LeBron James may have called his team fragile, but since spouting off to the media he's done everything possible to help the Cleveland Cavaliers look anything but that. The Cavs find themselves on a two-game winning streak, and while it's just another ebb to the flow of what is a highly scrutinized season, James has the Cavaliers in an upward trend thanks to his aggressiveness over the past two games.
LeBron James surges behind his aggressive play
Consecutive wins against the Magic and Wizards have the Cleveland Cavaliers looking up.
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Among James’ problems was his 6.9 free throw attempts per game over the course of the young season, which was the fewest he’s managed since his rookie year. It became clear something was wrong as the Cavs lost four games in a row and fell to 5-7 a week ago. But over the last two games against Orlando and Washington, James has gotten to the foul stripe 11 and 17 times, respectively, and that has spoken a lot about his success.
Like it was when the San Antonio Spurs baited James into shooting out-of-rhythm jumpers in the NBA Finals two years ago, James had been second-guessing himself in his return to the Cavaliers. While finishing at the rim has been a problem for James -- relatively to his own abilities -- and his uneasiness with his new teammates caused apprehension, his aggression in getting to the foul stripe has lately helped his efficiency. He's shot just above 50 percent in the last two outings.
On a more broad evaluation, James' uptick has come with Cleveland impressing on the defensive end. On Monday, the Cavs held the Magic to 36 percent shooting in a 104-76 victory before beating the Wizards 113-87 on Wednesday. In the latter, the rest of the Cleveland roster took on James' mindset by reaching the foul stripe 38 times and distributing 28 fouls across 10 Washington players.
Much of James’ foul shooting and overall contribution came on the break and off defensive stops, yet it wasn’t always the case. He was conscious about drawing fouls and made sure to do so especially when his Cavs weren’t moving or getting into their sets.
The Cavaliers obviously have to make this more than a two-game trend, but it’s good news that James appears more willing to attack. Over the course of his career, James’ unselfishness has been most pronounced when his teams have failed, and that’s again the case this year. Simply put, he hasn’t played up to par.
As it’s been forever, James is at his best when he’s not thinking about making his teammates happy. That doesn’t mean he’s been playing selfishly. The aggression has not been a detriment to his distributing duties, as James has dished out 11 and eight assists in the last two outings, respectively.
When he’s aggressive, James is the best player on the planet. He’s smart enough to know when to take the shot, how to draw the foul and when to pass it off to another teammate.
There’s no need to overthink it when attempting to make his teammates better, but it’s fair enough to accept that, like all smart people, there is always going to be some overthinking by James before a rhythm sets in. Whether that rhythm is truly back remains to be seen.
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