When Luka misses a possession on defense it's very loud and people really cling to those possessions without considering the whole picture. In reality the defense has been better with him on the floor two years straight, including a great stretch of defense in the playoffs and this season so far. This season he has a 107 defense rating which would be 4th among all teams just for reference. His issue is conditioning not ability
The thing is the defense has been really good with Luka on the floor, he has a 107 defense rating, this is a pattern that has sustained through last year's regular season and finals run. It's confirmation bias, if you believe he's a bad defender of course you can find mistakes like any player. But numbers don't lie and at this point the sample size over multiple seasons and especially playoff runs, the defense is good when he's on the court and bad when he isn't
@@chrissullivan6572 I don't care for Luka, but part of it to me is the Mavs not looking like they aren't even trying to build a team around his flaws.. Once he gets into game shape though, yall will be wlnning.. He has Shaq syndrome
Giving up that game winning shot against Utah was absolutely horrible there was no communication and he’s ball watching. 2 fundamental things that you can’t do in team defense
He was watching/focusing on the coach yelling out instructions mid play for some reason at both him and Grimes. Still a fckup but it is a communication error and it was quite clear even live. He though he should be rotating to the corner with Grimes jumping out to dubble or something.
@@RehanX44 he needs to work on his conditioning. that feels like the easy thing to say here but its true. bron, mj, kobe, hakeem, all took on similar offensive loads while being great defenders. theres no reason he shouldn't be at least pretty good.
@@RehanX44plenty of players in the league play both ends, Giannis is averaging 30/12/6 while playing positive defense, Tatum is averaging 30/8/6 rn plus he plays high level defense, SGA averages 30/5/6 plus plays good defense. Not really an excuse, defense is 50% of the time you spend on the court, people who play both ends are ultimately more valuable and more impactful
I’m happy Lukas not on my team. Generational talent but his play style, attitude and body language makes him so hard to cheer for. I’ve never seen a player complain about everything the way he does even when it’s his fault. Wouldn’t be surprised if Luka never wins a championship
As an NBA fan who started watching in the 80s, I'm well aware that most players in the 80s, 90s, etc, also did conserve their energy at times. You were making a great point up until then.
The issue with this arguement is that they didn't do it as egregiously as this. They either changed defensive assignments or went to the bench. What they weren't doing was ball watching and choosing not to stunt at a driving player. They might have relaxed but they never stopped putting forth an effort to doing the basics.
@@WutTheDeuceGamingThere's data to prove that a lot more running is being done in the modern game. So it makes total sense that guys more often and more egregiously are catching a breather
@@WutTheDeuceGaming yeah but like the pace of play offensively has ramped up dramatically since then with way more movement in each offensive possession so guys like luka who are fulcrum's of their offense can't really afford to play hard on defense since it will require way more energy than he can afford to expend
Not gonna lie. Iv watched every game this year and I am SCREAMING at my screen because Luka is just not playing D. Then he throws a pinpoint pass from half court and wins our love back 😂
The thing is he’s capable of being an average defender but he’s just not consistent due to reasons. Once he figures that out his potential can reach new heights
He's been doing that his whole career, I don't know why it's surprising anyone at this point. The problem is that he actually is a passable, even serviceable defender when he plays defense. Earlier in his career, he had the excuse to not play defense, because he was carrying the "entire load" of the Mavs offense, so he has no energy to play D. That excuse is not usable anymore, because they have enough offensive weapons. But Luka still doesn't play any defense whatsoever. He simply just does not have the stamina to play defense, which is more physically demanding than playing offense. Why? Because he's out of shape. He's never come into the season in shape, and his conditioning issues been present for a while now. He's the only player in the NBA who has "fat" arms.
@@runningwithcat6195"he's the only player in the NBA who has fat arms." This is complete nonsense there are DOZENS of them are you serious? Even Jokic has fat arms but the difference is he actually has a great motor and a lot of stamina. Having fat arms doesn't mean you have good or bad stamina, you can have either with an unassuming appearance like Jokic but certainly Luka does need to lose some body fat/improve stamina 100%.
Luka is the most annoying player to watch off the ball. Hes unbearable to watch as a defender, he constantly complains to the refs and has the personality of a toddler
That’s a thing coaches need to fix also he’s not the only player in that category. Faces of the league like LeBron or embiid are the same or even worse depending on your perspective
@@xfanatick7972 Luka is far and away the worst. There's a difference between flopping and spending a possession and a half arguing with the ref because he called a foul. I've only seen Luka do the latter.
I just don’t see Mavs ever being able to beat the celtics with his current level of defense. Every starter can truly punish luka as a defender and it was very apparent in the finals
Agreed, the white James Harden. It looks like Luka made no effort to get in shape or up his defensive game in response to last year's obvious shortcomings. And I doubt he will sniff the finals any time again soon.
i get riled up whenever he's called 'the best player' when he's clearly one of the worst defenders ever, better to call him 'the best offensive player' but he's nowhere near the best player he can't defend and he can't play off ball, he's a bigger James harden nothing more
@@hardywoodaway9912he’s like 6’8 it’s not hard to defend. u put ur hand up on a guard and ur taller than the climax of the shot. The issue comes in when he is tall fat and sloppy.
I’m not saying Anthony Edwards’s or Luka are close to being the same player. Very different play styles. But what I will say is u can tell 1 player worked on getting better at something they were bad at. Ant has gotten significantly better at shooting 3s and is attempting 12 per game. Luka NEEDED better defense and it was obvious from the finals and really throughout the playoffs. I think it was a lack of effort in the off season to really get better at defense or get in better shape to have the stamina later in the game to do so.
I remember that they used to use a similar defensive scheme with harden, putting him on slower, bigger players to hide him. What’s weird is that Luka is bigger than harden, but harden was a much better post defender than him. Like say what you will about harden’s defense at his peak, but he at least had that
Eh I’d argue Luka is a better post defender than peak harden too, similar stuff they can both keep their ground cuz they are strong and they both have great hands when it comes to swiping at the ball just Luka is bigger than harden pretty much only difference there. Both of them fall short when it comes to rim protection tho or weak side help on the block they are both zeros when it comes to that. If you were referring to the John Collin’s cut clip where Luka did nothing at the basket I promise you harden would’ve looked just as bad lol, when Luka’s trying he’s not bad one on one he’s just terrible when teams put him in actions he just stops trying really and that’s where he’s atleast a bit better than harden, harden just could not keep guys in front of him to safe his life
@@chugcanthoophe is 6’8 and fat bro. Ofc he is gonna be decent. The issue comes In when he has no effort and is fat and sloppy. He is tall. He is athletic. He just is as lazy as a basketball player can get.(on defense ofc. I love his offense.)
@@chugcanthoopThats completely wrong. Harden is actually a really good defender when he tries, look at his play in the playoffs. People only remember his clips from the reg season when he is clearly coasting.
