Lebron struggling with his shot

[Roy H.]

Lebron has shot below .500 in 12 of the 19 playoff games he's played in this season.  That's as many below .500 games as he had in his 76 game regular season.

What do you think?  Is Lebron slumping, or is this just a factor of playing great defenses that have time to game plan for him?

[CelticG1]

I think its a combination of playing some of the best defenses in the league, his supporting players being non existant, playoff game planning, fatigue from carrying the team the entire season, having a ridiculously high fg % during season and playoff basketball where those fastbreak easy buckets are harder to come by.

[Fafnir]

Lebron has shot below .500 in 12 of the 19 playoff games he's played in this season.  That's as many below .500 games as he had in his 76 game regular season.

What do you think?  Is Lebron slumping, or is this just a factor of playing great defenses that have time to game plan for him?

I think he's slumping, in part due to playing better defenses but also Wade's limitations are being exploited far more ruthlessly in the playoffs than the regular season.

Wade is being guarded like he's Tony Allen by the Spurs. The Pacers did similar things during the ECF as well.

[Who]

LeBron has been forced to do more offensively with Bosh and Wade slumping. His scoring attempts have become more predictable and easier to defend as a result. Defenses are able to load up on him better than they were for most of the regular season.

Miami need to get back to running a balanced offense. Not this LeBron-show crap.

[Fafnir]

LeBron has been forced to do more offensively with Bosh and Wade slumping. His scoring attempts have become more predictable and easier to defend as a result. Defenses are able to load up on him better than they were for most of the regular season.

Miami need to get back to running a balanced offense. Not this LeBron-show crap.

They really need to run their offense for Bosh/LeBron at this point.

Wade's complete inability to take advantage of the Spurs playing him like he's Tony Allen has made him such a non-factor. A non-factor whose transition D and lack of attention to details has been exploited on the other end as well.

[fairweatherfan]

Lebron has shot below .500 in 12 of the 19 playoff games he's played in this season.  That's as many below .500 games as he had in his 76 game regular season.

What do you think?  Is Lebron slumping, or is this just a factor of playing great defenses that have time to game plan for him?

I think he's slumping, in part due to playing better defenses but also Wade's limitations are being exploited far more ruthlessly in the playoffs than the regular season.

Wade is being guarded like he's Tony Allen by the Spurs. The Pacers did similar things during the ECF as well.

LeBron is struggling, but Wade is being completely exposed the last 2 series.  I've been watching Wade closely for a lot of the games, and it's remarkable not only how ineffective he is for long stretches, but how many mental mistakes he makes on basic things like defensive position, offensive spacing, boxing out, etc.  It seems like he's mentally out of the games on top of being physically limited.

Another fun side thing I've noticed is that absolutely everyone goes straight at Bosh in transition.  No fear whatsoever of Miami's best big.  He'll either foul you, get out of the way, or foul you while getting out of the way.

[fairweatherfan]

For LeBron specifically though, it's throwing him off being left so wide open.  He doesn't want to just dribble up and shoot, so he spends a few seconds trying to make something happen, but a lot of times the jumper winds up being the only thing available, and his rhythm is totally out of whack.  Reminds me a lot of what Dallas did in 2011.

And when he does get something going, Green and Leonard have been terrific guarding him, and help has been nearly flawless.  No idea how Green has blocked 3 of his shots at the rim over the last couple games, though.  That's something that probably shouldn't ever happen.

[CelticG1]

I bet Lebron would much rather have Mo Williams right now than Wade.


Wade really has been that bad. Complete downward spiral. Mayne he has a severe injury but otherwise I've seen a lot more hobbled players play better and more inspired than him

[CelticG1]

Lebron has shot below .500 in 12 of the 19 playoff games he's played in this season.  That's as many below .500 games as he had in his 76 game regular season.

What do you think?  Is Lebron slumping, or is this just a factor of playing great defenses that have time to game plan for him?

I think he's slumping, in part due to playing better defenses but also Wade's limitations are being exploited far more ruthlessly in the playoffs than the regular season.

Wade is being guarded like he's Tony Allen by the Spurs. The Pacers did similar things during the ECF as well.

Yeah early in the Broadcast jvg was saying they were guarding him like Rondo.

Definitely more like Tony Allen tho as Rondo can do a hell of a lot more than Wade has.

[Fan from VT]

I think "below .500 in 12 of 19 games" is a bit misleading when taken by itself. That includes games where he either shot > .470 (still pretty good) and/or shot <.500 but had 8+ free throws and/or shot well on 3 pointers.

He's definitely struggling in the finals, and I think it's mostly a result of the "big 3" being actually a "big 1 and an ok 2" and finally hitting another good team.

