Rick Barry criticizes LeBron and his coaches

Yes, fundamentals can be learned but you have to think about incentives. Lebron has size AND the PG like speed, quickness, and court vision. Hakeem? Duncan?...HOF players with size but Lebron is possibly the most physically superior player to ever play in the league. It even took MJ time to improve his outside shot (you know, like when he was less athletic and had more incentive). There are poor athletes that have great fundamentals (Yao, anyone), because otherewise they might not be in the league, the incentive is there.

Bottom line is you're asking a guy to improve his fundamentals and shooting mechanics who's the best player in the league, leading his team to one of the best records, and is already shooting 50%. After he does that, would you like him to find a cure for cancer? Technically, it could be done.

 

what was that about the technique on bron's jumper? someone send ricky the tape of the warriors game tonight

 

So 50% from the field and 78% from the line isn't getting it done? If we're just talking about form here, it doesn't matter if Barry shot 100% from the line - granny shot is an ugly ass shot. So unless Barry thinks 78% isn't good enough and plans to teach him granny style, he should probably keep his mouth shut.

 

Even though he he hit that shot tonight, I'd rather have guys such Kobe, Pierce, Dirk or Carter than Lebron because he really is an average shooter at best.

 

For a guy who supposedly sucks at half of basketball's fundamentals, he does pretty well for himself. We should just appreciate players for what they bring to the table instead of what their flaws are. Shaq is one of the worst free throw shooters in history and all he did was win 4 championships and make 5 finals.

 

Lebron is the most athletically gifted player of all time but he isn't god. Hell he hasn't even accomplished what Barry had accomplished in his career.

You do realize Barry had a 90 percent career FT average. He also led the league in scoring and has the NBA finals record for point per game at 40. Yes he averaged 40 points in a game in the NBA finals. MJ and Wilt didn't even do that. This was in his second year in the league. The only reason he didn't have more records is because he moved to the ABA and he had a knee injury early in his career. The guy was an offensive machine.

Barry is arguably the best pure shooter in NBA history and he had four sons play professional basketball. The guy is a basketball genius.

Only knock on Barry is that he's a total prick, and no one likes him.

If Lebron improved his jumper and ft shooting, he would raise his game to another level. It's not like Barry wants to turn Lebron into a jump shooter. He just wants him to be more efficient when he does shoot a jumper.

 

Like I said before ... he doesn't need it now because he can dominate with sheer athleticism.

But that athleticism WILL decline. And if by the time it starts to decline, his finesse game hasn't evolved, then he will decline rapidly with it. For all the flack he gets, imagine how useless T-Mac would be right now if his game was 100% predicated on speed and athleticism. I think any reasonable person fully appreciates just how good LeBron is right now -- for all his lack of polish he is still either the most dominant player in the league or a close runner up behind Kobe. I just happen to agree with Rick Barry in that he could be even better right now, and more importantly, he's going to need it for the future.

 

You would rather have Pierce, Dirk, and Carter over Lebron?

Or do you mean just for the last shot?

 

Thats what it is. He's using the stern coach approach with his criticism. But at the same rate that he made his free throws, he again comes across like a bitter prick.

He probably sees dudes like Vinnie Del Negro getting scooped up for coaching jobs, and is thinking he's a much better basketball mind than whats getting hired

 

It would be fairly interesting to see Barry coach a team, particularly a young team like the Grizzlies or the Thunder. He does have the reputation of being a jerk, but it's not like the league hasn't had its share of coaches with prickly personalities. A team like the Grizzlies could make that bold decision instead of floundering around with inexperienced amateurs and wasting away their players' youthful years.

 

I was just saying the granny shot is an ugly shot.

I think you worked too hard on that post.

 

Steve Novak has a job in the NBA because he can shoot -- he's not fundamentally sound in most other aspects of the game, like defensive rotations, or even offensive spacing.

As great as Jordan was, he didn't really become a good perimeter shooter till pretty late in his career. He didn't shoot above 30% from the 3P line until his 6th year (or above 20% until his 5th year).

LeBron needs to improve his shooting consistency/form. Sure. But criticizing his fundamentals is kind of silly to me. The guy is incredible at finding the open man, and his ball handling for his size is something we've only seen a couple times since Magic Johnson. Additionally, LeBron's defensive abilities -- both on the ball and making the proper rotations have improved significantly over time.

Shooting form is only one piece of "fundamentals". Chuck Hayes is a miserable shooter -- would you say he's a guy with poor fundamentals? Shane Battier has mediocre handles -- did he train poorly?

I understand LeBron is a transcendent player. But equating one of his few shortcomings with failure a few weeks after turning 24 is a little strong to me.

 

Barry didn't say LeBron failed ... he says LeBron's coaches are the ones who have failed to help him improve in those areas. If I read his words correctly, he's basically blaming Mike Brown and co. for not helping him to improve his shooting form, as is most evident in his perpetually inconsistent free throw shooting. I think the thread title is rather misleading, because I don't see LeBron as the object of his criticism at all... it's more of "yes, LeBron is the greatest player in the NBA, but he could be even better if only his coaches were competent."