RealGM

http://realgm.com/src_feature_pieces/88 ... s_heroics/

It states the Lakers are 34-1 when they finish games with at least 20 assists this season.

But more interesting that Luke Walton was the leader in assists per 36 minutes last season.

Is Luke really one of the reasons for the Lakers success last season and possibly why they've seemed out of sync this season?

I have always seen Luke as a "glue" for the team. He is not the most athletic, good shooter, or end wiht the stats as others...but he is a solid guy on the defensive and offensive side.

he is key to keeping sasha glued to that bench, so yes

Not in a million years.

Luke's an enigma...

He plays crappy D -- Yet he played pretty well against Pierce, LeBron, and Melo...
He can't shoot -- Yet he gets good assist numbers.

I think the key stat for Luke is MPG... I think he can really provide us a boost for 15-20 minuts a game, but when he starts to tire, he's pretty much useless.

If you watch him play, Luke gets high assist numbers because he's really the only guy on the team that's committed to getting the ball to the post every time down the court. He passes inside well, he drives and dishes... He thinks 'inside-out' every time down the court.

So personally, I think Luke is a bigger piece to our puzzle than most people give him credit for... Can we win it all without him? We should be able to easily but we're not playing like it right now... Might it be a little easier with him? I think it would.

I think Luke gets a lot of crap mostly because of his contract... He's definately overpaid in this economy. But I also see people saying Buss should come out the pocket for every scrub that comes available... So I'm just no sure how much it matters.

To be honest, I thought Luke became expendable the second we got Gasol because Pau started out being a great interior passer for us. But right now, Pau's trying to isolate and back everyone down instead of hitting a cutter. Everyone just stands around watching him now instead of making the cut.

He's overpaid in any economy.

lakers need more glue guys with less talent. lakers are suffering from having too much talent, having too few shots to go around...

if luke walton is what the lakers need more of (instead of sasha/ammo) then why the hell not? its not like the lakers are playing great team ball right now

versatility is one of the reasons the lakers are able to play fast, slow, big, small, inside, outside. luke walton, however overpaid, can only add to that.

You cannot plan on a guy who's sure to miss half the season. Bad genes.

PhilJackZEN10 wrote:I have always seen Luke as a "glue" for the team. He is not the most athletic, good shooter, or end wiht the stats as others...but he is a solid guy on the defensive and offensive side.

he is an intangible, good things always happen when he is suited, or on the floor, their seems to be no tangible metric for why this, it just is.

Luke is a joke, Lakers are missing Ariza because he can hit those threes consistently, so the other team can't play zone defense. Plus, he brings athleticism.

Trevor is a marginal shooter who got hot for one postseason. Otherwise he's shooting almost exactly the same this season, 32%, as he has his entire career, 31%.

^And Ron is actually hitting a higher percentage than Trev this year. It seems like Ron misses more, but I think that's an illusion of our expectations for Ron to be a stud, where we were always stoked that the guy who didn't hit any three's in the first years of his career started nailing them for us with Trevor.

Luke might need some burn to scare some people into playing better, he may even look good while he's out there if he doesn't shatter like a balsa wood glider on the rocks, but he is not the key to our success.

Yeah, I really don't think we miss Ariza at all actually, but Ron needs to cut to the paint a lot more... Ideally with a pass to open Pau or Bynum. That's the one thing Luke does extremely well for us.
If Ron could do that, Walton would be missed even less...

Walton is a key factor in our success, he's the reason why the ball moves so much better. Its because he's in the game. I like that he does the things that don't show up on the stat sheet too. He may not be the most athletic or the best shooter, but he had played well against James, Pierce, and Anthony in the past. I love seeing him with the second unit too, with the pace that the second runs at, he allows the ball to move much better and he can also knock down the corner 3 pointers at will

Sasha is our glue guy. He's kobe's best friend. And he would back kobe up unlike the rest of the team. Recall several instances where Sasha would be the man in the middle of Kobe and another "barnes".

joe.linnen wrote:Walton is a key factor in our success, he's the reason why the ball moves so much better. Its because he's in the game. I like that he does the things that don't show up on the stat sheet too. He may not be the most athletic or the best shooter, but he had played well against James, Pierce, and Anthony in the past. I love seeing him with the second unit too, with the pace that the second runs at, he allows the ball to move much better and he can also kwame-brick down the corner 3 pointers and every other shot at will

fixed

Well, Morrison NEVER plays!

We could certainly use another "true" SF, especially one who is known for passing and ball-movement, both of which we lack at the moment.

I remember way back in the day milefied posted the Lakers record with Luke playing and the Lakers had a great winning percentage. It's just that Lukes been injuried so long that we forgot how valuable Luke had been to the team.

Sedale Threatt wrote:Trevor is a marginal shooter who got hot for one postseason. Otherwise he's shooting almost exactly the same this season, 32%, as he has his entire career, 31%.

Trevor had the benefit of open looks playing with Kobe. Now he's in Houston and he doesn't have that anymore.

Luke came into the NBA as a veteran. He has always played like a guy who has been in a thousand games, he has durability of one as well. Thats why he got big minutes in the finals AS A ROOKIE. He has his dad's mind and his durability when it comes to the game, he just doesn't have the athleticism, skill or wingspan.

Walton hurts us just as much as he helps us. Does no one still remember the amount of boneheaded plays he makes? He will run a possession to perfection then stink it up on the next. I don't even want to think we need Luke to have a successful playoff run.