The people who are mad at Lukas shot selection are the people who don’t actually watch the games. This has always been his shot selection. He always taken these hard difficult shots. He at times will shoot poorly because of this, but he always has these stretches then people panic. Then he has a stretch of averaging 40 on 70 true shooting and people glaze him. And his defense against the jazz was really bad, but I think him sitting that okc game got him some rest, he was able to get a get going game against the pelicans where he only played 30 minutes (was actually really good on defense that game) and has another two games until the nuggets game. I’m not worried about them at all. The main worry is pj’s shooting. It’s not just that it’s been bad, but he’s started to not take threes. He’s had so many wide open threes that he’s passed up. If he isn’t able to figure it out (literally just be like a 35-38% on wide open threes) then that’ll be something to worry about
but he didn't always had such great team around him that can win without him so why does he need to take such shots now? are you saying he cannot adapt to a better team?
Brother the shot isn’t always gonna drop. I’m not reading all that because it’s straight glaze. U need to be able to pick it up on the other end of the court when ur offense isn’t working.
Yeah, nobody forgot it was the official narrative. If you're injured, you can't play. If you can play you're not injured. And if you play while pretending to have four injuries you're a liar.
Look it has been a rough start to the Season for Luka doncic but I am confident that he will turn it around and start to play back up to that high level.🏀
Luka and Embiid are the sort of players who most people will forget in the coming decades and only die-hard fans will recall. Like Carmelo Anthony, Peja Stojakovic and Stephon Marbury. At the time they were well regarded but each, due to either circumstances or due to failing to put in that little bit more effort, they didn’t hit the upper echelons. Sometimes, though, it just goes to show how hard it is at the top. The fact is: only a small number of people can be MVP, can win a championship, can make successive all-NBA teams and so on. The fact that most of even the best of the best will be forgotten is a testament to how unbelievably good the absolute top tier players are.
Luka and Embiid are so much better than Carmelo, Peja or Marbury what are you talking about. They have their flaws but both are top 5 players in the league up to this point, and in Luka’s case still very young. Luka made first team all NBA every season of his career except for his rookie year and Embiid has already won an MVP. This was just a really bad comment they will be remembered as all time greats
@@koundinyavellanki7070people really like to ignore that Luka is only 25 years old. There’s a reason why most superstars only win a chip after they are older than 25. He still has time to mature and he needs too but to do that you need the right environment. LeBron had spoelstra for example and I believe that Kidd is not the right coach for Luka (I hope I’m wrong tho because Kidd just got a huge contract extension)
Neither matter with that record. Empty stats for a team that is towards the bottom of the seeding. With those ratings they should be toward the top, this goes to show you that these analytic stats have major flaws.
@@WutTheDeuceGamingnot really. They'd been getting eaten up on rebounds with PJ/Maxi/Lively out. More possessions for their opponents and voila they lose four games in a row by an average of 2 points. If their frontcourt wasn't decimated for that stretch they're very likely 10-5 or 11-4 and we're not talking about them
I agree that Harden has the game that's most reminiscent of Luka's. Maybe I'm misremembering, but I feel they put Harden on smaller 4s and he'd actually defend the post quite well for a guard. Harden, like Luka, is ass at perimeter D bc they both have fairly shitty lateral movement, but they're both "country strong" and Harden actually stood dudes up in the post bc of his size/strength. Maybe that's their goal with putting Luka on bigger guys, so he doesn't have to run as much, and he can rely more on strength than footspeed
I watched the game against the Pelicans last night, and Luka was playing some pretty good defense. If you make Luka run all over the court with ball movement, he'll struggle, but in isolation, Luka's not terrible.
No excuse that he should be this bad defensively with this amount of years in the league , even the early steal really wasn’t him doing anything except being in the rt place by chance .
To me, this Luka season shows the value of players like Kobe. Kobe's 2-way ability and off ball movement allowed him to be very successful during the 08-10 years when his usage rate dipped due to sharing the ball with Pau Gasol. Luka really needs to improve his defense and off ball movement, so that he can still be very effective when he doesn't have the ball in his hands.
It’s the lack of urgency in defensive positioning that holds him back the most. He’ll ball watch sometimes and then randomly turn his back to ball entirely. I do think on that one top of key turnstile play, the other player likely called a switch but then called it off immediately resulting in Luka leaning toward the switch. The way offenses work now there’s a huge verbal dimension to the defense that is hard to account for in film analysis.
Luka just isn't in shape yet. Dude skipped training camp or was injured or something. I don't remember the specifics, but the defensive woes are being exaggerated him not being in shape. He'll likely return to form as the season goes on, I wouldn't be worried.
Just to be clear, I'm not saying he'll magically be anything but mediocre on defense, nor am I excusing him, but I do think he'll look less gassed on defense and be a bit more efficient on offense as the year goes on.
He got kicked in the calf on the first day of practice and couldn’t do anything with games or even practice. It definitely fucked him for the start of the year. His shooting is off, his passing isn’t as good as usual, and he’s struggling with endurance. He also got a strained groin muscle against Phoenix when Nurkic ran over him. What’s really fucked up is in his situation he’s playing the 6th most minutes of anyone in the league. I wish Rusty would occasionally put down the fried chicken and look up the minutes stats and ponder if a guy who didn’t get a preseason might be a little tired (which might affect his defensive effort) during stretches he’s being asked to play heavy minutes to help the team….🙄
Luka has peaked he's not getting any better than where he's at right now his prime started in the 2019-20 season in his 2nd season in the League because ever since then he hasn't gotten better his numbers may have gone up since but everything he does on the court hasn't changed he's still the same player he was in his 2nd season in the League anytime a player averages 28-34 PPG 8-9 APG and 7-8 RPG they are in their prime even if they are only in between 20-25 years old.
I don’t understand how Luka can over think and then just straight not think or be lazy of defense, my original I idea was to just make Luka deny the ball however he ball watches way to much, then I was thinking just make a on ball primary defender but he has no lateral quickness, he can’t protect the rim either cause he ain’t strong or tall. And if he could do all these things half the time he don’t got the stamina or effort, I use to be a huge Luka guy and was telling people his defense problems will be fixed especially with early knowledge with basketball, apparently I’m wrong and worried about Luka future
Luka and LeBron are the summary of today's NBA. Free throws and shots at the rim hiding their outside inefficiency while being absolutely awful and lazy on defense, all the while compaining at every turn even after they are the direct culprit of a defensive lapse. See ball, see man. This is grade school shit that Luka just doesn't do. I cannot understand how these players get massive contracts yet have zero grasp or care when it comes to basic fundamental basketball. Again, you take some mistakes as long as a player is showing effort. The problem is, the effort isn't there either. Luka and LeBron are the most painful players to watch. The amount of times these two bums just don't do anything on defense drives me crazy. No help, no rotations, constantly caught ball watching, and creating 4v5s for their teammates in transition because they'd rather not get back and cry to refs. Two of the most disgusting players in the league right now.
yo idk if you can do anything about it or if its a spotify thing, but as of now, this episode isnt up on there yet. i really enjoy the audio only stuff, so if there was a way for them to come out nearish each other, that would be lit af
I think the team higher ups should just fine him and tell him to STFU and get back on defense every time he overly complains about plays that doesn't go his way.
