Heat over Mavs in 5 or maybe 6

[Bull Dozer]

Lebron has 2 or 3 guys on him whenever he touches the ball and is forced to pass, or misses the tough contested shots he is forced to take at the end of the shot clock. Great defensive scheme by Dallas, until it broke down in the fourth and Lebron and Wade were finding guys wide open in the paint. So I guess a triple double isn't good enough for the critics, but I'll take that performance from Lebron any night. I don't fault Lebron for the loss, the team that shoots 70% from 3 pt range always wins, and I have serious doubts of a flukey shooting game like that happening again this series. Outside shooting like that is unstopable. Must be nice to be able to jack up 3's from 4 pt range and just have everything drop.

The triple double was very impressive.  Him disappearing, once again, in crunch time was not. 

So when do you think he picked up a bunch of those 10 assists? Let me ask you this: say the mavs shoot a more reasonable 40% from 3 pt range instead of 70% and lebron drops the triple double and the heat win by a slim margin. Are we not having a completely different conversation about how lebron answered his critics with a triple double performance? I think your letting the outcome of the game, which was dictated entirely by the maverick's absurd 3-pt FG percentage, not any one player disapearing in the 4th quarter, skew your perception. You are playing the result.

In the three offensive possessions in which the mavs pulled ahead Lebron had 2 missed 3's and an offensive foul.  After those possessions the Mavs were up 5 and the game was all but over.....You can try to spin this all you want but Lebron, once again, failed when his team needed him the most. 

70% 3 pt shooting trumps all. The only reason why we're talking about this is because the heat lost, otherwise, its either a non-issue or a great game by lebron.

Whatever helps you sleep at night but as Bruce said the Mav's were due for a game like this to get back to where they traditionally shoot from behind the arc.  Bron failed his team in the clutch again, and honestly for a player like him to only get to the line twice the entire game and shoot below .500 show's that there was more going on than him having a triple double. 

Also for posterity

[Bull Dozer]

Also lebrons 4th quarter scoring Vs the Mavs

game 1 - 5 points

game 2 - 2 points

game 3 - 2 points

game 4 - 0 points

game 5 - 2 points

[Ruger7mmmag]

Of course the "big 3" are going to be stat heavy, especially Lebron bc they are basically playing street ball with 3 guys and he gets first dibs.  Say what you want, but 3s are part of the game.  Shoot, look at some of the highlights back when Jordan played.  That dude in crunch time drained all sorts of shots that were way tougher than what the Mavs had going in.  Difference is, Mavs are making shots, Miami isn't.  Plus, any coach will tell ya, if a team is shooting that good from 3, it's a direct reflection of poor EFFORT on defense.  And we've all seen Lebron standing flat footed "watching" plays.  That's the difference in guys like him and Jordan, Jordan NEVER took a play off, let alone QUARTERS.

[Fold FB Invest in BB]

NOBODY usually shoots 70% from downtown. This is a statistical anomaly and will not hapen again in the finals for another decade. Lebron is not why they lost that game, if anything, team perimeter defense should be to blame, but even then Mavs were knocking down contested 3's left and right, and that is how they took the lead back in the 4th.

Why just focus on the 4th quarter? (You conviently overlook the 4 assists btw... beautiful passes out of the double and triple teams into the paint). Admittadly, I'm a sports athiest: I don't believe in "clutch" or "heart" or "chemistry". These things can't be quantified, and trying to make an argument with these make believe things doesn't work or me. Im my opinion there is no difference betwen a make and miss in the 1st quarter and 4th quarter, it's all one big picture and the numbers will resolve themselves in the end. Talent will win 9 out of 10 times, while luck will get you the other 10%.

[Bull Dozer]

NOBODY usually shoots 70% from downtown. This is a statistical anomaly and will not hapen again in the finals for another decade. Lebron is not why they lost that game, if anything, team perimeter defense should be to blame, but even then Mavs were knocking down contested 3's left and right, and that is how they took the lead back in the 4th.

Why just focus on the 4th quarter? (You conviently overlook the 4 assists btw... beautiful passes out of the double and triple teams into the paint). Admittadly, I'm a sports athiest: I don't believe in "clutch" or "heart" or "chemistry". These things can't be quantified, and trying to make an argument with these make believe things doesn't work or me. Im my opinion there is no difference betwen a make and miss in the 1st quarter and 4th quarter, it's all one big picture and the numbers will resolve themselves in the end. Talent will win 9 out of 10 times, while luck will get you the other 10%.

