(02-02-2021, 12:00 AM)Fuerza1 Wrote: [ -> ]Well, you do not need to convince me the Mavs offense is not the right one for Luka despite the Mavs having the "best offense ever" last year. I mean, unless the only thing you care about is Luka producing monster stat lines and triple doubles.
But I am just an internet poster who knows nothing compared to the great Rick Carlisle. And anyone who doubts him is just a salty Rockets fan. Or something like that, someone fill in the rest?
I would be ready to move on from Carlisle if there were a competent replacement waiting in the wings. No one has satisfactorily answered the question of who his replacement is. The most intelligent response I have heard is, "all great coaches start out as young coaches; go out and get one of those, but then, I have no trust in this FO to pick the right guy." The next best response was Terry Stotts, but I think you'd have to pay him about double what he's making now to get him to leave Portland and "betray" his mentor by replacing him.
Who's your pick for RC's replacement?
(02-01-2021, 11:53 PM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]NOTE: I could be wrong and Luka might not be transcendent, but that is a much more depressing reality I am not ready to accept as a fan.
I don't see how a 21 year old doing the things he's doing isn't transcendent. And that's just by going by counting stats. How he moves and the passes he makes reminds me of the best to ever do it.
Luka is not as great as we think <----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
X----------> RC is not as great as we think
I'm way closer to blaming the coach. Luka is a talent, and it's up to the coach to harness it properly. RC has made a LOT of mistakes so far this year especially late in the game.
Fail foul against PHX, MIL didn't call a timeout, weird rotations, weird offense/defense choices like drop coverage or lack of Luka post-ups. RC would be on the hot seat if it was me, but Cubes is probably too invested in him at this point.
(02-02-2021, 12:37 AM)Scott41theMavs Wrote: [ -> ]No one has satisfactorily answered the question of who his replacement is.
I'd be interested in Jay Wright from Nova as a name to throw out there. Maybe call Phil Jackson out of retirement?
Kenny Atkinson is another interesting name. Mike D'antoni could do wonders on offense with Luka/KP.
Are any of these guys individually better than RC? Probably not. But maybe RC is starting to get tuned out and a fresh voice is needed.
(02-02-2021, 12:37 AM)Scott41theMavs Wrote: [ -> ]The next best response was Terry Stotts, but I think you'd have to pay him about double what he's making now to get him to leave Portland and "betray" his mentor by replacing him.
Terry Stotts is older than RC and started his coaching career only 1 year later than Rick.
Both and Casey once said all 3 agreed in 2007, when all 3 were just fired, that whoever gets coaching job first will hire the other 2 as assistants, which happened to be Rick.
I think all 3 has strong bond and appreciation to each other, but mentor is strong word. They were more of partners.
That said, do we really want to test Portland on this? For 63 years old coach?
And Portland fans had a lot to say about Stotts being a great coach. Many doubts his ability
(02-02-2021, 10:57 AM)Fuerza1 Wrote: [ -> ]Somebody get Maxi to phone Holger. Luka in Oubre 3PT territory.
https://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1356455380184825862
The bad 3 point shooting on huge volume killing us way more than complaining about calls or whatever other ancillary thing people get obsessed over.
(02-02-2021, 12:03 AM)dirkfansince1998 Wrote: [ -> ]I think I am more on the Luka is not as great as some of us think (still transcendent, generational talent) side. Watching him and CP3 in the last two games he was clearly outplayed by a more experienced player. That´s not on RC. Luka gets to his spot and misses. CP3 gets to his spot and makes the shot.
Maybe the recent losing streak is the humbling experience that Luka needed to unleash his full potential.
So I've been waiting to ask this question many times, but there are so many that come to Luka's defense here that I figured it would get lost in his defense. We all have talked about Russell Westbrook and James Harden being guys that put up empty stats year after year. Guys who can't get it done by themselves. We've also seen posters defend Luka against comparisons of James Harden.
At this point, is Luka an empty stats guy just like RW? Is he more comparable to JH? Both of those guys have accomplished more than him in their careers (RW made the playoffs with a horrible team after JH and KD left and JH has helped Houston make noise in the playoffs even) they are also older, so had more time to accomplish what they did.
(02-02-2021, 02:41 PM)ItsGoTime Wrote: [ -> ]At this point, is Luka an empty stats guy just like RW? Is he more comparable to JH? Both of those guys have accomplished more than him in their careers (RW made the playoffs with a horrible team after JH and KD left and JH has helped Houston make noise in the playoffs even) they are also older, so had more time to accomplish what they did.
Luka isn't an empty stats guy, at least not in the extreme way that people try to apply to other players. You don't completely change the outlook for a franchise in one season the way Luka has by being an empty stats guy. He DOES have a long way to go, imo, to be truly ready to LEAD a team to the next level.
Having said that, I think the empty stats label is laughable when applied to Harden, too, and even a bit unfair as a describer for Westbrook. Maybe old Westbrook, but not young Westbrook. He was a problem. He just never learned to shoot, and the game has evolved to the point where it's damn near impossible to affect the kind of change in the game he's expected to without that skill (this is something Luka needs to improve before it's too late, imo).
