I say this as a person who breathes and bleeds Ohio sports (often to my pain and detriment). And I definitely want the Miami Heat to be successful and dethrone the defending Eastern Conference champs, the Boston Celtics, and the overall NBA champs, the Los Angeles Lakers. LeBron James would greatly aid his own cause and that of the Miami Heat if he would make several adjustments to his game and his attitude:
1. Give up the rock when a point guard or Dwyane Wade is in the game. In fact, don’t even touch it. When the ball is taken out, traverse the length of the court and park your 6-foot-9, 250-pound frame down on the block. No one can match up with your potent speed-and-strength combination. You are a freak of nature. You have to learn to play and excel without the ball in your hands. Which brings me to my next point;
2. Develop a back-to-the-basket, low post game. Your idol, Michael Jordan, perfected a low post game and your nemesis, Kobe Bryant, has one. Tim Duncan, who is only an inch or two taller than you, also has a masterful collection of low-post moves. Even your other idol, Julius “Dr. J.“ Erving, could unleash his patented wizardry around the rim. You have superior passing skills when compared to MJ and Kobe and Doc, therefore if you would just take get the ball down low, you will most likely find one or two teammates on the wing, or behind the 3-point line, or cutting to the rim.
If you don’t get double-teamed, you must be able to back your man down and hit a turn-around jumper or a bank shot or baby hook shot. No, a hook shot is not pretty, but Magic Johnson learned it from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and that shot won Magic one of his five titles from the hated Celtics. That shot is as legendary as any that Magic ever executed. So you should consider it. But get a low-post game.
3. LeBron, you are not in Cleveland anymore, although you play like it. It is very irritating to watch you dribble the ball at the top of the key for 15 seconds and then bowl your way to the hole as the time expires. Shoot it or pass it.
4. Master a consistent mid-range jumper and/or three-point shot. You will never be considered better than Kobe unless you can be depended upon to hit that shot on the regular with time winding down in the fourth quarter. You cannot depend on mowing down opponents like blades of grass, hoping for a phantom call from the refs.
5. Develop a tougher hide. As the most celebrated and hyped high school b-baller of all time, you have never been subjected to such scrutiny and second-guessing in your entire life. It is obvious you have a low threshold for pain, criticism and disappointment, based upon your behavior after being eliminated by the Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics the past two playoff series. Now, only 15 games or so into the season, you declare that you are not having fun. With only 67 games left, it boggles the mind what you will say or do if things don’t get better soon.
Let’s just hope you don’t have another coach collision. –terry shropshire
