Game 25: Detroit Pistons (13-11) @ Philadelphia 76ers (18-9)- 7:00 PM ET

[TurboTitan]

is it just me or is Kennard pretty good on d?

[El Chivo]

We should bench our starting point guard and play people who actually care

[engelbert321]

Terrible. We just cant seem to beat these sixers

[Billl]

is it just me or is Kennard pretty good on d?

It's just you. He got routinely blown by and he's 2 steps slow on rotations. He did actually compete defensively and on the boards though. That's what he needs to do to get rotation minutes. He's never going to be a lock down defender, but he can be a pest if he's willing to put the effort in. He needs some more playing time to get used to NBA speed though. He sees where he is supposed to be, but he's not out far enough of the play mentally to make up for his relative lack of quickness.

[MotownMadness]

is it just me or is Kennard pretty good on d?

It's just you. He got routinely blown by and he's 2 steps slow on rotations. He did actually compete defensively and on the boards though. That's what he needs to do to get rotation minutes. He's never going to be a lock down defender, but he can be a pest if he's willing to put the effort in. He needs some more playing time to get used to NBA speed though. He sees where he is supposed to be, but he's not out far enough of the play mentally to make up for his relative lack of quickness.

I thought he looked like he was getting good position in front of some guys last night but at that height with those TRex arms he’s already at a battle on that end

[sludgefoot]

Lol, told ya

No, I told you. Luke showed that he can do A LOT more on the floor than you think. I'm not overreacting and saying he is proven that he is a great player something. What I am saying is that you need to give the dude credit for having a much more robust game than you think. He DID prove that tonight.

Mmkay Mr Double Standard.

You admonish people for criticizing Luke during a bad 4 game stretch, yet after 1 good game you're ready to crown him.

Like I said, suddenly small sample sizes mean EVERYTHING.

Your best analytic endeavor appears to be as a negative watcher of a sport I don't think you understand. I have never been down on Kennards skill set. Not before the 28 pts nor after. The only thing your right about is a small sample size. I see skills be Kennard in high school, college, rookie camp, and rookie year. A rather large sample size.

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[sludgefoot]

I wish people would stop the "love-fest" comments. Never incorporated those feelings to a BB player. I don't think it makes any sense...except to the one seeing implying a love-fest? Lets talk building a winning team, skill sets, team play over selfish play, etc.

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[Canadafan]

Watch on YouTube

Mannnn. He looked great! Keep it up Luke
Andre Blake Bullock Luke RJ
Zaza Leuer SJ LG Ish
Nice 10man rotation
Sure would be nice to deal expirings of Ish GR3 Ellenson for a nice combo guard that could give us a good scoring punch

[davidvolumes]

Luke played well but still looked passive. Would like to see him play into contact like Harden does.

[thesack12]

No, I told you. Luke showed that he can do A LOT more on the floor than you think. I'm not overreacting and saying he is proven that he is a great player something. What I am saying is that you need to give the dude credit for having a much more robust game than you think. He DID prove that tonight.

Mmkay Mr Double Standard.

You admonish people for criticizing Luke during a bad 4 game stretch, yet after 1 good game you're ready to crown him.

Like I said, suddenly small sample sizes mean EVERYTHING.

Your best analytic endeavor appears to be as a negative watcher of a sport I don't think you understand. I have never been down on Kennards skill set. Not before the 28 pts nor after. The only thing your right about is a small sample size. I see skills be Kennard in high school, college, rookie camp, and rookie year. A rather large sample size.

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Dang, I guess you're right.

I always thought there was a pretty big difference between the level of play/competition at each level of basketball. I guess I really don't understand the game.

What NBA team is Jimmer Fredette playing for these days? I'd like to tune in to see him light up the NBA like he did the NCAA.

[thesack12]

Listen to yourself, you are using this 1 game as validation of what your opinion is on his skill level.

Kennard has been awful every game up until tonight. He wasn't hitting any shots whatsoever until tonight. Yet you didn't hear me say the guy can't shoot.

You are usually a good poster and I value your opinion most of the time, but when it comes to this topic you are posting mostly out of shear emotion.

Hey sack, I think you're a great poster too. I've always liked you! But I'm not letting you get away with your faulty arguments on this topic lol.

