brianstl Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Is now officially out of control on this board. If Luke is so good, has a decent jump shot, has really be come good at finding the open spot, and can beat his man to the hole; let me ask you a few questions. Why is he only averaging 10.1 ppg, when his man is constantly playing off him to double down on IV? Why has the only three times he has had 15 points or more been against two of the worst D-1 teams (Duquesne an UT-Martin) and a D-2 team (Quincy)? Why in the only two games that our opponent (UNC and Houston) has played IV straight up has Luke only gotten 6 points (going 3-7 from the floor) and 4 points (going 2-8 from the floor)? Why do none of our opponents feel the need to account for him? Him playing the four is killing us. It is time to insert AK into the line up. I, also, have know idea how he could play the three when he can't get to the hole consistently or get open jumpers consistently with nobody guarding him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Christ Brian, you are really down on this guy. He's one of two bright spots on the team this year. He has the highest field goal percentage on the team, he's gone head to head with every power forward on our schedule and has yet to dominated. He has hit countless "BIG" shots when our team was looking to get run outta the gym. He's the leader of the team and far and away our grittiest player right now. How in the world can you advocate benching a double digit scorer for an unproven freshmam?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billinikens Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 If possible, I agree with both of you. I disagree with brianstl's tone toward Luke, but agree that a legitimate 4 man would greatly improve this team. I think it would open up Ian more on the inside and with the play of TL and KL drawing most of the attention(if he were healthy) on the outside, Luke would find plenty of open shots at the 3. Just think of Luke getting DP's shots as well as a couple that he's already taking. I see him at the 3 averaging the same as he does now, but the legitimate 4 making Ian more effective, thereby helping make TL and KL more effective (which is scary good in TL's case). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billinikens Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Although you do have to consider the effect this has on defense. Coach says DP is the guy that does the best job on their best scorer so relegating him to 6th man minutes may have an adverse effect at the other end. But, honestly, we haven't guarded well this year anyway so I can't think it'd be much worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SShoe Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 again, most of us feel are defensively struggles are due to a lack of depth, therefore bringing a high energy guy like Polk off the bench would a significant plus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 I am not down on him. He has worked his ass of and is playing out of position. I don't know how you can say he hasn't been dominated by power foward on our schedule when the only to games they have put a defender on him he has scored 4 and six points. He is terrible defensivly against every true 4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 How is he going to find plenty of open shots at the three when he can't seem to find many of them at the four with no one gaurding him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy03 Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 This may be one of the reasons why our 3-point defense is so bad. When Luke has to play a true 4, our guards either have to sag towards the 4 or double team him. Which in turn leads to a kick out and an open 3. Im not saying this is the main reason our defense is so bad, but its a contributor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbofive Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 i'd like to see AK get 5-7 mins of luke's playing time, but at this point, any more than that, i think he'd just get gassed and provide the same level of rebounding and defense as luke, w/out the good mid-range shot not to say that AK won't contribute big time even next year, but it just doesn't make sense to bench your best shooter (percentage-wise) and arguably, your floor leader, for an unproven, low mid-major freshman. i commented in the double standard thread before this one, i just think brianstl is WAY too hard on LM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SShoe Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 you act like Luke's averaging 3 points per game. He's putting in ten a game as the 4th option. He's shooting over 50 percent from the field. When we need big baskets he makes them. And his natural position is the 3. You can speculate all you want, but he's a guy who finds ways to get things done. When he's outsized he goes outside. When he's got size on a guy he takes him to the basket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 i'm all for inserting knollmeyer at power forward and moving meyer to the wing and bringing dwayne off the bench. great idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 after thinking about what you said above, i think luke should shoot more. if the guy is shooting 50% he likely is passing up opportunities. great point. his success thus far demands he step up and take more of the offensive responsibility and it appears he definitely has what it takes to succeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 brian said, "He is terrible defensivly against every true 4." can you point out the games other than the north carolina game where july lottery pick, brandon wright did indeed dominate him that luke has just been owned? i dont remember that lopsided effect you seem to recall. help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 Where you said "Wow Luke really is stroking that mid-range jumper"? He is shooting 51% because he is getting wide open looks. He may be