Though he bristled at the whole idea of New Year’s resolutions when speaking to reporters after practice Friday, LeBron James has clearly already embarked on a self-improvement crusade in at least one aspect of his game: his jump shot.
Last week, NBA.com’s resident statistician John Schuhmann uncovered a troubling truth about the King’s play this season up to that point. The normally hyper-efficient LeBron had assumed the dubious distinction as the worst shooter in the league among 64 players with at least 200 field goal attempts outside the paint.
The worst high-volume shooters from outside the paint, a list topped by LeBron James & Kobe Bryant. pic.twitter.com/Sn4CW6C9O7
— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) December 29, 2015
LeBron has never been one to rest on his laurels, and he’s obviously aware of his shooting struggles. So even if he won’t officially admit that improving his shot at the start of 2016 is high on his nonexistent resolutions list, he’s certainly being proactive about it. Via Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com:
“I’ve definitely been putting in extra work as of late, just trying to get my shot back, get my legs back under me,” James said. “Get my balance and my base, and it’s resulted in me shooting the ball well from the perimeter the last couple games.”
Indeed, LeBron was an efficient 11-of-18 from the field and 4-of-7 from downtown in the Cavs’ win over Orlando Saturday night and a similarly stellar 13-of-24 against Denver the previous game. Those performances came after four consecutive games during which he shot 40 percent or worse from the floor. Regardless of those woes, he’s still the driving force behind the top-seeded Cavaliers, and increased attention to that aspect of his game will make Cleveland that much more difficult to deal with in the coming year.
(Via ESPN.com)
