AEnigma wrote:Texas Chuck wrote:AEnigma wrote:Congratulations to Luka for being able to shut down assignments like Keyonte George, but I would not call that being a good defender.
Fortunately, as with peak Harden, his team really just needs him to be competent on that end.
Not sure the point of the first line when you acknowledge the 2nd? Nobody thinks he is Herb Jones nor could possibly have that expectation with his offensive responsibilites. What he needs to do is give effort, not get lost off ball or gamble too much. He's still not completely there but much like much criticized Dirk their size has always made them more effective defenders than perception.
Its easy to just go hur dur Harden, but Harden was better than his rep too in many ways. Neither guy's issue has ever been defensive ability its been finding the energy and the care considering what they have to do offensively.
I encourage you to read one post above mine, citing “91st percentile” defensive metrics as proof he is now a good defender.
I have no idea who Hero of the Day is. Nor do I care what conclusions they are reaching. Why would I attempt to interact with an unknown as opposed a regular on this board. But if you think I should be holding random twitter accounts accountable but not you, got you down. You just want to say whatever with no challenge? Odd as aggressively as you challenge others, but you aren't the only one with that approach...
Data in the end is just data. I think most people realize Dallas tries their best to protect Luka, but its a PNR league. Just as he hunts favorable matchups to attack, sometimes teams attack him. Him showing that he holds up better than perception should be seen as an encouraging sign, not a sign he's suddenly all defense and I'd hope we'd better than just cheap one liners, but I'm guilty of that myself at times. We all like a cheap pop from time to time.