(02-02-2021, 02:41 PM)ItsGoTime Wrote: [ -> ]At this point, is Luka an empty stats guy just like RW?
Luka has proven to be a winner everywhere he's went. At the biggest stage in Europe as the main focal point.
I mean sheesh look at where the Mavs were before Luka came. That's his effect. He's also just in his 3rd year in the league. He hasn't even had a chance to put up empty stats.
The narrative of both RW and Harden being empty stat guys come from multiple performances in the playoffs where it mattered most.
Harden Playoff averages with HOU: 27/5/6 on 42/32/86. That is a marked step down to his regular season averages already. But then we look at his points per game in elimination games and its an even further step down to 23.8ppg. Further Harden has 8 games where he's shot below 20% from the field in the playoffs, tied with Bob Cousey for the most any player ever in the playoffs.
Westbrook its the same story, he shoots an abysmal 40% from the field and 29% from 3 over his playoff career.
Now compare that with Luka, which by the way its an unfair comparison because the sample is small, but if we want to label him empty stats we might as well at least look.
Luka playoff averages: 31ppg/9.8rpg/8.7apg on 50/36/65.6. Every single stat is higher than his regular season besides his FT's. In the elimination game Luka put up 38/9/9 on 15/26 (54%), 4/9 from 3 (44%) and it still wasn't enough.
Its far too early to label Luka as an empty stats guy if we even wanted to, but from the small sample size given, you can't even label Luka as empty stats!
(02-02-2021, 02:41 PM)ItsGoTime Wrote: [ -> ]So I've been waiting to ask this question many times, but there are so many that come to Luka's defense here that I figured it would get lost in his defense. We all have talked about Russell Westbrook and James Harden being guys that put up empty stats year after year. Guys who can't get it done by themselves. We've also seen posters defend Luka against comparisons of James Harden.
At this point, is Luka an empty stats guy just like RW? Is he more comparable to JH? Both of those guys have accomplished more than him in their careers (RW made the playoffs with a horrible team after JH and KD left and JH has helped Houston make noise in the playoffs even) they are also older, so had more time to accomplish what they did.
Don´t think Westbrook and Harden are comparable. I think Westbrook even at his best isn´t close to Luka right now and peak Harden is still slightly better than Luka. Like him or not among current players Harden is in a league of his own when it comes to volume scoring on all time great efficiency. We can certainly debate about the lack of playoff success but should at least mention that in four seasons he was eliminated by one of the best teams in league history. Last year he lost vs the LBJ/Davis Lakers.
Westbrook won an MVP award because he averaged a triple double but I am convinced that he never was a top 5 player in the NBA. Below league average scoring efficiency combined with a chucker mentality. Great player but not in the Harden/Doncic conversation.
In my opinion Luka has already proven that he can have a bigger impact on winning than RW. Question is if Luka has what it takes to take the step from great (MVP level) to all time great (top 10 all time). Right now he is still on the right trajectory and it will be interesting to see how he deals with the current situation. I already mentioned it a few days ago. This is the first time in his career that he is not living up to the expectations. First time that he is facing adversity. He is still young and has a lot of time to improve but this could be the defining moment of his career.
Luka’s “empty stats” were the ridiculous amount of free throw attempts he got last year. This year the refs are doing him no favors. Another “empty stat” might be some of his rebounds. He’s usually guarding the worst wing player on the other team and sometimes he cheats off to get the weak side board(or the player next to him allows him to get the board so he can start running the offense immediately). Also, an argument could be made that shooting far too many 3’s at a poor clip is a bad use of possessions that adds to his point total but doesn’t really help the team as well as a better shot would.
That’s a really critical way of looking at him though. He’s playing amazing every game it seems. No other player in the world you want over him(long term). The assists are not empty. His defense this season doesn’t show up much in the stats but has been amazing(opposite of empty stats).
Zach Lowe and Tim Macmahon on the Lowe Post podcast emphasize that
Luka is one of the biggest crybabies in the league. It is so bad that Lowe plans to mention it again in his upcoming "Ten Things" piece.
Tim goes on to say his body language off the ball and in timeouts is an issue, he is always b*****ing at referees, slumping his shoulders, and that Luka is sucking the life out of the team. Zach Lowe says Luka looks like James Harden off the ball. just standing there on offense.
Tim also talks about how Carlisle has LaVar Balled Luka in the media, hyping him up as a leader, when he is not.
It's an enlightening listen, they also talk about damning things about the Mavs offense and how other teams feel about KP (not good), and how centers don't need to guard KP (recites Carlisle's infamous "post play = bad" quote). Still think the team can bounce back but lots of concern right now.
Source:
https://www.espn.com/radio/play/_/id/30822146
And just like that, Luka 3pt percentage is better than last season
(02-06-2021, 11:24 PM)omahen Wrote: [ -> ]And just like that, Luka 3pt percentage is better than last season
...suggesting that the issue was/is his career 3p% rather than some sort of "slump." Hope he improves in this area moving forward.