02-21-2021, 02:45 AM
(02-21-2021, 02:36 AM)Dundalis Wrote: 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.
Totally agree. As long as Luka is carrying the team offensively, he’ll never be a star on defense. Only absolute freaks like Lebron can do that. And, imo, Luka has shown enough improvement on the defensive end already to make me feel like he’s focused on being a two-way contributor. I believe he will be when it matters.