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Thursday, February 05, 2009

The Quiet King

I have to get this part out first: There's no right way to say this, but... Lebron James didn't even play that well tonight. The King went off for 52 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds in a 107-102 victory by the Cleveland Cavaliers over the New York Knicks - and he could have done much, much better (as could have the Cavs). Does anyone realize how scary that is?

From my decent seats in Section 320, I spent the night alternating between oohing and aahing like the rest of Madison Square Garden, and muttering about the poor shot selection and ball movement of the Cavs, especially Lebron - and so did all the people around me, most of whom were Cavs fans. [Interestingly, I'd say there were a few thousand Cavs fans in the Garden tonight - enough that you really heard it when the Cavs were hitting shots, and I don't mean Lebron.]

Part of what is so fascinating about Lebron James is that he doesn't force shots in the typical sense, which makes it difficult to criticize him when he misses shots. Anyone looking at the particular shot would argue that the clock was winding down, nobody else was really open, and he got it off cleanly; and all of those would be true. When teams play tighter defense or double-team Lebron, he almost always swings it to the open man for a clean shot - and that's how he had 11 assists, with a few more blown on a missed Ben Wallace dunk or a couple wide open threes that didn't fall.

But when you sit there watching the game, you wonder why a player who moves so well without the ball in his hands is so rarely deferring to one of his (talented) point guards to start the set. Yes, there are times where he does this, often leading to a great look for him or a good open look for someone else, while keeping the rest of the team moving and involved. But much of the time, he's clearly taking the initiative and starting with the ball on the wing or at the top of the key, spending a good 8-12 seconds gauging where he can attack the player defending him by using a number of foot stabs to test the player's reactions (and those of his teammates coming to help). It is most similar to a quarterback calling out signals and sending players in motion to see if they can figure out how best to attack the defense, except just like when the QB too often gets stuck with a choice they don't like because the play clock has run down, Lebron is forced to take a long jumper because he wouldn't have enough time to drive and either shoot or kick and let the ball swing around to the open man. As Lebron gets more and more comfortable driving and forcing defenses to react to him consistently, or better, deferring to the guards to open up space for him, he will become an even greater force - and that's just scary.

(I can't believe I just spent three paragraphs criticizing one of the more incredible individual performances a person will ever see.)

All that said: Tonight's performance by Lebron James was one of the most incredible things I've ever witnessed (no pun intended). Yes, I happened to be surrounded by many Cavs fans, and yes, people often ooh and aah at amazing performances of opposing superstars. Sure, people cheered Kobe two nights ago. But this was something different. A couple of months ago, when Lebron last visited the Garden, amidst much greater 2010 hype, the place was electric about Lebron, going crazy every time he touched the ball and openly cheering when he made a great play. This time, the crowd was much less interested in wooing Lebron, and as it was a very close game, they were rooting hard for the Knicks. The Garden was actually pretty loud when the Knicks fought back and took the lead. But every time the arena would start to rock, Lebron would do something that would not just quiet the crowd as so often happens when a run is stopped. He'd electrify the crowd into being quiet. You'd hear screaming after another Al Harrington make followed by booming chants of "DE-FENSE! DE-FENSE" followed by an audible "ohmygoshWOOOOW" - and then silence. Just to finish it off, you've never seen a place get so excited when a player on the other team gets his 10th rebound in the last 3 seconds of the game while falling out of bounds.

What is particularly ironic about the last paragraph is that while he was electrifying, it was also a "quiet" 50. Except for a string of shots in the first quarter, there was no time where he drained shots in a way that you would jump up every time he took a jumper, like what happens when Kobe is on fire. You'd be electrified by something in the split-second after it happened, but you didn't feel that pumping right before he'd go up for each shot. In that sense, it was a "quiet" 52.

Lebron made shots that were difficult to understand how he even got to - one second he's 8 feet away from the hoop, one guy all over him and another in front, and the next second he's falling past the hoop, the ball rolling in from the rim, a whistle blowing, and the Knicks players looking on in wonderment. His early alley-oop was on a full-speed, 90-degree left hand turn toward the basket followed by a straight up 36+ inch vertical and then a power slam downward with both hands, all with someone pushing against his body on the left side. Sure, we've seen him do it dozens of times - and I still can't figure out how it's physically possible. After having been beaten on defense twice, and seemingly a third time, he not only caught up to Wilson Chandler but completely stuffed a reverse layup. And in what might just be a beautiful example of how aware Lebron is, the Knicks hit a shot with 3.7 seconds left in the first half to pull within three. Lebron looks at the clock, motions for Gibson to inbound the ball to him on the run, and turns to start running up the court, with about enough time for a pull-up three. A split-second later he fires a dart to Ben Wallace on the far baseline, who gets an easy lay-in right before the buzzer.

Lebron James is a frighteningly amazing basketball player. What is especially scary is to think that he had 52-10-11 on a night where he honestly just did not play his best game. I sat there during the game wondering just what his numbers would be in a game like tonight's if he drove a little more, if his jumper were a little better, if Delonte West were helping spread the floor a little more. We're talking about a guy who just turned 24 years old, and he is capable of improving on his game to a point where he would have 70-15-15 in a game like tonight's. He is a mind-boggling wonder.

52-10-11. I still can't believe it. I'm just shaking my head... Wow.

