Lebron James Is Not Very Clutch

by Brett Edwards

So to the surprise of no one, the Mavericks won their 14th straight over Lebron and the Cavs. What was mildly surprising though, is that the Cavs were in this game at the end, down only three with 41 seconds left. Dirk took a hard foul on Lebron, so King James went to the line with a chance to cut it to one ... and clanked both free throws off the back of the rim. Nice Shaq impression there, Lebron.

Not only did LBJ miss those free throws, but he also missed two wide open three pointers just before time expired that would have tied the game. That's a lot of chances for what is supposedly one of the top 5 players in the NBA. Sure he may just not have had it tonight, but for a team as low on talent as Cleveland, it would have been nice for their star to come though for them against the league's best.

Comments

[Clint Brewer]

This game last night proves that even if you have some great players (LeBron) on your team, if they don't play as a team, you will never beat a team like the Mavericks. The Mavs have arguably the best TEAM in the NBA right now and it is because they play so well as a team and their bench contributes more than most other teams. The Cavs come out, and soley rely on James to cary their team to a victory against the best team in the NBA. The last 13 seconds of the game proove that no matter how good you are, one guy cant come out and win a game by himself if there is no one out on the court that is willing to help. The cavs basically had a pretty poor display of teamwork last night. Most of the game there were 4 players standing around, giving no support to James, which in the end, ruined their chances of even tying the game. So to Lebron, and every other one-man-show in the NBA, i feel sorry that you dont have a team to support your amazing tallents, becuse without them, you will never make it to be true Champions!

[coach]

the mavs are far more talented than the cavs . the fact that the cavs were able to hang on and lose to the game only in the closing secs of the game means that they played as a team last night.
the cavs made a mistake in not improving the team . they will be lucky to duplicate the success of last season !

[basketbawful]

This is part of the reason I despise the Lebron/MJ comparisons. With MJ, you were absolutely terrified he was going to score every time he touched the ball...no matter how badly he was shooting on a given night. Despite the high scoring average and above average FGP (which is bloated by his ability to get to the rim), I just never feel that way about Lebron. And it's because he's a suspect outside shooter with a clunky jumper and a poor stroke from the line. In fact, a quick check over at 82games.com shows us that Lebron is barely hitting 40 percent of his shots outside five feet. By contrast, Kobe, whom I hate but concede is the league's most frightening scorer, is hitting 46 percent of his jumpers and is well over 80 percent from the line.

See, when people start talking about "clutchability," they would have you believe that it's 100 percent mental. Either 'Bron has it or he doesn't. That's part true. But another problem is that his shooting mechanics aren't good, a problem that will probably never be addressed because, well, he's Lebron James.

I've read everything ever written about Larry Bird, and he always said that his confidence soared when it came time to take the final shot because of how hard he worked on his shooting. The same was true of Jordan, and it's true of Kobe too (I may not like him, but of all current NBA players he seems to work the hardest on improving his game in the off-season). It's hard to imagine Mr. Global Icon working 2 hours a day with a shooting coach over the summer.

[Scott]

On the other hand, I hope everyone saw this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqD-JoDgKao. The slow-mo replays don't do justice to just how much power he put into the finish. My brother and I (Mavs fans) were watching the TNT broadcase, and we just kind of looked at each other and wondered if we had really just seen what we saw.

[Craig]

"It's hard to imagine Mr. Global Icon working 2 hours a day with a shooting coach over the summer."

It's sad but true. He's more concerned with becoming an icon instead of letting his game make him an icon. The NBA is wanting to find "the next MJ" and all it takes is a likeable clutch athlete to fill that role. But the key to the whole deal is that you need to be an athlete first and entertainer second.

LeBron's forgetting this.

[Rosalba]

Keep up the good work.