Luka on pace to lead the playoffs in Total PTS/REB/AST

[hippesthippo]

Two other observations about Luka's positive effect on Dallas' defense:

* He seems to fit well with Dallas' "pack the paint" scheme. If Luka gets beat by his man he can still funnel him to a clogged lane with a shot blocker. This often results in a kick out and Luka is good at picking off some of the kick outs and he's long enough and smart enough to get back and defend vs threes when the kick out comes.

Ok, here's the BBREF individual DRTG stats through G3.
So, putting together the data through G3:

* Luka has the best individual DRTG among all Mavs players in The Finals

* Luka has the second-best On Court Team DRTG (Lively) for any Mavs player averaging at least 10 mpg in the series

* Dallas' Team DRTG is at its worst with Luka Off Court

Sounds like Luka is a Lockdown defender, then.

Meanwhile...

Read on Twitter

That's his strategy, he's funneling the driver to their bigs who are great rim protectors. Luka has been playing good defense, casuals are just not familiar with the scheme and think he's not playing defense when he's following the game plan and it got them to the finals. Luka is an above average defender. Not yet great, but quite good.

He stands hunched over at the elbow and takes a single side-step before swiping at the ball, giving up, and pointing fingers.

The fact that he has great rim protectors behind him doesn't make that good defense. It simply means Dallas has found a way to mitigate how bad Luka is on that end of the floor.

[EmpireFalls]

Luka a good defender now? I will never believe the agenda some of y'all push.

[hippesthippo]

Where is Dirk to explain to me again how this guy isn't a troll?

[HotRocks34]

Luka a good defender now? I will never believe the agenda some of y'all push.

Yes, and it's not an agenda. It the facts.

[HotRocks34]

Where is Dirk to explain to me again how this guy isn't a troll?

Trolls don't do research or use data.

If you don't accept the data, that's on you, not me.

[hippesthippo]

You're dedicated, I'll give you that.

How many threads you got going this time?

And with data that contradicts itself?

[HotRocks34]

Sounds like Luka is a Lockdown defender, then.

Meanwhile...

Read on Twitter

That's his strategy, he's funneling the driver to their bigs who are great rim protectors. Luka has been playing good defense, casuals are just not familiar with the scheme and think he's not playing defense when he's following the game plan and it got them to the finals. Luka is an above average defender. Not yet great, but quite good.

He stands hunched over at the elbow and takes a single side-step before swiping at the ball, giving up, and pointing fingers.

The fact that he has great rim protectors behind him doesn't make that good defense. It simply means Dallas has found a way to mitigate how bad Luka is on that end of the floor.

False. Funnelling drivers to shot blockers is part of a defensive strategy that is well known.


https://coachad.com/articles/coaching-basketball-analyzing-fan-funnel-man-defense/

Funnel defense

To answer this question, one must first understand that generations of coaches — almost from the game’s inception — believed that the defense should prevent the dribbler from driving toward the baseline. This long-standing theory suggested that defenses should invite the ball into the middle of the floor, surround it, provide help from both sides, and keep the ball in front of the defense at all times. This is known as the “funnel” approach.

This is a basic defensive technique.

[HotRocks34]

You're dedicated, I'll give you that.

How many threads you got going this time?

And with data that contradicts itself?

You don't know what you're talking about.

That's ok, because I know what I'm talking about. So the reader wins.

[Archx]

Luka a good defender now? I will never believe the agenda some of y'all push.

He's proven in game 4 that he can be. Even ESPN couldn't shy away from that. It's all about effort and basically how much energy he wants to spend on that end. He played good defense in Round 1, 2 and 3. First 3 games in finals were kinda meh, but Kidd said it was their plan to let Celtics drive into double teams. It's true though, Luka could have probably done more, which he has in game 4.

[hippesthippo]

You're dedicated, I'll give you that.

How many threads you got going this time?

And with data that contradicts itself?

You don't know what you're talking about.

That's ok, because I know what I'm talking about. So the reader wins.

Where was Luka at the end of Game 3 and why? Please, help the reader understand.

[HotRocks34]

Kidd said it was their plan to let Celtics drive into double teams.