This is exactly why (imo) Luka does not deserve an MVP award. Until he is consistently giving at least marginal effort on the defensive end he’ll always be behind dudes like Giannis, SGA and Jokic. Because those guys are at the very least working hard to get stops on D even if it’s not their strong suit (jokic)
Sure that chunky dude in Denver gets stop (on teams like the jazz lol) but yea I'll still take a 39 year old bron over everyone but sga MAYBE giannis when he's shooting well
@ yo i dont know if i can follow you there brother💀 Bron is the GOAT but in the year of our Lord 2024 I am 1000% taking the most efficient player in nba history that just won 3 MVPs (shoulda been 4)
Huge Luka fan here and imo Luka is the second best player in the league… when he doesn’t consistently bitch about calls and actually try’s on defense. I don’t understand why that’s so hard for him to do 😭
It's not time to panic, because it's too late to panic. This summer Doncic should have made the necessary effort to become an actual athlete. He very obviously hasn't, which means he won't be able to defend when it's most needed: in the post-season against teams that have witnessed what happened during last season's finals and choose to single him out defensively. The Mavericks will still be good enough to qualify for the playoff of course, but come playoff time, they won't amount to anything as long as Doncic refuses to acknowledge that he needs to involve his teammates more and become an athlete.
Luka spends all his time on the court chasing highlights and constantly complaining to the refs if someone touches him he’s been doing this for at least 3 years and it’s predictable the only reason he gets away with that is people just watch highlights not the game
It always seems like being a decent/good defender is just about giving effort. So it really baffles me how some players are horrible defenders. Especially a 6’8 player, literally JUST TRY
Still top 10 in defensive net rating while missing their best perimeter defender & best paint defender for several games. One posession losses to playoff teams could definitely be worse. Kidd's just trying shit with the rotations right now. No reason at all to panic. They'll be fine by all star break.
not exactly a hot take but just an opinion I'd like to put out: it's pretty annoying and blatantly disrespectful when media personalities, analysts, players, or even nba content creators mispronounce surnames of (usually non-American) nba players continuously saying /jow-kich/ instead of /yo-kich/ for Jokic; /ri-chuh-sar/ or /ri-sa-cher/ for Zaccharie Risacher; or mispronouncing names like Antetokounmpo, Nowitzki, or Wembanyama (which has syllables that couldn't be clearer) is just unprofessional and embarrassing considering that that's their job
What I learned so far about Luka is to not doubt him! Never doubt him! Same shit we heard last season and the season before and he still ends up as the by far best playoff performer of all. Learn your lessons, kids! Or go cry with your darling Booker.
My problem with Luka is that he relies solely on his natural talent. Does not work on fundamentals, defense, or conditioning. That game against okc without him was really an eye opener. The ball movement and shot selection was so much better. Love Luka but he needs to step up
@ first why mention grimes over PJ? He’s primarily our starter, grimes usually the bench. Second OKC has always had good defense and if you think having Luka on floor wouldn’t cause TOs I’m no sure what to tell. Luka just need to rest up and improve defense. He is still our best player but we have yet to see due to his injuries
@@paolablanco1993 because Grimes started the two games Luka didn’t play. Their starting 1-2-3 outscored ours by more than double. The ONLY reason Dallas won (by 2) is that the centers and PJ utterly dominated a team that had no big men available to play. So our shot selection and defense got crushed.
Luka is easily one of the guys that goes from my favourite player to watch to one of the most unnerving with the constant complaining and not taking any accountability on defense. It's exciting and disappointing to watch such a talented athlete being this lazy.
I blame the “Luka is the best player in the world even though he lost in the finals and had the most blow-bys defensively in a decade but it’s fine because look at what he does on offense” crowd. I kept saying how can we say he’s better than Tatum when he has a clear weakness that encompasses half the sport? Jokic, Giannis, Tatum, SGA. If nothing else you get full effort on both side and they’re in shape!
That's the problem with being a genius. No one ever tells you anything and you end up not even caring. Also I don't believe people are just "dogpiling" on him when his offense slips. His defense is just so bad that when he isn't producing incredible offense, his overall value is much lower.
What are we even doing here? Lmao you picked ONE bad gad game and said THIS IS LUKA DONCIC, check Luka Doncic defensive metrics, like ISO defense ppp, steals and deflections, DRTG, on/off
Or watch the game. Eye test shows luka is ass on defense. But he can be a good to great defender when he actually gives effort. Key word "effort" which luka lacks on defense
He is 6’8. Fat and sloppy. Are lost? It’s exactly like how it sounds and looks. He needs to get in shape and work on his defense. Because u cannot lean on offense every night. Especially HIS OFFENSE.
Luka first 6 years Games 400 Minutes 13,9443 PER 25.7 TS 58.8% USG 35.7% WS/48 0.176 OBPM 6.6 DBPM 1.2 BPM 7.8 VORP 34.3 ORTG 115 DRTG 110 47.0% FG / 34.7% 3P / 74.7% FT 28.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.5 blocks, 4.0 turnovers Harden's first 6 years with Rockets Games 467 Minutes 17,366 PER 25.9 TS 60.9% USG 31.9% WS/48 0.237 OBPM 6.6 DBPM 0.9 BPM 7.5 VORP 41.6 ORTG 118 DRTG 106 44.3% FG / 36.3% 3P / 85.8% FT 27.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 7.7 assists 1.7 steals, 0.6 blocks, 4.4 turnovers So they have nearly identical stat and advanced stat lines. However, Luka's stats is including his rookie season starting at age 19 up to 24 (last year), whereas Harden's stats starts at age 23 with playing nearly 3 full seasons with OKC as a "bench" player even though he averaged 22.9, 26.7, and 31.4 minutes throughout those 3 seasons. Also James Harden's age 28 season (his 6th year in these stats) was his MVP year.
Also regarding USG%, I do not know how much stock you want to put into it, but out of Luka's 6 full seasons, he has had a USG% of 30% or higher in ALL 6 of them. In James Harden's CAREER, he has had 6 seasons with 30% or higher USG%. However, Luka has FIVE (5) Seasons of USG% of 36%+, James Harden only had Three USG% seasons of 36% (however, he had a season of 40.47% USG which is just bonkers. Only Russell Westbrook at 41.65% USG% is higher than Harden's all-time and they are the only 2 to crack the 40%+ usg% in a season). Out of career USG%, Luka is #1 right now at 35.5%. There are only 16 NBA players of all-time with a career USG% of 30 or greater and only 8 of them have played at least 10 full seasons of NBA with an avg of 30 minutes a game (24,600 or more) and 2 of those 8 players are going to fall off the 30% usg rate most likely very soon (Kevin Durant at 30.1 and Devin Booker at 30.1)
My problem with Luka is that he is capable of playing decent defence and he proved it in the playoffs last season. The finals were different because Luka returned to his old hero ball tactics due to his teammates not able to hit wide open threes or layups. I know it’s only the pels but that game showed what his game could look like if he doesn’t has to carry the offence alone and isn’t sleeping on defence. As for the complaining and flopping everybody is doing that. Luka does it the LeBron way which is pissing people off more easily to lebrons history. I hope that he’s finally starting to mature. Many generational superstars like Jordan or LeBron who had an incredible high usage took a while to finally win and I still believe that Luka can get over the hump. Everything is on him now and Kidd needs to do better too. He needs to come up with a better and less predictable offensive scheme beside iso Luka or iso Kyrie.
