The OUTLAW

"• Officials underestimate the strength of James. Often, he is fouled but doesn't react because of his determination to get to the hoop. The Cavaliers have sent films to the NBA of James being fouled and with no calls, trying to make the point. James has to be careful not to fall into the habit of constantly complaining to the officials."

This is from the Akron Beacon Journal. I'm not sure it it'll do any good, but they need to recognize that there is a problem. The only difference between LeBron getting fouled and alot of other players is that LeBron is strong enough to very often still get off a pretty good shot.

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Nightfly

The officiating in the NBA leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion. When compared to the officiating in the NFL, it's a joke.

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EHL

It has nothing to do with being strong and everything to do with LeBron not having the ability to create and draw contact consistently enough. He doesn't have the body control of other players. He's one of those players with tremendous north-south quickness and speed but not a lot of lateral or directional quickness, which means he can't change speed/directional on a dime as well as other players who get to the line for a living.

Mavs41

Well I guess it did some good today. He got some calls today that were very questionable. Also, he ran over KVH in the second quarter and no chrage was called. LeBron gets a lot of calls he already get's the superstar calls. He should be the last to complain because refs cut him slack.

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1) Start Devin Harris at point guard.

2) Start Jerry Stackhouse at shooting guard.

3) Make Jason Terry the sixth man.

4) Sign/trade for athletic center.

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6-23-05 -- The day the albatrose Shawn Bradley was taken from around the neck of the Dallas Mavericks.

futuristxen

Lebron creates a ton of contact everytime he goes to the basket. He was getting smacked in the face just about every time he went to the bucket, and people are almost always hitting him on the arm. James doesn't have the ability to look like he is fouled when he is fouled. Similiar to Shaq, who gets hit hard, but it just looks like guys are putting their hands on him.

And the only reason they called that forearm shiver that Stackhouse gave Lebron in the second half was because Lebron doubled over. Lebron takes a lot of abuse over the course of every game. The fact that he plays as many minutes as he does and goes to the basket as much as he does(one of the league leaders in points in the paint) and still doesn't get to the line a consistent number of times, tells me that officials are having difficulties officiating such a freak specimen.

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Sir Patchwork

I agree. He already gets benefit from the officials on his drives. He plows through defenders getting to the hoop a lot, since his lateral quickness isn't as good as his north-south quickness. He goes straight into guys without stepping through the openings. That is where the contact comes from a lot of times.

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Pioneer10

Doesn't explain him getting hacked in the head twice today on drives with no calls but I guess he's just charged to set those up as well

Oh well I'm sure we can count on Johnny Mac jumping on every percieved Lebron weakness/fault.

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Sir Patchwork

They should be called. If he gets hit on the head, he should be going to the line, but if he's plowing through players, he should be called for a charge too. I hate superstar treatment, and always have. Him getting fouled on the head or arm or whatever is offset by how he often bullies his way to the hoop going through guys.

Shaq bulldozes through guys too, and he gets smacked in the process. These things offset each other. You can't allow guys to be aggressive and bulldoze through the opposition, then call ticky tack fouls on the defense when they try to get in the way to stop them.

Somehow I don't think I'm out of line in a thread about begging the league to give a player more superstar treatment. Give me a break.

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remy23

In an ideal world, LeBron should be going to the line for this but often times, this is not the case. Even if I were to remove all feelings for Cleveland and set them aside, he should be at the line more. LeBron simply needs to go to acting school to master the art of "selling" more calls because the contact is there.

Sir Patchwork

I'm just saying, in an ideal world, he would get those calls, but those charging calls he gets away with would also be called. They offset each other to me, and maybe LeBron should be getting the benefit on both things, since that would be consistent with the league insisting on superstars getting special treatment from officials, but I still think it's ridiculous to send tapes to the league of him getting fouled.

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EHL

I'll agree with one thing, LeBron definitely needs to act a little more when he takes it to the basket. But I don’t know that that will result in a lot more fouls.

The OUTLAW

While LeBron like all players charge from time to time. I really don't believe that LeBron gets away with them as much as you are contending. He does push off from time to time, but I think this is about equal to the amount that he is held. The only real difference is that I do believe that he looks to avoid the majority of contact and while he still gets hit, it never appears as significant as it is. So I think that acting lessons are in order.

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Pioneer10

The worst thing a ref can try to do is make up calls. In the meantime the calls that don't get called affect the way is a game is played by players.

We're not asking for superstar treatment. Look at the numbers, Lebron was second in the league in terms of points in the paint behind Shaq(don't know where he is at right now). More then guys like Amare, Duncan, etc. Guys who get into the paint (post men/slashers) generate more ft's then jump shooters (tmac/ray allen). Yet despite getting all those points in the paint Lebron is only 11th in the league in the FTA and an even worse 17th in the league in FTA for 48 minutes. The numbers don't match and indicate a player who's attacking the rim yet not getting the ft's that player who does normally gets

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