LeBron James

[Chris]

Brinda said on WKNR after the game that it was confirmed the back was bothering him a little bit still, but not a lot?

Or at least I thought he said that was confirmed. Maybe it was just speculation.

 

[bobcat22]

No his back is definitely still bothering him. He pulled it out a bit on that pull-up dunk in transition he had toward the end of the 2nd. That's why he asked out at the next dead ball. He was basically taking defense off tonight to rest his back for a bit. He was the last one back on D quite a few times. Glad he gets a couple days rest now before Portland. He needs it.

 

[MH32246]

It seems like he usually has issues with his back to start every season when trying to get his body back into game shape. This dates back to his previous Cleveland days hopefully this is just the case and it continues to improve.

 

[eclark232]

I've watched almost every Lebron game while in a Cavs uniform. Unfortunately I missed 4 years of him while in Miami except for some playoff basketball. He is not the same player he was when he left. He might not even be the same player he was last year. But, with all great players games evolve as they age. The truly great ones find ways to impact the game just as much. He clearly is having an issue with his lower back. I never recall him playing this upright. He definitely isn't moving as well as he has in the past. Whatever is wrong he will adjust and so do we as fans.

 

[CavsHomer]

^
Let's not overreact. He's still only 29 years old. He played a fantastic finals series even though Miami lost.
You don't lose all your athleticism and explosiveness over a time span of ~4 months.
His back still bothers him a bit. It's obvious. But he'll be fine.

 

[catfish]

^
Let's not overreact. He's still only 29 years old. He played a fantastic finals series even though Miami lost.
You don't lose all your athleticism and explosiveness over a time span of ~4 months.
His back still bothers him a bit. It's obvious. But he'll be fine.

I disagree. He looked old in the finals. He definately looked like he had lost a step. I sort of forgot about it in all the excitement over the summer. To me he doesnt look like the same player. I still dont know what the deal is with the weight loss. I dont accept that he just wanted to lose weight. Hopefully he gets some of his agility back. He must have been confident though to have signed only the short term deal.

 

[Bandwagoner305]

Miami ran him through the ground. He was their best rebounder, scorer, defender, and sometimes they made guard PF's and even some C's. I think the only positive that Blatt can take out of Miami's playbook is to play LeBron closer to the basket on the offensive end and that's how the team will start shooting better. LeBron is finally playing on a team where he likely won't even be third in RPG and that's great news.


He's dealing with back pain and he's tired. I know he's very durable and a freak athlete, but he went to the finals four straight times and was asked be the anchor on every ends for his team, that'll take a toll on you somehow. Miami brought the best out of him in terms of his all-around production, impact, efficiency, but they ran him to the ground and made him do too much.

 

[catfish]

Miami ran him through the ground. He was their best rebounder, scorer, defender, and sometimes they made guard PF's and even some C's. I think the only positive that Blatt can take out of Miami's playbook is to play LeBron closer to the basket on the offensive end and that's how the team will start shooting better. LeBron is finally playing on a team where he likely won't even be third in RPG and that's great news.


He's dealing with back pain and he's tired. I know he's very durable and a freak athlete, but he went to the finals four straight times and was asked be the anchor on every ends for his team, that'll take a toll on you somehow. The brought the best out of him in terms of his all-around efficiency, but they ran him to the ground and made him do too much.

Maybe if he didnt do so much non basketball stuff he wouldnt be so tired.

 

[CavsHomer]

I disagree. He looked old in the finals. He definately looked like he had lost a step. I sort of forgot about it in all the excitement over the summer. To me he doesnt look like the same player. I still dont know what the deal is with the weight loss. I dont accept that he just wanted to lose weight. Hopefully he gets some of his agility back. He must have been confident though to have signed only the short term deal.

Really? Imo he didn't look old at all and he definitely didn't look like he lost a step.
28/8/4/2 on 57/52/80 is flat out beastin' and all of that against one of the best perimeter defenders and rim protectors in Leonard and Duncan.
And stats aside, he looked explosive and in good overall shape during the finals.

Let's just all remember what he said during the CNN interview with Rachel Nichols.
I'm paraphrasing but it was something like "I'm quicker on the court right now/I can still fly above the rim".
When he'll be 100% healthy, I'm sure we'll see him running and flying and attacking again like the old James.

 

[elcheato]

He just put up 36/8/4 on arguably the leagues best defense. The sky isn't falling people

 

[Adam]

He just put up 36/8/4 on arguably the leagues best defense. The sky isn't falling people

"Yeah but he only had 1 dunk"

Although i was surprised how few whistles he got in the paint, thought it was a superstars league

 

[Futuredome]

30 shots is to much and draining. If that continues, we have some real real problems.

