(02-16-2021, 11:52 AM)dirkfansince1998 Wrote: Luka has improved his defense but the problems remain the same. Effort and consistency. Good example: He probably had the best defensive game of his career against Hayward and the Hornets. Lockdown on ball D combined with good help defense. 2Stl/4Blks. I expected the same energy in the next game against the Bucks but he wasn´t even trying to contest shots or stay in front of Holiday.
To be fair if you watch some of the better two way defenders in the league, they pretty much all have games like that during the regular season. Only really defensive specialists, or players who don't have to expend significant energy offensively show up with high end motor on defense game in game out during the regular season. The difference is the superstar two way guys can make up for it with elite athleticism, experience and/or intelligent positioning and footwork.
Luka will never have the athleticism to fall back on, what he needs to be able to do is continue to improve his intelligence defensively in terms of positioning and footwork. I do not expect him to give the same energy on defense every game during the regular season, and in fact I don't want that if it's going to be a detriment to his game offensively. He doesn't need to be hyper energetic, just more positionally and specially aware so he's more consistently in the right places. That's something that takes time and experience, even guys that come into the league as good defenders from their rookie season don't typically do so because of elite positioning and footwork, they are usually more reliant on elite athletic ability and take time to develop the latter.