Before tonight, LeBron had not been called for a foul in 5 games

[RollWithEm]

My high school coach used to say that if you play over half the game and don't get at least one foul, you're not trying.

[Jamel Irief]

Originally Posted by Jace

Am I being a homer when I see LeBron's streak as indicative of good D (not using hands, moving feet well) and Nash's of poor D (playing off too much, not giving great effort)?

Why are you asking? Just make statements and be confident with them if you really believe them.

You scared Ron will accuse of drinking Kool-aid?

[Headliner]

I could of sworn I seen Lebron go up and down last night and it wasn't called.

[R-Star]

Lebron plays amazing D. And anyone who plays amazing D is going to get a foul sooner or later.

The guy benefits from getting no calls because hes Lebron. Its about as simple as that.

[PauloCatarino]

Originally Posted by Jace

Considering EHM backed his opinion up with basketball analysis, I'll go with him and just assume you're wrong until you do the same.

Agreeing with Munro is... like... corageous... (with a side of lunacy).

Would love to hear your argument that LeBron is a bad defender or Nash is great, though. Go!

I ain't gonna say that LBJ is a bad defender or that Nash is a great one.
Like someone who actually played basketball, it's simple: you can't play defense without getting called for fouls once in a while.
Simple as that.

If "beating your man to the spot" is what you call "defense" (no challenging shots, no trying to strip the ball, etc.) then OK.

[Krstic All-Star]

Originally Posted by RollWithEm

My high school coach used to say that if you play over half the game and don't get at least one foul, you're not trying.

Yup, no matter who you are.

[Jace]

I'd love to see someone with Synergy who has time go and find all of the should've-been-called fouls on LeBron. I won't claim to remember every possession, but he's been very good at playing D without fouling for years. Sometimes he gets caught with his hand down on jumpers or letting guys get past him, which I guess he considers the smart play in order to keep himself on the floor (also, probably some Battier-influenced percentage playing on the jumpers, and trusting the teams rotations on the drives). He really doesn't defend with his hands, which is why it's hard to find fouls to call on him. As I said earlier, in the unlikely scenario it really is the refs swallowing their whistles, it could be a subconscious reaction to the way they've been letting him get beat up on the other end this year, as part of what I believe may be an initiative to only call size-appropriate fouls this year (bigger guys need more contact against them to get the call).

Originally Posted by Jamel Irief

Why are you asking? Just make statements and be confident with them if you really believe them.

You scared Ron will accuse of drinking Kool-aid?

Terrified. Is it not OK to ask others' opinions? I'm accepting I could be being swayed by my allegiance. I do believe, though, that the "he doesn't get called for fouls because the refs love him" argument is too easy and assumptive, though.

Originally Posted by Headliner

I could of sworn I seen Lebron go up and down last night and it wasn't called.

COULD OF

[E.H. Munro]

Originally Posted by PauloCatarino

If "beating your man to the spot" is what you call "defense" (no challenging shots, no trying to strip the ball, etc.) then OK.

If you have position the other guy is going to be the one that gets whistled for the contact. If you're extremely good at it, you even get the benefit of the doubt in borderline cases. For example, watch the sheer number of charges that Glen ****ing Davis manages to draw for precisely this reason. And then start reviewing them and you'll notice that more oft than not he gets that benefit of the doubt even when the calls involve a borderline block.

Now he doesn't get that same benefit when he's stripping guys, because his hands aren't that quick, and you'll see him draw whistles even on clean strips of the ball. He isn't terribly long and despite the quick feet he spends a lot of time checking his man to keep him in front of him.

James is lightning quick and pretty much always beats his man to the spot, and uses his lateral quickness and length to keep his man in front him, he doesn't spend his time handchecking because he doesn't need to. He uses his hands more when jumping the passing lanes or garnering weakside blocks, where his speed, length, and athleticism again gets him the benefit. Compare him to Avery Bradley, another player that primarily defends with his feet. Bradley just didn't get whistled for a lot of fouls despite the fact that he was a defensive roleplayer getting his first significant time last year. But, he was so laterally quick that he didn't need to use hands on the defender and as a result got away with a lot.

So, yeah, it doesn't surprise me that James doesn't draw a lot of defensive fouls, I just don't expect it at this stage of his career. I find it far more surprising that he didn't draw any offensive fouls given the amount of contact he generates on that end of the floor. Anyway, keep up the Paolo "I don't need to watch no stinkin' NBA games to know more about the league than everyone else combined" act, because I need the laughs.

[Jace]

He's been driving much less and more carefully this year, which is probably why we surprisingly haven't seen any offensive fouls during that stretch. He hasn't even posted up as much as he did in the 12 playoffs, and the refs aren't giving smaller guys that Barea flop charge call anymore.

[Jamel Irief]

Jace style.

Originally Posted by Jace

Terrified. Is it not OK to ask others' opinions? I'm accepting I could be being swayed by my allegiance. I do believe, though, that the "he doesn't get called for fouls because the refs love him" argument is too easy and assumptive, though.

HEY GUYS. IS IT OK IF I SAY SOMETHING NICE ABOUT MY FAVORITE TEAM? LEBRON IS GOOD GUYS.

PLEASE DONT THINK IM DOCTORDRIZZAY.

[Jace]

Not surprised you're campaigning on this, but I didn't even point out with my last response that I was saying that slightly in jest. Again, what's wrong with asking others opinions? This is a discussion forum. Perhaps unlike other posters, I'm mature enough to accept that my point of view isn't always the absolute and correct one. Grow up a little.

LeBron IS really good. Even if my stance is always blindly in defense of his basketball abilities, I'll probably be on the right side of the argument 99% of the time.

Kudos on the use of caps though, really sealed your point.

[Jamel Irief]

Originally Posted by Jace

Not surprised you're campaigning on this, but I didn't even point out with my last response that I was saying that slightly in jest. Again, what's wrong with asking others opinions? This is a discussion forum. Perhaps unlike other posters, I'm mature enough to accept that my point of view isn't always the absolute and correct one. Grow up a little.

LeBron IS really good. Even if my stance is always blindly in defense of his basketball abilities, I'll probably be on the right side of the argument 99% of the time.

Kudos on the use of caps though, really sealed your point.

Yeah it's totally not your style to post in all caps mocking people right? Because you're too mature correct?


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[King Joseus]

[Jamel Irief]

:O

[Jace]

Originally Posted by Jace

COULD OF

HE GOT ME