Luka's conundrum is the same as Lebron's conundrum and the solution is the same

[90sgoat]

That conundrum being that they're both very talented for their size, talented enough to play as ball dominant guards, despite being the size of power forwards.

The problem with this, as 3ball would put it, is that you add another point guard to the team, so taking away from the ability of the team point guard to maximize their potential.

We see this so clearly with Brunson and we've seen it over and over again with Lebron, latest with Russell Westbrook.

In game 3, Luka was playing out of the post in the first half with great success, because Luka is a big and strong guy and he is very skilled at passing, so he will have a lot of success. Lebron played more in the post during his Miami time and that was the only time he was truly successful, not counting the extreme ref help in 2018.

That's the thing with Luka, he can win and get ungodly stats playing as a ball dominant point guard (highest time of possession in history), but he can win championships playing out of the post.

Be a power forward, a point forward, that operates in the post for most of the game, that steps out and plays 1 on 1 given the right matchups and during the 4th quarter when defenders are tired. Save your energy to play defense.

THAT would, just like with Lebron, be the road to being an actual GOAT.

Be Charles Barkley, just better, be who Lebron was meant to be, but sacrifice looking like a point god.

Will he do it?

[8Ball]

Put 2020 AD with Luka and they are a top 3 team.

He needs real all nba talent around him and he doesn't have it yet.

[90sgoat]

Put 2020 AD with Luka and they are a top 3 team.

He needs real all nba talent around him and he doesn't have it yet.

It doesn't really matter.

Luka can win playing as a guard with top tier supporting cast, but he can also win with a good, but not great support, if he looks to how Giannis plays.

Just because Luka can win playing like Lebron doesn't mean he should.

This is a thing of comparative advantage. There are more people that can do what Luka does on the perimeter that can do what he does in the post.

And when Luka plays inside-out, he will always get a mismatch without a screen, because if you put a guard on him, that's easy backdown, but if you put a power forward on him, he can just take a step back, square up and drive.

[FKAri]

He does play in the post at times. You can't make post play your bread and butter anymore with modern rules. You catch the ball and you have very little time to make a move. You can't Charles Barkley it. Or the zone will make you pick up your dribble, pass it out to reset and you've done nothing but waste clock.

[90sgoat]

He does play in the post at times. You can't make post play your bread and butter anymore with modern rules. You catch the ball and you have very little time to make a move. You can't Charles Barkley it. Or the zone will make you pick up your dribble, pass it out to reset and you've done nothing but waste clock.

Disagree, it worked perfectly against Suns in game 3.

The thing is that most players are not good enough in the post to make it work.

Luka is good enough.

[3ba11]

He needs to score the easiest way possible, so that means do everything - play from the post, produce off-screens - catch and shoot or quick-iso (https://i.makeagif.com/media/7-02-2015/9VPzJD.gif).. and dominate
the ball in bailout situations or pushing the break

[90sgoat]

He needs to score the easiest way possible, so that means do everything - play from the post, produce off-screens - catch and shoot or quick-iso (https://i.makeagif.com/media/7-02-2015/9VPzJD.gif).. and dominate
the ball in bailout situations or pushing the break

True, he doesn't need to always play the post, but I'd like for him to consider the post a layup. Something he can get against most defenders every time.

Change the priority, don't dribble on the spot for 20 seconds, post up for 2 seconds, then assess.

I have faith Luka will figure it out because he's smart.

He does need to also become a decent off ball scorer, needs to have some moves that he can do that are very fast, learn that rip move, learn a jab step shimmy and then drive asap.

[NBAGOAT]

fair enough but you cant ask luka to play like giannis. It's not easy but there are ways to build around a ball dominant perimeter player. You can go 2020 lakers style and dont have a secondary ball handler besides a bench guy. Just need to pair with an elite finishing big who can defend and 3nD guys. Dallas has the 3nD part down. Porzingis was supposed to be that but he wanted a bigger role, was too injury prone and didnt defend well enough at times.

You can also pair luka with a pg that can carry the rest of scoring load but can play offball and isnt an elite distributor(so bradley beal type). You can also do what houston did with harden which is again go heavy on 3nD guys but have 1 other guy who can dominate the ball and help your lead guy stay fresh(and stagger them).

[Johnny32]

You know you're a mouth breathing window licker when you're referencing 3tard.

[BarberSchool]

So far, he does what he is supposed to:

1. Dance on the bigs that switch on him, to either go to the rim, or step back for a 3

2. Back down the smaller players that switch to him, and score or pass out of the double for an open 3 for a waiting teammate.

I also prefer when he backs down guys his own height, because he’s generally heavier than them. Luka weighed over 260 in training camp, and is still between 245-250, at least 10-15lbs heavier than he was as a rookie.

I think the fool’s answer is to choose one method or the other (primarily playmaking from post-ups like Magic, Barkley, or Bird, or PNR/dribble hand off guard-play. and to build accordingly on one or the other …. Nah.

Here’s why: each playoff series presents a different potential combination of evolving matchups and stylistic competition. Having diversity in the ways you can structure lineups and methods of scoring & defending against each, is the far smarter approach.

To diversify Luka’s abilities to continue to be BOTH point guard and point forward, what he needs is dietary discipline, which may even mean influencing the women in his life, and family, not just his own sweet tooth. And with that better diet, training to increase his perimeter defensive abilities and durability. His positional post defense and rebounding are already very underrated by many. But his perimeter defense, even without his current injury, is not very good at all.

Stylistic offensive limitation isn’t the answer, further honing his physical abilities before he is 26-27 entering his true prime, IS THE ANSWER.

[3ba11]

Favored talent can fall to underdog due to weak brand of ball, like the 22' Lakers (worst-ever teammate fits), or when Lebron's preseason favorites fell to Finals underdog or loser for 6 straight years (11-16') - except the Ray Allen miracle.

So Lebron's career is the best example of suboptimal brand causing favored talent to underachieve..

Ultimately, Lebron is a talent-based winner (all-star team strategy) that never learned how to win (brand of ball.. organic).. He's a lot like Luka where he ties a coach's hands into playing 1 way - it's a paper tiger that requires ridiculous supporting talent to win..

So I'm pessimistic about Luka because his brand of ball reminds me of when Lebron couldn't win a weak East with homecourt in 09' and 10' - or when he had a bummy, 45-win team in Year 5 and averaged 26 on 35% to lose in 2nd Round.. Then Mo arrived in 2009 and taught us that Lebron needs shooters, while notching superior PER, BPM, VORP, WS/48, scoring and efficiency than 90' Pippen... But that kind of strategy was in beginning stages and still got solved pretty easily.. So unlike Lebron, Luka must evolve out of ball-dominant offenses that revolve around him.. Barkley actually said it best - the star's job is to win the game in the 4th and the "others" should be carrying the load until then (developing as threats)..