Defending Lebron James: Double team vs Straight up
June 4, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) shoots against Golden State Warriors guard Andre Iguodala (9) during the second half in game one of the NBA Finals. at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Victory notwithstanding, the Warriors “allowed” Lebron James to erupt for 44 Game 1 points. Clearly, the Warriors MUST implement widespread defensive changes to prevent Lebron from continuing in such a dominant fashion, right?
Well, not exactly.
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While its safe to say that Steve Kerr’s game plan didn’t include nearly half a hundred points for Lebron, don’t expect the Warriors to stray from their chosen poison. The blueprint for stopping a player of Lebron’s caliber doesn’t exist in our current reality. When facing off against LBJ, each opponent is forced to pick their desired poison.
Kerr and the Warriors made the calculated decision to turn Lebron into a scoring machine. In theory, if everything goes according to plan, the victim of this scoring barrage isn’t the Warriors; it’s the remaining Cavs players. The players whose offensive games are predicated on open looks facilitated by Lebron himself.
Kerr and the rest of the staff believe that the Warriors’ roster contains the proper defensive pieces to slow down Lebron just enough where he doesn’t turn the rim into his personal play toy. The alternative is blitzing the ball out of his hands and into the hands of wide-open, proficient 3pt shooters.
The plan is premised on sound footing. Why allow Lebron to channel some freakish combination of Jordan and Magic, when you can turn him into Carmelo Anthony. Albeit Carmelo Anthony playing against college underclassmen at Syracuse.
Now that the Game 1 dust has settled, should the Warriors proceed with this mysterious and diabolical plan? What worked, what failed, and what changes, if any, can the Warriors make to prevent Lebron from make a mockery of the Warriors defense? Lets find out.
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