MUScoop
MUScoop => Hangin' at the Al => Topic started by: Jay Bee on January 15, 2017, 09:16:46 AM
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Some of the commentary on Luke is bizarre. The fact is he'll be missed next year and he's extremely valuable to this year's team.
There are 24 D-I players who are "regulars" (defined in this post as having played at least 50% of their team's minutes) with a usage of > 20% and an ORtg of 125 or better. Luke is one of them.
His DR% isn't good for his size and position (13.3%), but it is a career high. His OR%, conversely, is top 25 in the nation. The guy is shooting 63.2% FG (also eFG% - doesn't attempt 3's) -- good for top 50 in the nation, and he's shooting a strong 59.4% against adjusted-top-100 opponents. His turnover rate has dropped to a career low 14.2%.
The criticisms most have of him are ones that have existed for years -- nothing to be overly alarmed about as though some new issues have arisen.
A list of the 24 is below. He's in good company.
Lauri Markkanen Arizona
Vladimir Brodziansky TCU
Luke Kennard Duke
TJ Leaf UCLA
Eric Garcia Wofford
Dexter Werner North Dakota St.
Josh Hart Villanova
Malik Monk Kentucky
Egor Koulechov Rice
Frank Mason III Kansas
Moritz Wagner Michigan
Joel Berry II North Carolina
James Blackmon Jr. Indiana
Chris Boucher Oregon
Isaiah Johnson Akron
Jeffrey Carroll Oklahoma St.
Justin Tuoyo Chattanooga
Monte Morris Iowa St.
Lucas Woodhouse Stony Brook
Peyton Aldridge Davidson
Matt O'Leary IUPUI
Markus Howard Marquette
Justin Jackson North Carolina
Luke Fischer Marquette
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Peolple always look at scoring and he is not scoring much lately. However, I think the offense has rotated away from jamming the ball into Fischer and looking more for the shooters. That I think is a good idea. I never liked Fischer having a few fouls trying to back down the opposing center starting five feet from the basket to take a hook shot. I think the Wisconsin game was the turning point. In that game Gard had his players double Fischer whenever he got the ball and would ntry to steal if from him when he put the ball on the floor. Every future opponent would see that in their scouting and I will give Wojo credit for for going to a different offense to prevent the double team. Fischer has never been a great rebounder.
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I said it elsewhere, but if I were an opposing coach at this point, I would make Luke beat you. Don't double. They are moving the ball too well right now.
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Some of the commentary on Luke is bizarre. The fact is he'll be missed next year and he's extremely valuable to this year's team.
There are 24 D-I players who are "regulars" (defined in this post as having played at least 50% of their team's minutes) with a usage of > 20% and an ORtg of 125 or better. Luke is one of them.
His DR% isn't good for his size and position (13.3%), but it is a career high. His OR%, conversely, is top 25 in the nation. The guy is shooting 63.2% FG (also eFG% - doesn't attempt 3's) -- good for top 50 in the nation, and he's shooting a strong 59.4% against adjusted-top-100 opponents. His turnover rate has dropped to a career low 14.2%.
The criticisms most have of him are ones that have existed for years -- nothing to be overly alarmed about as though some new issues have arisen.
A list of the 24 is below. He's in good company.
Lauri Markkanen Arizona
Vladimir Brodziansky TCU
Luke Kennard Duke
TJ Leaf UCLA
Eric Garcia Wofford
Dexter Werner North Dakota St.
Josh Hart Villanova
Malik Monk Kentucky
Egor Koulechov Rice
Frank Mason III Kansas
Moritz Wagner Michigan
Joel Berry II North Carolina
James Blackmon Jr. Indiana
Chris Boucher Oregon
Isaiah Johnson Akron
Jeffrey Carroll Oklahoma St.
Justin Tuoyo Chattanooga
Monte Morris Iowa St.
Lucas Woodhouse Stony Brook
Peyton Aldridge Davidson
Matt O'Leary IUPUI
Markus Howard Marquette
Justin Jackson North Carolina
Luke Fischer Marquette
Church!
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Jay Bee, I agree with your general premises, I think Luke gets ragged on way too much. But how did you get Luke's usage numbers? I have him at 13% usage.
