# Larry Brown: Lebron Stopper



## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

I saw this in the other thread and thought it should be it's own thread because it's something I want to rant and rave about, and I'm sure there are other Cavs fans who also feel the same way.

Thus far Carlos Boozer is getting more minutes than Lebron. Even though I think Lebron could probably play the 4 better than Bozo is playing it.

I mean on the plus side, Lebron is getting work with the practices, and getting to rest in the games, so we don't have to worry about him getting hurt next season or being worn down for the season...

But yesterday there wasn't any big reason not to play either him or Amare. Lebron played well in his 7 minutes of play. 2 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, a steal...and that's coming in cold off the bench.

Does anyone now doubt whether Lebron would have sat at the end of Larry's bench in Detroit this year as well? This makes it even clearer that Darko was screwed.

Because clearly Lebron is better than the guys that are playing in front of him, and he is the best passer on the team bar none. Yet he can't find the floor.

I would be upset if I were Lebron, just because Brown is almost embarrassing him with the way he has handled things.

But yet, Lebron is being the biggest cheerleader on the bench. He was the first one out to Iverson after that shot yesterday.

Which in some ways shows that not even Larry Brown can keep the kid down.

I just hope he uses this experience to learn from others in practice, and uses Brown's benchings as motovation next year when they play the pistons.

Same with Amare.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>futuristxen</b>!
> 
> Which in some ways shows that not even Larry Brown can keep the kid down.


Whether it's life on the court or off it, the only way to go about things is with your head up. That's the razor thin line between being admired and being criticized. If LeBron was complaining, despite possibly having a reason or cause, he would be roundly criticized. But for simply staying upbeat, James is handling the situation the best way a person can.


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## BEEZ (Jun 12, 2002)

*Re: Re: Larry Brown: Lebron Stopper*

nice post futuristxen. I may be the only one but I feel bad for whats going to happen to the Pistons when they play the Cavs


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## RP McMurphy (Jul 17, 2003)

*Re: Re: Re: Larry Brown: Lebron Stopper*



> Originally posted by <b>BEEZ</b>!
> nice post futuristxen. I may be the only one but I feel bad for whats going to happen to the Pistons when they play the Cavs


I'd feel bad for the Cavs instead, because they'll be losing to the Pistons at least 3 times out of 4.

Anyway, nice post futuristxen. You made a good point about Darko. It's pretty obvious to me that the kid was good enough to play 10 minutes per game last year, but didn't because they had a deep frontcourt and Larry Brown hates to play rookies. But according to some posters, he's already bust because he badly missed two free throws in the Finals after breaking his hand.  

I don't think LeBron has played that well in the minutes he's had. I saw him take a couple of bad gambles on defense and he looked a little bit out of control to me. He hasn't been clearly better than everyone in front of him, Iverson and Anthony are playing better than LeBron. But he's definitely been much better than Stephon Marbury and Richard Jefferson and Lamar Odom. As far as I can tell none of those three players have contributed anything to Team USA so far.


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## Locke (Jun 16, 2003)

Honestly I don't even think LeBron is looking at it as negatively as you may think. I would imagine during these exhibition games Larry Brown is trying to try all different combinations of players to see which ones work the best. I'm sure it has nothing to to with a vendetta he has against LeBron, who, as futuristxen pointed out, seems to be a good sport about the whole thing. I doubt he comes into next season trying to get some measure of "revenge" on Brown for not giving him the PT he thought he deserved while playing in the Olympics. But still, Brown is going to give the players he feels gives the team the best chance to win the most PT. Not that that's a shot on LeBron, but look at this team, it needs some perimeter shooting specialists BADLY. That doesn't mean Mike Redd or Allan Houston or Ray Allen are better than any members of the team we have out there right now, but they may be a better fit based on needs. The same goes for the players Brown is currently playing the most - he's doing it this way for a reason.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

*Re: Re: Re: Re: Larry Brown: Lebron Stopper*



> Originally posted by <b>ArtestFan</b>!
> 
> But he's definitely been much better than Stephon Marbury and Richard Jefferson and Lamar Odom. As far as I can tell none of those three players have contributed anything to Team USA so far.


Yet those three play more than both Melo and Bron. That's the most annoying thing right now. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with anything beyond that they are the veterans.

I'm sick of seeeing Jefferson out on the floor. He was a scrub on the qualifying team, and he's a scrub now. He completely disapears out on the court. And watching him clang that dunk off the bottom side of the rim the other day was pure embarrassment.

Marbury can't play the international game, and it seems just plain foolish to have Lebron off the ball watching Marbury run around like a chicken with his head cut off.

If anything Brown should switch them. Let Marbury play off of Lebron and be a scorer. He seems adamant about having Iverson play that role, but Iverson has actually been doing a better job of the point guard duties than Marbury has.

I do agree in the Italy game Lebron didn't look good. But no one on the team did. And I thought he looked like he was really putting it together against Germany. He strung together a few good plays going into the half and he was actually playing some pretty good defense. So I thought I'd see him in the 4th. But instead Larry left him on the bench with Amare, and Iverson(until the very very end).

