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Now that James has improved his jumper, Washington looks to the foul line
By George M. Thomas and Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriters
POSTED: 09:57 p.m. EDT, Apr 21, 2008
CLEVELAND: With the design of their road uniforms, few are going to refer to the Washington Wizards as fashion trendsetters. But they might, indeed, have started a new way to deal with LeBron James.
In past playoffs, there have been two ways teams have dealt with James on defense. They have double-teamed him on the outside to force him to give the ball up or they have dropped off him and encouraged him to shoot midrange and long jumpers. The San Antonio Spurs seized on the latter and forced James to have a sub-par NBA Finals last June.
This season, though, James showed dramatic improvement on his jumper and shot the highest field-goal percentage of his career at just better than 48 percent. So now the Wizards are trying to poke at another James weakness, free-throw shooting.
Which is why they are trying to send him to the foul line at a higher rate than in the past two seasons. And because James was second in the NBA this season in so-called and-1s (baskets plus fouls) with 87, the Wizards want to issue hard fouls to keep him from scoring.
''It's not entrapment,'' Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. ''We're not going to allow him to drive the ball then foul him.''
James shot just 71 percent at the line this year, the second lowest of his career. During April, James shot just 66 percent from the line as the Wizards were heavily scouting the Cavs in advance of the series.
Just to illustrate the point, James missed more free throws this season plus Game 1 of the series (228) than Mark Price did in his entire career (227). Not to compare the two, but to show that at James' volume, missed free throws can hurt.
''I haven't been a good free-throw shooter since I came into the NBA,'' James said. ''Will teams start like hack-a-Bron? Physical contact is a part of the game.''
James has shot free throws well in the clutch. His career playoff free-throw percentage is higher than his regular season average. This season in clutch situations, the last five minutes of games with neither team ahead by more than five points, he was an 80 percent foul shooter.
''I think he shoots free throws with the game on the line very well,'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said. ''I think teams are saying we have to get up on him, we can't let him shoot a comfortable shot.''
In the locker room
• Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson on whether there is a difference between a foul and a ''LeBron foul,'' as James said this week: ''He's going to cry about calls; that's what he do.''
• Wizards forward Darius Songalia said he's hoping things can work out to allow countryman Zydrunas Ilgauskas to play with the Lithuanian team in the Olympics this summer. Right now the Cavs and Lithuania are at an impasse over insurance issues.
''It would be awesome; Z has never been able to play and it is a great experience,'' Songalia said. ''We always have high expectations and all of Lithuania has high expectations for us.''
• Sasha Pavlovic was cleared to start cardio workouts but still isn't close to playing any basketball. He showed off his left ankle in the locker room Monday, and it is still very swollen and bruised a week after he suffered a nasty sprain in Philadelphia. He said his goal remains to be back if the Cavs advance to the second round.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net.
Brian Windhorst can be reached at bwindhor@thebeaconjournal.com.
CLEVELAND: With the design of their road uniforms, few are going to refer to the Washington Wizards as fashion trendsetters. But they might, indeed, have started a new way to deal with LeBron James.
In past playoffs, there have been two ways teams have dealt with James on defense. They have double-teamed him on the outside to force him to give the ball up or they have dropped off him and encouraged him to shoot midrange and long jumpers. The San Antonio Spurs seized on the latter and forced James to have a sub-par NBA Finals last June.
This season, though, James showed dramatic improvement on his jumper and shot the highest field-goal percentage of his career at just better than 48 percent. So now the Wizards are trying to poke at another James weakness, free-throw shooting.
Which is why they are trying to send him to the foul line at a higher rate than in the past two seasons. And because James was second in the NBA this season in so-called and-1s (baskets plus fouls) with 87, the Wizards want to issue hard fouls to keep him from scoring.
''It's not entrapment,'' Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. ''We're not going to allow him to drive the ball then foul him.''
James shot just 71 percent at the line this year, the second lowest of his career. During April, James shot just 66 percent from the line as the Wizards were heavily scouting the Cavs in advance of the series.
Just to illustrate the point, James missed more free throws this season plus Game 1 of the series (228) than Mark Price did in his entire career (227). Not to compare the two, but to show that at James' volume, missed free throws can hurt.
''I haven't been a good free-throw shooter since I came into the NBA,'' James said. ''Will teams start like hack-a-Bron? Physical contact is a part of the game.''
James has shot free throws well in the clutch. His career playoff free-throw percentage is higher than his regular season average. This season in clutch situations, the last five minutes of games with neither team ahead by more than five points, he was an 80 percent foul shooter.
''I think he shoots free throws with the game on the line very well,'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said. ''I think teams are saying we have to get up on him, we can't let him shoot a comfortable shot.''
In the locker room
• Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson on whether there is a difference between a foul and a ''LeBron foul,'' as James said this week: ''He's going to cry about calls; that's what he do.''
• Wizards forward Darius Songalia said he's hoping things can work out to allow countryman Zydrunas Ilgauskas to play with the Lithuanian team in the Olympics this summer. Right now the Cavs and Lithuania are at an impasse over insurance issues.
''It would be awesome; Z has never been able to play and it is a great experience,'' Songalia said. ''We always have high expectations and all of Lithuania has high expectations for us.''
• Sasha Pavlovic was cleared to start cardio workouts but still isn't close to playing any basketball. He showed off his left ankle in the locker room Monday, and it is still very swollen and bruised a week after he suffered a nasty sprain in Philadelphia. He said his goal remains to be back if the Cavs advance to the second round.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net.
Brian Windhorst can be reached at bwindhor@thebeaconjournal.com.
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