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I said it elsewhere, but if I were an opposing coach at this point, I would make Luke beat you. Don't double. They are moving the ball too well right now.
True. It is disappointing that Luke's offensive game as regressed this year. It seems that he does the hook shot or dunk and misses too many. His moves are limited. What is most troublesome is his poor defense and minimal rebounding. He doesn't seem to know how to defend without fouling.
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My only one bummer moment on Luke this season so far was the missed layup/dunk vs seton hall. But then again cheatham did the same thing 15 seconds later.
Luke is an asset but we have soooo many good shooters right now that Luke will have some 2pt games.
Then when no one can hit a 3, hopefully Luke will have about 12 points.
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Jay Bee, I agree with your general premises, I think Luke gets ragged on way too much. But how did you get Luke's usage numbers? I have him at 13% usage.
Dean Oliver method via spreadsheets. Should be the same as what KenPom uses as well (20.9%).
True. It is disappointing that Luke's offensive game as regressed this year. It seems that he does the hook shot or dunk and misses too many.
The problem with these comments is that they don't match up with the facts
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True. It is disappointing that Luke's offensive game as regressed this year. It seems that he does the hook shot or dunk and misses too many. His moves are limited. What is most troublesome is his poor defense and minimal rebounding. He doesn't seem to know how to defend without fouling.
Most of Lukes fouls are initiated by poor defense on the wings.
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Most of Lukes fouls are initiated by poor defense on the wings.
Most of Luke's fouls are initiated by him making incredibly dumb contact while HE is on the wing.
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True. It is disappointing that Luke's offensive game as regressed this year. It seems that he does the hook shot or dunk and misses too many. His moves are limited. What is most troublesome is his poor defense and minimal rebounding. He doesn't seem to know how to defend without fouling.
His game has not regressed. He is shooting better, rebounding better and turning over the ball less. His OR is by far the highest of his career.
He is fouling more, even on a per possession basis but his defense is pretty much what it has been.
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Most of Lukes fouls are initiated by poor defense on the wings.
Yes. Penetration into the lane.
Most of Luke's fouls are initiated by him making incredibly dumb contact while HE is on the wing.
I don't think that's the case at all.
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Yes. Penetration into the lane.
I don't think that's the case at all.
agreed. We notice those more but they are not the majority.
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Most of Luke's fouls are initiated by him making incredibly dumb contact while HE is on the wing.
HE hasn't been on the wing since last year.
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Most of Lukes fouls are initiated by poor defense on the wings.
I don't know if it's MOST, but Luke coming over from the weak side after JJJ doesn't box out has certainly put Luke in a bad spot.
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Yes. Penetration into the lane.
But based on how we handle ball screens, the penetration into the lane often happens because Luke is out of position and not maintaining his proper role in either hedging or ICE'ing.
His fouls often come because he has slow feet out at the perimeter and is out of position in his ball screen defense. You can't blame the wings for this...it is either on Luke, or Wojo (for not adjusting to Luke's weaknesses).
This whole thread starts from an offensive perspective on Luke. Like Gardner, no-one discredits Luke's offensive skills. It is his defense that is bad. Luke's DRtg is 114.4. That is as bad as his ORtg is good.
The problem for MU is that we have plenty of offense, we need the defensive stopper down low. That's just not the player Luke is, he's a talented player, just not a defensive stopper.
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I ripped Luke for not getting a defensive rebound in two games. No excuse for that. Wojo benched him, and others with strong bball understanding also spoke of the issues. Some on this board feel he is great at boxing out and allowing for others to get rebounds...I find that ridiculous.
I don't think MU can plan to run their offense through Luke because you can't count on him to be in the game.
I certainly believe he is our best big, a nice kid, and hard worker. He will be missed next year. In a world where quality bigs are hard to find, he was a good get. I like what heldt gives us as well, and I like the size of our future recruits, but I'm sure we will miss Fischer next year.
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My bias always goes to versatility and how a player can score versus just straight scoring. Luke isn't a very versatile player. He is a back to the basket or receiver of a dish for a dunk. His offensive rating show that high shooting % as he is close to the basket.
It would have be great if he would have developed a 10 foot jumper as that helps keep the lane clear for wings.
