Luke Walton: Legendary "Appreciation" Thread

kray28 wrote:

LO7cK35 wrote:Like u said he can hit the occasional three but I really love his back to the basket game. How many times have we seen him back his defender down and score inside with ease. He's not as good as radman behind the 3 point line but he's def not radman on defense either. He gets in there and he does his job. what more do people want from him? its not like we are vastly overpaying him or anything then i would understand.

I'm sorry to break this to you...but this is utterly and totally devoid of fact.

His occasional threes are well.... occasional...which loosely translated also means "almost never".

He thinks he has a back to the basket game...it's pitiful and ugly to watch like a Mastiff trying to bang a Yorkie.

The scoring with ease is something that doesn't actually happen...because inevitably the Yorkie puts up a fight.

If you wanted to compare his defense with Radman, you'd be subscribing to myth that Radman totally sucks on defense....actually that's Luke, Radman is simply mediocre and at time actually quite serviceable especially as a man defender. I encourage you watch tapes of last year's playoffs if you don't find this to be true.

Your last point about Luke not being "vastly overpaid" is not in touch with reality. There are five guys on the current squad who make more money than Luke Walton:

Kobe Bryant
Pau Gasol
Lamar Odom
Derek Fisher
Sasha Vujacic

Fish and Sasha are paid a couple hundred K per year more than Luke, but Luke deal is for five more seasons after this one.

I feel like you watch different laker games than I do or something i don't know. Because your arguments just don't make much sense to me. Almost everytime I see luke taking it inside something good comes out of it. The guy is obviously stronger than he looks and usually backs the opposing player down with ease and scores with no problem.

and the fact that your saying radmanovic is a better defender than luke ( especially man on man defender) makes me very . Radman is the definition of a revolving door. He is slow, no reaction just stands there as anyone and everyone blows by him which is the only reason he never got playing time.

We know Radmanovic hit the three consistently but if thats the case why would he never play? Because he could not guard ANYOONEEE. Don't you think that if his defense was as good as u say it was he would have gotten more playing time? I don't remember what game it was but there was a time He was knocking down 3 after 3 and Phil took him out because he was giving up points like crazy on defense. Whoever was announcing the game even took note of this. His defense is the Sole reason he lost his starting job to Luke

Luke's alright. He's clearly a capable player, but I think he is generally outclassed, outsized, outhustled and outplayed by bigger, faster, stronger players. I get the impression that his game never really left college.

^^^do you even know who Luke was backing down in todays games? He got switched on by the Guards and even then I dont even know what you're talking bout scoring with ease...he had 7 pts...wheres this with ease stuff? He's dam lucky Kobe took on James most of the time and even then he still got burned guarding Wally at times.

Forward Three wrote:Luke's alright. He's clearly a capable player, but I think he is generally outclassed, outsized, outhustled and outplayed by bigger, faster, stronger players. I get the impression that his game never really left college.

Your statement is a walking contradiction

i don't get the hate either. luke walton plays genius ball when the lakers are playing "team" ball. when they're not then luke's shortcomings are exposed.

kwembinekwek wrote:

Forward Three wrote:Luke's alright. He's clearly a capable player, but I think he is generally outclassed, outsized, outhustled and outplayed by bigger, faster, stronger players. I get the impression that his game never really left college.

Your statement is a walking contradiction

I just mean capable of playing (high-level) basketball.

People have to get the idea out of their heads that Luke "sucks" because he doesn't score. He's not out there to make baskets and create shots by himself. Though he has a decent post-up game against smaller players and always takes advantage of it, and a decent 3-point shot, his sole purpose out there is to allow the offense to flow between the big-men and the guards.

He certainly doesn't deserve the amount of criticism he receives from members of this board. This argument that he isn't "athletic" enough certainly doesn't reflect upon what I see in the games. Is Luke Walton the last person to run up the court? Is he always getting blown by his defender and all his defensive assignments are scoring 20+ because he isn't "athletic" enough to put a body on the man? This argument is completely ridiculous, it's like saying Kobe isn't athletic enough when his man sometimes gets a half step ahead of him.

Next, there is this myth that Luke Walton can't play defense. Contrary to popular belief, Luke is a decent defender. He's not a lock-down defender, but he does the job. If you watch the Christmas game, Luke did a good job defending Pierce on a few sequences. He certainly isn't a horrible defender to the point where he "sucks." Why do you think during this road trip at the final moments, Phil trusted Luke in the 4th and not Ariza?



Luke is a decent player. He's a role player, part of the supporting cast, and he does a good job of being just that.

I like Luke when he's playing like he did the year he got his contract. Since then not so much. We're stuck with Luke. We need him to play at a high level and if he gets back there then good. Yeah, it's easy to pick on his weakness' because, well... he's one of the more un-clutch players on the squad (for a starter). He may be a decent player and I'm certainly rooting for him because we're stuck with him. As for why Phil trusted Luke in the 4th? Who knows. Sometimes I think Phil is losing it. Ariza > Luke by far. Any guess as to why would be purely speculatory... only Phil knows for sure. Or does he?

khmrP wrote:^^^do you even know who Luke was backing down in todays games? He got switched on by the Guards and even then I dont even know what you're talking bout scoring with ease...he had 7 pts...wheres this with ease stuff? He's dam lucky Kobe took on James most of the time and even then he still got burned guarding Wally at times.

He definitely doesn't score at ease with his post-up game as the other poster suggested. For every time he gets and easy bucket he'll back his man in, turn the wrong way into him and taks the fadeaway and gets blocked. He's been serviceable so I won't bash on him but for a guy that is always said to have high BBall IQ, he does some boneheaded things that piss people off.

Luke sucks.

/end thread

John3:16 wrote:Luke sucks.