getting 10 ppg but the fact that no one is gaurding him means he should be getting a lot more. His guy is always doubling down on IV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 ROy I would counter that he can't get his shot off quick enough to shoot more, even with his guy playing off of him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 you cant contradict yourself like that. in one breath you say he cant get the shot off which would mean he is being defended, then in the next breath you say his defender isnt guarding him doubling on ian instead. cant have that both ways. the truth is that luke takes what is given to him now and is having great success hitting those shots and driving to the basket as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Have you been watching our games? Yeah, they're wide open...because Luke has become a master of moving without the ball. Earl calls him the drifter. He's the 4th option. Tommie, Kevin, and Ian probably have the green light at all times. I'd imagine everybody else can shoot when they're open. I've seen Luke beat the man off the dribble before. I've also seen him stop and pop. As Roy says above, if anything, he needs to shoot more. I can understand you're reluctance to except Luke based on his limited athletic ability (compared to Tommie at least). But the kid has performed at a very high level. I'm all for getting AK minutes. But just pullin Luke to play AK "for the hell of it" is a dumb move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLUSER Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 I can only assume, Brian, you havent been to any games this year. LM is a solid player. Besides TL, he is our most improved player this year. He is playing with so much confidence versus years past. He has a sweet stroke and nails the baseline jumper consistently. Also, he is done a magnificent job on the boards. Never am I disappointed with LM's play, not sure how you can be either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 luke's "limited athletic ability". luke is not an nba player, but he is quicker than given credit, is naturally physically stronger than most his size, and actually jumps fairly well. if luke has a limitation imo, it is he doesnt appear to have outstanding dribbling skills. pretty much straight ahead and isnt going to change direction off the dribble much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 I didn't say Luke had limited athletic ability. I said he is slow at getting his shot off. You are correct about his dribbling ability. It is very suspect. That limits his ability to beat people to the hole or even get there before his man is able to get back on him. The reason Luke is able to drift and get open is the fact that no one is covering him. It is pretty easy to get open when your man is doubling down on IV. The opposition acts like Luke is not even out on the court. They pay him zero attention. ZERO. They no they can double down on IV and still get back to Luke before he is able to hurt them. You want to know why we are struggling in conference play? Do want to know why we finished up last year like a dead horse? Well the answer is the conference has figured out how to play us with Luke at the four. They don't worry about him at all. Double down on IV. Luke can't hurt you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 How did I contradict myself? Luke can't get his shot off before his man gets back to him or before someone else is able to help out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 yet he is averaging over 10 pts a game and is shooting over 50%? sorry that is a contradiction. he would be averaging more in the dwayne polk neighborhood of 6 ppg or less if that was true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 brian said, "You want to know why we are struggling in conference play? Do want to know why we finished up last year like a dead horse? Well the answer is the conference has figured out how to play us with Luke at the four. They don't worry about him at all. Double down on IV. Luke can't hurt you." we can pick on any player and make a case for the answer. lisch hasnt shot as well due to his injuries. liddell has not had the assists and has too many turnovers. ian hasnt progressed this year as much as he did the previous polk is worthless in half court offense and gets dominated by bigger stronger players. but to lay it on the guy that has improved more than any player on the team and is accomplishing far more than anyone ever expected seems a little short sighted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 Then why is it Luke's man always doubling down on IV? Why is that none of our opponents see to care about putting anybody on Luke? As soon as teams started to drops Luke's guy off him consistently last season to double IV we went in to a tailspin? How is it that the team is in another one a soon as conference play starts? Could it be that you watch much more tape of your conference opponents than ooc opponents and all of the teams in the conference know not worry about Luke? That they know to drop his man on to IV? That they know Luke wont make you pay for not paying attention to him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billinikens Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Alright this has gone on long enough. When your fourth option on offense scores 10 ppg and does so while shooting over 50%, regardless of whatever you attribute this to, there isn't much wrong with your offense. The problem is the positions it puts us in defensively, which I don't think many people will argue with. As even Brad has pointed out quite a bit lately, our problem has not been scoring enough points, it has been not stopping anyone. If you want to argue our defense would be better with AK rather than LM then I'd listen a little more, although I haven't seen anything that would suggest this is true. To be honest, AK doesn't look much taller or stronger than LM to me when he's out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.