I think we can all agree that Luke is not the most athletic big which is fine but that limits his upside. Luke would be a great 6, 7, 8th guy but he is in the 2-4 range on this team. He will be missed next year if we don't get a more versatile player. I called this my Brian Wardle Theory. No matter how many points they score, if your best player wouldn't start for other team then your team isn't that good. I think this is also visible with Duane. Duane was a Top 3 player for us last year but know he is 6 or 7th. As a team, we got better so Duane, as an individual, plays and scores less. We haven't gotten a better player than Luke yet but that doesn't mean he would play at Butler, Creighton, Nova and Xavier so MU's ceiling is limited.
Heldt and Luke are like the exact opposite. Matt is quicker footed but lacks the upper body control. Luke has good upper body but lacks foot speed. Luke is good at offense while Heldt is good on Defense.
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My bias always goes to versatility and how a player can score versus just straight scoring. Luke isn't a very versatile player. He is a back to the basket or receiver of a dish for a dunk. His offensive rating show that high shooting % as he is close to the basket.
It would have be great if he would have developed a 10 foot jumper as that helps keep the lane clear for wings.
I think we can all agree that Luke is not the most athletic big which is fine but that limits his upside. Luke would be a great 6, 7, 8th guy but he is in the 2-4 range on this team. He will be missed next year if we don't get a more versatile player. I called this my Brian Wardle Theory. No matter how many points they score, if your best player wouldn't start for other team then your team isn't that good. I think this is also visible with Duane. Duane was a Top 3 player for us last year but know he is 6 or 7th. As a team, we got better so Duane, as an individual, plays and scores less. We haven't gotten a better player than Luke yet but that doesn't mean he would play at Butler, Creighton, Nova and Xavier so MU's ceiling is limited.
Heldt and Luke are like the exact opposite. Matt is quicker footed but lacks the upper body control. Luke has good upper body but lacks foot speed. Luke is good at offense while Heldt is good on Defense.
actually, Luke has good foot speed as he runs the court well. What he lacks is lateral quickness.
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actually, Luke has good foot speed as he runs the court well. What he lacks is lateral quickness.
Matt has a lot more Stoutness than Luke and that is one of the reason his minutes are Increasing.
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actually, Luke has good foot speed as he runs the court well. What he lacks is lateral quickness.
You are correct, he does not have lateral quickness but he also doesn't have a quick movements in general. You can see that as he tries to recover back to his assignment. Also I can't say he runs the court well. When was the last time he was on a fast break or got back on defense to stop it. Getting back on defense isn't running the floor well.
Compare that to Matt, Matt is not a world record holder but he has much better speed.
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But based on how we handle ball screens, the penetration into the lane often happens because Luke is out of position and not maintaining his proper role in either hedging or ICE'ing.
His fouls often come because he has slow feet out at the perimeter and is out of position in his ball screen defense. You can't blame the wings for this...it is either on Luke, or Wojo (for not adjusting to Luke's weaknesses).
This whole thread starts from an offensive perspective on Luke. Like Gardner, no-one discredits Luke's offensive skills. It is his defense that is bad. Luke's DRtg is 114.4. That is as bad as his ORtg is good.
The problem for MU is that we have plenty of offense, we need the defensive stopper down low. That's just not the player Luke is, he's a talented player, just not a defensive stopper.
Agree with this his offense might be better, but my issue is he is easy to defend by other good bigs as his offensive game has never developed he has never expanded his game. His drop step against seton hall is the only one i have ever seen. He posts 16 feet from the basket. Not one up and under since hes been here. And he does not rebound at the level of his matchup in the BiG east.
On the defensive end he is extremely slow and seems to get mental taken out of games. He has been a below par 5 in The BiG East.
Im sure hes a great kid off the the court just not a basketball player thats gonna win his matchup in the Big East.
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actually, Luke has good foot speed as he runs the court well. What he lacks is lateral quickness.
Runs the floor well is speed. Foot speed is quickness, typically of the lateral variety.
He's fine with speed, poor with quickness.
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I said it elsewhere, but if I were an opposing coach at this point, I would make Luke beat you. Don't double. They are moving the ball too well right now.
Agree 100% - and I think Luke is a good player.
I would rather take my chances with Luke backing in and making a hook. If it goes in, it's only 2 points. And whether it goes in or not, it slows down the pace of our offense.