/end thread

luke needs to stop eating and start taking some HGH.

luke is only on the team cause bill walton was a long time leoperchaun. he's using his son to devastate the laker franchise.

i'm gonna be straight up, Luke isn't as bad as you guys make it look like.

He really is very underrated. Next to Kobe, he makes the slickest passes on our team by far. He's got a great attitude along with a great team first priority. Its a 15 man deep sport, and he's a great guy to have now that he has experience with the triangle. The only knock against him is his contract, other then that I have to admit I really would be sad to see him go.

ummm, i don't think luke sucks because he can't score. if he's suppose to be a passer and a play maker than he shouldn't be shooting dumb shots and sissy floaters that he doesn't make. there are a lot of times where he looks lost with the ball and he doesn't know what to do with it. plus he makes a lot of stupid fouls. overall he 's just blah, alright, okay, lucky to be a laker and getting playing time minutes. to be fair, i liked him in the beginning of his career and expected him to be.. good.. but he' turned out to be blah

Luke can do valuable things within the offense... as long as he doesn't dribble a lot. There is a high correlation between his dribbling and bad decisions/turnovers. However, when he keeps his dribbling to a minimun, he works solidly within the offense and makes good decisions for the most part.

DID you all not see luke have the rebound in his hands and then let it go. THAT BALL traveled from luke's hand to a turnover within 2 seconds.

What does Luke do? Score? Somehow, I think we can replace his 7 points. Rebound? I can get 3 rebounds. Assist? 3 a game for a starter who doesn't do anything else isn't much. Floor spacing? Uhhh.... no one is guarding him. Defense? Puh-leaze! Watch the game!

Again, what does Luke do?

John3:16 wrote:What does Luke do? Score? Somehow, I think we can replace his 7 points. Rebound? I can get 3 rebounds. Assist? 3 a game for a starter who doesn't do anything else isn't much. Floor spacing? Uhhh.... no one is guarding him. Defense? Puh-leaze! Watch the game!

Again, what does Luke do?

You obviously don't know anything about basketball. When will you people learn to leave the basketball discussion to knm131?
It's clear that he's the only one here qualified to speak on these subjects. Points? Rebounds? Assists? Defense? Only n00bs pay attention to those categories. Everyone knows that Luke's impact on a game can't be quantified by any statistics known to mankind. We haven't developed that technology yet. Luckily, John Hollinger is in his lab working night and day to discover the super secret formula that will prove Luke's true value once and for all.

Until then here is the only stat you need to know. knm's basketball IQ >>>>>>>>>>>> everyone on CL COMBINED x 2.

Luke Walton is disgusting...he can't rebound to save his life...every time the rebound bounces his way, he will either fumble and not get it anyway or tip it to the opponent...

he is a willing passer because he can't do anything else with the ball...he is a definite momentum killer on the floor right now.

I just hope he will find a way to get back to that good season that he had. He is aweful, considering he is the starting SF of one of the best teams in basketball is amazing and sickening at the same time.

@ John Hollinger's lab part...

For some reason, this is the 1st thing came into mind...

Well, Luke is the worst player on our team. With 4 legit star type players on our team, he gets a lot of open looks which he doesn't make.

Luke is also very slow. He gets burned on a regular basis. Almost every team in the league has a better starting SF than we do.

Bottom line is he is below average on offense and terrible on defense. His deficiencies are overlooked due to the other great players we have. Pay attention to the amount of help defense we give him.

Can we still be successful with him in our lineup? Obviously yes, but it's definitely not bc of anything he provides. It is despite of him.

He is an above average passer, but so is every other person on our team.

[quote="WeLoveLA"]This guy just does so many things that don't end up on the stat sheets. He runs the offense better than almost anyone on the team. Always a willing passer. Can hit the 3 when asked to. Plays solid team defense.

Luke's IQ is vastly underrated here, he really is a great fit in that starting lineup and I want to see him there for the rest of the season.[/quote]

You're toting your own personal opinion here. No matter how anyone responds, if it isn't similar to your own, then you're not going to like it, and that's normal. As much as I've lambasted Walton here and there, I must digress. He's not as bad as I've made him out to be, however he shouldn't be a starter. It's obvious he is very limited offensively. You mention that he can hit a 3 when asked to?! He's currently at 32% w/respect to 3 point accuracy, so the numbers indicate that he's a terrible 3 point shooter. However, I do agree that Walton's IQ is underrated, that's true. I dont' know about running the offense better than almost anyone on the team...can you support this? When you can't shoot a lick, you better be a willing passer, otherwise your career in the NBA will be short-lived. His defense at times is adequate, but nothing close to being exemplary. Overall I think Walton should be coming off the bench. I'm not saying Walton is garbage, but I just don't think starting him is the best option. With the addition of Morrison, perhaps Walton's starter minutes will be limited....(one can only hope).

eNlight wrote:luke is only on the team cause bill walton was a long time leoperchaun. he's using his son to devastate the laker franchise.

hes a mole!

WeLoveLA wrote:This guy just does so many things that don't end up on the stat sheets. He runs the offense better than almost anyone on the team. Always a willing passer. Can hit the 3 when asked to. Plays solid team defense.

Luke's IQ is vastly underrated here, he really is a great fit in that starting lineup and I want to see him there for the rest of the season.

Luke is a bench role player not a starter. He is slow on defense and offense, has poor basketball skills (except passing), is very unathletic, and makes just as many mistakes as the guy with low basketball IQ. People complement his passing but his lack of defense washes whatever assists he contributes on offense. Phil uses him to pass to the other stars on the team. He is simply a provider on a team with three or four great players. I guess you can get away with that on the Lakers. On any other team he would certainly be riding the pine.

Maybe Luke gives Phil free BBQ or something...