Lebron James, You Need to Take That Shot

Links (12)

On passing and choking and barely scraping by for the win
Published 5/22/2007 by Matt Watson at Detroit Bad Boys
... Did LeBron make the right choice? My FanHouse colleague Brett Edwards says no. I say … I don’t know. I don’t doubt James could have tied it up, but for how long? The Pistons would have still had the ball with at least four seconds left with no chance to lose and every chance to end it. The Cavs had clearly lost their steam earlier in the quarter and the team couldn’t have been feeling optimistic about overtime. Marshall, on the other hand, hit six three-pointers in his last game and was as wide open as you get in this league.

Something Hasn’t Clicked with LeBron
Published 5/22/2007 by Larry Brown at Larry Brown Sports
... If you take a look at the video, you’ll see that LeBron had a clear step on Tayshaun and an easy path to tie the game. So why didn’t he do it? Why did he go for the kick out? It’s simple; at this point in his career, LeBron James is much more willing to pass-the-buck (literally), than assume responsibility. LeBron says he would pass that ball every single time. But something tells me that after the media outrage, he might think twice next time.

The Debriefing: The Envelopes David Stern Should Freeze
Published 5/22/2007 by mjd at FanHouse
... NBA : We'll talk more about LeBron's failures in a bit, but I'm actually going to cut him some slack on the game's last possession . He was by Tayshaun, but Tayshaun was still very much in the shot-blocking picture, and Rasheed Wallace was on his way, too. And you've got Donyell Marshall wiiiide open for the three ... I think LeBron made the correct play. Speaking in general terms, I don't think LeBron's ever proven himself to be good in clutch situations, and he's never cemented himself as a good game-on-the-line decision maker. But on this particular play, I don't fault him.

FanHouse Memo: Michael Vick Is Our Reggie Bush
Published 5/22/2007 by dcsportsguy at Mr. Irrelevant
... , and The King obliges.

Jordan passed the pall sometimes
Published 5/22/2007 by Nels at Give Me The Rock
... Brett Edwards said it first: LeBron James, You Need to Take That Shot

The LeBron Hating Convention Adjourns Today
Published 5/22/2007 by Adam at Fan-tastic?
... People make it sound so disastrous. LeBron is afraid, he's not a leader, he's not channeling his inner MJ/Magic/Bird/Isaiah, he'll never get there.

Counterpoint: LeBron Made the Right Play
Published 5/22/2007 by Nate Jones at FanHouse
... Despite the general consensus amongst my Fanhouse colleagues , as well as the experts on TNT's post game show last night, I don't think LeBron made a mistake by passing the ball to Donyell Marshall. I actually think he made a good play. Especially with Tayshaun Prince smothering him and other Pistons coming to help. He's great, but he's not superman. Although, I do agree that the chance for him to get to the foul line on that play was pretty high. But if he gets the call and if he makes both, they still were going to overtime with at best a 50-50 shot of winning (given that the game was in Detroit, it probably was less than that). LeBron just saw Marshall open in his money spot and decided to give it up to him. Marshall shoots around 40% from the right corner this season (See: his NBA Hotzone profile). And I guarantee that most of the time Marshall isn't that wide open when he shoots from tha

The Pistons Say Lebron Made the Right Play
Published 5/23/2007 by Brett Edwards at FanHouse
... There has been some discussion as to whether or not Lebron James made the correct play near the end of the Cavs' Game 1 loss to the Pistons. I was of the opinion that Lebron had beaten the defense and should have gone up for the dunk. My colleague

The Solution to LeBron's Current Problems: Learn Carmelo's Post Moves
Published 5/23/2007 by Nate Jones at FanHouse
... After the fallout from Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, everyone is once again questioning LeBron James. Although

Detroit Needs to Change Their End of Game Defense on LeBron
Published 5/24/2007 by theassociation at The Association
... Much has been made of LeBron's decision to pass the ball out instead of taking the shot at the end of Game 1. I think he should have dunked it; others

Will LeBron Shoot Or Will He Pass? Game 2 Preview
Published 5/25/2007 by Marcel Mutoni at FanHouse
... For what it's worth, I thought LeBron James made a mistake when he entrusted Donyell Marshall with the game's most critical shot in game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Sure, LeBron made a good, fundamentally-sound basketball decision, but I can't help feeling that he should be the one taking that shot. Nothing against Donyell -- how can you not respect a guy who manages to hit an alarming number of three pointers despite owning a giagantic rear end and bearing an uncanny resemblance to the rapper Ludacris? -- but there's no way he should deciding his team's fate at this point in the year. The Pistons played terribly in game 1, yet, they came away with the victory. Tonight, they'll be much better as they have no intention of going back to Cleveland with a tied series. As for the Cavs, they played as well as you can expect them to play in the series opener. LeBron's supporting cast was sup

Was LeBron Fouled on the Last Shot in Game 2?
Published 5/25/2007 by Brett Edwards at FanHouse
... of whether or not LeBron would shoot or pass with the game on the line, and unlike last time , he took the shot. He missed it, but the shot was extremely well-contested by the Pistons' Rip Hamilton. The question is, did LeBron get fouled on that play? Take a look at the video. Hamilton was on James pretty tight from the beginning of the play. There was contact by Rip on the drive, and a slight push-off by LeBron to clear some space. Then on the shot, it looked to me like there was more contact on LeBron's off hand than there was on his shooting hand, and certainly not enough to send him to the line to possibly win the game. Now, at the most basic level, was LeBron fouled on that play? Probably. But the officials were letting a lot of contact go on both ends, especially during a stretch in the fourth quarter where players from both teams were going to the basket and getting the ball stripped