Surely I'm not the only one who cringes a little when they see Marion, Jefferson, and Marbury out on the floor for extended minutes together? None of those guys can create anything for anyone. Marion redeems himself because he's a garbage player so he can get on the glass and he can block shots. But Marbury and Jefferson should not be playing.

IMO we should be playing:
Iverson
Lebron
Melo
Amare(In the little time Amare has played, I've liked his shot blocking ability, and his finishing ability...he hasn't played enough to see anything else, but I consider anyone else at the 4 pretty much a liability)
Duncan


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

It seems that Brown kept the same starting line-up as from the other games, so that hasn't changed today.


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## SamTheMan67 (Jan 4, 2004)

He played him today and we won by 20 go figure


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>SamTheMan67</b>!
> He played him today and we won by 20 go figure


yeah, no ****. Case closed. Richard Jefferson should never see the court when we have Lebron and Melo on the team.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

> yeah, no ****. Case closed. Richard Jefferson should never see the court when we have Lebron and Melo on the team.


Word, been preaching this since day 1. Lebron looks to pass first then shoot, he only takes shots in transition or when he is wide open. 

Melo shoots first than passes second, and they always play well with each other on the court because of it. Even when Melo is bricking shots like the other day it opens up the floor cause he is still a threat, and players like Bron/Duncan/Marion can crash the boards. 

Bron even showed he can hit the deep J by knocking down a 3pter. 

If he doesn't get increased PT in the next game, it proves Brown just has something against playing young players (what a coincidence Amare and Lebron - the two youngest players on the team - get the least PT)


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## HB (May 1, 2004)

Am I the only one that feels like Bron looks lost whenever he is on the floor, he is always looking for that exceptional pass, his ballhandling is quite suspect and for now he relies too much on his athleticism and speed


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Bron doesn't look lost to me out there: he looks like he belongs. He's so calm out there, it might look like James is drifting out there but I think he's playing it cool. Bron does have an odd dribble of the ball but until these international guys start abusing his handle (picking it left and right), it's okay for now. In the future, I'm sure LeBron will continue to work on improving his ballhandling.


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## BEEZ (Jun 12, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Benedict_Boozer</b>!
> 
> 
> Word, been preaching this since day 1. Lebron looks to pass first then shoot, he only takes shots in transition or when he is wide open.
> ...


Melo is younger than Amare


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

I've been saying for years that Larry Brown's style is not conducive to rookies playing. I expect Delfino to get crappy minutes next year.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

> Melo is younger than Amare


True but Melo also has college experience playing against zone defenses.

Bron and Amare are the only one's straight from highschool, Brown probably considers them the youngest.


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## nickrock23 (Mar 28, 2004)

if larry brown gave all of Richard Jefferson's minutes to Lebron or Melo, we win the gold. RJ not only missed most of his shots and free throws, he missed so many defensive assignments. i believe he was -20 in point differential when in the game today.
lebron played good defense, ran the floor, created turnovers, passed well, and shot well.
the starting 5 should have been iverson/wade/lebron/odom/duncan. whenever wade and bron came in the game, they were down and sparked them to a lead. and that was all summer, even in the exibition tour.
larry brown never realized that marbury and RJ werent very effective. maybe he did but didnt want to bench them for "rookies".


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

just more motovation for Lebron to use.
Sitting there watching Argentina and not being put in to compete, had to drive him nuts today.

Like with last year's all-star snub, this is something where Lebron has to take his game to the level where there is no question amongst anyone that he's the best and should be playing. Because of his hype, no one will give him anything or make it easy for him. He's got to reach out and take it.


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## Coatesvillain (Jul 17, 2002)

I know I couldn't have been the only one who was asking why they didn't put Lebron out there on Ginobili. Wade's a good defender, but with Lebron's length and athleticism it would've really bothered Ginobili.

The biggest problem this team had that was bigger than even the shooting was we had so many players who are plain out awful at passing into the post, guys like Iverson and Wade come to mind immediately when I think of that.


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## Nevus (Jun 3, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>PhillyPhanatic</b>!
> I know I couldn't have been the only one who was asking why they didn't put Lebron out there on Ginobili. Wade's a good defender, but with Lebron's length and athleticism it would've really bothered Ginobili.
> 
> The biggest problem this team had that was bigger than even the shooting was we had so many players who are plain out awful at passing into the post, guys like Iverson and Wade come to mind immediately when I think of that.


Good points. I think we've got to put LeBron on Jacikevicius in the bronze medal game, at least at the end. The way LeBron's been playing pressure defense, Sarunas won't get those open shots, and I don't think he's quick enough to get away from LeBron despite LeBron being so much larger.

Good point about the post entry passing too; in my opinion LeBron's post entry passes are excellent and he was great at getting the ball to Duncan and to other players inside. As he was for the Cavs, with Boozer and Ilgauskas. Boozer benefited a lot from it.


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## nickrock23 (Mar 28, 2004)

i think the team was a mess from the start. my whole thing was take young guys. and they did do that but then then they still have duncan, RJ marbury and iverson. if youre gonna send wade melo and bron, make them the core, and replace the others with kirk heinrich, kyle corver, etc. other 1 2 or 3 year players. i think that messed up the chemistry. 
talent obviously meant nothing in the olympics. a cohesive team that got along and gelled on the court might have fared better. 

but who knows, i could be completely wrong


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