Luka is sacrificing his knees and all the media can do is talk about how bad he’s playing, like his knees aren’t bleeding every night. The NBA media is just as trash as its fan base fr
I believe he will play his way into last years form probably right before the all star break but his attitude towards missed calls and his cone defense needs to change ASAP. He’s playing like an entitled spoiled kid that got the wrong color iPhone on their birthday
Most of Lukas issue is really that the Mavs don't seem competent enough to put players around him that supports his style.. Orlando Shaq, Yao Ming, Dwight Howard and Stephen Curry are all templates that the Mavericks completely neglected
So, we're just going to lie now? First of all, Shaq, Yao, and Dwight were all CENTERS, and Steph is a much different type of guard than Luka; you can't build around him the same way you would build around those guys. Secondly, the Mavs have put more than competent players around Luka since Nico Harrison took over from Kyrie to Lively to PJ to Klay, so don't even try that. It's on Luka to make the changes now, and he STILL has not done it.
@@urbaindelva7869 When you have a guy for half a decade and can't build around him, YOU Are the problem.. You sound more like a stan not accepting reality.. I don't even like Luka but throwing random people together and taking what you can get isn't trying to build around a superstar.. I can't with you homers
The only thing that makes sense as far as the complaining after defensive breakdowns is that their team strategy is for someone at the rim to constantly yell out the coverage. Like maybe they've agreed beforehand that when Luka is involved in defending two man action, Lively or whoever has to yell out "Chase!" or "Ice!" or "Switch!", and if he doesn't, Luka will just stand there like a 2k player without a controller plugged in. This sounds pretty stupid, but then again I did just see Collin Sexton treat him like a traffic cone while practicing a FT line jumpshot drill.
And Dallas is winning without Luka. That should be a warning sign for Luka to change his statpadding ballhog style to team oriented style. Also he has to work hard like MJ, Kobe, Wilt (he lifts 600 pounds), LeBron or Giannis or even Jokic.
Luka.. always complaining.. and when he is carrying the offense its too slow... other team members dont know what to do.. its either he shoots or lobs and thats it
Dallas is scared that Luka maybe hurt and we do not have info. He is like this from before last year play offs. he is probably getting pain injection - how can you knee bleed so long ? when the pain is getting worse - he can not move on defence.
THANKFUCKINGYOUUUUUU!!! I WAS HOPING MY BOY SLIGHTLY BIASED WAS GONNA GET TO THIS, BUT BRO.. IM SEEING HIM WANT TO PLAY NOTHING BUT FORCED OFFENSE THIS SEASON. AND 5% EFFORTS ON DEFENSE IM SOO TIRED OF IT. GET HEALTHY, GET TF IN SHAPE.
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When Luka misses a possession on defense it's very loud and people really cling to those possessions without considering the whole picture. In reality the defense has been better with him on the floor two years straight, including a great stretch of defense in the playoffs and this season so far. This season he has a 107 defense rating which would be 4th among all teams just for reference. His issue is conditioning not ability
The thing is the defense has been really good with Luka on the floor, he has a 107 defense rating, this is a pattern that has sustained through last year's regular season and finals run. It's confirmation bias, if you believe he's a bad defender of course you can find mistakes like any player. But numbers don't lie and at this point the sample size over multiple seasons and especially playoff runs, the defense is good when he's on the court and bad when he isn't
no
Deadass hate it when Luka complains to ref instead of playing defense. Good call out Rusty
As a huge Luka lover, yeah fuck that shit. Play it out bro if they whistle great, if not do something.
Imma Mavs fan and I almost can't stand watching em play cuz of it.
@@chrissullivan6572 I don't care for Luka, but part of it to me is the Mavs not looking like they aren't even trying to build a team around his flaws.. Once he gets into game shape though, yall will be wlnning.. He has Shaq syndrome
Most of the league ain't playing defense!
@@janremongalura5713 which means Luka is playing worst than no defense
The consistently horrible body language makes this so much worse too
yeah. im a luka fan and this is frustrating.
Giving up that game winning shot against Utah was absolutely horrible there was no communication and he’s ball watching. 2 fundamental things that you can’t do in team defense
Yeah definitely a black out that is inexcusable
He was watching/focusing on the coach yelling out instructions mid play for some reason at both him and Grimes. Still a fckup but it is a communication error and it was quite clear even live. He though he should be rotating to the corner with Grimes jumping out to dubble or something.
Luka is really living up to the Harden comparisons
Harden took his team to the finals ??
As a Mavs fan and Hardens biggest hater this breaks my heart 😭 because it’s probably true
Yeah he’s not doing himself a favour rn but if you watch his a game, you know that they are different. Unfortunately he’s not in his a game yet
@@niean1Luka players against the 2017 warriors?
@@niean1did Luka ever face a team as good as those Warriors teams? I don’t think so
Laziest is probably more accurate Luka can defend he just doesn't do it which is worse than being just a bad defender.
when he defends it he doesn't have much energy left on the offensive end
Bruh not a defender, he can't even guard you
@@jaden85643 he gasses from doing too much on offense 😂💀i got handles like Bill Cartwright so Luka would clamp me😂😂
@@RehanX44 he needs to work on his conditioning. that feels like the easy thing to say here but its true. bron, mj, kobe, hakeem, all took on similar offensive loads while being great defenders. theres no reason he shouldn't be at least pretty good.
@@RehanX44plenty of players in the league play both ends, Giannis is averaging 30/12/6 while playing positive defense, Tatum is averaging 30/8/6 rn plus he plays high level defense, SGA averages 30/5/6 plus plays good defense. Not really an excuse, defense is 50% of the time you spend on the court, people who play both ends are ultimately more valuable and more impactful
I’m happy Lukas not on my team. Generational talent but his play style, attitude and body language makes him so hard to cheer for. I’ve never seen a player complain about everything the way he does even when it’s his fault. Wouldn’t be surprised if Luka never wins a championship
“Palm upward to complain” 😂 😂😂
As an NBA fan who started watching in the 80s, I'm well aware that most players in the 80s, 90s, etc, also did conserve their energy at times. You were making a great point up until then.
The issue with this arguement is that they didn't do it as egregiously as this. They either changed defensive assignments or went to the bench.
What they weren't doing was ball watching and choosing not to stunt at a driving player. They might have relaxed but they never stopped putting forth an effort to doing the basics.
@@WutTheDeuceGamingThere's data to prove that a lot more running is being done in the modern game. So it makes total sense that guys more often and more egregiously are catching a breather
@@WutTheDeuceGaming yeah but like the pace of play offensively has ramped up dramatically since then with way more movement in each offensive possession so guys like luka who are fulcrum's of their offense can't really afford to play hard on defense since it will require way more energy than he can afford to expend
@@WutTheDeuceGamingno it’s just you don’t remember it, it didn’t happen yesterday like Luka did
I mean I'm sure everybody did at points. Some guys do it *every* single possession lol
Did you guys know that traffic cones in Slovenia are actually six and a half feet tall?! Wild huh
Imagine that
Not gonna lie. Iv watched every game this year and I am SCREAMING at my screen because Luka is just not playing D.