I'm not using 1 game. I said he was a multi-skilled offensive player based on LAST year. He finally got a chance to have extended minutes after his injuries and showed it again tonight. I also never accused you of saying he can't shoot. I accused you of saying he is a one dimensional spot up shooter which is he not. Can you at least admit that the dude has more skills than just shooting?

I'll admit he has the capability to be more than a shooter.

How about we revisit this debate around say maybe during the all star break?

[thesack12]

is it just me or is Kennard pretty good on d?

It's just you. He got routinely blown by and he's 2 steps slow on rotations. He did actually compete defensively and on the boards though. That's what he needs to do to get rotation minutes. He's never going to be a lock down defender, but he can be a pest if he's willing to put the effort in. He needs some more playing time to get used to NBA speed though. He sees where he is supposed to be, but he's not out far enough of the play mentally to make up for his relative lack of quickness.

Good observations here.

Luke also has the tendency to ball watch a little too much on defense. When he does this he has the tendency to drift away from his man, which sometimes leads to him being caught in no man's land while his guy begins to move off the ball. And as you said he's slow to rotate and close out, so when he does this its extra detrimental to him.

On the flip side of that, Luke can get away with this somewhat because he will usually be covering the opposing team's weakest perimeter player. Also, when he does drift off his man he does find himself in passing lanes and in position to grab some rebounds.

[thesack12]

Dude how many times do I need to explain what I'm saying!? I'm getting annoyed now because you are just putting words in my mouth because you don't want to admit you're wrong. I told you (not just you but anyone saying his just a one dimensional player) to shut up because he scored in a bunch of different ways, played good defense, made some nice assists, and chipped in 8 rebounds. Sound like he can do a lot more than just shoot corner 3s. THAT IS MY POINT. I'm not overreacting to one game. He very well could suck for the next 10 games. Who knows. I'm telling you that he can more than you claim. THAT IS MY POINT. This is not difficult to comprehend... Also, I did read your post and I'm about to go and1 it.

Listen to yourself, you are using this 1 game as validation of what your opinion is on his skill level.

Kennard has been awful every game up until tonight. He wasn't hitting any shots whatsoever until tonight. Yet you didn't hear me say the guy can't shoot.

You are usually a good poster and I value your opinion most of the time, but when it comes to this topic you are posting mostly out of shear emotion.

The difference is they weren’t making him the decoy in all of the sets tonight (a result of missing Blake and Ish I guess), and he actually got to play some minutes and play through mistakes. That’s what happens when you don’t yank him after 4 minutes.

Obviously a second year guy is going to have bad nights (especially coming off of injury), the point is only that you can’t write him off as a scrub just because he’s not dropping big numbers in no minutes.

How Casey could think Kennard isn’t our best option at SG when he’s by far the best shooter on a team that severely lacks shooting is beyond me. Hopefully he just needed to have his eyes opened. A thriving Luke kennard is the only thing that is really going to improve this team this year.

Casey's offensive "system" really isn't a system. Its heavily based on player improvisation and allows a lot of freelancing. That being the case, I don't think anybody is asking Luke to statue it up from beyond the three point line. It just seemed like Luke was a lot more apt to move around last night. Perhaps that had to do with both Blake and Ish not being on the floor like you said. Those two guys get in the paint a ton, and maybe Luke feels like he's better off waiting for kickouts when playing with those guys.

I fully agree that Luke is far and away the best option at SG when you want shooting in the lineup. But if you want defense in the lineup Bruce Brown is far and away the best SG option. It's interesting to me how ton of people insist Luke isn't a completed product (which he isn't) but neglect to allow Bruce Brown the same consideration.

[Manocad]

Mmkay Mr Double Standard.

You admonish people for criticizing Luke during a bad 4 game stretch, yet after 1 good game you're ready to crown him.

Like I said, suddenly small sample sizes mean EVERYTHING.

Your best analytic endeavor appears to be as a negative watcher of a sport I don't think you understand. I have never been down on Kennards skill set. Not before the 28 pts nor after. The only thing your right about is a small sample size. I see skills be Kennard in high school, college, rookie camp, and rookie year. A rather large sample size.

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Dang, I guess you're right.

