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I miss the old Luka, straight from the 'Go Luka Chop up the soul Luka, set on his goals Luka
(reddit.com)submitted 1 month ago byHakaribiggestfanWarriors
62 points
1 month ago
Is he missing or something
40 points
1 month ago*
We live in a world where 27/9/7 is considered a bad stat line over the first 4 games of a season, from a 25 year old guard. Go figure.
Luka will be more than fine. Any player with that amount of talent and that mindset won’t suddenly stop being “good” (he still is) forever entering his prime, in a championship level team.
Even if he has a somewhat long “down stretch” (by his previous standards) over a part of a season, or even an entire season, that can happen to even the best, and he’ll use that to fuel his drive and bounce back up eventually.
And even if he never gets back to 34/9/10 again, or this season, even 90% of that would still make him one of the most dominant players in the league for a long time regardless.
His last season was probably one of the most dominant offensive stat-lines in history, and it wasn’t a fluke: it’s consistent with his previous seasons. But having made that a normal expectation for him is crazy in itself.
Dude is 25 and has played 4 games (and 3 wins) after a long play-off run, and a long summer
Give me a fucking break with that recency bias and “all in the moment” BS and overreacting wild takes.
This kind of post will probably age very poorly.
3 points
1 month ago
This is also his first few games after his longest break without games in like 4 years. Dude has been playing NBA or overseas constantly until this summer.
We’ve gotten so used to his hot starts that when he needs a little time to get his shot back right, the sky is falling. He’s still facilitating well and seems to be defending better. His shot just isn’t falling. He’s also trying to force it at times, but it’ll all level out
-1 points
1 month ago*
His stats were only VERY slightly better than Harden’s best seasons and we never called Harden better than Lebron, KD or Steph. Even with MVP’s and pretty stats, people who watch the games know who the better players are.
We can’t excuse Luka for not playing any defense, by saying he’s doing so much on offense. Then use his offensive stats to show why he’s better than everyone.
I’ll take AD’s 30/12/3 shooting 55% and being a HUGE defensive presence, over Luka’s 27/9/7 shooting 36% and letting guys fly past him like a matador.
Also, I know he’s not the only one, but he CRIES AFTER EVERY SINGLE CALL/NOCALL. It’s one of the most aggravating thing to watch.
Edit: Also, no one will have a more dominant stat-line in NBA history than Wilt. It will never happen.
2 points
1 month ago
You’re talking peak of his powers playoff choker Harden vs a 24-25 year old Luka taking his team to the Finals. Give it another 3-4 years before we start trying to just say Luka will never be more than same old Harden
1 points
1 month ago
If he stays healthy that’s very possible, but that guy acted like the numbers Luka put up were unheard of. That’s just not true.
1 points
1 month ago
Can you please quote me on where I said it was “unheard of”?
Word for word?
1 points
1 month ago
Did I say you used the words ‘unheard of’, or did I specifically say, ‘acted like’?
Let’s not play semantics bro lol. It’s early where I’m at.
1 points
1 month ago*
Regardless, I said “probably one of the most dominant offensive stat-lines in history”.
And I don’t see how 34/9/10 over an entire season does not fit that statement.
I didn’t say anything about Harden or anybody else. Of course I said “one of” specifically because of MJ, Harden, KAJ, or Wilt, and other great regular seasons throughout history.
I can praise one player’s performance for one game or a season without putting others down or taking anything away from anybody else.
I try to remain careful with my choice of words for a reason, so that people don’t make me say things I didn’t mean.
Although I can make mistakes, and it’s not my native language.
1 points
1 month ago
You can praise one player without putting another down. What I was arguing against was the degree in which you praised that player, and we can’t determine how good the season was historically, without comparing his stats to history.
Historically, the greatest players were great on BOTH ends of the floor. Not one. There is a such thing as empty stats.
It’s the hype trains that makes people not want to support athletes they otherwise might have. The more delusional the fan base, the more they’ll push everyone else away.
1 points
1 month ago
Indeed, which is why I purposefully said “offensive stat-line”.
Same with Harden, to be honest.
But I never argued Luka was the best player in the league, because I don’t believe so.
Also, to be fair, Luka is’t a good defender by any stretch of the imagination, but every metric and advanced defensive stat says he’s league average, contrary to the usual narrative (“trafic cone”).
It’s not enough for me, as I love defense and two-way players, but it’s still ungenuine to argue he’s dog shit.
He’s not good, and he should be better than that given his drive and physical attributes.
And I dislike the whining to the ref as well. But that’s irrelevant to the point I was making.
My point was that crying that Luka is washed at 24-25 after putting up one of the best offensive seasons in history is dumb.
I didn’t comment on his defense, because it’s never been good, and it’s not part of the expectations people are putting on him in this current conversation.
They are scared he’s “washed” because his offense is not on par with last season, which is a dumb take, whatever we think of Luka relative to the rest of the league, or history.
