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James having his best season in anticipating, gambling to steal ball
By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Sunday, Nov 23, 2008
CLEVELAND: LeBron James is gambling more on the defensive side of the ball, and it's paying dividends. If he continues at his current pace of two steals per game, it will be his best season since 2004-05 in that category. He averaged 2.2 per game in his second season.
Coach Mike Brown doesn't really encourage that riverboat mentality, but he isn't exactly discouraging it this year. Which means his confidence in what James can do defensively is showing.
''If you want to be a tough, grind-it-out defensive team, you can't go for steals because if you go for steals, you're going to miss more than you get,'' he said. ''And all those times you are missing, you're putting your team at a disadvantage on the backside.''
It's different this year, because James is tuned in to the system. He knows it, knows where his opponents are and where he needs to be, Brown said.
When asked about the growth in that category, James offered a little more. It's a matter of discipline.
''Basically, it's about anticipation, being in the right spot at the right time . . . putting myself in position defensively where I can gamble sometimes without hurting the team,'' James said.
Much of that has come from playing within Brown's system, but some came from playing in the Olympics with USA Basketball, where coach Mike Krzyzewski, his staff and fellow players helped.
''We knew we could score, that wasn't the problem,'' he said. ''The only way we were going to win is if we were defending teams and locking them down.''
Brown believes that his superstar player could make the league's all-defensive team if he plays up to his potential on that end of the court.
''He's worked hard on that end of the floor,'' Brown said. ''He's shown a lot of progress over the years.''
New York redux
With the New York Knicks making two key trades to give themselves salary-cap room in time for the 2010 season, James is girding himself for another Big Apple interrogation come Tuesday, when the team plays the Knicks in Madison Square Garden.
It wasn't lost on him that talk centered on the Knicks coming after him.
''They didn't care about the guys that were coming to them,'' he said almost laughing.
His comments last week while in New Jersey created a stir, but he continues to go about his business.
''It doesn't bother me; it's funny, but at the same time, people need something to write about,'' he said.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read the Cavs blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/cavs/.
CLEVELAND: LeBron James is gambling more on the defensive side of the ball, and it's paying dividends. If he continues at his current pace of two steals per game, it will be his best season since 2004-05 in that category. He averaged 2.2 per game in his second season.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 04:18 PM, 11/23/2008
Hey everyone dreams the game ........comes to them.
It's a thrill LeBron and no other hustler s h o u l d surrender this joy!!!
Joy ,all JOY !!!!!!!
Posted 11:01 AM, 11/24/2008
Steals don't score buckets, points do!
Akron, OH
Posted 04:10 PM, 11/24/2008
yeah but defense wins games!!