Then he throws a pinpoint pass from half court and wins our love back 😂
The thing is he’s capable of being an average defender but he’s just not consistent due to reasons. Once he figures that out his potential can reach new heights
He's been doing that his whole career, I don't know why it's surprising anyone at this point.
The problem is that he actually is a passable, even serviceable defender when he plays defense.
Earlier in his career, he had the excuse to not play defense, because he was carrying the "entire load" of the Mavs offense, so he has no energy to play D.
That excuse is not usable anymore, because they have enough offensive weapons. But Luka still doesn't play any defense whatsoever.
He simply just does not have the stamina to play defense, which is more physically demanding than playing offense.
Why? Because he's out of shape. He's never come into the season in shape, and his conditioning issues been present for a while now.
He's the only player in the NBA who has "fat" arms.
@@xfanatick7972 he has to take on a insane offensive load and isnt as conditioned as all time greats like kobe, lebron, and mj.
@@crystalizedExposedhe doesn’t have too, Kyrie & Klay can score the ball, he likes to play the way is all.
@@runningwithcat6195"he's the only player in the NBA who has fat arms." This is complete nonsense there are DOZENS of them are you serious? Even Jokic has fat arms but the difference is he actually has a great motor and a lot of stamina. Having fat arms doesn't mean you have good or bad stamina, you can have either with an unassuming appearance like Jokic but certainly Luka does need to lose some body fat/improve stamina 100%.
Luka is the most annoying player to watch off the ball. Hes unbearable to watch as a defender, he constantly complains to the refs and has the personality of a toddler
That’s a thing coaches need to fix also he’s not the only player in that category. Faces of the league like LeBron or embiid are the same or even worse depending on your perspective
@@xfanatick7972 Luka is far and away the worst. There's a difference between flopping and spending a possession and a half arguing with the ref because he called a foul. I've only seen Luka do the latter.
@@thezackast2752
Literally this. An insane amount of whining
@@thezackast2752I don't even watch basketball that much anymore. And I've seen multiple stars do this exact thing you said.
I just don’t see Mavs ever being able to beat the celtics with his current level of defense. Every starter can truly punish luka as a defender and it was very apparent in the finals
As a Mavs fan, I agree. The fact they were able to win yesterday without him makes this even more valid
buster douglas ahh season
Buster Douglas actually beat Mike Tyson after his mother died. This is highly offensive to Buster Douglas
@@MihoyMinoy-si8fb yes but buster douglas sounds like a pirate name 🙏
@@MihoyMinoy-si8fb I’m a Mavs fan but when you hit the nail on the head, you hit the nail on the head 😂
@@azure4277no hes right, still lots of the season left, hopefully its just early-season complacency
@@MihoyMinoy-si8fbyeah and after that he stopped training and caring and his success plummeted, hence the comparison
Agreed, the white James Harden. It looks like Luka made no effort to get in shape or up his defensive game in response to last year's obvious shortcomings. And I doubt he will sniff the finals any time again soon.
Exactly, it's like he refused to acknowledge what happened. It's crazy.
i get riled up whenever he's called 'the best player' when he's clearly one of the worst defenders ever, better to call him 'the best offensive player' but he's nowhere near the best player he can't defend and he can't play off ball, he's a bigger James harden nothing more
he actually can defend, but he chooses not to…
@@hardywoodaway9912 That’s just worse then, if we give you that.
He’s not one of the worst defenders ever stop dragging it
@@hardywoodaway9912keep telling yourself that buddy 😂
@@hardywoodaway9912he’s like 6’8 it’s not hard to defend. u put ur hand up on a guard and ur taller than the climax of the shot. The issue comes in when he is tall fat and sloppy.
This editing and video structure really works btw, good work
I’m not saying Anthony Edwards’s or Luka are close to being the same player. Very different play styles. But what I will say is u can tell 1 player worked on getting better at something they were bad at. Ant has gotten significantly better at shooting 3s and is attempting 12 per game. Luka NEEDED better defense and it was obvious from the finals and really throughout the playoffs. I think it was a lack of effort in the off season to really get better at defense or get in better shape to have the stamina later in the game to do so.
I remember that they used to use a similar defensive scheme with harden, putting him on slower, bigger players to hide him. What’s weird is that Luka is bigger than harden, but harden was a much better post defender than him. Like say what you will about harden’s defense at his peak, but he at least had that
Eh I’d argue Luka is a better post defender than peak harden too, similar stuff they can both keep their ground cuz they are strong and they both have great hands when it comes to swiping at the ball just Luka is bigger than harden pretty much only difference there. Both of them fall short when it comes to rim protection tho or weak side help on the block they are both zeros when it comes to that. If you were referring to the John Collin’s cut clip where Luka did nothing at the basket I promise you harden would’ve looked just as bad lol, when Luka’s trying he’s not bad one on one he’s just terrible when teams put him in actions he just stops trying really and that’s where he’s atleast a bit better than harden, harden just could not keep guys in front of him to safe his life
@@chugcanthoophe is 6’8 and fat bro. Ofc he is gonna be decent. The issue comes In when he has no effort and is fat and sloppy. He is tall. He is athletic. He just is as lazy as a basketball player can get.(on defense ofc. I love his offense.)
@@chugcanthoopThats completely wrong. Harden is actually a really good defender when he tries, look at his play in the playoffs. People only remember his clips from the reg season when he is clearly coasting.
Rusty, thank you for Police Files/Naked Gun-esque ending to the ad read.
it carries over to his overwatch stats, most his Ls are on defense too.
0:24 Clarkson Always wastes no time trying to Cook luka😂
The people who are mad at Lukas shot selection are the people who don’t actually watch the games. This has always been his shot selection. He always taken these hard difficult shots. He at times will shoot poorly because of this, but he always has these stretches then people panic. Then he has a stretch of averaging 40 on 70 true shooting and people glaze him. And his defense against the jazz was really bad, but I think him sitting that okc game got him some rest, he was able to get a get going game against the pelicans where he only played 30 minutes (was actually really good on defense that game) and has another two games until the nuggets game. I’m not worried about them at all. The main worry is pj’s shooting. It’s not just that it’s been bad, but he’s started to not take threes. He’s had so many wide open threes that he’s passed up. If he isn’t able to figure it out (literally just be like a 35-38% on wide open threes) then that’ll be something to worry about
i like glazing luka but rn its impossible i hope he picks it up also i hope pj can get out of his slump
DELUSIONAL
but he didn't always had such great team around him that can win without him so why does he need to take such shots now? are you saying he cannot adapt to a better team?
Brother the shot isn’t always gonna drop. I’m not reading all that because it’s straight glaze. U need to be able to pick it up on the other end of the court when ur offense isn’t working.
And he’s never won a championship either … easier shots = higher success rate of hitting them
He was never better than Jokic. It’s disrespectful
It's like everyone forgot that Luka played the finals with 4 injuries.
Then Luka should just rest and get in shape.
