Originally Posted by Jim Jones (Post 8415853)

Still don't believe I'm wrong about that.

Originally Posted by KC_Connection (Post 8415892)

I'll take a wide open jump shot from a NBA player who's proven he can hit such a shot over a much more difficult, lower percentage, contested jump shot any time regardless of who is taking it.

NBA fans still aren't used to a superstar that passes as often and as well as LeBron does. Perhaps they never will be.

Originally Posted by Jim Jones (Post 8415895)

We're just going in circles now.

Originally Posted by UCF Knight (Post 8415894)

and yet you still are very wrong about it.

Originally Posted by KC_Connection (Post 8415906)

That can happen when somebody like yourself attempts to make an inane argument out of their dislike for one particular player.


I do. Udonis Haslem had a wide open jump shot. It was the kind of shot he's hit consistently throughout his career, a shot that he should be expected to make.


I do. If LeBron James had decided to take the shot when facing a double team, it would have been a very difficult shot and contested by the two players that were near him. Considering the difficulty and his history with such shots, he probably would have missed.


I do. Udonis Haslem, outside of a late lunge by a player that wasn't covering him, had a shot that was completely uncontested (certainly in comparison to what LeBron would have had to take).


The Haslem statistics that you brought up do mean something, they just don't come anywhere close to providing legitimate support for your argument. The sample size is far too small to suggest that he's completely regressed as a basketball player and the statistic itself doesn't differentiate open/uncontested shots and covered/contested shots.


I believe passing out of a double team to an open NBA player for an easy 15 footer is the right basketball play instead of forcing a difficult, contested shot under pressure, yes. As does any reasonable NBA fan without a serious bone to pick with LeBron James.


Until the next time you want to criticize an athlete without good reason, I guess?


Not at all. He was making great plays. I've never once said that him taking the last shot would have been necessarily a bad play. It just would have been much more difficult and lower percentage play than his pass to a proven open jump shooter from 15 feet.


http://www.wugr.biz/Benny614tv/Main/...ndruwJones.gif

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501 (Post 8415948)

The problem isn't whether it's a good or bad basketball play. The problem is that it only feeds a perception created well before the shot was ever taken.
The fact is, if LeBron takes that shot in a double team, that's also a good basketball play. And it's a shot most superstars take. He had plenty of room on the left to make a play.

As for the Jordan play, his pass to Steve Kerr was the play design. Jordan directly told Kerr on the bench to be on the lookout to take the shot. That's quite a bit different from LeBron, who clearly passed it to Haslem because he thought he was open.

Fact is, that in too many instances, we haven't seen LeBron with a killer instinct to close games. He doesn't want to be the guy. That's okay. I think the same thing about D Rose. It is what it is, but we can't pretend he's something that he's not.

Originally Posted by dirk digler (Post 8416230)

I agree with everything you said except about Rose. Really? What I have seen from him is he is always willing to make the last shot and wants the ball. Maybe I am wrong that is just my perception..

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501 (Post 8416244)

I think Rose has a killer instinct. But he seems to be shaky or tentative in some of those situations. It might just be that Rose and LeBron play too many minutes. I don't know.

But at least he's a guy who wants the ball. Durant and Kobe, on the other hand, are guys who want the ball and are confident with the ball.

Originally Posted by dirk digler (Post 8416252)

Rondo is owning Linn so they pulled him