True.

People who don't know this either:

* Don't watch the Mavs

* Don't understand basketball strategy

[HotRocks34]

Kidd said it was their plan to let Celtics drive into double teams.

True.

People who don't know this either:

* Don't watch the Mavs

* Don't understand basketball strategy

From earlier in the thread:

* He seems to fit well with Dallas' "pack the paint" scheme. If Luka gets beat by his man he can still funnel him to a clogged lane with a shot blocker. This often results in a kick out and Luka is good at picking off some of the kick outs and he's long enough and smart enough to get back and defend vs threes when the kick out comes.

[EmpireFalls]

Luka a good defender now? I will never believe the agenda some of y'all push.

Yes, and it's not an agenda. It the facts.

There is no such thing as a fact when it comes to Luka’s defense.

[hippesthippo]

That's his strategy, he's funneling the driver to their bigs who are great rim protectors. Luka has been playing good defense, casuals are just not familiar with the scheme and think he's not playing defense when he's following the game plan and it got them to the finals. Luka is an above average defender. Not yet great, but quite good.

He stands hunched over at the elbow and takes a single side-step before swiping at the ball, giving up, and pointing fingers.

The fact that he has great rim protectors behind him doesn't make that good defense. It simply means Dallas has found a way to mitigate how bad Luka is on that end of the floor.

False. Funnelling drivers to shot blockers is part of a defensive strategy that is well known.


https://coachad.com/articles/coaching-basketball-analyzing-fan-funnel-man-defense/

Funnel defense

To answer this question, one must first understand that generations of coaches — almost from the game’s inception — believed that the defense should prevent the dribbler from driving toward the baseline. This long-standing theory suggested that defenses should invite the ball into the middle of the floor, surround it, provide help from both sides, and keep the ball in front of the defense at all times. This is known as the “funnel” approach.

This is a basic defensive technique.

Ok, lets go with Luka purposefully getting blown by being the game plan. Why is it that instead of helping, or rotating all he does is stand and point?

[hippesthippo]

Kidd said it was their plan to let Celtics drive into double teams.

True.

People who don't know this either:

* Don't watch the Mavs

* Don't understand basketball strategy

From earlier in the thread:

* He seems to fit well with Dallas' "pack the paint" scheme. If Luka gets beat by his man he can still funnel him to a clogged lane with a shot blocker. This often results in a kick out and Luka is good at picking off some of the kick outs and he's long enough and smart enough to get back and defend vs threes when the kick out comes.

I thought the plan was to purposefully invite the player to blow by Luka? Now we're back to using it as a fail-safe?

[HotRocks34]

More facts.

After G4 of The Finals, Luka continues to be a plus defender in this postseason and he has the second best DRAPTOR on the team behind Lively.

[hippesthippo]

More facts.

After G4 of The Finals, Luka continues to be a plus defender in this postseason and he has the second best DRAPTOR on the team behind Lively.

Is it possible that Luka consistently sharing his minutes with players like Lively, DJJ, Gafford and PJ is contributing to his DRTG in statistics that are known to be noisy?

Wild idea, I know.

[Run DLC]

This changes nothing. Luka is James Harden on steroids, he’s not LeBron James 2.0.

[Archx]

Is it possible that Luka consistently sharing his minutes with players like Lively, DJJ, Gafford and PJ is contributing to his DRTG in statistics that are known to be noisy?

Wild idea, I know.

That can be true for any great defensive player to be honest. But...

Celtics are shooting only 41.7% in direct 1v1 matchup vs him. And Barkley went on a rant that Doncic's defense is not the problem. If their offense or most importantly shooting on open shots wouldn't be so horrible specially in first two games, we wouldn't be even discussing this. But then ESPN showed the blow by graphics and everyone picked it up like it's the last thing we should look at.

Read on Twitter

And this was before game 4.

Read on Twitter

And defensive highligts from game 4. Shocking i know, he can play defense if he tries.

Read on Twitter

[Prince187]

Nobody ever heard of “blow by percentage” until a few days ago and now it’s the most important stat that exists. Could the media agenda be any more obvious?