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ESPN on Luka's defense
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 8:01 pm
by HotRocks34
Good stat from Lakers reporter McMenaminn today ahead of DEN vs LAL.
Strong Luka iso defense since the trade.
Re: ESPN on Luka's defense
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 8:09 pm
by LakersSoul
HotRocks34 wrote:Good stat from Lakers reporter McMenaminn today ahead of DEN vs LAL.
Strong Luka iso defense since the trade.
Doe, Bron and JJ have everyone on the team playing hustle D!
AR, Luka and even Knecht are playing much better on defense, sliding their feet and gettin in front of attackers while support defenders are ready to pounce and close passing and dribbling lanes.
Its really a wonder to witness after Ham's matador defense and good vibes.
Re: ESPN on Luka's defense
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 8:10 pm
by liquidswords
I don't think that's really ever been the point of emphasis. Luka's defensive failure are his rotations and how he reacts when put into pick situations.
He will be repeatedly targeted in the playoffs by good teams
Re: ESPN on Luka's defense
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 8:19 pm
by JRoy
ESPN never passes up a chance to stroke LAL.
Re: ESPN on Luka's defense
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 8:20 pm
by HotRocks34
liquidswords wrote:I don't think that's really ever been the point of emphasis. Luka's defensive failure are his rotations and how he reacts when put into pick situations.
He will be repeatedly targeted in the playoffs by good teams
And he'll probably once again be a net positive defensive player as he was in both the overall playoffs as well as The Finals last year.
Re: ESPN on Luka's defense
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 8:26 pm
by HotRocks34
LakersSoul wrote:HotRocks34 wrote:Good stat from Lakers reporter McMenaminn today ahead of DEN vs LAL.
Strong Luka iso defense since the trade.
Doe, Bron and JJ have everyone on the team playing hustle D!
AR, Luka and even Knecht are playing much better on defense, sliding their feet and gettin in front of attackers while support defenders are ready to pounce and close passing and dribbling lanes.
Its really a wonder to witness after Ham's matador defense and good vibes.
The defense has been impressive.
Luka can be a good defender when he wants to be. He has big legs and fairly slow movement laterally but he anticipates well. His size and anticipation make him very capable of being at least a neutral factor for a team's defense. He'll always be susceptible to getting blown by, because of how he's built.
The Lakers work hard and they want to defend. That's a big part of the battle.
The better shape Luka gets in, the better his defense should be. And his conditioning looks to be improving since the trade. He's getting quicker IMO.
Re: ESPN on Luka's defense
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 8:26 pm
by junot111
HotRocks34 wrote:liquidswords wrote:I don't think that's really ever been the point of emphasis. Luka's defensive failure are his rotations and how he reacts when put into pick situations.
He will be repeatedly targeted in the playoffs by good teams
And he'll probably once again be a net positive defensive player as he was in both the overall playoffs as well as The Finals last year.
No way you actually believe this
Re: ESPN on Luka's defense
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 8:31 pm
by HotRocks34
junot111 wrote:HotRocks34 wrote:liquidswords wrote:I don't think that's really ever been the point of emphasis. Luka's defensive failure are his rotations and how he reacts when put into pick situations.
He will be repeatedly targeted in the playoffs by good teams
And he'll probably once again be a net positive defensive player as he was in both the overall playoffs as well as The Finals last year.
No way you actually believe this
I know it because I saw it and the data backs it up.
Re: ESPN on Luka's defense
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 8:34 pm
by Mavrelous
Luka played amazing defense all of last year PO, had some game saving plays defensively, he then had some collapses in game 3 of the finals and Windhorst flat out called him a loser and McMahon dug up "blow by %" stat no one heared about before, not a single word was voiced when PJ Washington, SGA's man, was scoring freely in WCSF, ANT was baby Jordan while failing to close games in the WCF, Windhorst didn't say a word.
Now they are glazing Luka over stats that he was doing all of his career because he plays for the Lakers, we really don't hate these bastards enough...
Re: ESPN on Luka's defense
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 8:35 pm
by dhsilv2
So he's been good in isolation. And that means he's fit well into their schemes? I'm not sure the two are connected but that's aboutthe most detailed x's and o's I've ever seen on ESPN's tv coverage. So good on him I guess.
Re: ESPN on Luka's defense
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 8:36 pm
by Bob8
liquidswords wrote:I don't think that's really ever been the point of emphasis. Luka's defensive failure are his rotations and how he reacts when put into pick situations.
He will be repeatedly targeted in the playoffs by good teams
I guess that's the reason he never could come out of the second round. Oh wait, that's not him but defensive specialist Shai.
I know what is next, so I must inform you that Celtics had miserable 107 offensive rtg in Finals. Far the worst of any playoffs series.