 

[Bandwagoner305]

30 shots is to much and draining. If that continues, we have some real real problems.

Coach Blatt needs to make him play closer to the post area. The Cavs needs to become an efficient shooting team and the only way for that to happen is to run plays in the paint area more and that'll start with running plays for LeBron there. The Cavs have all the pieces to shoot as efficiently from the field as Miami, Spurs, etc, did in the last four years, they just need to figure out how to do it.

LeBron shooting more shots from the outside isn't going to get it done. Kyrie and Dion shooting quick low quality ill-advised shots isn't going to get it done either. LeBron and Love have to play closer to the rim in order for this team to become an elite efficient shooting team.

 

[cavsfever]

From Jared Mueller's blog:

http://kingjamesgospel.com/2014/11/...ng+James+Gospel+|+A+Cleveland+Cavaliers+Blog)

LeBron James Back Seems Like A Real Issue
by Jared Mueller 2h ago

The Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James won last night against the Chicago Bulls. James had a great night, some might call it vintage, with 36 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 1 block. Yet LeBron’s game is missing something. It is hard to put one’s finger on but watching LeBron James so far this year has created concern, something is different about his game.

Sam The Bullshit Whisperer of Fox Sports Ohio made note of James’ struggle in ball handling and finishing at the rim, something he has never struggled with:

3. I’m not basing all of this on one game. LeBron struggled driving to the basket and finishing in the preseason, as well as some practices. Those are two areas in which he’s always excelled. But too often in the preseason and against the Knicks, he lost control of the ball, or had it slapped away. Bulls swingman Mike Dunleavy — never known for quick hands defensively — even stripped LeBron in an exhibition game.

Even James’ first dunk of the season, yes it wasn’t until more than halfway through the second game of the season before he dunked, there was something that seemed off about him. Take a look at when he comes down:

As he lands he seems to tighten up as if something is wrong. He runs down the court but it is very gingerly. Nothing seems wrong with his knees or ankles which lends to a possible issue with his back. A writer from Fear the Sword noted some type of concern as well when James came down:

James has failed to explode to the rim, avoided contact as much as possible and relied on fallaway jumpers far too often. Even his jumpers seem to lack much actual jumping. Even the struggle dribbling that The Bullshit Whisperer notes could be due to his back. When a back tightens up it is harder to stay low when dribbling the basketball.

More from King James Gospel (formerly Right Down Euclid)
In the first two games of the season players like Mike Dunleavy, Tony Snell and Travis Wear have been able to keep James out of the lane. He hasn’t been able to control his dribble and hasn’t finished well at the rim. Not the LeBron James that we have watched play for years. Not the LeBron James that we expected after all his weight loss, a slimmer James should be more explosive.

Two explanations: his back is really hurting him or he is conserving himself.

The second makes sense. He played 42 minutes last night after 43 minutes the night before. Yet Cavs fans have to be concerned that James’ back injury could mean we are watching a far different player for the rest of his career.

If that player can put up numbers like last night and stay on the court that should be great. But if his back degenerates or James and the team cannot adjust than the team could struggle to come close to their stated goals.

What do you think about James’ back?

(Note: This writer has had lower back problems since high school. There are things about how LeBron moves on the court that I can relate to, at a much less athletic level, and that concern me. It could be nothing but watching him so far this year has created the concerns. Even some of the workouts, stretches and routines I saw live while covering some pre-season games showed signs of back issues. I hope not to alarm but wanted to share my concern.)

 

[wremy]

Coach Blatt needs to make him play closer to the post area. The Cavs needs to become an efficient shooting team and the only way for that to happen is to run plays in the paint area more and that'll start with running plays for LeBron there. The Cavs have all the pieces to shoot as efficiently from the field as Miami, Spurs, etc, did in the last four years, they just need to figure out how to do it.

LeBron shooting more shots from the outside isn't going to get it done. Kyrie and Dion shooting quick low quality ill-advised shots isn't going to get it done either. LeBron and Love have to play closer to the rim in order for this team to become an elite efficient shooting team.

LeBron and Love in the post is a good way to go.. Kyrie and Dion still need to use their ability to get to the rim at will though... both can.. that is something you may have not seen yet from Dion even though Kyrie has been excellent already attacking but both need to stay aggressive when we are in our halfcourt set because it sets up kick outs to our shooters or dump offs to our big men