LeBron James

[billmac91]

Windy. This could explain the offensive woes:

LeBron opts for new leadership style

James seems to be letting young Cavs struggle as way to pull them toward his way

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The old head seems to be playing the long game, at least for now.

That's what LeBron James was doing Tuesday night, and perhaps more nights in the near future, when the Portland Trail Blazers whipped the Cleveland Cavaliers so heartily (101-82 was the final) that the white flag was out midway through the fourth quarter.

James pulled up even earlier, jogging through his final shift of the night watching his younger teammates bomb away indiscriminately and generally showing zero interest in fighting. It's an interesting strategy and not one James has relied upon in the past, when he's usually dealt with intra-team frustration by pulling on a cape and trying to heroball his way through it.

This time he just walked quietly to the bench when his coach, David Blatt, called timeouts to stem the bleeding. When his night was over, James picked the final seat on the bench and was into the tunnel shortly after the final horn.

In recent days there have been growing questions as to whether James might be hurt -- he has dealt with some minor back soreness -- or in some way suddenly physically diminished because at times he has looked lackluster.

That is not the case at all.

This is a conscious decision on how he plans to operate in a passive-aggressive mission to yank some teammates toward his way of thinking. Let some of them fail at their way so they will be open to new ideas, is what it looks and sounds like.

"Everyone wants to win, I would hope," James said. "Would you rather play selfish basketball and lose, or play unselfish basketball and sacrifice and win? So you pick it."

This style of leadership is not part of James' typical nature and it wouldn't be like him to keep it up very long. More likely, frustrated by the way the game unfolded as the Cavs' offense collapsed into one-on-one ball, this was his way of counting to 10 to calm down.

It's interesting that this took place in Portland. A few years ago, when he was being booed regularly on the road for the first time in his life, James stood on the court of what was then called the Rose Garden and incited the crowd to boo him as he led a comeback win. He said after the game he accepted the villain role going forward.

Within days, he'd abandoned that because that is not him. Neither, however, is this. This is not the way James' sets an example.

And not what Blatt, who is thrashing around a bit in the deep end of his first NBA season as he struggles with basic rotations and player motivation, needs from him either. Though it has not been hard to miss, James so far seems to be lacking chemistry with his new coach, another of those annoying factors that goes into starting over with the new team as James is working on.

It must be said James has been preparing for these days and, it can be assumed, he's put thought into how to handle them. He certainly has been talking about his expectations of early struggles for the Cavs for months.

This is what James said in July when he signed:

"It will be a long process, much longer than it was in 2010. My patience will get tested. I know that. I'm going into a situation with a young team and a new coach. I will be the old head."

This is what he said when the Cavs were in the middle of a promising 5-2 preseason, when their offense flowed like water and they widened their lead at the top of the odds-makers' charts:

"You've got to go through something to create a bond; that means for the worse. It has to happen. I know it is going to happen. A lot of guys don't see it, but I see it. That's the only way we're going to be able to grow. You don't define yourself during the good times, you define yourself through the bad times. That's for the players and the coaching staff, as well."

And this was what James said Tuesday with the Cavs sitting at 1-2, the victory thanks to James' heroics and some Chicago Bulls injuries last week:

"It's going to be a long process, man. There's been a lot of losing basketball around here for a few years. ... But there's a lot of bad habits, a lot of bad habits have been built up over the last couple of years, and when you play that style of basketball it takes a lot to get it up out of you. But I'm here to help, and that's what it's about."

On this front, at least, he has been consistent, unlike his defensive efforts in the early going when at times he has just waved at the ball as it's been driven by him. He may be in great shape but his effort level is far from midseason form.

Nonetheless, he apparently has something up his sleeve. He's working on delivering some sort of message.

His references to breaking bad habits from recent losing seasons seem rather obviously aimed at teammates Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters, the pair of high draft picks who spent the previous two seasons tugging at the ball.

As James stood passively and watched as the Blazers extended their lead in the second half, Waiters and Irving dribbled and dribbled and shot and shot. They had 19 shots in the second half, James had four. He was scoreless in the second half and put up just two points after the first quarter. To put that in perspective, he hadn't scored two points in three quarters since the 19th game of his career back in December of 2003.