DePaul, showing how poorly coached they are, did the opposite of what you and I advocate and it cost them dearly.
If I'm coaching against MU, I defend Luke straight-up and I never leave either Hauser or Howard open on the perimeter. Easier said than done, perhaps, but Wisconsin showed how relatively easy it is to take Hauser out of the game as an offensive weapon.
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My bias always goes to versatility and how a player can score versus just straight scoring. Luke isn't a very versatile player. He is a back to the basket or receiver of a dish for a dunk. His offensive rating show that high shooting % as he is close to the basket.
It would have be great if he would have developed a 10 foot jumper as that helps keep the lane clear for wings.
I think we can all agree that Luke is not the most athletic big which is fine but that limits his upside. Luke would be a great 6, 7, 8th guy but he is in the 2-4 range on this team. He will be missed next year if we don't get a more versatile player. I called this my Brian Wardle Theory. No matter how many points they score, if your best player wouldn't start for other team then your team isn't that good. I think this is also visible with Duane. Duane was a Top 3 player for us last year but know he is 6 or 7th. As a team, we got better so Duane, as an individual, plays and scores less. We haven't gotten a better player than Luke yet but that doesn't mean he would play at Butler, Creighton, Nova and Xavier so MU's ceiling is limited.
Heldt and Luke are like the exact opposite. Matt is quicker footed but lacks the upper body control. Luke has good upper body but lacks foot speed. Luke is good at offense while Heldt is good on Defense.
Luke would get major minutes on all those teams. Probably starts for everyone except Creighton.
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Wrong
Does not start for:
Nova
Xavier
Creighton
Butler
Seton hall
Georgetown
He could start for depaul, pc, st johns
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Wrong
Does not start for:
Nova
Xavier
Creighton
Butler
Seton hall
Georgetown
He could start for depaul, pc, st johns
While impossible to prove I think this is completely wrong. I personally would rather have Luke than Darryl Reynolds (Nova), Rashid Gaston (X), Tyler Wideman (Butler), and sophomore Jessie Govan (Georgetown). I would rather have Justin Patton (Creighton) and Angel Delgado (Hall). I think Jessie Govan might be better than Luke in future seasons.
I think you are suffering from backup center syndrome. Except our backup center isn't very good so you are using other team's centers.
Where Luke ranks in some statistical categories in the BE:
2P FGs: 4th
2P FG%: 3rd
Offensive rebounds: 2nd
Total Rebounds: 10th
Blocks: 5th
Rebounds per game: 8th
Blocks per game: 5th
Player Efficiency Rating: 3rd
True Shooting %: 5th
OR%: 2nd
Total Rebounding %: 4th
Block %: 3rd
Offensive Rating: 4th
Offensive Win Shares: 9th
Win Shares per 40: 7th
Defensive Plus/Minus: 9th
I think Luke, like many back to the basket centers, doesn't get properly appreciated. People see his size and assume he should just be dominating everybody. They don't see how much value he brings.
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You see those stats and realize that he must be doing something right. IMO, Luke's only real weakness is defending in space/lateral quickness. He is a solid help defender in the paint. He has good hands. He shoots well. He rebounds. He is not a program changer. He is a solid D1 center. There is no shame in that. We as fans sometimes get so caught up in the trivia and the nitpicking that we fail to see the big picture and keep a sense of perspective. Luke is a good (not great) center who has represented MU well. He is fallible and makes mistakes like anyone. Like all of us. Quit holding him to an unreasonable standard.
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TAMU nailed it. We look at our own players and find faults. We don't see those same faults (or worse) in opposing players because we don't see them often enough and/or are not emotionally attached to the situation.
Therefore, those who see Luke's shortcomings and not his strengths convince themselves that he is the worst center in the history of mankind.
It's human nature, but it's also just as silly and inaccurate as those who were saying a year ago he had a great chance to be an NBA pro.
As tower said, Luke is a solid D1 center, nothing more and nothing less.
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For years, we had the Gardner/Otule tandem. Luke isn't as good offensively as Gardner on offense and isn't as good defensively as Otule, but he's a better two way player than either. If you combined Gardner and Otule's best assets, you'd have an All-American. I think many thought that would be Luke, especially with how he played as a sophomore in conference games. He's our best center since Robert Jackson. No, he doesn't match Gardner offensively, but as a complete player, he's better.
