Davante v Luke

[real chili 83]

Who would you want?

Davante would have had at least 15 today......

Luke, wake up.

[Autoengineer]

Couple things with Luke.  1) He needs to shave that spikey, prep Mohawk into a real Mohawk and then 2) he needs to go on my diet for the offseason.  He'll be weighing 300lbs in no time...it worked for me!   

[GGGG]

He doesn't have good instincts as a back to basket center right now.  He oftentimes gets good entry passes, but then pauses before making a move, which allows the defense to react, and then when he goes up, he avoids contact.  Davante was really old school in how he played the post.

[forgetful]

Depends on what you are looking for.  Defense, Luke by a wide margin.  Offense, clearly Davante. 

The difference is that I think Luke will develop the offensive ability and wants to be a good offensive player.  Davante never seemed interested in playing team defense/defensive rebounding. 

[Autoengineer]

Couple things with Luke.  1) He needs to shave that spikey, prep Mohawk into a real Mohawk and then 2) he needs to go on my diet for the offseason.  He'll be weighing 300lbs in no time...it worked for me!   

and 3) hit the weight room like a madman.

[forgetful]

and 3) hit the weight room like a madman.

I'm not sure he needs more weight, but the weight room will be important.  Needs to be a bit stronger and more explosive.  Long term a better prospect than Davante I think...we'll see though.

[GooooMarquette]

He doesn't have good instincts as a back to basket center right now.  He oftentimes gets good entry passes, but then pauses before making a move, which allows the defense to react, and then when he goes up, he avoids contact.  Davante was really old school in how he played the post.

The pauses have been killers.  Each of the past two games, I've seen Wojo going wild on the sidelines when Luke paused his way out of open looks.  Today on TV, you could clearly see Derrick mouthing "just go up with it" during a dead ball after Luke wasted a great entry pass by Duane.

[chapman]

The pauses have been killers.  Each of the past two games, I've seen Wojo going wild on the sidelines when Luke paused his way out of open looks.  Today on TV, you could clearly see Derrick mouthing "just go up with it" during a dead ball after Luke wasted a great entry pass by Duane.

He definitely needs to improve the timing of his decision-making.  His first struggle a few weeks back against the double team was rushing a shot or making an immediate pass out.  That was fixed almost immediately, but now he's too slow to read the situation and make a move.

[MerrittsMustache]

Too often, Luke's first instinct had been to put the ball on the floor. He's improved that recently but, as others have mentioned, he's now too slow to make a decision. He looks like a guy who's thinking too much when he gets the ball as opposed to just getting the ball and going. Keep in mind that he's only played 23 games at this level.

[#UnleashSean]

Depends on what you are looking for.  Defense, Luke by a wide margin.  Offense, clearly Davante. 

The difference is that I think Luke will develop the offensive ability and wants to be a good offensive player.  Davante never seemed interested in playing team defense/defensive rebounding. 

Ehhh something tells me Davante would have defended better today, but that might just be because Smith would have had 4 fouls on him in 5 minutes of playing Davante.

[HutchwasClutch]

This is another ridiculous thread.  What a shock that Fischer isn't quite a finished product yet.  Because 7 footers ususally are so polished when barely 20 games into their college career, right?!?!  And then comparing him to a guy who just finished a four year MU career, and was a horrid defender all four years at that.  Get a grip people.  Thank God we have him.  

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Right now? Davante by a landslide. But I think Luke will develop into a great two way player by his senior season. If this holds true, then I'd want Luke

[HutchwasClutch]

Gardner = 127 career games

Fischer = 24 career games

Let's start a new thread comparing who we'd want more right now between Sandy Cohen and Jimmy Butler.  This is completely a**inine.

[#UnleashSean]

Gardner = 127 career games

Fischer = 24 career games

Let's start a new thread comparing who we'd want more right now between Sandy Cohen and Jimmy Butler.  This is completely a**inine.

I'd take Cohen, hes outperforming butler's first year.

[tower912]

Luke has a habit of 'turtling' when he gets the ball down low in traffic.  He looks like a 5th grader.   But he plays hard on both ends of the floor, runs the floor, and doesn't pout.   

[GGGG]

Luke has a habit of 'turtling' when he gets the ball down low in traffic.  He looks like a 5th grader.   But he plays hard on both ends of the floor, runs the floor, and doesn't pout.   

Exactly.  He looks like a guy who has played facing the basket during much of his career, and is now just figuring out how to play with his back to the basket.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Exactly.  He looks like a guy who has played facing the basket during much of his career, and is now just figuring out how to play with his back to the basket.

He had many face up shots in the wide post that he passed up...only to try to dribble into the paint. I wish he would take these looks as it might open up his post game.

[HutchwasClutch]

Exactly.  He looks like a guy who has played facing the basket during much of his career, and is now just figuring out how to play with his back to the basket.

He played in high school with his back to the basket a lot.  He's figuring out how to play with his back to the basket against guys his size who are as strong and athletic, if not more so, than he is now.  That's what he's learning.

[Sir Lawrence]

How many blocked shots would Davante have had?

[tower912]

How many blocked shots would Davante have had?

How many of Davante's shots would have been blocked, or how many shots would Davante have blocked?  The answers are 'several', and 'none'.

[brewcity77]

I think in a couple years this will be a great question. Davante was one of the most gifted offensive bigs I've seen in recent memory, but Luke is already much better on the defensive end. Right now based on body of work it has to be Davante, but if Luke can develop his offensive game and add similar offensive efficiency to his already solid defensive efficiency, he could make up a lot of ground.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Ideally Devonte and Luke -- it would be nice to have a true PF and Center some day.

[tower912]

Davante was tried at PF.  It failed.   He couldn't guard anyone on the perimeter, and neither he nor Otule were particularly effective at the high post on a consistent basis. 

[Nukem2]

Luke needs to develop a spin move and he needs to go to the hoop with putting the ball on the floor all the time.  Opponents see that and are playing for it.  He obviousl needs to get stronger and build a better physical base.  Jim McIlvaine had that issue as well until his senior season.

[NersEllenson]

Luke was going up against a 350 mountain of a man yesterday. 

Luke is quite skilled. Plays hard, has good touch with both hands, shoots FTs respectably, defends pretty well - yet to try to compare any guy to Davante is a tough order.  Davante was truly a special talent on the O-end, and defensively, he wasn't nearly as bad as people want to make him to be - he was a serviceable defender.  Luke of course will have better shot blocking ability.

Excited to see Luke mature and develop at MU.