Should he not pway den😓😢 tf does this even mean man he had all off season to eat better and heal up.
And is still injured...
Yeah, nobody forgot it was the official narrative. If you're injured, you can't play. If you can play you're not injured. And if you play while pretending to have four injuries you're a liar.
@@ApplePi1and will instantly get injured every time he's not playing well
Luka doncic will get better as the season progresses but you are right Rusty definitely needs to be better but he will be fine.🏀
Look it has been a rough start to the Season for Luka doncic but I am confident that he will turn it around and start to play back up to that high level.🏀
Luka and Embiid are the sort of players who most people will forget in the coming decades and only die-hard fans will recall.
Like Carmelo Anthony, Peja Stojakovic and Stephon Marbury. At the time they were well regarded but each, due to either circumstances or due to failing to put in that little bit more effort, they didn’t hit the upper echelons.
Sometimes, though, it just goes to show how hard it is at the top. The fact is: only a small number of people can be MVP, can win a championship, can make successive all-NBA teams and so on.
The fact that most of even the best of the best will be forgotten is a testament to how unbelievably good the absolute top tier players are.
I fully agree
Luka and Embiid are so much better than Carmelo, Peja or Marbury what are you talking about. They have their flaws but both are top 5 players in the league up to this point, and in Luka’s case still very young. Luka made first team all NBA every season of his career except for his rookie year and Embiid has already won an MVP. This was just a really bad comment they will be remembered as all time greats
I just don’t think people will forget Embiid for better or for worse
@@koundinyavellanki7070people really like to ignore that Luka is only 25 years old. There’s a reason why most superstars only win a chip after they are older than 25. He still has time to mature and he needs too but to do that you need the right environment. LeBron had spoelstra for example and I believe that Kidd is not the right coach for Luka (I hope I’m wrong tho because Kidd just got a huge contract extension)
Luka is 25, stop it, and both Embiid and Luka clear Carmelo
Mavs Still top ten in Offensive and Defensive ratings
Neither matter with that record. Empty stats for a team that is towards the bottom of the seeding. With those ratings they should be toward the top, this goes to show you that these analytic stats have major flaws.
@@WutTheDeuceGamingyeah, stats tells a bit story but doesn't picture the whole situation. A lot of people got deceived by this unfortunately
@@WutTheDeuceGamingnot really. They'd been getting eaten up on rebounds with PJ/Maxi/Lively out. More possessions for their opponents and voila they lose four games in a row by an average of 2 points. If their frontcourt wasn't decimated for that stretch they're very likely 10-5 or 11-4 and we're not talking about them
I agree that Harden has the game that's most reminiscent of Luka's. Maybe I'm misremembering, but I feel they put Harden on smaller 4s and he'd actually defend the post quite well for a guard. Harden, like Luka, is ass at perimeter D bc they both have fairly shitty lateral movement, but they're both "country strong" and Harden actually stood dudes up in the post bc of his size/strength. Maybe that's their goal with putting Luka on bigger guys, so he doesn't have to run as much, and he can rely more on strength than footspeed
Your hair looks extra fresh Rusty 👍
His defense is so bad he shouldn't even be considered top 10
Ridiculous
I watched the game against the Pelicans last night, and Luka was playing some pretty good defense. If you make Luka run all over the court with ball movement, he'll struggle, but in isolation, Luka's not terrible.
No excuse that he should be this bad defensively with this amount of years in the league , even the early steal really wasn’t him doing anything except being in the rt place by chance .
Your left ear sticks out a lot more than your right ear lol.
The palm upward to complain has me dead 🤣🤣
And everyone says Luka is better than Tatum. He isn't!!
😂
He is, stop the recency bias
To me, this Luka season shows the value of players like Kobe. Kobe's 2-way ability and off ball movement allowed him to be very successful during the 08-10 years when his usage rate dipped due to sharing the ball with Pau Gasol. Luka really needs to improve his defense and off ball movement, so that he can still be very effective when he doesn't have the ball in his hands.
He’s a 6”7 pg and has all the tools to be a good defender asw 😢
@@niean1thats what im saying he has the body to stop most guards, its just you have to actually stay in front of them to do that lol.
2 way star players dont exist. Some are just better athletes and can sometimes get highlight blocks. Which is all that anyone ever remembers.
@@psychotropnilachtan8869
Many have All-Defensive selections?
Luka is stat padding one of my favorites luka and harden but he is stat padding
It’s the lack of urgency in defensive positioning that holds him back the most. He’ll ball watch sometimes and then randomly turn his back to ball entirely. I do think on that one top of key turnstile play, the other player likely called a switch but then called it off immediately resulting in Luka leaning toward the switch. The way offenses work now there’s a huge verbal dimension to the defense that is hard to account for in film analysis.
Luka just isn't in shape yet. Dude skipped training camp or was injured or something. I don't remember the specifics, but the defensive woes are being exaggerated him not being in shape. He'll likely return to form as the season goes on, I wouldn't be worried.
Just to be clear, I'm not saying he'll magically be anything but mediocre on defense, nor am I excusing him, but I do think he'll look less gassed on defense and be a bit more efficient on offense as the year goes on.
He got kicked in the calf on the first day of practice and couldn’t do anything with games or even practice. It definitely fucked him for the start of the year. His shooting is off, his passing isn’t as good as usual, and he’s struggling with endurance. He also got a strained groin muscle against Phoenix when Nurkic ran over him.
What’s really fucked up is in his situation he’s playing the 6th most minutes of anyone in the league. I wish Rusty would occasionally put down the fried chicken and look up the minutes stats and ponder if a guy who didn’t get a preseason might be a little tired (which might affect his defensive effort) during stretches he’s being asked to play heavy minutes to help the team….🙄
@@SDesWriter
Bro he said that his usage should go down. He goes into that at the end of the video
@@Jonathan-A.C. that had nothing to do with what I said. Are you robotripping on cough medicine?
@@SDesWriter
Bro literally your entire second paragraph is about his usage rate
Appreciate the subtle hint that youre a good person. Cheers rusty.
Luka has peaked he's not getting any better than where he's at right now his prime started in the 2019-20 season in his 2nd season in the League because ever since then he hasn't gotten better his numbers may have gone up since but everything he does on the court hasn't changed he's still the same player he was in his 2nd season in the League anytime a player averages 28-34 PPG 8-9 APG and 7-8 RPG they are in their prime even if they are only in between 20-25 years old.
It’s cause he started playing pro ball super early … it makes sense that he peaked during his athletic prime
I don’t understand how Luka can over think and then just straight not think or be lazy of defense, my original I idea was to just make Luka deny the ball however he ball watches way to much, then I was thinking just make a on ball primary defender but he has no lateral quickness, he can’t protect the rim either cause he ain’t strong or tall.
And if he could do all these things half the time he don’t got the stamina or effort, I use to be a huge Luka guy and was telling people his defense problems will be fixed especially with early knowledge with basketball, apparently I’m wrong and worried about Luka future
Luka and LeBron are the summary of today's NBA. Free throws and shots at the rim hiding their outside inefficiency while being absolutely awful and lazy on defense, all the while compaining at every turn even after they are the direct culprit of a defensive lapse.