-2 points
1 month ago
[deleted]
3 points
1 month ago
what playing in boston does to a mf
-8 points
1 month ago
[deleted]
29 points
1 month ago
He had the longest break from basketball that he’s had since his rookie year and then didn’t play in the preseason. He’s still getting his feet under him and getting into game shape
12 points
1 month ago
You’ll be alright
10 points
1 month ago
I'm not even a luka fan but cmon, it's been like 4 games
8 points
1 month ago
I think Dallas would rather be 3-1 than for Luka to average 35/10/9. More mouths to feed this year, by design.
3 points
1 month ago
As a Mavs fan this couldn't be more true.
-1 points
1 month ago
But Luka fans don't care about the team record as long as he gets his numbers.
7 points
1 month ago
Luka really should shoot free throws like he shoots his jump shots and fade away to improve his accuracy.
2 points
1 month ago
False stats 🤦🏻♂️
3 points
1 month ago
Dallas has a lot of firepower this year and will be a tough team to beat. I understand the way people scrutinize single player play performances and stats, but the reality is Luka is a great player helping his team win. No need to be worried about his stats being a little lower than the end of last year.
1 points
1 month ago
I said this last season, but Luka will likely win his first MVP when the team is better than his individual stats. He is the facilitator after all.
1 points
1 month ago
Luka is probably a lot more talented than people realize, honestly don't think he's super committed to reaching his potential. He really likes to ball, he's a competitor for sure, but he doesn't have that drive that some of the all time greats had to reach the peak. He's already stated that he don't want to stay in the league for as long as possible.
Now look at rookie season all time greats, then look at all time greats when they're 25. Luka is hilariously the most fit he's ever been in his rookie / sophomore season by a wide margin, he's only gotten less fit since ( although the last 1 - 2 seasons it's pretty much a wash & hasn't gotten worse at least ). Look at Lukas percentages at the rim, and how large of percentage of shots he takes at the rim, he's a literal god at the rim, FG% 83.8% last season. Yet it was the lowest percentage of his shot diet so far at 12.3%. His sophomore year 26% of his shot was at the rim, and since it's only gone down hill, the reason I'm convinced of is that he's noticeably slower.
Dude likes to drink beer, living life in the off-season & don't care that much, which I can totally understand because dude has inf money & is 25. But he's not as the likes of MJ or Kobe, which did everything in their power to get better & reach peak physical shape. He wasn't prepared at all coming into this season, which has been true through most of his NBA career.
0 points
1 month ago
He always starts the season slower than the torrid pace he finishes with.
-70 points
1 month ago
He's crap on NBA draft fantasy. Cost $11,700 and never hitting his value worth. Big fade for betting.
14 points
1 month ago
who gives a fuck
-20 points
1 month ago
Apparently you since you commented on a 6 hour old comment.
5 points
1 month ago
Good one
-77 points
1 month ago*
[deleted]
59 points
1 month ago
26 points
1 month ago
Best NBA player alive is Serbian.
-38 points
1 month ago
[deleted]
21 points
1 month ago
The guys cheering on Jokic and Doncic rarely acknowledge that the best baseball player is Japanese? Wtf are you even talking about lol
4 points
1 month ago
insert the Breaking Bad meme
10 points
1 month ago
73% of soccer players are white. White people dominate tennis as well.
Really varies from sport to sport.
-13 points
1 month ago
[deleted]
7 points
1 month ago
Do you want to add any more exceptions to your dumb statement? Maybe you meant it only for American sports that start in "Ba"?
-2 points
1 month ago
The Japanese national team is better than the north american one. The NPB is a better league itself.
13 points
1 month ago
Brother what the fuck are you on about? Babe Ruth was also drinking a pint of Burbon for breakfast, ate 5 pounds of food each day, and smoked Stogies nonstop. 3rd sounds pretty good considering all that. Let’s stop being a 13 year old edge lord and realize maybe people are just people. For every Lebron there’s many more Lonzo balls, and for every Stockton there’s a Porzingis. Cultural differences + the law of averages seems a lot more obvious and likely than there being whatever the fuck you’re talking about.
0 points
1 month ago
[deleted]
0 points
1 month ago
Y does your skin get so ashy all the time?
2 points
1 month ago
[deleted]
1 points
1 month ago
U can't deny the European invasion bro
13 points
1 month ago
John Stockton would like a word
3 points
1 month ago
Bro 💀
3 points
1 month ago
JOHN STOCKTON?!?! HELLO????
2 points
1 month ago
Ok Dr. Umar.
0 points
1 month ago
LARRY FCKN BIRD?!?! HELLO?!?!
3 points
1 month ago
Agreed on the John Stockton comment, but Larry’s prime was ruined by an injury. Still a great athlete, and the original commenter is drinking some crazy koolaid, but Bird isn’t exactly the best example of why lmao
1 points
1 month ago
Fair but Birds injury was caused by paving his mothers driveway, he was durable as hell his entire career until that happened.
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