<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">SAITAMA, JAPAN - In the ebb and flow of last season, a steady stream of LeBron James stories explored the prospect of his future as a defender. Fueled by Cavaliers coach Mike Brown's repeated comments that he believes James eventually will become one of the NBA's best, there was some belief that James made strides to improve a weakness during his third season. Brown, an accomplished defensive coach, obviously has a respected opinion. Yet many scouts and keen observers still insisted James often struggled on the defensive end despite a handful of standout performances. The most common refrain was that he focused more of his efforts on making steals than stopping his opponent. James never will be held too accountable, not only because he's one of the best offensive players in the game but also because Brown routinely played him nearly 48 minutes per game and sapped his energy level. But don't think improvement on defense isn't on James' mind, especially during the FIBA World Championship. Asked to play fewer minutes and less of a role on offense than with the Cavs, James says he genuinely is focusing on becoming a better defender. His teammates and coaches say it's more than lip service. It was easy to talk about Thursday after James played a significant role in stopping German star Dirk Nowitzki in Team USA's 20-point quarterfinal victory. But James' efforts on pressure and interior defense have been getting better during the tournament. ``He has really started to concentrate on that end,'' said Nate McMillan, a Team USA assistant coach and Portland Trail Blazers head coach. ``In our league, guys are labeled as scorers, and he's one of them,'' he said. ``But he is so athletic that if he focuses on defense, he'll be able to do it. It will be easy for him.'' McMillan isn't the first to express those thoughts. Current University of Akron and former St. Vincent-St. Mary High School coach Keith Dambrot said the same thing when James was a sophomore at St. V-M. James says he's serious about making defense more than brief flashes in his game. With Team USA, James has been asked to defend point guards, shooting guards, small forwards and, with Nowitzki, power forwards. He has pressured the ball, played help defense and used his size to prevent entry passes into the post. James has gotten beaten in some pick-and-roll situations and when quicker guards have driven past him, but overall his intensity has been elevated. ``He didn't have the luxury of going to college and learning the fundamentals of man-to-man and pressure defense,'' Team USA forward Shane Battier said. ``He sort of got an NBA crash course, which is its own monster. ``He's working to get better, he is showing the desire to work and to get into good position.''</div> Source
He's definitely improved on D. He will be better at guarding big guys like Dirk where he can use his size, strength and hops, but he needs to work on his lateral quickness for guarding guys like Pierce and RJ. He's kind of like Vince: not a great defender, but when he really puts his mind to it, he can use his athleticism to shut a guy down.
good to hear hes going to work on this. just another way to add to his already outstanding style of play.
LeBron should try to focus on a what a guy like ron artest is doing someone who can cover bigs and perimeter guys as well. I saw a game where LBJ was playing toronto and he was doing a pretty decent job of holding down chris bosh.
That's good to hear him working on this. If he turns into a defensive stopper, it will definitely help him become the best player in the NBA.
Good. He's definately going to have to keep working on this so he doesn't get torched on defense, and using his strength and size will help him guard some of the big men in the league also.