See ball, see man. This is grade school shit that Luka just doesn't do. I cannot understand how these players get massive contracts yet have zero grasp or care when it comes to basic fundamental basketball. Again, you take some mistakes as long as a player is showing effort. The problem is, the effort isn't there either.
Luka and LeBron are the most painful players to watch. The amount of times these two bums just don't do anything on defense drives me crazy. No help, no rotations, constantly caught ball watching, and creating 4v5s for their teammates in transition because they'd rather not get back and cry to refs.
Two of the most disgusting players in the league right now.
Ain’t he still getting over a groin strain injury could explain lack of lateral movements for defense
yo idk if you can do anything about it or if its a spotify thing, but as of now, this episode isnt up on there yet. i really enjoy the audio only stuff, so if there was a way for them to come out nearish each other, that would be lit af
It’s on the way
@@alsorustybuckets thanks man, always makes my day a lot better
I think the team higher ups should just fine him and tell him to STFU and get back on defense every time he overly complains about plays that doesn't go his way.
This is exactly why (imo) Luka does not deserve an MVP award. Until he is consistently giving at least marginal effort on the defensive end he’ll always be behind dudes like Giannis, SGA and Jokic. Because those guys are at the very least working hard to get stops on D even if it’s not their strong suit (jokic)
Sure that chunky dude in Denver gets stop (on teams like the jazz lol) but yea I'll still take a 39 year old bron over everyone but sga MAYBE giannis when he's shooting well
@ yo i dont know if i can follow you there brother💀 Bron is the GOAT but in the year of our Lord 2024 I am 1000% taking the most efficient player in nba history that just won 3 MVPs (shoulda been 4)
@@user-mm6ii3yh9w continue to let media commentators decide what the perfect basketball player is
@@professoradonis8246 Ah yes the media well known for covering the Denver Nuggets
@professoradonis8246 ah yes the media who stole an mvp from him
This why he lost the Finals and Tatum won it. You would think he would LOCK IN for an offszn. Gil said he's dumb defensive and I agree
Tatum won because he has a team that could win with him chucking up shit and having an all time bad scoring finals for a “number one” option
Draymond with a bigger name. Didn’t play bad overall but not many number ones in history winning with that performance
@alexescutia4805 nahhh I'm not hearing that. Everyone said Mavs in 6 til reality hit😂
@@isaiahthomas4444 because they hate the celtics. Celtics were the favorites all season.
@@isaiahthomas4444Celtics were clearly gonna win
Between Embid and Luka are they both on the Derrick Coleman diet. Great players not giving an damn about being in shape
Huge Luka fan here and imo Luka is the second best player in the league… when he doesn’t consistently bitch about calls and actually try’s on defense. I don’t understand why that’s so hard for him to do 😭
It's not time to panic, because it's too late to panic. This summer Doncic should have made the necessary effort to become an actual athlete. He very obviously hasn't, which means he won't be able to defend when it's most needed: in the post-season against teams that have witnessed what happened during last season's finals and choose to single him out defensively.
The Mavericks will still be good enough to qualify for the playoff of course, but come playoff time, they won't amount to anything as long as Doncic refuses to acknowledge that he needs to involve his teammates more and become an athlete.
Luka spends all his time on the court chasing highlights and constantly complaining to the refs if someone touches him he’s been doing this for at least 3 years and it’s predictable the only reason he gets away with that is people just watch highlights not the game
It always seems like being a decent/good defender is just about giving effort. So it really baffles me how some players are horrible defenders. Especially a 6’8 player, literally JUST TRY
Still top 10 in defensive net rating while missing their best perimeter defender & best paint defender for several games. One posession losses to playoff teams could definitely be worse. Kidd's just trying shit with the rotations right now. No reason at all to panic. They'll be fine by all star break.
not exactly a hot take but just an opinion I'd like to put out:
it's pretty annoying and blatantly disrespectful when media personalities, analysts, players, or even nba content creators mispronounce surnames of (usually non-American) nba players
continuously saying /jow-kich/ instead of /yo-kich/ for Jokic; /ri-chuh-sar/ or /ri-sa-cher/ for Zaccharie Risacher; or mispronouncing names like Antetokounmpo, Nowitzki, or Wembanyama (which has syllables that couldn't be clearer) is just unprofessional and embarrassing considering that that's their job
I think luka needs a coach or member of mavs staff that actually motivates him to perform, like how phil jackson did that for the bulls
What I learned so far about Luka is to not doubt him! Never doubt him! Same shit we heard last season and the season before and he still ends up as the by far best playoff performer of all. Learn your lessons, kids! Or go cry with your darling Booker.
You are blatantly ignoring the conversation.
Rusty doin video breakdowns? 2025 finna be elite.
tysm!!
He’s slowly moving towards Embiid status with me
How? Luka was just in the finals
My problem with Luka is that he relies solely on his natural talent. Does not work on fundamentals, defense, or conditioning. That game against okc without him was really an eye opener. The ball movement and shot selection was so much better. Love Luka but he needs to step up
They had 10 more turnovers, shot worse than OKC, and Kyrie/Grimes/Klay were outscored 81 - 38. It was eye opening all right.
@ first why mention grimes over PJ? He’s primarily our starter, grimes usually the bench. Second OKC has always had good defense and if you think having Luka on floor wouldn’t cause TOs I’m no sure what to tell. Luka just need to rest up and improve defense. He is still our best player but we have yet to see due to his injuries
@@paolablanco1993 because Grimes started the two games Luka didn’t play. Their starting 1-2-3 outscored ours by more than double. The ONLY reason Dallas won (by 2) is that the centers and PJ utterly dominated a team that had no big men available to play. So our shot selection and defense got crushed.
Luka is easily one of the guys that goes from my favourite player to watch to one of the most unnerving with the constant complaining and not taking any accountability on defense. It's exciting and disappointing to watch such a talented athlete being this lazy.
“Palm upward to complain” is the most relevant Luka play by play I’ve ever seen. 😂
I blame the “Luka is the best player in the world even though he lost in the finals and had the most blow-bys defensively in a decade but it’s fine because look at what he does on offense” crowd. I kept saying how can we say he’s better than Tatum when he has a clear weakness that encompasses half the sport? Jokic, Giannis, Tatum, SGA. If nothing else you get full effort on both side and they’re in shape!
Can you do a video about how bad Jamal Murray has become, he is so ass this year
That's the problem with being a genius. No one ever tells you anything and you end up not even caring.
Also I don't believe people are just "dogpiling" on him when his offense slips. His defense is just so bad that when he isn't producing incredible offense, his overall value is much lower.
What are we even doing here? Lmao you picked ONE bad gad game and said THIS IS LUKA DONCIC, check Luka Doncic defensive metrics, like ISO defense ppp, steals and deflections, DRTG, on/off
Or watch the game. Eye test shows luka is ass on defense. But he can be a good to great defender when he actually gives effort. Key word "effort" which luka lacks on defense
He is 6’8. Fat and sloppy. Are lost? It’s exactly like how it sounds and looks. He needs to get in shape and work on his defense. Because u cannot lean on offense every night. Especially HIS OFFENSE.
he has serious weight problem too and these days he stays on bench more due to his weight.
