd like he's washed up, but have we already seen the best LeBron well ever see? He's 30 this season, tons of miles, his defense slipped a little last year... Feels strange to say about the best player on Earth, but I think we may have.

We've seen the best version of Lebron in terms of athleticism, but overall play? I don't think he's quite peaked yet. We saw in the finals just how much he improved from midrange. we already know how he improved from 3 but IMO the fact that he was able to sink midrange shots consistently in the finals was crucial.

I think he'll be better next year than this year. He won't have to play a ton of minutes and try to manage without a guy like Wade missing one game and being out the next.

[Caveman24]

Quote: Originally Posted by 23

Thats what it is though Caveman Steve locked the other and made this one a front page thread which can never be locked by us mods, so this is the new lebron thread

Smh fine 😒

[ex carrabba fan]

Quote: Originally Posted by Caveman24

Anyway we can lock this thread? This is just turning into the LBJ thread pt2 y'all ain't slick lol.

The hell kind of thread were you expecting when LeBron James is in the title? Lol

[Caveman24]

Quote: Originally Posted by ex carrabba fan

The hell kind of thread were you expecting when LeBron James is in the title? Lol

I thought this was just for him going back to CLE lol.

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by lilteapot

We've seen the best version of Lebron in terms of athleticism, but overall play? I don't think he's quite peaked yet. We saw in the finals just how much he improved from midrange. we already know how he improved from 3 but IMO the fact that he was able to sink midrange shots consistently in the finals was crucial. I think he'll be better next year than this year. He won't have to play a ton of minutes and try to manage without a guy like Wade missing one game and being out the next.

Yeah, we've only JUST started seeing him become more efficient the last couple of years. You don't lose that and I don't think he's reached the peak of that yet. Yes he's fast, strong, and can jump really high... and all of that starts to fade with age. He also does things on a basketball court that a man his size shouldn't be able to do, and he's not getting any smaller. He's got plenty of room to grow in the half court set. At 37 he'll probably play more like a point power forward, with few being able to stop him from the high/low post without double teaming... and he'd still have great court presence and vision to make the right pass when the double team comes.

The only thing I can agree with slipping sooner than later is his individual defense, but I disagree that it's already starting to slip. I think he may be fooling people right now, making it look easy to dominate on offense and still be a great wing defender... takes A LOT of energy. That role will be made easier, but even when this does start to slip he'll still be a great team defender and floor general on that end of the court. KG's individual defense went away years ago and I'd still take him today to be the floor general for my defense.

[The 24th Letter]

I just wonder how long he can stay reletively injury free....

besides his annual sprained ankle or playoff cramps, lol

[ojandpizza]

LeBron's "slip" last season defensively wasn't just him either. Bosh slipped some, Wade slipped a lot, Battier wasn't always in the rotation. Their defense as a whole was just hit or miss last year, where the prior two seasons before it was much more consistent.. Idk what the issue was, or where to point the finger, but they all looked worse at that end last year than previous years..

We'll see how it looks this year for comparison before I'll say he's slipped. Because last year the games he was "engaged" at that end he was still a force. You could noticeably see a difference in his defensive activity towards the end of the season and playoffs in comparison to earlier in the year and what his stat line shows.

Though he might not ever be at his "peak" defensive ability again he is still at a much higher level than most people at his position, and if Cleveland holds on to Wiggins he will have even more value at that end because he won't consistently have to defend on the high scoring wing players or guards that are carving up Kyrie. The less energy spent at that end the better for his overall game.

[Scofield]

I think LBJ can still get much better as an offensive player. I don't mean in terms of efficiency, I guess I'm talking about the way he scores. He's yet to master the "nuance" of scoring if that makes any sense. He still has to make one or two moves to many or default to his athleticism because he doesn't quite have a complete skill-set.