Would you deal LeBron James?

[htown11]

Dwight is great, but LeBron is still the best overall player in the NBA IMO. He had a awful stretch here to end the playoffs but I wouldn't give up on him just yet.

[Nitro]

Obviously, LeBron didn't learn from 2007. Boston forced him into terrible shots last year. He still didn't establish a decent post game. Why would that change?

 

LeBron is a MUCH better player than he was in 2007, specifically with his jumper. Besides fast breaks, he wasn't getting to the rim at all against Boston and Chicago...everything was jumpers. He's gotten a lot more comfortable with his perimeter game, and his defense is lightyears better than back in 2007. So, I do think he has shown the ability to improve his game in the off-season, and now that he's seen what he has to do for this team to be most successful, I think he'll work on those areas. I could be wrong, but I think he can and will to an extent.

 

And, if the Heat learn from this experience, why wouldn't other NBA teams learn how to beat the Heat? Zone them up. Dallas trusted it, and it worked. How many times did Dallas stick two guys on LeBron before he reached the perimeter? Hell, there were opportunities where Barea was on LeBron by himself. It's something you saw all year with teams, though, because those teams were all intimidated.

 

It's all about reaction. I think Spo threw in a few wrinkles as the series went on to beat the zone (as seen in Game 5 with the multiple open dunks around the rim for Haslem and Bosh, and then that play where LeBron went right to the middle of the zone and got the pass which led to an easy basket), but they never fully put it all together. The zone is a gimmick, and very few teams use it with any regularity hence why it can throw teams off who aren't prepared for it (like the Lakers last season when the Suns went to zone, but then they adjusted and had a lot of success). I think next season the Heat will be more prepared, and they have only a few select teams they have to worry about using an effective zone.

 

If I can be convinced that one of them changes (LeBron or Wade), cool...I'll change my stance. As we go along, they will only get older, Miami could be lacking in talent, and to be honest, I'm not really sure how James will respond to the ass-kicking he just had. In 2007, it was acceptable because he didn't have Wade or Bosh, and he played a dynasty. Last night, Dallas was considered the ultimate chokers for so long, not a single NBA championship in franchise history, and a coach not named Phil Jackson or Gregg Popovich. Make one a better off-ball player, or have one develop a nasty post game, and I'll start to worry a little more about the potential of them winning multiple championships.

 

I thought Wade was unstoppable in the post this series, but they didn't take advantage of it nearly enough, especially toward the end of the series. Wade can be that off-ball player, but he should also have substantial amounts of possessions where he is ball-dominant. LeBron too, however he really needs to work on his off-ball play. Neither of them are incapable of playing that way, and at times both showed a strong ability to play off-ball at times throughout the season...it's all a matter of getting comfortable with it. To me, that's on the coach. It's not something that can happen overnight, or thrown in during the middle of the series and expect to have success. It needs to start to begin in the offseason, then put into place in training camp, then practiced throughout the season. That was my biggest problem with Spo...he admitted to throwing in minimal offensive sets to start the season off, and didn't begin to expand this until mid-season. If he begins it from the get-go, and they gradually incorperate it, then the team will be well-prepared for the post-season.

[SRV]

I think Wade's injury in the pre season might have delayed us a lot. That was the time where we needed to get our shit together for the regular season, but Wade wasn't around to practice. The start of the season was shaky, but once we figured it out things were going great. Just imagine next season, we get this whole summer of these three guys together, they already had a season together where they went through every scenario and criticism possible. Next year they won't get nearly as much media attention, because the Knicks will start their ultra super badass team, so they should really just focus on their game and putting in an actual offense.