Home » Sports » Basketball
Spurs up against a 'smarter' James in finals
Source: Agencies |
June 7, 2013, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A MORE confident LeBron James heads into his fourth National Basketball Association finals against a familiar San Antonio Spurs team that eased by his former Cleveland squad in his first title series in 2007.
The core of the San Antonio team that swept that championship, and celebrated on James's former home court, remains intact but it will be a much-improved James who is now a much more complete player with the Miami Heat.
"LeBron is a different player than he was in '07. That is like ancient history," Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said on Wednesday. "He was basically a neophyte at the time, wondering how all this stuff worked and how it's put together. We were very fortunate at that time to get him so early ... he'll be a lot more of a problem than he was in '07, that's for sure."
James, the reigning league most valuable player, has arguably improved in every area of his game over the past six years and his assessment is that the main upgrade has been in terms of his basketball intelligence.
"A lot smarter and more experienced, older and more mature on and off the floor. And I think that's the most important thing," said James.
"I've matured as a basketball player. I've matured as a man. And it has allowed my game to sprout."
James and the Cavaliers were simply outclassed by the Spurs in 2007 and James concedes that San Antonio worked him out pretty well.
The four-time MVP is also confident that he has a more diverse range of skills this time around and, crucially, he has an increased belief in his shooting ability.
"They funneled me to the sideline and dared me to shoot it, and didn't allow me to get to the paint where I did most of my damage back then," said James.
"If you go into my pick-and-roll now, I'm going to shoot and I'm confident I'm going to make every last one of them. I'm just more confident in my ability to shoot the ball."
The core of the San Antonio team that swept that championship, and celebrated on James's former home court, remains intact but it will be a much-improved James who is now a much more complete player with the Miami Heat.
"LeBron is a different player than he was in '07. That is like ancient history," Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said on Wednesday. "He was basically a neophyte at the time, wondering how all this stuff worked and how it's put together. We were very fortunate at that time to get him so early ... he'll be a lot more of a problem than he was in '07, that's for sure."
James, the reigning league most valuable player, has arguably improved in every area of his game over the past six years and his assessment is that the main upgrade has been in terms of his basketball intelligence.
"A lot smarter and more experienced, older and more mature on and off the floor. And I think that's the most important thing," said James.
"I've matured as a basketball player. I've matured as a man. And it has allowed my game to sprout."
James and the Cavaliers were simply outclassed by the Spurs in 2007 and James concedes that San Antonio worked him out pretty well.
The four-time MVP is also confident that he has a more diverse range of skills this time around and, crucially, he has an increased belief in his shooting ability.
"They funneled me to the sideline and dared me to shoot it, and didn't allow me to get to the paint where I did most of my damage back then," said James.
"If you go into my pick-and-roll now, I'm going to shoot and I'm confident I'm going to make every last one of them. I'm just more confident in my ability to shoot the ball."
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