Luka is just a white James harden but he’s way more clutch in the playoffs
"I'm quite certainly sliding him down to number 3"
So do I... to number 3 in Dallas 😁
Luka first 6 years
Games 400
Minutes 13,9443
PER 25.7
TS 58.8%
USG 35.7%
WS/48 0.176
OBPM 6.6
DBPM 1.2
BPM 7.8
VORP 34.3
ORTG 115
DRTG 110
47.0% FG / 34.7% 3P / 74.7% FT
28.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.5 blocks, 4.0 turnovers
Harden's first 6 years with Rockets
Games 467
Minutes 17,366
PER 25.9
TS 60.9%
USG 31.9%
WS/48 0.237
OBPM 6.6
DBPM 0.9
BPM 7.5
VORP 41.6
ORTG 118
DRTG 106
44.3% FG / 36.3% 3P / 85.8% FT
27.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 7.7 assists 1.7 steals, 0.6 blocks, 4.4 turnovers
So they have nearly identical stat and advanced stat lines.
However, Luka's stats is including his rookie season starting at age 19 up to 24 (last year), whereas Harden's stats starts at age 23 with playing nearly 3 full seasons with OKC as a "bench" player even though he averaged 22.9, 26.7, and 31.4 minutes throughout those 3 seasons. Also James Harden's age 28 season (his 6th year in these stats) was his MVP year.
Also regarding USG%, I do not know how much stock you want to put into it, but out of Luka's 6 full seasons, he has had a USG% of 30% or higher in ALL 6 of them. In James Harden's CAREER, he has had 6 seasons with 30% or higher USG%. However, Luka has FIVE (5) Seasons of USG% of 36%+, James Harden only had Three USG% seasons of 36% (however, he had a season of 40.47% USG which is just bonkers. Only Russell Westbrook at 41.65% USG% is higher than Harden's all-time and they are the only 2 to crack the 40%+ usg% in a season).
Out of career USG%, Luka is #1 right now at 35.5%. There are only 16 NBA players of all-time with a career USG% of 30 or greater and only 8 of them have played at least 10 full seasons of NBA with an avg of 30 minutes a game (24,600 or more) and 2 of those 8 players are going to fall off the 30% usg rate most likely very soon (Kevin Durant at 30.1 and Devin Booker at 30.1)
My problem with Luka is that he is capable of playing decent defence and he proved it in the playoffs last season. The finals were different because Luka returned to his old hero ball tactics due to his teammates not able to hit wide open threes or layups. I know it’s only the pels but that game showed what his game could look like if he doesn’t has to carry the offence alone and isn’t sleeping on defence. As for the complaining and flopping everybody is doing that. Luka does it the LeBron way which is pissing people off more easily to lebrons history. I hope that he’s finally starting to mature. Many generational superstars like Jordan or LeBron who had an incredible high usage took a while to finally win and I still believe that Luka can get over the hump. Everything is on him now and Kidd needs to do better too. He needs to come up with a better and less predictable offensive scheme beside iso Luka or iso Kyrie.
real ogs know this is a reupload
Luka contracted James Harden Syndrome
Luka is sacrificing his knees and all the media can do is talk about how bad he’s playing, like his knees aren’t bleeding every night. The NBA media is just as trash as its fan base fr
Then he should just rest bro. How hard is that to understand?!
I believe he will play his way into last years form probably right before the all star break but his attitude towards missed calls and his cone defense needs to change ASAP. He’s playing like an entitled spoiled kid that got the wrong color iPhone on their birthday
Most of Lukas issue is really that the Mavs don't seem competent enough to put players around him that supports his style.. Orlando Shaq, Yao Ming, Dwight Howard and Stephen Curry are all templates that the Mavericks completely neglected
So, we're just going to lie now? First of all, Shaq, Yao, and Dwight were all CENTERS, and Steph is a much different type of guard than Luka; you can't build around him the same way you would build around those guys. Secondly, the Mavs have put more than competent players around Luka since Nico Harrison took over from Kyrie to Lively to PJ to Klay, so don't even try that. It's on Luka to make the changes now, and he STILL has not done it.
@urbaindelva7869 you completely missed the point.. I could've named Iverson and others.. People that aren't dense kinda got the point
@@urbaindelva7869 When you have a guy for half a decade and can't build around him, YOU Are the problem.. You sound more like a stan not accepting reality.. I don't even like Luka but throwing random people together and taking what you can get isn't trying to build around a superstar.. I can't with you homers
No player that averages multiple minutes per game arguing calls or whining about them is great.
The only thing that makes sense as far as the complaining after defensive breakdowns is that their team strategy is for someone at the rim to constantly yell out the coverage. Like maybe they've agreed beforehand that when Luka is involved in defending two man action, Lively or whoever has to yell out "Chase!" or "Ice!" or "Switch!", and if he doesn't, Luka will just stand there like a 2k player without a controller plugged in.
This sounds pretty stupid, but then again I did just see Collin Sexton treat him like a traffic cone while practicing a FT line jumpshot drill.
And Dallas is winning without Luka. That should be a warning sign for Luka to change his statpadding ballhog style to team oriented style. Also he has to work hard like MJ, Kobe, Wilt (he lifts 600 pounds), LeBron or Giannis or even Jokic.
Tbf I can excuse a lot when you are for some reason you are STILL bleeding from your knees.
Shai is clearly better than this man
He’s still a crybaby
Deconditioned. Whiny little beach.
Conversation ends.
The “James Harden Defensive Juggernaut” compilations went platnium on NBA YT 😂
Luka.. always complaining.. and when he is carrying the offense its too slow... other team members dont know what to do.. its either he shoots or lobs and thats it
i dont understand why it took this long for everyone to call his ass out
Dallas is scared that Luka maybe hurt and we do not have info. He is like this from before last year play offs. he is probably getting pain injection - how can you knee bleed so long ? when the pain is getting worse - he can not move on defence.
he should be rested, if I'm not wrong he was once again playing for Slovenia during off season instead of recovering his wounds
It's crazy that Luka has been an actual father for over a year now and yet he still acts like an entire child.
I hate when people talk about Luka complaining but ignore every one else(other than Lebron)
Abandoning Twitter for Bluesky is crazy💀
THANKFUCKINGYOUUUUUU!!! I WAS HOPING MY BOY SLIGHTLY BIASED WAS GONNA GET TO THIS, BUT BRO.. IM SEEING HIM WANT TO PLAY NOTHING BUT FORCED OFFENSE THIS SEASON. AND 5% EFFORTS ON DEFENSE IM SOO TIRED OF IT. GET HEALTHY, GET TF IN SHAPE.
Look at us again making conclusions in the regular season
Luka proved year after year that come playoff time hell be there
now that he’s out mavs have been better. never thought id say this but trade luka
On ball defense: F
Off ball defense: F
On bench Defense: A+ 😂
Kamala voter spotted lols
Real ones know it’s an upload
Big fan of this kinda content but just for in future it took way too long to get to the actual game review, but definitely do more of this.
"You buddy" 😂😂
15:34