Cloudy said:
Gambling in the passing lanes = undisciplined defense especially when your D is not that hot to begin with. Not saying it's necessarily bad cos I haven't seen him get burned due to this too often (he just gets burned period)...
PS: What does Kobe have to do with this? It's not any less undisciplined when he does that or other stuff like taking a shot with 2 guys in his face (even if he makes it) or passing when he needs to shoot just so he doesn't get criticized for being a hog...
The point is that "gambling" in the passing lanes is a normal part of the game-- the only criticism that can be leveled against one who has
good anticipation (as Lebron does, but Kobe does not
) is that they are reckless in gunning for steals. For Lebron, this is not the case, and you yourself admit that you haven't seen him get burned as a result of it too often. Therefore, it's pretty amusing that you'd try to minimize the extent of his skills and talent (and make no mistake, defensive anticipation is largely a talent, not a skill like on the ball defense is; you can get better at it, but only to a certain point) by saying that he "gambles too much", which is
false.
As for what Kobe has to do with it, I was just using your favorite son to illustrate the fact that Lebron's high steals totals are
not the result of "gambling" a lot on the perimeter, because Kobe used to do NOTHING BUT gamble when Shaq was around, and yet has only a single season of > 1.8 steals/game and a career average of about 1.5 steals/game. Lebron's steals are a result of his TALENT (i.e., anticipation) and skill (being able to read offensive sets etc.), not
solely the fact that he was "gunning for them". If that were the case, then Kobe should've averaged > 2 steals/game during the Shaq era, which he didn't.
Every defender is different in terms of how they get their steals. Jordan and Pippen got roughly equal amounts of steals on and off the ball; Gary Payton and Bruce Bowen got/get most of them on the ball; guys like Christie and Larry Hughes get most of their steals off the ball. Having anticipation is a benefit and a
definite advantage in basketball; you trying to portray the fruits of that anticipation as being the result of mere reckless gambling is disingenuous imo and doesn't give Lebron the credit he deserves. Btw,
nobody (besides certain centers) comes into the NBA as an individual defensive force-- it took Kobe about 4-5 years, and it took Jordan (despite his high steals averages in his first few seasons) until about '88 to become a truly noted individual defender. Lebron will get there-- he's only 20.
Poody said:
Loki you give Lebron too much credit... Fact Kobe > Lebron
Obviously, Lebron is not better than Kobe is at this point in time, but I'd say it's
stunning how close he is. To my mind, Kobe is clearly the better offensive player (yes, despite his atrocious FG%-- he has more skill in terms of different shots and offensive abilities), the better individual defender, and certainly more clutch than Lebron is. Every other category is either a wash or an advantage for Lebron, though, imo, and that's scary considering that this is his sophomore year...