Re: ESPN on Luka's defense
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 8:38 pm
by HotRocks34
Mavrelous wrote:Luka played amazing defense all of last year PO, had some game saving plays defensively, he then had some collapses in game 3 of the finals and Windhorst flat out called him a loser and McMahon dug up "blow by %" stat no one heared about before, not a single word was voiced when PJ Washington, SGA's man, was scoring freely in WCSF, ANT was baby Jordan while failing to close games in the WCF, Windhorst didn't say a word.
Now they are glazing Luka over stats that he was doing all of his career because he plays for the Lakers, we really don't hate bastards enough...
Yep. All true.
I will never forgive Windy and MacMahon for their garbage about Luka.
What's hilarious is that Windy has to kind of pretend to like Luka now because he's a Laker and he's playing with LeBron.
Karma.
Re: ESPN on Luka's defense
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 9:08 pm
by Dennis Reynolds
LMAO @ people saying Doncic played good defense in the Finals last season. Sometimes teams just go cold and miss a lot of good looks, the Celtics certainly didn't have a poor offensive series because of Doncic and his defense.
Re: ESPN on Luka's defense
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 9:17 pm
by alebaba
Dennis Reynolds wrote:LMAO @ people saying Doncic played good defense in the Finals last season. Sometimes teams just go cold and miss a lot of good looks, the Celtics certainly didn't have a poor offensive series because of Doncic and his defense.
I swear, people who post advanced stats don't watch games. Luka repeatedly gets targeted in the playoffs, and his man routinely blows past him like he's a cone. Lol.
Re: ESPN on Luka's defense
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 9:21 pm
by dirkdiggler4177
Mavrelous wrote:Luka played amazing defense all of last year PO, had some game saving plays defensively, he then had some collapses in game 3 of the finals and Windhorst flat out called him a loser and McMahon dug up "blow by %" stat no one heared about before, not a single word was voiced when PJ Washington, SGA's man, was scoring freely in WCSF, ANT was baby Jordan while failing to close games in the WCF, Windhorst didn't say a word.
Now they are glazing Luka over stats that he was doing all of his career because he plays for the Lakers, we really don't hate these bastards enough...
Re: ESPN on Luka's defense
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 9:32 pm
by Bob8
Dennis Reynolds wrote:LMAO @ people saying Doncic played good defense in the Finals last season. Sometimes teams just go cold and miss a lot of good looks, the Celtics certainly didn't have a poor offensive series because of Doncic and his defense.
He didn't play good D, but Mavs didn't lose because his bad D, but because nobody outside him could hit anything. Normal Kyrie and 1 off role players would be enough.
Re: ESPN on Luka's defense
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 9:35 pm
by HotRocks34
People trying to do the "didn't watch the games" card. LOL. I went through the Finals game footage and put a chunk of it in a thread on Luka in the playoffs last year.
Guys, you may want to do more research.
viewtopic.php?t=2385262
Re: ESPN on Luka's defense
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 9:45 pm
by Yoshun
HotRocks34 wrote:People trying to do the "didn't watch the games" card. LOL. I went through the Finals game footage and put a chunk of it in a thread on Luka in the playoffs last year.
Guys, you may want to do more research.
viewtopic.php?t=2385262
It's all things like "confirmation bias" and "disqualifying the positive.". People see what they want to.
Luka is not a great defender, but he's not a bad defender and he played solid D overall in the playoffs last year. He's playing solid D right now and he's getting better as he sheds weight.
Re: ESPN on Luka's defense
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 9:48 pm
by ReggieSlater
Do the stats take into account him having a hissy fit when he doesn't get a call and not running back on D?
Re: ESPN on Luka's defense
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 9:52 pm
by HotRocks34
Yoshun wrote:HotRocks34 wrote:People trying to do the "didn't watch the games" card. LOL. I went through the Finals game footage and put a chunk of it in a thread on Luka in the playoffs last year.
Guys, you may want to do more research.
viewtopic.php?t=2385262
It's all things like "confirmation bias" and "disqualifying the positive.". People see what they want to.
Luka is not a great defender, but he's not a bad defender and he played solid D overall in the playoffs last year. He's playing solid D right now and he's getting better as he sheds weight.
Confirmation bias would be cherry picked clips and nothing else.
Luka played good defense last year, in the playoffs, and that's reflected in studying the games and in the totality of the data.
That's not confirmation bias, it's reality.
I know this must be tough for some people who swallowed the false narratives.
Luka can be a horrible defender and he can be a good defender. He was a good defender in the postseason last year. And we know what the McMenaminn stat says now.
The overview of why Luka can be a good defender is that he's a big guy that's hard to shoot over, he has excellent anticipation and sometimes he will come back to a play and help get a stop even when he's first beaten.
Luka does not have great lateral movement. We all know that. And his effort level isn't always high. But he still can have a positive effect for a team's defense when he wants to, is healthy enough and if he has the energy.