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Great line today by Luke.
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I can deal with the lack of offense. His lack of ability on defense when the offense just waltzes down the lane over and over is maddening.
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Luke played a decent first half despite the box score. Second half, not so much.
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When he played defense, he got called for a foul. The first one in particular was utter crap.
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When he played defense, he got called for a foul. The first one in particular was utter crap.
The others weren't. He needs to move his feet.
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Out of position, no help on rim protection. What happened? Run some fricking plays
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The others weren't. He needs to move his feet.
Agreed. I think it has been established that he lacks lateral quickness.
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Agreed. I think it has been established that he lacks lateral quickness.
I also think he lacks awareness. I don't know. He's a solid guy who has improved, but he's just simply not good enough.
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Brew u think fischer bettr than davante u are nuts. Davante battled luke stands
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The others weren't. He needs to move his feet.
He also doesn't seem to be able to just keep his arms straight up when defending inside. He almost always brings his arms down to go for the block, which is almost always promptly followed by a whistle.
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I don't give s*** about these metrics to be honest. They are cool and I see the value in them but today...You tell me all these metrics and I look at the dude on the floor and I say bench him.
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Brew u think fischer bettr than davante u are nuts. Davante battled luke stands
Defensively, yes. As bad as Luke was in the second half, he's still on the whole better defensively. Offensively, Gardner was better, but Luke's more complete.
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Brew u think fischer bettr than davante u are nuts. Davante battled luke stands
Time has fogged your memory of 'avante's defense.
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Davante was slow as molasses on D but he was so strong and wide opponents could not push him around or bully him in the post. Luke gets physically abused by anyone taller than 6-8 or weighing more than 210.
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Defensively, yes. As bad as Luke was in the second half, he's still on the whole better defensively. Offensively, Gardner was better, but Luke's more complete.
Only problem is that Luke is currently in super slump.
He has 4 points, 3 rebounds and had fouled out twice in last two games.
With this production, MU is in serious trouble unless he breaks this thing.
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Only problem is that Luke is currently in super slump.
He has 4 points, 3 rebounds and had fouled out twice in last two games.
With this production, MU is in serious trouble unless he breaks this thing.
Our offensive production is NOT an issue.
Our defense is
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Our offensive production is NOT an issue.
Our defense is
Correct.
No power forward or strong center results in what we saw today. Unfortunately I do not see solution from what has been demonstrated to date. Very unfortunate since we are a much better team than last year and are one player away from a very tough out. Still keeping the hope that someone in the front line will step up but it is looking a bit bleak.
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Correct.
No power forward or strong center results in what we saw today. Unfortunately I do not see solution from what has been demonstrated to date. Very unfortunate since we are a much better team than last year and are one player away from a very tough out. Still keeping the hope that someone in the front line will step up but it is looking a bit bleak.
I will be the first to admit I'm a huge Wojo fan. And I agree with you. I'm hoping he gets into Hauser or KR's ear and asks them to be a defensive leader in the front court.
I love Luke, but his D just isn't there.
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Our offensive production is NOT an issue.
Our defense is
Ive said the same, we are one of tge top scoring teams in the nation. Luke doesnt play D and doesnt rebound. We play 4 on 5 on defense. Get him out play heldt
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You see those stats and realize that he must be doing something right. IMO, Luke's only real weakness is defending in space/lateral quickness. He is a solid help defender in the paint. He has good hands. He shoots well. He rebounds. He is not a program changer. He is a solid D1 center. There is no shame in that. We as fans sometimes get so caught up in the trivia and the nitpicking that we fail to see the big picture and keep a sense of perspective. Luke is a good (not great) center who has represented MU well. He is fallible and makes mistakes like anyone. Like all of us. Quit holding him to an unreasonable standard.
Amen.
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Amen.
OK lets assume we are holding Luke to an unreasonable standard. I think we also generally agree that our weak interior defense was a key cause for the loss. So now you are the coach what would you do to turn this into a win in our next meeting? Or do we just say they are just a better time so move on?
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Our offensive production is NOT an issue.