That's good because no one is claiming that.  We are claiming that they shot so poorly over the first 4 games from 3 that a game like this was due to balance them out to their normal 3pt%.  Basically the Mav's were not going to shoot as poorly from the arc over 5 games.  Basically like you said it will all balance itself out in the end but in this case its a series and not a game.  Also those assists were nice but when the game was on the line for 3 straight possessions Lebron failed, miserably.  He has been a non factor offensively in the 4th quarter and for a player that is supposed to be the best on the planet that is inexcusable.  Also LOL at a miss in the 1st quarter being the same as a miss when the game is on the line.  Pure metric heads like yourself are a funny bunch.   

[Ruger7mmmag]

Bullphin, no disrespect intended by what I'm about to ask, have you ever played in a "big game" or been on the verge in a sport of doing something great like pitch a no hitter?  Bowl a 300?  Bat with the game on the line?  Have to hit free throws to win a game? 

I'm not talking about playing in the yard with your friends, I'm talking about real competition where it's the best of the best on the field fighting for a title in front of tons of fans.

Yes the parameters APPEAR the same such as the distance from mound to home plate, or the weight of the ball, distance of the lanes, width of the basket etc.  But the physiological and mental components are very much changing and the stats when the game on the line measure it for you. 

Have you ever really looked at Michael Jordan's stats?  Forget watching him play which is where you can really see it, but look at these stats...

http://www.michaeljordansworld.com/stats_playoffs.htm

http://www.databasebasketball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=jamesle01

Keep in mind, Jodan was 6'6" 216lbs, LeBron is 6'8" 240lbs and is playing in a weaker NBA and that's by most accounts.

Jordan averaged a full 4 PPG than Lebron and 30 points HIGHER than Labron in FG%.  Add 4 points to all of Lebron's past playoff games and see what kind of difference that would've made in how those games finished out at the end.

Assists-Lebron averages a little over one more assist per game than Jordan.  Considering Jordan average 2 more buckets per game, that's not really a "win" for Lebron as you don't get assists for scoring it yourself.  He's no John Stockton as folks want you to believe.

Rebounds per game.  Lebron by almost 2.  Considering a 2" and 30lb advantage and their positions, is this really all that impressive? 

Steals per game.  Jordan at 2.1 vs. Lebron at 1.3.  Steals are the biggest indicator of HUSSLE.  Was it any surprise Jordan would lead this category?

Free Throw %.  Jordan KILLS him and FTs in the playoffs are a great indicator of "clutch" as many a large % of them are usually "down the stretch" if you get the ball into the hands of your BEST PLAYER.  Jordan shot almost 83% to Lebron's 74%. 

Block %.  LOL  Wouldn't you expect Might Lebron to lead this?  Nope, all Jordan!  2"s shorter and 30lbs lighter and he leads?  Can you say EFFORT????? 

3 Point %-yawn...Jordan .332 to .301.  Not even close.  Who would you want shooting your last shot from down town? 

Turnovers-Yup.  Lebron averages giving up the ball one more time a game.

That's enough but are you Lebron folks getting the picture?

When games come down to one or two possessions, Lebron can't even hold Jordan's jock.  That's why Jordan has 6 rings and probably would've had 7 had he not retired when he did.  Plus, he wasted time at UNC where Lebron was able to play right away in an era where the talent was such it didn't matter.

Jordan faced teams that could shoot the lights out as well and teams that were defensive buzzsaws, but the stats don't lie if that's all you want to go off.

If you didn't tell anyone who the players were and allowed them to watch Jordan's playoff games and Lebrons, it would be no contest as to who you would pick first on the playground.  NO CONTEST. 

The closest thing to Jordan I've seen is Kobe.  Lebron is mentally weak.  You saw it when he bolted Cleveland so this should be no surprise.

 

[Ruger7mmmag]

Use this site for Lebron's most current stats.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jamesle01.html

The one above didn't include this year.  But don't worry, all it did was DROP Lebron's PPG by another point.  Everything else pretty much stayed the same as you'd expect.  So even with a better cast, Lebron hasn't gotten better.

[Fold FB Invest in BB]

I'm not trying to compare or contrast with Jordan. That exercise is best left alone until the end of lebron's career, that is if it even warrants comparison at that point in time. All I'm saying is lebron is not why the Heat lost that game.

[flsportsfan83]

The Heat will still win the series, and my bet is Lebron goes for close to 40 in game 6

[Triple B]

All I'm saying is lebron is not why the Heat lost that game.

Apparently, though, he was one of the reasons why they didn't win the game ....