"My mission is not a one-game thing," James explained. "We have to do multiple things in order to win. We got to share the ball. We got to play defense. We got to sacrifice in order to ultimately win. And obviously when you're going through the process, it's not the best part of the process, but I'm looking at the end of the tunnel."

The end of the tunnel might be a ways off. When questioned about what he sees as the timeline before the Cavs start playing more like a contender, James offered something both real and metaphoric.

"It could go on for a couple months until we're all on the same page," James said and then compared what he has going through now to when he undertook the rebuilding of a 1972 Chevy Caprice Classic from the wheels up. It took numerous trips to the paint shop before it was James' desired shade of baby blue.

It's not just a "shots for James" vs. a "shots for Irving, Waiters or Kevin Love" issue. Though it should be pointed out that Irving was 3-of-17 Tuesday and then bolted the locker room before offering comment about it in another not exactly desirable show of leadership.

The young Cavs have no interest in passing the ball to veterans such as Mike Miller, who has one 3-point attempt in three games, or Shawn Marion, who seems to only get passes from James. And now the team has its first injury as backup guard Matthew Dellavedova tweaked his knee Tuesday and could be out a little bit, though the team did not announce his injury.

No matter how it's parsed, the Cavs are going to need a lot better teamwork and a vast amount more effort before a discussion about their long-term goals can truly be had. This is something that James must understand when looking in the mirror as well as when giving sideways glances and speeches in team meetings as he applies his methods for whipping the team into the shape he's looking for.

It's also something Irving, Waiters and even Blatt -- who has seemingly gotten lost in the game at times in his first week doing the real job -- must come to grips with as well. James is trying to play chess, but the entire team could use a few games of executing some basic checkers, too.

"It's going to be a process. I keep on harping on that word, but it's the truth," James said. "I've been there before and understand it. But you do have to go through it even though you don't like to go through it."

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/1...ung-cleveland-cavaliers?ex_cid=espnnbaTwitter

It all makes sense but I think LeBron needs to show more effort too. They aren't mutually exclusive. He had some terrible effort plays last night that set a really bad example. He isn't wrong when he criticizes the ball movement and selfish basketball taking place, but he needs to hold himself accountable for his effort as well. Because it hasn't been very good so far....

 

[priceFTW]

Well if that is what hes doing....then im down. It just sucks to watch honestly.

It really does, but what I think he's trying to do is get the team where it can possibly go without having to rely on him being superman. The Heat relied on him to be Superman--primary perimeter defender, the main cog in the jump-trap defense, the primary rebounder, the primary initiator of offense (scoring and passing), primary post player, primary fast break player, primary everything. Honestly, I don't think Bosh and Wade and others tried as hard because they knew they had Superman on their side. I've seen a little of the Heat this year and they are rebounding with a different type of intensity than they did last year and are playing with more urgency and fire. Honestly, if they played like that with a 30+ PER James, the team wins 64-67 games every one of the years he was there.

He doesn't want to wind up in the situation he was in last summer when he became the first player in NBA history to record a 30+ PER throughout the playoffs (meaning he played all the playoff rounds including the finals) and didn't win the title. The only other players to record a 30+ PER through all the rounds of a year's playoffs are Jordan (twice) and Shaq once who didn't come close to losing. James shot 68% TS in the finals, had quarters when he made 2-3 threes, 5-6 shots, and still got blown the hell out in those quarters because everyone else was standing around. He knows if this is going to be successful for the long haul, everyone has to buy in to playing winning, contributing basketball.

 

[billmac91]

Lebron has learned from past experiences I know you guys want him to be a leader by example and go out there a play all out for 35-40 minutes and you would think the young guys would follow suit, but even if you look back at the finals he did the same thing and his team just didn't follow b/c of talent etc. Here he has to show his teammates buy game film of him going through the motions and them taking bad contested shots in order for them to realize what they need to do. Its all mental with the Cavs players. Tim Legler showed one play were it was a Kevin Love and Kyrie pick and roll Lilliard switched onto Love and instead of posting up Love, Kyrie decided to dance with the ball and shoot a fade away jump shot over Aldridge.

