Lebron the terrible defender: NOT

[Maximus]

Actually, you can make a pretty good case for LeBron getting some all defensive votes this year.

WHAT?!?!?!? You can't be serious. He has stepped up the effort on D from a 2 to a 6 out 10 on the effort scale.....he's playing good defense. He has been a little luckier of late playing the passing lanes, he was coming up empty more often than not the first 35 games of the year. The sad thing is that he has the athleticism to be better than Scottie Pippen was defensivley....he's just doesn't put the effort in on the defefensive end like he does on the offensive end. Hopefully that will come with maturity. The good news is that he is improving.

 

[KI4MVP]

LJ4MVP, Mac's comments on how bad LeBron defense is just as exaggerated by you calling his defense great. He was poor at the start of the season, but has picked it up noticably the past month. Right now, noone should complain about it, but at the same time, it ain't were writing home about.

Nope, he has been playing well all year. Go game by game and tell me, who had big nights against him. And be sure you know who he was matched up against those nights. I can only think of two games all year where the player had a good night. The rockets game when he was on TMac and the 2nd Nets game when he was on Jefferson. And even in the rockets game, TMac got most of his points in the first half when the cavs were switching on picks, so TMac was actually scoring on someone else. At half-time they stopped switching on picks and LeBron did a much better job on McGrady.

And because of debates I've been having since preseason on RealGM, I have been playing specific attention to LeBron's defense. He's been doing a great job all year on his man. And 82game.com reflect it in their opponent's PER stat. LeBron's 11.9 rating (as of 1/19) isn't just a number pulled out of the air.

http://www.82games.com/0506/rolandratings0506.htm

 

[KI4MVP]

WHAT?!?!?!? You can't be serious. He has stepped up the effort on D from a 2 to a 6 out 10 on the effort scale.....he's playing good defense. He has been a little luckier of late playing the passing lanes, he was coming up empty more often than not the first 35 games of the year. The sad thing is that he has the athleticism to be better than Scottie Pippen was defensivley....he's just doesn't put the effort in on the defefensive end like he does on the offensive end. Hopefully that will come with maturity. The good news is that he is improving.

LeBron had a ton of steals last year - he wasn't a good defender, though - and he hurt his team many times last year when he went for a steal and missed it.

 

[Mac]

Lebron rarely ever guards the other teams top defender, that alone tells you his defense is still bad.

That fourth quarter against the Lakers, when the entire game Kobe wasnt doing crap with a sprained wrist, he goes down and scores with ease on three of the hardest shots Ive ever seen in the clutch on Lebron. Last night, R Jeff had a wide open look at a three because Lebron refused to close out, let alone with his hands up.

He gets abused at will but very good players. He does OK........OK BEING THE KEY WORD.....against with players not on his level.

You have trully lost sight of what is good defense if you believe Lebron has been great....or will get votes....the league laughs at Lebrons defense. Other players love playing against Lebron, because they know he wont play D on him.

Til he can guard the other teams best player night in and night out, nobody can ever say he plays good defense. Because he has picked up his effort, Ill give him the nod and say he plays OK defense, but his man to man is still trash.

 

[KI4MVP]

Again, I ask, show me the list of players who have lit up LeBron this year. It's been 44 games, there should be a long list by now if you are right about his defense. The only thing is, if the list were long, he wouldn't have an opponent's PER of 11.9.

And Jordan was perhaps the best perimeter defender ever, yet he rarely got the top assignment to start the game because he was too important on offense, yet if someone on the other team was blowing up in the first half, Jordan would take him the 2nd half. If the other guy isn't doing the job, make a switch at halftime, such as switching him onto Jackson against Indy. 17 points the first half before the switch, shut out the 2nd.

Also, you said it yourself, Kobe hit some tough shots against LeBron's defense. If you play the defense and the guys scores anyway, you don't blame the defense because you can't stop every shot. The mistake the cavs made in that game was sending Kobe to the line. That's where he got his confidence back in his wrist. Don't send him to the line and he doesn't make those shots.

 

[Maximus]

LeBron had a ton of steals last year - he wasn't a good defender, though - and he hurt his team many times last year when he went for a steal and missed it.

You are preaching to the choir. He whiffed twice in the fourth last night. He goes for the ESPN steal and dunk highlight which causes our team D to break down. As I said he seems to be getting luckier more often than not in the last 10 games....that doesn't mean I want him playing the passing lanes though. I wish he would take defense personally and be insulted everytime someone scores on him. He could be a force and take his player completely out of the game, and still play solid help D if he wanted to....he's that gifted athletically.

 

[RuanuLaw]

Ricky Davis for MVP!!!

 

[Mac]

Again, I ask, show me the list of players who have lit up LeBron this year. It's been 44 games, there should be a long list by now if you are right about his defense. The only thing is, if the list were long, he wouldn't have an opponent's PER of 11.9.

And Jordan was perhaps the best perimeter defender ever, yet he rarely got the top assignment to start the game because he was too important on offense, yet if someone on the other team was blowing up in the first half, Jordan would take him the 2nd half. If the other guy isn't doing the job, make a switch at halftime, such as switching him onto Jackson against Indy. 17 points the first half before the switch, shut out the 2nd.

Also, you said it yourself, Kobe hit some tough shots against LeBron's defense. If you play the defense and the guys scores anyway, you don't blame the defense because you can't stop every shot. The mistake the cavs made in that game was sending Kobe to the line. That's where he got his confidence back in his wrist. Don't send him to the line and he doesn't make those shots.

No, they were tough shots because they were clutch and 20 footers. All Lebron had to do was put his hand up and odds are Kobe misses those shots. Its pretty sad that Lebrons "great" defense lets up three 20 footers with less than two minutes to go.

Lebron doesnt have to bet lit up every night to play terrible defense. In the begining of the year, he showed no effort at all, wouldnt hustle back and would just sit there and complain while we had a fast break put on us. He has let up on that a bit, but like Max pointed out, he gambles wayyyyy too much and it doesnt go Lebrons man, because other people HELP and they dish off to who they left and it goes on them and not Lebron.

His man to man is still crap, he doesnt know how to move his feet, his lateral quickness is non-exsistant for somebody with so much speed and he gets abused in the post...i.e the Prince...even though he is probably the biggest SF in the league.

Your arguement holds no water...nobody in the world is dumb enough to claim Lebron has "great" defense. Sorry...there is no sense in debating a point with somebody that thinks that because they are off their rocker in the first place.