injury? Fatigue? Energy? It seems like he has no lift Not on his shot Not on his layups I have never seen him blocked at the rim so much His shots seems to be all arm. Call it lazy or what ever .. . but he has not lift He has not quickness about him Banging in the paint? Chasing on Defense? Something has happened this year where it is taking his legs from under him this needs to change Cut his minutes back to 30~32 minutes Maybe it is the accumulation of the minutes . . .. Rocket River
Just a haphazard guess, but maybe playing center against guys twice his size puts a bit more tiredness on his body.....
Playing defense takes a toll on the body. On the offensive end, you don't always have to run through defenses like a running back, especially for a Mastermind like James. No shortcuts with a switching D scheme I'm pretty sure he'll get Curry'd deeper in the playoffs if only to mess with his offensive game. Something the bucks would try to pull off if we get 7 games with them. The mental load at that point could reach Spurs series level, so it'd be on the rest of the team to create things without him...
As I said he can't rest on D anymore and is playing physically bigger players, it is taking away his energy. DD
that's why they need to run some offensive sets that will take the pressure off and they can get some easy baskets
I suppose playing D more straight up as he is than in the past (when he had Ariza, PJ and CP covering for him) is taking its toll, we’ve seen how it’s affecting PJ, but with a tired legged Harden we are in big trouble come playoff time. As someone mentioned above he doesn’t have to score 50 a night but only scoring 16 Isn’t going to cut it we all know that... he doesn’t look as conditioned as he has in the past but given the fact that he is on the court as much as he is you would think that wouldn’t be an overriding factor at this point in the season, unless he is not taking care of himself when not playing which could be a factor.
This is becoming more and more the norm, shooting 20% on some nights and now a zero not sure if he’s done that before (think he has recently) but he’s only had a handful of game where he was 35% or better since Jan. Something isn't right that’s for sure ...
Beard is not having "fun." When was the last time he hit those f* you threes from the parking lot. He will not like it, maybe some load management and get him to dust off the mid-range from his holsters. Diversify, take what the defense and Foster Brothers err the officials gives you. Get well soon Beard from whatever ails you. Clutch City needs you.
Playing D undersized is energy taxing. On offense, it's also a lot of work to run MDA's this system. (as Nash admitted years later with the Suns). Playmake and score, he can do it but it's lot of work. When you sometimes see James' losing dribbles or a bad finish, that's because his eyes are darting around to see where the side shooters are, as opposed to only focus on the defender in front of him. The concentration isn't always on his handle, a misdirection to fool the defender, or the finish.
He can do it in spurts but he can not do it for whole games. I agree. He is getting the **** beaten out of him. Clint is not who I would have traded.
There is a wide, WIDE gap between perfection and what James has been doing pretty consistently since January. He has had what.... 3, maybe 4 good/efficient games in a 10 week span? Observing that he is not only missing much more than usual, not driving as often, has no lift and gets blocked more often is very different than expecting 40+pts on 100% shooting.