And when they're watching tape and Kyrie sees LeBron miss an open court steal opportunity, and instead of busting his ass back into the play to contest an open three, LeBron "big-times" it and watches Wes Matthews knock down another shot, what is said....?

LeBron will be a great leader, I have no doubts. But LeBron should be leading by example too. I fully understand letting Waiters and Kyrie struggle offensively until they're broken in, but LeBron shouldn't be going 50% defensively either and then taking shots in the media about selfish basketball.

 

[Kbiz]

That Windy article sounds like a good excuse. However, Lebron still looks a little less like Lebron. They were right there in the 3rd and he came out passive. If he wants to set a "share the ball" tone, then why is he not going into the post looking for a pass-out?

My concern is that losing all that weight may effect his game. He shouldn't become a less skilled player but dropping 30 pounds in one off-season would definitely alter the way you shoot. His shot looks flat and perhaps that has something to do with him adjusting to his weight loss vs. this "bad back" doomsday scenario people are worried about.

Regardless, if this is his way of "schooling" our young guys on how to share the ball, him and Blatt also need to be on the same page to effectively make this plan work. While i am glad we have managed to find a feasible excuse for last night, that doesn't excuse the fact that our players still look a little lost offensively. I am still chalking this up to chemistry issues.

 

[nikolajz1]

I honestly don't really get the passive thing. Does that excuse him being god awful on defense? He should at least try on that end if he isnt going to try on offense to build good habits.

 

[CavsHomer]

Ok, first of all, I get the point of the article. Playing this passive, he wants to show the young players that with their dribble/iso-playing style, the team just won't become a great team and win bball-games.
But please, someone then explain this to me:
If he is "not injured at all", then why does he miss this many easy lay ups when he decides to NOT be passive and attack the rim?
Why can't he dirbble past defenders like Batum? And first and foremost, why does he always talk about " have to play better defense" in the post game pressers but at the same time play awful defense himself??

Doesn't make too much sense to me. Still think his back isn't anywhere near 100% right now.

 

[nikolajz1]

Ok, first of all, I get the point of the article. Playing this passive, he wants to show the young players that with their dribble/iso-playing style, the team just won't become a great team and win bball-games.
But please, someone then explain this to me:
If he is "not injured at all", then why does he miss this many easy lay ups when he decides to NOT be passive and attack the rim?
Why can't he dirbble past defenders like Batum? And first and foremost, why does he always talk about " have to play better defense" in the post game pressers but at the same time play awful defense himself??

Doesn't make too much sense to me. Still think his back isn't anywhere near 100% right now.

I think the answer is that he just didnt put time in this offseason in staying in basketball shape. After being to 4 straight finals he decided to just quit basketball for 3 months and do other projects which is completely fine to rest up. He should just admit that he's a bit out of shape and practice.

 

[shoes22]

For those of you that are saying LeBron just wants to teach his teammates a lesson...is his bad passing, sloppiness with the ball, and lackluster defensive effort part of that too? I'm not completely buying what LeBron is saying.

 

[Gimme Some Mo]

LeBron is all talk right now. Dude barely gives any effort on defense. "Ultimate leader" my ass.

 

[Frank Reynolds]

I personally think he could care less about the regular season. If this attitude continues into the winter months, I'll start to question his attitude. I think he's waiting for the team to really gel before he starts putting in his maximum effort. Why get hurt? Once the pieces are moving where they're supposed to, I think we'll see LBJ go back to the beast. He doesn't want to burn himself out unnecessarily too early. If he could go into the postseason at 100% health and be the 8th seed, I think he'd take that over being the #1 seed and having lingering injuries playing at 75%.

He's stopping the ball big time. If he's up there saying Kyrie and Dion have bad habits, I'd agree, but he's doing the same thing they are: stopping the fucking ball.

It's gonna be interesting to see when Blatt gets pissed at LeBron.

