New Album & The Beginning of Basketball Season

[MylesBAstor]

Maybe James does not feel confident about taking the last money-ball shot. Will that change this June? We'll see. This is where we separate the men from the boys. Kareem, (my personal top-ranked money-shot maker), MJ, Bird, Magic, Kobe, Wade, among others, have shown they are the money-shot makers with the game on the line and a few seconds left. So many highlight films have shown that. James, like in that Utah game, made a few very difficult, well-guarded shots- really amazing shots with so much time remaining in the game to pull the Heat closer, but when the game is on the line with a few seconds left, he doesn't feel confident that he will make those shots and consequently, passes to someone else whom he thinks will do it for him. Well, if he has a guy like John Paxton who made MJ's pass-up plays looked good, that would be fine. And MJ never got criticized for passing up the last shot bec Paxson always makes them.

IMHO, no one better than the Big "O" at taking the last minute shot and getting fouled!

 

[steve williams]

Phil

Interesting you picked Kareem and I certainly agree because no one could defend against the sky hook. This however faded in his final few years and I always remember in the series against Boston I would always cringe to see who would get the last shot hoping it would be Magic and not Kareem

 

[Ron Party]

And MJ never got criticized for passing up the last shot bec Paxson always makes them.

MJ did pass up a last shot once in the finals; he passed the ball to Steve Kerr who made the shot.

 

[jadis]

Phil

Interesting you picked Kareem and I certainly agree because no one could defend against the sky hook. This however faded in his final few years and I always remember in the series against Boston I would always cringe to see who would get the last shot hoping it would be Magic and not Kareem

Steve,

In that mid 80s Celtics-Lakers trilogy, I remember at one point Larry Bird wished that Kareem would retire immediately, to ensure a Celtics victory. True, Kareem's game faded in this final years, just like some other greats, but I consider him the most potent offensive terror (sky hook and all) when the game is on the line. Well, Magic did make one baby sky hook at the closing seconds over McHale to beat the Celtics 'in the parquet floor'. And Magic was jubilant after that shot.

 

[jadis]

MJ did pass up a last shot once in the finals; he passed the ball to Steve Kerr who made the shot.

Oh yes. Kerr did that too. The key is, Kerr had to make the shot, or MJ gets the flak.

 

[FrantzM]

MJ. Magic . the Big O, Bird etc did pass the ball.. They,also, became more productive in different ways when the game was on the line: be it, a steal, a pass a rebound .. LBJ shrinks and appears lost and shy when the game is on the line and he's been doing it for a while .. If LBJ answered the call of greatness , Dallas would not have won... OTOH Dirk woke up and play the way he's been doing for years ..
I don't know , call it a hunch but LBJ has too much talent to not wake up . he coach also could help him by designing low post, isolation plays for him to boost his confidence in taking the last shot...

 

[Ron Party]

Oh yes. Kerr did that too. The key is, Kerr had to make the shot, or MJ gets the flak.

Yep. I remember at the victory celebration, when all the players and coaches were on the stage, Kerr joked that he had to bail out Jordan.

 

[Ron Party]

The coach also could help him by designing low post, isolation plays for him to boost his confidence in taking the last shot...

LBJ has not yet demonstrated a reliable low post game.

 

[FrantzM]

LBJ has not yet demonstrated a reliable low post game.

I agree but he can develop it and that was my point with his coach designing plays for him in the low post .. LBJ is very difficult to match one on one .. Quick enough to pass by a guard but strong enough to take on a power forward or a center... Developing his low post game should help him getting high percentage points in close-games situations.

 

[jadis]

James, when he is posting up, or driving in for a basket, needs to be aware of his committing an offensive foul. He is bull-strong, but that can be his weakness down the post. His sudden spin move down low can cause a defensive player to flop instantly and thereby giving James an offensive foul, and imagine if by that time he has already 3 fouls, and 4th foul would take him out of the game and disrupt his flow. To be effective down low, he has to move like Adrian Dantley, who imo, was one the best 'small' low post player in the game. He made fishing for fouls down low for a living, it was said. And I agree, if James can have an effective low post game, that will boost his confidence. As for his outside shots, he gets streaky at times, but for streaky shooters, I'd bank of Reggie Miller or Ray Allen.

 

[MylesBAstor]

Steve,

In that mid 80s Celtics-Lakers trilogy, I remember at one point Larry Bird wished that Kareem would retire immediately, to ensure a Celtics victory. True, Kareem's game faded in this final years, just like some other greats, but I consider him the most potent offensive terror (sky hook and all) when the game is on the line. Well, Magic did make one baby sky hook at the closing seconds over McHale to beat the Celtics 'in the parquet floor'. And Magic was jubilant after that shot.

Remember Kareem couldn't retire because he was bankrupt courtesy of bad investments made by his agent. So he had to play an extra couple of years to make back some money

 

[rblnr]

James, when he is posting up, or driving in for a basket, needs to be aware of his committing an offensive foul. He is bull-strong, but that can be his weakness down the post. His sudden spin move down low can cause a defensive player to flop instantly and thereby giving James an offensive foul

Don't know about this. Going to the hoop, Lebron commits as many offensive fouls as anyone I've ever seen and gets called for very few fouls. He goes straight at and into guys without consequence. I think he can and does occasionally post up , and could probably do so as well as anyone in the league if he put his mind to it. His talent has no ceiling. Problem at end of games isn't unselfishness (he's an unreal passer with much better natural court vision than, say, D Rose) or offensive foul potential. Issue is the same as why he didn't want to win a championship on his own (with a team built around him, he as the sun) -- he doesn't necessarily want that last shot (D Wade does) It's a character issue.

 

[Ron Party]

Bob, I completely agree with everything you wrote re LBJ.

 

[Ron Party]

Remember Kareem couldn't retire because he was bankrupt courtesy of bad investments made by his agent. So he had to play an extra couple of years to make back some money

Very sad.

And then look at his statistics. Even in his last year, at age 41, he averaged 10 points a game. Made the playoffs in all but 2 of his 20 year NBA career. He was a career 56% shooter from the field. 56! And it's not like he only dunked the ball. Contrast that with the Clippers' center who all of last year did not make even 1 hoop outside the lane. Kareem was just awesome.

 

[steve williams]

Talk about taking the final shot, Kobe does it and ties the game at end of regulation only to lose to the Pistons in OT

This kid Rodney Stuckey blew the Lakers out single handed

 

[dafos]

Ray Allen's jumper is the the most beautiful I've seen, past and present.

 

[jadis]

Very sad.

And then look at his statistics. Even in his last year, at age 41, he averaged 10 points a game. Made the playoffs in all but 2 of his 20 year NBA career. He was a career 56% shooter from the field. 56! And it's not like he only dunked the ball. Contrast that with the Clippers' center who all of last year did not make even 1 hoop outside the lane. Kareem was just awesome.

Indeed Kareem was awesome. Won the championship with the Bucks only in his 2nd year by averaging almost 32 points in the '70-'71 season. In those days when he was Lew Alcindor, he always struck me as an intimidating basketball player, on both sides of the courts. And the guy has finesse on his shots, his foul shooting even has a follow through, for a center.

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

I wonder why nobody but nobody has worked on the skyhook .. Talk about unblockable!

 

[rblnr]

Yep, hard to figure. Particularly with the game a bit more above the rim than it was.

And why has Dwight Howard still barely developed a post game?

 

[steve williams]

only player I can remember that emulated the skyhook was Magic and IIRC he beat Boston with a skyhook in the finals back in the 80's