I always thought there was a pretty big difference between the level of play/competition at each level of basketball. I guess I really don't understand the game.

What NBA team is Jimmer Fredette playing for these days? I'd like to tune in to see him light up the NBA like he did the NCAA.

Jimmer scored 24 points in an NBA game, twice. Just sayin'

[tmorgan]

Luke played well but still looked passive. Would like to see him play into contact like Harden does.

Yeah, Luke would need to greatly improve his handle, learn a bunch of foul-drawing tricks, and gain about 25 pounds of muscle -- while gaining quickness -- to be effective at what Harden does.

There's a reason why literally no one else can play like Harden does. They don't get the calls, they can't keep their balance as well, and they can't shoot an absolutely ludicrous stepback that's actually a travel.

[vic]

Luke played well but still looked passive. Would like to see him play into contact like Harden does.

Yeah, Luke would need to greatly improve his handle, learn a bunch of foul-drawing tricks, and gain about 25 pounds of muscle -- while gaining quickness -- to be effective at what Harden does.

There's a reason why literally no one else can play like Harden does. They don't get the calls, they can't keep their balance as well, and they can't shoot an absolutely ludicrous stepback that's actually a travel.

Well Luka Doncic is pretty much Harden with fancier passing. The step back they shoot is pretty similar, it just takes a tremendous amount of balance and core strength. Curry has legendary core strength also.

[tmorgan]

Luke played well but still looked passive. Would like to see him play into contact like Harden does.

Yeah, Luke would need to greatly improve his handle, learn a bunch of foul-drawing tricks, and gain about 25 pounds of muscle -- while gaining quickness -- to be effective at what Harden does.

There's a reason why literally no one else can play like Harden does. They don't get the calls, they can't keep their balance as well, and they can't shoot an absolutely ludicrous stepback that's actually a travel.

Well Luka Doncic is pretty much Harden with fancier passing. The step back they shoot is pretty similar, it just takes a tremendous amount of balance and core strength. Curry has legendary core strength also.

Luka is ultra-talented and has a chance to get there, but there's a massive, massive efficiency difference at this point. But I get your point -- there is at least one other guy trying.

[sludgefoot]

Mmkay Mr Double Standard.

You admonish people for criticizing Luke during a bad 4 game stretch, yet after 1 good game you're ready to crown him.

Like I said, suddenly small sample sizes mean EVERYTHING.

Your best analytic endeavor appears to be as a negative watcher of a sport I don't think you understand. I have never been down on Kennards skill set. Not before the 28 pts nor after. The only thing your right about is a small sample size. I see skills be Kennard in high school, college, rookie camp, and rookie year. A rather large sample size.

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Dang, I guess you're right.

I always thought there was a pretty big difference between the level of play/competition at each level of basketball. I guess I really don't understand the game.

What NBA team is Jimmer Fredette playing for these days? I'd like to tune in to see him light up the NBA like he did the NCAA.

Agreed

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[DetroitPistons]

Listen to yourself, you are using this 1 game as validation of what your opinion is on his skill level.

Kennard has been awful every game up until tonight. He wasn't hitting any shots whatsoever until tonight. Yet you didn't hear me say the guy can't shoot.

You are usually a good poster and I value your opinion most of the time, but when it comes to this topic you are posting mostly out of shear emotion.

Hey sack, I think you're a great poster too. I've always liked you! But I'm not letting you get away with your faulty arguments on this topic lol.

I'm not using 1 game. I said he was a multi-skilled offensive player based on LAST year. He finally got a chance to have extended minutes after his injuries and showed it again tonight. I also never accused you of saying he can't shoot. I accused you of saying he is a one dimensional spot up shooter which is he not. Can you at least admit that the dude has more skills than just shooting?

I'll admit he has the capability to be more than a shooter.

How about we revisit this debate around say maybe during the all star break?

Sounds great! That's all I can ask for.

[DetroitPistons]

is it just me or is Kennard pretty good on d?

Good? I wouldn't say that just yet. He is definitely better than the sieve people want to make him out to be and he has been serviceable ever since SVG finally trusted him to be a regular rotation player last year. He definitely gives good effort and is scrappy but he will probably never be considered a consistently "good" defensive player. We will see though.