12 comments:

  1. Nice blog. You're right that LeBron didn't have a good night in the sense that he stalled the offense and forced shots all night long. But unlike Kobe's 61 point game which came on lots of shots in the paint, LeBron was hitting deep 2 pointers all night long. It's basically the thing that people have criticized him about for the last 3 years. The Knicks sagged off him all night and he just kept draining them. He'll hit 3 or 4 of those a game now (which is an improvement over last year) but he hit about 8 of them tonight. http://espn.go.com/nba/shotchart?gameId=290204018

    From a mental standpoint, LeBron did not play that well tonight. He stalled the offense, he held the ball too long, forcing the Cavs into bad possessions that ended in hoisting prayers as the shot clock ran down, and he basically decided that for 90% of the game, he was going to set up at the top of the key, have everyone spread out, and either shoot himself, or hit an open teammate when another defender helped. Honestly, it was the most primitive form of offense i have ever seen. And yet, because LeBron is a man among boys, the Cavs won ON THE ROAD, on the SECOND NIGHT OF A BACK TO BACK, with the entire team feeling the effects of the Flu. Pretty incredible.

    I just hope the Cavs can get rid of these bad habits. When they had their 14 game winning streak earlier this season, they just methodically beat teams with execution, hustle, defense, and a superior floor game. Now, they are relying on a high 3 point percentage (like 45% since D West went down) and some statistical anomalies like Mo Williams' near trip double on 43 points and LeBron's MONSTER night tonight.

    What's crazy is that he missed about 4 or 5 layups at the rim that would have been and-1s. If those go in, he eclipses 60 with a triple double...(shakes head)

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  2. Wow that is some waxing poetic there. I would love to see him beat the Knicks at the Garden. That would be sweet. I'll have to settle for watching him rock the Q. If we can get through all the damn snow :-)

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  3. Tsunami - Thanks.

    So is 7/16 on perimeter shots good? I don't know. It's certainly not a bad percentage; it just feels like he shouldn't have been shooting 16 times from 17+ out.

    Exactly on the stalled offense, and exactly on Lebron. The Cavs looked pretty tired tonight, I must say. The 4-day rest will help them tremendously.

    Amen on the streak quality vs. what they're doing now; it shows how important West is to keeping this team playing on an even keel.

    And... yeah. Sick.

    Ezer - Hehe. :) And I'd love to go to the Q to hear the place rocking...!

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  4. He's just a total athletic freak. I'd love to see what he could do as an offensive tight end or a linebacker. Maybe even a receiver. That dude is ridiculously fast for his size.

    I'm sold on LeBron being better than Kobe now. He's like an adult playing in a kids' game -- like Shaq in his prime, except not dependent on a guard to get him the ball. I agree with you that the team might do better if he didn't bring it up as often, but that's probably Mike Brown's fault.

    Hard to know how to use him, though. Give him the rock and let him figure it out isn't the worst idea in the world. Might be fun to see him in a triangle or a run-and-gun system though.

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  5. JA - He played WR in HS and was All-State. A looot of people would love to see him play for the Browns. :)

    Brown does draw it up more to have the guards start the offense, but he lets James use his judgment (which in the long run I think is a good thing). James is getting better at deferring, and when West is healthy they're MUCH better at doing this (even if it's not West bringing it up).

    They run a little of everything: Triangles, pick 'n roll, iso, give 'n go... he's able to do any and all of them rather well. The problem is he prefers isolation too much of the time at the expense of the rest of the offense, but he's learning.

    24 years old. Geez.

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  6. Hard to know how to use him, though

    No it's not - watch, I'll show you...at no point until the shot clock is below 10 seconds should LeBron ever find himself above the free-throw line. He is simply too big and too quick to be stopped when starting that close to the hoop.

    It's not as much fun or as flashy but it would make him a totally freakish and unstoppable combination of Karl Malone and Hakeem Olajuwon.

    See how easy that was.

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  7. G - Dunno about that, honestly. While he should start down low more, he seems to work well while moving. I'd like to get him the ball on the move more rather than a post-up type (which it sounds like you meant). It would also keep that "and-1" ability, which posting up wouldn't get as much.

    Also wonder if banging around down low too much would take a heavier toll.

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  8. OMG, just imagine him running a pick-and-roll with Stockton.

    (Yes, I'm an atheist and I say OMG.)

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  9. ...because deep down... :)

    Also, yeah. I'm actually surprised they don't do it more with him and Williams - Williams is great coming off screens, has a good shot to pull back and hit if the other guard goes under the screen and the speed and floater to drive the lane if the other guard tries to go through Lebron (hehe). And then having LBJ roll off his pick toward the basket... care to get in the way? :)

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  10. I saw LeBron when at Cleveland when I came in for R. Rodins wedding and that was the most fun, before he had the jump shot, you got see the raw mad hops that he had, all he could do was drive and dunk which he did. If you didnt see Lebron at 19 you missed the fun.

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  11. Doesn't have to be a post on the block.

    Could be pick and rolls, setting up at the elbow or the elbow-extended, could be just planting himself smack in the middle of the lane...any or all of the above and he can move from one to other within a given possesion to keep him on the move.

    JUST STOP HANGING OUT 20-25 FT FROM THE RIM!!!

    **word verif.= "hecur"...yes, yes i am**

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  12. Ummm...I think idol worship is forbidden in our religion.

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