Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 at 10:00 am  |  80 responses

Meet LeBron James, Power Forward

With Shaq on his team now, James says he’ll dabble a lot more with the 4 spot: “Now that I have Shaq on my team I don’t need to play much center because he can definitely do that and he needs no help with doing that so I could play some power forward,’ James told reporters in the Chinese capital on a 10-stop tour of the world. ‘I do not have a problem with doing that. It kind of all depends on the team you are going against or the match.”‘

  • Add a Comment
  • Share
  • RSS

Tags: , ,

← Older Comments
  • Teddy-the-Bear

    @ tavoris: Yao did work downlow, too. He was versatile enough to play both blocks.

  • http://www.manutd.com Z

    tavoris: 1- a nimble big has no outcome whatsoever on a wing driving to the basket. 2- samaki walker. horace grant. stoudemire. all people that draw defenses away, right? 4- do you really want me to list 4 and 5s that play down low? like seriously? i could totally see how dwight prevented the magic from driving to the hole, right? 5- clogging the lane is a MYTH. and there hasn’t been ANY evidence of shaq preventing people from driving to the hoop EVER. and now you’re assuming that because he’s older, he’ll SUDDENLY (because it has NEVER happen before) clog the lane for lebron? BS. Was Dwight ‘clogging’ the lane for him and D-Wade at the Olympics?

  • http://www.manutd.com Z

    Now, if you would have said that Shaq might slow down the Cavs’ fastbreak like he did for the Suns, then I would have said that you know what you are talking about. And even that is somewhat meaningless since the Cavs are a halfcourt team. Clogging the lane is a convenient concept to think about basketball in simplistic terms. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum stay down low all the time. Hasn’t prevented Kobe from slashing. TD owns the block, hasn’t prevented Manu from slashing. Dwight didn’t stop Turk from getting to the hoop either. The age argument is even weaker when you consider that Shaq looked better last year than when he clogged the lane all the way to a tile with D-Wade.

  • http://www.kb24.com The Seed

    All he has to do is keep driving through the lane jump up or into some one and get the call and try to make and 1, this is his signature move, need to add to NBA2K10. The right analog jump into player call shot, with 5 seconds left on the shot clock, because I won’t go in a gym and try to master my jumpshot, which can make me unstoppable.

  • Lonnie Long

    LJ can play any position on the court including ref, coach, trainer, water boy and announcer…

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    Hursty Posted: Aug.25 at 10:15 am
    There were several predictions that this guy (Bron) would end up being a PF due to his body, but he’d be unique.
    My first reaction to this was simply ‘wth?’ though. So I will assume that he was joking with reporters. Sarcasm can be hard to portray through print-media..
    ___
    Is it Hursty? I wouldn’t have thought that…

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    So that Verajoa resigning…? Necessesary or not so much.

  • http://www.hibachi20.blogspot.com Hursty

    Is it what Dacre? I’m confused.
    The actual article that is linked doesn’t explain much either.

  • Dyce

    Having a dominant big man does not clog the lane. You put him on one block, post him up reverse the ball and drive from the other side of the floor. The only way defenders clog the lane against the cavs is if they arent hitting the open jumpers that oneal and lebron are going to create.

  • rog123

    Hursty, I think dacre was using sarcasm. Just a wild guess

  • http://www.hoopsvibe.com/christopher_sells-authorHV106.html chiqo

    i don’t think it’s impossible for a big man to be in the way when his wing wants to drive all the way to the rim, nor as ridiculous a concept as some suggest. ideally your big slides up the lane when your guard drives, taking his defender with him. for a player such as shaq, who isn’t a threat outside of five feet or so and usually has the attention of two players, those defenders have no real reason to follow him and can continue to guard the rim. so it’s possible, but not completely true, especially with the defensive three second rule.

  • http://slamonline.com niQ

    Why don’t they just play him at the 1 then. He pretty much leads his team in assists anyways.

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    Co-sign chiqo. Well put!

  • rog123

    they should play bron at one more than just the 4 quarter. He will have trouble with fast guards but he can keep up with vets like nash and kidd. Also he can keep up with many 2nd string pgs

  • Dagger

    Do any of you guys actually watch basketball? Lebron’s statistics while he played PF last year (which he did for stretches) were significantly higher than his already insane stats at the SF spot. Oh, and he played PF in the Olympics too. And yeah, he’s 6’9″ and 270, he’s plenty big enough to be a PF . . . .

