The Miami Heat head coach talks about the adjustments and sacrifices which the small forward has made to his game just to help his team …..
LeBron James is taking a career low 18.3 shots per game so far this season. He is still at the number fourth spot – with 25.4 points per game – and is only behind Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant.
Before the game against Utah Jazz, the Miami Heat star was asked whether about his scoring exploits this season, and the forward seemed confident that he could be numero uno if he wanted to be the scoring leader. For him though,
team comes first, and when the team has the likes of Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Ray Allen, it is only natural for James to cut back on the shots.
Still, in whatever opportunities James is getting, he is converting at an exceptional rate – 54.2 percent from the floor including 44.2 percent from the three point range.
That is just one dimension of James’ play. He is undoubtedly the chief playmaker in the side and also does a lot of defensive work for the Heat. Take this out of his game, and James could be a scoring giant.
And that is exactly what his coach Erik Spoelstra thinks;
"He could average 37 points a game, realistically I think," said Spoelstra.
The 37 point statement seems farfetched but if you do the maths, they actually appear a little less. James did the calculation while talking to reporters;
"I'm shooting 54 percent from the field right now, so if I shoot 54 percent at 25 shots a game? Pff, that's like ... doing my math ... that's 27 points right there. That's without shooting free throws and shooting 42 percent from
the 3-point line."
Miami currently lead the Eastern conference with a 18-6 record and are yet to see a game in which LeBron hasn’t eclipsed the 20 point mark. To top that, he is the best rebounding small forward of the league at 8.5 and if he continues
to play in the same vein, a second consecutive ring for him is on its way.
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