Our defense is
If our offense isn't the problem but our defense is shouldn't we then sub-out slump offense for better defense. If Luke's value add is offense and he isn't scoring points or getting offensive rebounds then shouldn't we try something new. Start Heldt, move to a small line up.
I try to be as objective as possible and not be negative on a player. If Luke is our best option we should adjust expectations according and shouldn't rip into Wojo and the team.
For games with athletic big men, we should also go smaller. In the midget days, Lazar played center. Maybe KR goes low or shift Hauser over. That would be interesting to see people guard.
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I'm not really all that convinced that Heldt is that much better of a defender.
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I'm not really all that convinced that Heldt is that much better of a defender.
Same. But i have to say heldt played well when he was in there today
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Where is the coaching? We can't stop lAyups or bunnies. Luke is awful on defense and not much on rebounding. I blame the coaching.
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I'm not really all that convinced that Heldt is that much better of a defender.
For all the times I've heard the claim that Luke fouls at an incredible rate, it's odd to rarely hear about Heldt's huge fouling issue... down to 7.5/40 after yesterday
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I cant wait to see how heldt and fisher play against Creighton's big men
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That could be painful
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For all the times I've heard the claim that Luke fouls at an incredible rate, it's odd to rarely hear about Heldt's huge fouling issue... down to 7.5/40 after yesterday
Not odd at all...Luke has only had 2 or fewer fouls in 3 games this season, while Heldt has had 2 or fewer fouls 13 times. People don't look at the per-minute numbers, they look at raw totals.
But your point is well made ;)
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I wish we could hire Mac or Jim Chones or some other MU great big man to coach our bigs how to play defense. Obviously Fischer and Heldt are not being coached well. Teams are reading the scouting reports that they should go to the rim because there is little resistance.
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I wish we could hire Mac or Jim Chones or some other MU great big man to coach our bigs how to play defense. Obviously Fischer and Heldt are not being coached well. Teams are reading the scouting reports that they should go to the rim because there is little resistance.
If only we could find a big man coach who had a track record of sending virtually every big man he worked with to the NBA...hmm...where could we find such a man?
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Do you-know-what what would be even better than a couch who sent a boatload of bigs to the NBA? One who did the same with the Olympic team.
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If only we could find a big man coach who had a track record of sending virtually every big man he worked with to the NBA...hmm...where could we find such a man?
In fairness, the big guys that Wojo "sent" to the NBA were probably headed for the Association if I was the coach. Did he coach them up or were they just really good?
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In fairness, the big guys that Wojo "sent" to the NBA were probably headed for the Association if I was the coach. Did he coach them up or were they just really good?
I think you give Josh McRoberts, Ryan Kelly and the Plumlees too much credit.
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I think you give Josh McRoberts, Ryan Kelly and the Plumlees too much credit.
Outside of Mason Plumlee, a group of college underachievers who made it to the pros on natural ability, size and athleticism.
Mason also made it to the pros on those qualities, but he was a beast in college.
All highly rated recruits who were expected to be pros from the day they stepped on campus.
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Outside of Mason Plumlee, a group of college underachievers who made it to the pros on natural ability, size and athleticism.
Mason also made it to the pros on those qualities, but he was a beast in college.
All highly rated recruits who were expected to be pros from the day they stepped on campus.
Wojo only coaches the easy bigs.
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Outside of Mason Plumlee, a group of college underachievers who made it to the pros on natural ability, size and athleticism.
Mason also made it to the pros on those qualities, but he was a beast in college.
All highly rated recruits who were expected to be pros from the day they stepped on campus.
That's nothing but BS excuses. Plenty of highly rated players coming out of high school never make it to the pros. Wojo had a solid reputation for keeping those guys on track and getting them to the next level. When it comes to having a proven track record of working with big men, there are few better in the country at this level. Now that said, as a head coach, he has a broader focus so that responsibility may not be all on him, but the fact remains we have a guy who has proven repeatedly over the years that he can effectively teach and train bigs to get them not just to elite NCAA level but also to play in the NBA.