  • http://kingakai.com Alpha-bet

    I didn’t catch EVERY Cleveland game last year and all but….when the f–k did LeBron ever play center?

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    @ Z: I’d say Shaq blocked the lane from Amare Stoudemire. How can you deny that Shaq made Amare less effective by camping down low? For starters, it gave Amare a lot less room to work with in the post, and having Shaq there took away many of his shots. This case is a little bit different from a perimeter player slashing, but Amare is a high-post leaper and we all saw his game become less effective with Shaq down low.

  • http://www.hoopsvibe.com/christopher_sells-authorHV106.html chiqo

    i don’t care what position lebron plays as long as grimace doesn’t completely rely on 1-4 sets in tough games. feel free to use the other players on the floor for something other than decoration.

  • http://fdjsklf.com Jukai

    Z: Not saying you’re entirely wrong, but Shaq pretty much clogged the lane for the entire Phoenix team. Not saying it’s going to effect Lebron much (Lebron drives in a straight line with the ball in his hands… Amare was hurt because Nash would like to run under the basket and kick out, or run straight in with Amare next to him, which required more room under the basket. But I digress).

  • http://www.manutd.com Z

    I thought about Phx when I was making my statement: they have no slashers. Amare is not a high post leaper but a finisher, straight up. He doesn’t drive to the hole but roams around the basket. Nash on the other doesn’t slash to the basket but likes to probe and STAY inside while keeping his dribble alive waiting for a cutter. The PHX game is not meant for someone to post up. In short, I stand by my comment: Shaq will not hinder LeBron’s forays to the hoop in any way.

  • http://www.lkz.ch Darksaber

    s’cuse me, what the hell is he on about? when did he EVER play or guard at the 5 spot. Dude, we know you can do practically everything on the court, but settle down, you are/were no center. Maybe in High school where you were a beast among teens, other than that, cool it.
    As for the whole invasion of China by Nba stars this summer (Kobe, CP3, Bron, Iguodala, D-Rose etc) Adidas & Nike need to chill or combine these cats into one huge summer traveling circus. seems like it’s every other week i read about an Nba star in Asia these past few months. Give us a Dream team and make em travel around, ask us to pay for all i care and make it interesting… come on Shoe Execs.

  • Vikturus

    I think Lebron just messed around in that interview. Wasn’t like he had to carry the center load earlier. And Shaq with Lebron will be awesome!

  • Ryan D

    Shaq is a bummmmmmm and a media whore, maybe he should pick up his acting and rapping career again.

  • COLT6

    LeCrybaby playing 4? KG will murder his @ss! And no, Shaq’s addition to the Cavs will not derail a healthy Celtics team bound for the 2k10 Finals. As for the Magic: Imagine Dwight Howard against three of his worst nightmares downlow: KG, Perk and Sheed. I don’t see VC getting the better of the Truth. Barring any major injuries…Lakers VS. Celts for the pennet next year. Nice to see you still alive Jukai.

  • tavoris

    All of you who think that Shaq won’t get in Lebron’s way fail to see how Shaq has got in EVERYBODY’s way the last 3 seasons. Love him, but his lack of mobility is a hindrance. And if you don’t realize how much traditional basketball standards DO NOT apply to Shaq, then I don’t know wha tI can say. Cleveland’s offense was improved (simply because they tried something differed once or twice a game), but they still rely too much on “give lebron the ball and get out his way”. That’s kinda hard when one player takes up so much space.

  • tavoris

    teddy…I know Yao operates from the block, but Rick Adelman has posted him at the high post most of the time the past 2 years. That was the first change Adelman made when he got there.

  • Dunlop 23

    i think it will be great for the cavs to have shaq, lebron can do anything on the court anytime, and with a strong dominant post player they will be unbeatable, if brons having a shit game shaq can take over vise versa

  • ConeyIslander

    LeBron vs NBA 4′s = CHEATING! smh

  • e

    it’s about the ring. some taught that last year cleveland would win it all.

    wh’s laughing now

  • stax

    melo would b a better 4, sure lebron is bigger and stronger than most 4s in the league already 6’8 1/2″ & 270lb, DAMN! but he still dont know how to use it, he aint got no post game, in high school he was da biggest person on da team but he played the 2, melo is the best low post wing player in the league, i’d rank him top 10 including pf & c. better game than d. howard, he just athletic & big az hell, if he had melo post game = best center ever, even had melo the startin 4 in the olympics

← Older Comments
Advertisement