05-14-2024, 01:03 PM
(05-13-2024, 11:27 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: Yeah.
Look, I'm not in any hurry to dump on someone who, at 25, is arguably already the greatest Maverick of all-time, but I'm not sure we're not letting him off the hook a bit blaming this 100% on an injury.
The injury seems to be improving, somewhat. He's moving ok to me.
The injury isn't making him throw passes directly to Thunder players.
The injury isn't making him force up shots without anyone else touching the ball.
The injury isn't forcing him to bitch at the refs NONSTOP.
I want to love him more than any athlete I've ever followed. I really, really do. And, I'm not going to let this year's playoff results, whatever they end up being, become the EVERYTHING of my opinion of him. But, if I'm being honest, if I followed any other team I think I'd despise him.
I get all of this. I think Luka's biggest problem right now isn't the injury as much as how he is handling the injury. I get it that he is frustrated because he can't do all of the things he normally does. But, he is letting it get to him to the point that he is forcing passes and not focusing like he normally would.
He HAS to stop complaining to the refs. That just makes it harder for them to want to call things his way. (They are people after all. Although sometimes I wonder. lol)
It also changes the mood of the rest of the team. They feed off of him. If he is frustrated and frantic they will make mistakes too. 7 TOs is unacceptable. He just needs to grow up a bit and settle down. Play within himself even if it is less than he would normally be able to do. Be patient.
Legler: "If Luka wins this year, against a healthy Celtics team, at his age, the league is in trouble."