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That's nothing but BS excuses. Plenty of highly rated players coming out of high school never make it to the pros. Wojo had a solid reputation for keeping those guys on track and getting them to the next level. When it comes to having a proven track record of working with big men, there are few better in the country at this level. Now that said, as a head coach, he has a broader focus so that responsibility may not be all on him, but the fact remains we have a guy who has proven repeatedly over the years that he can effectively teach and train bigs to get them not just to elite NCAA level but also to play in the NBA.
Fair enough, but relatively speaking he was playing with a bit of a stacked deck at Duke. Send enough top 30 big guys at a coach and some of em are bound to hit.
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Reality is that So no was a scrappy guard not a big. He obviously doesn't know how to coach bigs and has no one on staff capable of teaching bigs how to protect the rim.
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But he DID coach the bigs at Duke and for the Olympic team.
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Reality is that So no was a scrappy guard not a big. He obviously doesn't know how to coach bigs and has no one on staff capable of teaching bigs how to protect the rim.
First, who's "So no"? Second, Wojo was the big man coach for Duke and the US Olympic team. So your comment is the height of stupidity and ignorance. But thanks for playing.
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Ok so Luke is not the problem it is the coach or Luke is the problem and the coaching is great. How about we skip all that and let the experts on this board explain in simple terms what Luke needs to do to defend the rim. Frankly with the offense on this team I do not care if he scores a point as long as he effectively protects the rim.
How about it experts give Luke and or Wojo the advise they need to win.
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First, who's "So no"? Second, Wojo was the big man coach for Duke and the US Olympic team. So your comment is the height of stupidity and ignorance. But thanks for playing.
My phone changed "Wojo." Your comment is bogus as per the awful defensive play of our bigs.
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My phone changed "Wojo." Your comment is bogus as per the awful defensive play of our bigs.
Uhh...no.
Wojciechowski's specialty at Duke was working with bigs (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=152860). He was the big man coach from the time he was initially hired as a full assistant in 1999 until Jeff Capel joined the Duke bench in 2011 (http://archive.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/253378391.html). In his time there, here is the list of Duke forwards that were drafted to the NBA:
2000 Chris Carrawell
2001 Shane Battier
2002 Carlos Boozer & Mike Dunleavy
2003 Dahntay Jones
2004 Luol Deng
2006 Shelden Williams
2007 Josh McRoberts
2011 Kyle Singler
You don't have to like it, but the fact is that Wojo spent more than a decade as the big man coach at Duke before transitioning to guards his last three years there. He sent numerous bigs to the NBA and was credited with the development of these players.
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So why the awful play of our bigs??? Teams drive at will on us.
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So why the awful play of our bigs??? Teams drive at will on us.
Maybe they aren't that good.
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So why the awful play of our bigs??? Teams drive at will on us.
Haven't we covered this?
Luke in particular lacks the foot speed to be an adequate rim protector. He was better in a zone because the other defenders funneled players to him rather than trying to stay in front of them, which requires Luke to adjust when the defense breaks down. Matt might be a little quicker, but not by a ton and he's incredibly foul-prone.
When you compare what we do to what Duke does, it's largely personnel that separates us. While many teams could say that when it comes to Duke's level of recruiting, their scheme seems to try to pair two bigs. They usually have a space-eater (think the Plumlees) that they use in tandem with an athletic forward that have length and shot-blocking ability (the Ingram or Jefferson types). Of course, being Duke, sometimes they get the golden goose type, like Jahlil Okafor, and then they win the whole damn thing.
Our roster has the former but lacks the latter. So when Luke and Matt aren't quick enough to make their rotations, there's no secondary player down low that can protect the rim and block or alter shots. The hope is that next year we will have both space eaters (Heldt and Froling) and more athletic bigs that can block shots (John and Eke). How we will play them all at once, and how everyone will mesh remains to be seen, but that seems to be the blueprint.
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With this defense, we said even preseason with the roster make up, it is pick your poison. Because of lack of height, Wojo picked to press out on the perimeter versus protecting the paint. Butler and Nova attacked the paint to space the perimeter, thus exposing our talent and seeing a shytstorm of points in the paint and perimeter.
Not bad luck but great coaching. Wojo needs to counter with adjustments.
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Brew u think fischer bettr than davante u are nuts. Davante battled luke stands
Pleez telll me u did'nt majur in Englsh.
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Hi guys, how's it going?
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A good game so far
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Great win. Fischer played his best game.