It ought to be fascinating with LeBron essentially holding Blatt's job in his hand. Is Coach going to be who he has always been, or is he going to be restrained because LeBron is really in control?

 

[Zen]

The last few pages are why we can't have nice things.

The comments I'm reading some people post about Lebron James are disgusting. It is a few games into the season with a new coach and new teammates. We have the best or one of the best players on the planet on our team.

Chill the fuck out.

 

[Cashius X]

And when they're watching tape and Kyrie sees LeBron miss an open court steal opportunity, and instead of busting his ass back into the play to contest an open three, LeBron "big-times" it and watches Wes Matthews knock down another shot, what is said....?

LeBron will be a great leader, I have no doubts. But LeBron should be leading by example too. I fully understand letting Waiters and Kyrie struggle offensively until they're broken in, but LeBron shouldn't be going 50% defensively either and then taking shots in the media about selfish basketball.

Yeah I noticed that play in particular too. To be honest I haven't watched LeBron much since he came into the league. Never felt like it. So far this season though, he seems to be saying all the right things but he's not leading by example which is a problem. Out of all the starters I actually think LeBron shows the least amount of effort during games and that's concerning. Don't know what's wrong with him.

 

[Bandwagoner305]

LeBron is all talk right now. Dude barely gives any effort on defense. "Ultimate leader" my ass.

I can't make any excuses for him right now and he has no right to call anyone out at this point. He needs to start letting his game do the talking. I really believe he's struggling, but at the same time, I think he's clearly trying to send a message to the young backcourt that they have to buy in and understand that it will take more than putting up shots to get buckets in order to finally have a winning record. For a vocal leader, LeBron seems like a passive-aggressive guy who doesn't want to step on anyone's toes. He did that in Miami the first year and Wade had to basically told him to be the one leading the way instead of sitting back and watching Wade runs the show.

He's basically treating Kyrie like a guy who has won before and basically said it's his show, but the Cavs will be better off when LeBron starts running the offense because he's a better playmaker than Kyrie. It's like he want Kyrie's blessing in order to start playing like he gives a shit. I don't know why he'd want to defer to a guy who doesn't know what it takes to be winner and what it takes to lead a team. It was a different situation in Miami because Wade had already won a title before LeBron played there and it was still "Wade County" when LeBron and Bosh showed up, but you can't be deferring to guys who haven't and probably never will accomplish some of the things that you have accomplished as a player.

 

[Cashius X]

I personally think he could care less about the regular season. If this attitude continues into the winter months, I'll start to question his attitude. I think he's waiting for the team to really gel before he starts putting in his maximum effort. Why get hurt? Once the pieces are moving where they're supposed to, I think we'll see LBJ go back to the beast. He doesn't want to burn himself out unnecessarily too early. If he could go into the postseason at 100% health and be the 8th seed, I think he'd take that over being the #1 seed and having lingering injuries playing at 75%.

He's stopping the ball big time. If he's up there saying Kyrie and Dion have bad habits, I'd agree, but he's doing the same thing they are: stopping the fucking ball.

It's gonna be interesting to see when Blatt gets pissed at LeBron.

It ought to be fascinating with LeBron essentially holding Blatt's job in his hand. Is Coach going to be who he has always been, or is he going to be restrained because LeBron is really in control?

Is that the type of attitude you want from your leader? And how do you expect us to gel if one guy is out there not giving maximum effort?

I agree with the rest of your post though. LeBron has been stopping the ball just as much as Kyrie and Dion and that's a problem. Only person who I've seen Blatt hold accountable so far is Dion which is concerning. I thought Blatt was the kind of guy who didn't give a shit about catering to his players...I thought he held everyone to the same standard (something I like and want to see in a coach). Disappointing to say the least.

 

[Ohio]

The last few pages are why we can't have nice things.

The comments I'm reading some people post about Lebron James are disgusting. It is a few games into the season with a new coach and new teammates. We have the best or one of the best players on the planet on our team.

Chill the fuck out.

Aaaaaand now the rest of my work day will be completely unproductive

On phone so cant get too good of a look, who is that?