Watched the game again this morning (lazy day off). Either LeBron is really really conserving his energy or the days of blow-bys and stifling perimeter defense are truly over. Fucking KOBE seemed to have no issue beating him off the dribble. Kinda disconcerting seeing him turn into a jumpshooter type, but he seems to have made a fairly seemless transition.
Well let's look at a few numbers for LeBron...
His PER currently stands at 25.8 and that's significantly higher than it was at the beginning of December. It's also higher than it was in the 2006-07 regular season... can everyone remember how that season transpired? With Larry Hughes and Eric Snow starting... ?
His TS% is up to 58.9 percent which is only a half percent behind his first year with the Heat. Again, another figure that has been trending in the right direction since the end of November.
To support the theory in the quote above that he is turning into more of a jump shooter, LeBron is taking 26.1 percent of his shots from beyond the arc, the highest rate of his career. The only year that comes close was his final year with the Cavs in his first stint.
But, to sorta contradict that theory, he is shooting more free throws per shot attempt (.451) than at any point when he was with the Heat. Which tells me, he's still going to the rack as often.
In fact, he's getting to the hoop more than he did in his first two years with the Heat. In those years, LeBron took 28.4 and 32.9 percent of his shot attempts within three feet whereas his midrange game seems to be about where it was in Miami.
From 16 feet out to all the way back to the arc, he is shooting 42.7 percent. His three point percentage is also up to 37.2 percent. Both of those figures would end up being the third best of his career and they are numbers that have been, again, trending in the right direction.
Honestly, the more efficient he becomes from mid-range and from behind the arc, the better off both he and the Cavs will be. He will always attack the hoop and he's seemingly gaining his efficiency around the hoop back, but developing a consistent mid-range game with the ability to knock down three pointers is exactly what you want LeBron to do. It lowers his risk for contact (injury) and it makes the defense pick their poison with him.
His defense and turnovers are still two factors that need to be addressed. His defense has come and gone in spurts and I believe a lot of that has been effort related as well as schematic. The turnovers are what drive me nuts more than anything. He's still turning the ball at a higher rate than at any point in his career and it's not even close.
