Of course, if they don't slow him down, there's no help defender there because teams didn't pack the paint back then.
I'll give you that it isn't that big of a deal for them, but I still think it is a detriment to his overall game. Home court advantage could be important. Remember they went to 7 against SA & Indiana last year, and had both as home games.
he wouldn't..just look at when a good defender bodies him up and plays good defense..he always pouts to the official like its a foul. lebron hates it when other defenders are playing physical against him
Kareem won most of his championships as the number 2 player. He either had Magic or Mr. triple double, Oscar Robinson.
Yes, he pouts but he still destroys whoever's guarding him. I imagine you're probably thinking of the Pacers series last year but even with the Pacers suffocating, physical defense he still averaged 29 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.3 blocks on 51% shooting and 44% 3 point shooting in that series.
thats fine..hes a great player and he has to do that but I'm saying I don't think he would be able to continuously play as physical as it was in the 90s over his whole career
Why not? You have zero evidence to support that. Honestly, I can't think of a current player better equipped to handle the supposed physicality of the 90's than Lebron. He's a physical freak.
in the 90s defenses was allowed to be way more physical and that's throughout the whole game/season. Yes hes a physical freak but still hates aggressive contact. He would still be a great player but I definitely think the physicality of the 90s would definitely take a toll on him
Meh, not really. Especially when defenses have gotten better over the past years. More hand-checking, at least for me personally when I play, means more post play and more physicality. Once again, Lebron is what, 270? Did you watch the OKC Heat finals where he was just bouncing off guys and hitting ridiculous and-1's?
Defenses have not gotten better over the past years. The NBA today is soft compared to the era of the 90s. The schemes, rules, and physicality is so much more limited to what the NBA use to allow
it was much easier to score in 90s than nowadays. Much faster pace, no zone allowed, no complex defensive schemes... only reason why scoring is somewhat more efficient right now is because of increased and better 3pt shooting.
NBA defenses have gotten better at preventing the other team from scoring points, this is factual. Please describe how you measure a good defense.
If anything, the lack of zone defense would help Lebron tremendously since teams didn't pack the paint as much as they do these days. He already shoots 76% (!) inside the paint while being double-triple teamed.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_stats.html?redir late 90's and early 00's were slower and less efficient, but teams still scored more points per 100 possesions until 98-99.
the bigs of the 90s era Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O'Neal, Patrick Ewing, A young, healthy Alonzo Mourning, David Robinson, A young Dikembe Mutombo would definitely have a way bigger impact in the paint than the bigs of today
THE NEW WAY Just how is the game being called these days? New Jersey Nets executive Rod Thorn, a longtime expert on NBA rules, acknowledges that last season the league adopted a dramatic shift in how it interpreted the rules of the game. No longer would a defensive player on the perimeter be allowed to use his hand, a barred arm or any sort of physical contact to impede or block the movement of either a cutter or a ball handler. In a recent interview, Thorn said that the NBA had changed the rule to give an advantage to the offensive player. “It’s more difficult now to guard the quick wing player who can handle the ball,” Thorn said of the change. “I think it helps skilled players over someone who just has strength or toughness. What the NBA is trying to do is promote unimpeded movement for dribblers or cutters.” Thorn said the change was made because muscular defensive players had gotten the upper hand. “My opinion is that the game had gone too much toward favoring strong players over skilled players,” Thorn said. “The NBA felt there was too much body, too much hand-checking, being used by defenders to the detriment of the game. There was a feeling that there was too much advantage for a defensive player who could merely use his strength to control the offensive player.” The new rules interpretations have attempted to address that issue, Thorn said. “If the refs perceive that a defender is bumping the cutter, or bumping a ball-handler, then they’ll blow their whistles.” Blow their whistles is exactly what officials began doing in both the NBA and its Development League (where many nights officials were whistling a whopping 60 to 70 fouls a game). This new way of calling became increasingly apparent with each regular-season game last year, and it really made an impression during the playoffs. Free from the physical challenge of defenders, offensive players found many more opportunities to attack the basket – and draw fouls. As a result, the new rules interpretation helped promote the emergence last season of a new generation of super stars, from Kobe Bryant scoring his 81 points during a regular season game, to LeBron James, Vince Carter, Gilbert Arenas and Dwyane Wade making big splashes in the playoffs. “The good wing players – LeBron, Kobe, Arenas, Wade, Carter – shot a lot of free throws with the way the game is now called,” Thorn admitted. The change became quite apparent during the NBA Finals in June as fans saw time and again Miami’s Wade attacking the basket against seemingly helpless Dallas defenders. When they did try to stop Wade, those Dallas defenders often drew foul calls, which sent Wade to the line to shoot free throws. The new approach even played a role in determining the NBA champion, as Wade played majestically in leading Miami from a two-game deficit to a four-games-to-two victory for the title. NOT EVERYONE’S HAPPY The results were immediate and pleasing to the league’s front office. Offensive players were freed as never before and fans were thrilled by high-scoring games. Television ratings jumped with the excitement, and reporters began filing stories signaling an NBA revival not seen since the days when Jordan played for the Bulls. The league had made an obvious move to try to pick up scoring averages that had been in decline since the late 1980s. And it seems to have worked. But not everyone is enthused about the changes. Tex Winter, now 84 and the veteran of more than a half century of coaching, has serious misgivings about what the league has done. Winter acknowledges the outgrowth of the new rules interpretation is the rise of the super dominant offensive player, led by Wade’s performance in the NBA Finals and Bryant’s string of 40-, 50, even 60-point games during the regular season. “It’s brought all these 40-point scorers,” Winter said. “They can’t score 40 points unless they get 15-20 free throws.” And that’s exactly what they were getting on their big nights. “They should be protected, but not that much,” Winter said of the current generation of talented offensive players. “I don’t think that just touching a player should be a foul.” Yet there were key foul calls in the playoffs last year that came down to touch calls, which in turn sent the offensive player to the line for bonus points that ultimately decided games. Ironically, this attempt to pick up scoring also slowed the pace of NBA games last year because numerous foul calls mean a parade of free throws on many game nights, Winter said. “The fans are not going to like that whistle blowing all the time. It’s slowed down the pace of the game.” Winter’s other complaint with the new officiating is that the game now allows the same old physical play in the post while turning the perimeter and wing into a no-touch zone. “That doesn’t make sense to me,” Winter said. “If you can do all that tough stuff inside, why can’t you do it outside?” “Defense has basically stayed the same in the low post. Out on the court there’s no doubt that the interpretation has changed,” Thorn conceded.
I appreciate Jordan and Lebron, but Lebron easily pushed Russell for the last second shot. In today's NBA, he gets an offensive foul and the Jazz have one more ring and Jordan has 5.