Look at Wade and Bosh, supposedly the big help for Lebron:

Wade:
vs CHicago: 12.6/3.4/4.8
vs Indy: 15.4/5.1/4.3
Finals: 14.3/1.3/4.3

Bosh:
vs Chicago: 13.6/8.6/2.0
vs Indy: 11.0/4.3/0.7
Finals: 12.3/8.3/3.o

That's essentially playing with George Hill and JJ Hickson from this year as your 2nd and 3rd best players. Tough, and I think he's exhausted from carrying them this far. They (bosh and wade) have the names, but they are waaaay off right now, either they're over the hill or injured, but they've been playing like role players, not 2nd/3rd bananas.


Lebron meanwhile slapped up a 23.6/7.0/7.8 vs chicago and a 29/7.3/5.3 vs Indy to carry them this far. Even against San Antonio, who seems to be the first playoff team to realize that Wade and Bosh are sucking, just focus on Lebron, he's put up a 16.7/12.3/7.3. Any other player, and that would be pretty fantastic. Definitely his shot is not there in the finals, whether it's fatigue or an excellent defensive strategy by the Spurs taking into account his teammates suckitude, but until the finals he shot .438/.353/.808 and .510/.444/.778 against Chicago then Indy, two of teh best defenses in the whole league. (Chi #5, Indy #1, SA #3.) Brutal to be the only contributor vs. those 3 defenses, and in no uncertain terms Wade and Bosh have been AWFUL. But they won't get the press.

[manl_lui]

or great defense by the Spurs. They just threw everything they have at the Heat and specifically at Lebron. Like Leonard 1v1 with Lebron or the zone that prevented Lebron from driving in.

[CelticConcourse]

He's getting a ton of open looks. It's called confidence, or lack thereof. How disorienting must it be to get double-teams on jump shots the whole year, and then to get into the Finals with no defender within three feet?

[Fan from VT]

From Zach Lowe's Grantland piece:

• Here’s a bad number: Wade is 6-of-21 in the playoffs on post-up shots and has drawn exactly zero shooting fouls on his post-up possessions, per Synergy Sports. The real Wade shoots between 45 and 50 percent on post-ups and draws bundles of fouls. The Heat didn’t even try him down there tonight. The Heat in Game 2 called a Wade post-up for their first play of the second half, and he could barely float the ball over Green’s hand. The lift just isn’t there.

• Wade’s also 9-of-29 on isolations, which loosely translates to “STOP DOING THIS.”

[blink]

I think "below .500 in 12 of 19 games" is a bit misleading when taken by itself. That includes games where he either shot > .470 (still pretty good) and/or shot <.500 but had 8+ free throws and/or shot well on 3 pointers.

He's definitely struggling in the finals, and I think it's mostly a result of the "big 3" being actually a "big 1 and an ok 2" and finally hitting another good team.

Look at Wade and Bosh, supposedly the big help for Lebron:

Wade:
vs CHicago: 12.6/3.4/4.8
vs Indy: 15.4/5.1/4.3
Finals: 14.3/1.3/4.3

Bosh:
vs Chicago: 13.6/8.6/2.0
vs Indy: 11.0/4.3/0.7
Finals: 12.3/8.3/3.o

That's essentially playing with George Hill and JJ Hickson from this year as your 2nd and 3rd best players. Tough, and I think he's exhausted from carrying them this far. They (bosh and wade) have the names, but they are waaaay off right now, either they're over the hill or injured, but they've been playing like role players, not 2nd/3rd bananas.


Lebron meanwhile slapped up a 23.6/7.0/7.8 vs chicago and a 29/7.3/5.3 vs Indy to carry them this far. Even against San Antonio, who seems to be the first playoff team to realize that Wade and Bosh are sucking, just focus on Lebron, he's put up a 16.7/12.3/7.3. Any other player, and that would be pretty fantastic. Definitely his shot is not there in the finals, whether it's fatigue or an excellent defensive strategy by the Spurs taking into account his teammates suckitude, but until the finals he shot .438/.353/.808 and .510/.444/.778 against Chicago then Indy, two of teh best defenses in the whole league. (Chi #5, Indy #1, SA #3.) Brutal to be the only contributor vs. those 3 defenses, and in no uncertain terms Wade and Bosh have been AWFUL. But they won't get the press.

I agree with this.  I have seen a big drop in the play of bosh and wade this post-season.  I mean it is Mike Miller that along with LJ was keeping them in the game at all after 1/2 time.  I think Wade and Bosh still have the ability to step it up occasionally, as they did in game 7 of the ECF.  But I feel like it isn't so much a big 3 anymore. 

[j804]

From Zach Lowe's Grantland piece:

• Here’s a bad number: Wade is 6-of-21 in the playoffs on post-up shots and has drawn exactly zero shooting fouls on his post-up possessions, per Synergy Sports. The real Wade shoots between 45 and 50 percent on post-ups and draws bundles of fouls. The Heat didn’t even try him down there tonight. The Heat in Game 2 called a Wade post-up for their first play of the second half, and he could barely float the ball over Green’s hand. The lift just isn’t there.

• Wade’s also 9-of-29 on isolations, which loosely translates to “STOP DOING THIS.”

Awesome somebody just needs to take out Mike Miller

joke