SH Blog: LeBron vows to be much better, Deron Williams admits hiring Kidd is risky

LeBron James is struggling in the playoffs, and that means everyone is talking about his demise.

When the King struggles – which he rarely does – it is always major news. Usually, his struggles stem from the inability of his teammates to step up and make plays. In Game 3 of the NBA Finals, however, that actually wasn’t the case. For once, LeBron didn’t have a whole lot to blame for his poor performance other than himself, and that’s exactly what he did following one of his worst games of the season, from Brian Windhorst of ESPN:

“I can’t have a performance like that and expect to win the game,” James said after enduring a 113-77 Game 3 loss, which easily became one of the most bitter and most embarrassing of his career. “I’ve got to shoot the ball better, and I’ve got to make better decisions. I’m not putting the blame on anybody; I’m owning everything I did.”

“I’ve got to be better. It’s that simple,” James said. “If I’m better, we’re better. I’m putting everything on my chest and my shoulders, and I’ve got to be better. My teammates were doing a good job. I’m not doing my part.”

Why, exactly, is James struggling so much? The answer lies mostly in the San Antonio Spurs’ defensive schemes. Despite the fact that James has drastically improved his efficiency from all over the floor, his lowest shooting percentages are still outside of the paint. Gregg Popovich has determined that that’s where he wants to keep James, and the forward has mostly obliged with one clank after another. Be it mind games or a simple matter of poor touch at an inopportune time, James has been unable to knock down shots to make the Spurs pay. It doesn’t help that he has one of the best defensive small forwards in the league in Kawhi Leonard hounding him at every chance. Tracy McGrady broke down what has gone wrong for James in this series, from Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida:

“We’re doing a hell of job,’’ McGrady said after remembering he indeed now is a member of the Spurs. “We’ve got a guy (Kawhi Leonard) on him and when he drives, we got our big guys coming and just compacting the lane, keeping him off the free-throw line. When you’re not getting to the free-throw line and hitting free throws and you’re not getting layups, then the only thing left is for you to take jumpers. Then you’re not in a rhythm.’’

“It’s not like he’s a shooter like (Heat swingman) Mike Miller, who can just come off the bench and just fire up threes,’’ McGrady said about James. “He’s just not that type of player. He has to get in rhythm. … Once you start feeling confident, then you start shooting the ball.’’

“He’s not getting any easy layups,’’ McGrady said. “Six free throws in this series. Game 3, only six free throws (attempted in the series). He’s a tough guy to defend but I think overall we’ve been doing a great job of just keeping him off the free-throw line and not allowing him to feel comfortable.’’

Danny Green also chimed in on what may be wrong with his former teammate, from Ben Golliver of SI:

“We know what kind of a player LeBron is,” Green said after James scored just 15 points on 7-of-21 shooting and didn’t attempt a free throw. “We know he’s not at his best right now. He missed a lot of shots that he normally makes. We’re sure Game 4 he’s going to come out a lot different. … LeBron, [it’s] not just us stopping him. He’s kind of stopping himself out there and we’re getting a little lucky.”

Green elaborated, noting that James, who is shooting 21-for-54 (38.9 percent) in the series, isn’t performing to his usual MVP standard.

“We’re making it tough for him,” Green said. “But you guys have seen him all year at his best, and how he can perform. Obviously, he’s not doing that right now. I don’t know what it is. I’m hoping that it doesn’t come out. But so far we’ve done a decent job on him defensively, and he’s been doing his job, impacting the game in other ways.”

Told of these comments from Green, James had this to say, from Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald:

“I’ll be better,” James said with a menacing smile. “I’m be much better tomorrow night.”

James had 15 points in Game 3, going 7 of 21 from the field and 1 of 5 from three-point range. He didn’t attempt a free throw. On Wednesday, he described his performance in frank terms: “I played like [expletive].”