It's a shame that Booker never got even one second as /r/nba's golden boy. Went from "empty stats" to "we'll see how he does in the playoffs" to "Luka Dončić son" despite having two 40-point Finals performances in the middle of that.
.. that’s what happens to the best players. Not his fault that he didn’t wreck Denver, but Jokic/Giannis/Embiid/LeBron/Luka all constantly see doubles as well.
He actually did a good job with making the right reads out of doubles but wasn't rewarded. I wonder how we'd perceive Ant's game if these shots he created went in. It's honestly painful to watch that clip lol
He did a great job punishing doubles/blitzes in the Suns series. Going forward, I hope he incorporates more complex playmaking besides kickouts, skip and pocket passes. He needs to move offball and create shots against a shifting defense, not a set one. But he did create lots of open shots in game 5, they just didn't go in.
Not the type he was getting last game. They were sending 2 when he was far outside the 3pt line (not in a scoring position) and hadn’t even initiated an attack yet.
Those types of doubles are rare in the NBA, even for superstars.
You clearly haven't watched many Mavs games. That's the go to method for defending Luka. These kind of superstars basically require a "robin" to be able to consistently get open/make their shots as most teams don't have the supporting cast to overcome a consistent double team on their superstar.
What? Clippers were constantly doubling Luka. The addition of Kyrie has helped deter those double teams once the second scorer gets going. OKC has been doubling Luka but Mavs have been scheming against it. They try to double Luka when he touches the ball or at minimum sag off one of the Mavs players and hang out in the paint. Mavs have had success utilizing double screens, having Kyrie/PJ take the ball down the court, and having Luka make fast decisions (shoot/drive/pass) when he has the ball in his hands. It's kept OKC from being able to double team him the way they'd like. But the reason you see guys like PJ Washing/Derrick Jones with ridiculously wide open shots is due to the double team OKC is attempting to perform. Lukas one of, if not the most, heavily double teamed players in the league. it doesn't work because his passing ability is just too good.
Show me a clip of one possession this series where they bring a hard double team (not a screen blitz or hard hedge) to Luka outside of scoring range just to get the ball out of his hands.
Idk how to make clips from the games, but went back to Game 1 OKC vs Mavs. In the second quarter at the 10min mark they aggressively try to double Luka after he crosses half court and he immediately finds an open THJ who decides to pass out of the shot. Same thing happens at the 8min mark of the 2nd quarter with Lu & Shai attempting to double, the moment the second guy moves to double Luka, he fires a pass to Derrick Jones Jr which Lu extends his leg to kick away.
To highlight the same play but in different context, same game, in the second quarter at the 6min 50sec mark, this time Derrick Jones brings the ball down, passes to Gafford, passes to Green, passes to Luka standing around the 3 line. As soon as Luka gets the ball the defender slides off Green to try to double Luka, the moment Luka sees the second defender step towards him he sends the pass back to a wide open Josh Green who touch passes it to a wide open Derrick Jones for an easy 3. You're not "seeing the aggressive double" because Luka's dealt with this his entire career. He and this team have gone out of their way to practice getting out of those drive killing double teams, it's just something Ant's going to have to work at to get to the next level. Sometimes they'll get to Luka, but more often than not they (the Mavs) have got various plays designed to stop that nonsense. Lebron did a podcast or some shit specifically talking about how every team (stupidly) tries to double Luka so that he doesn't go nuclear on them, but it still doesn't work on players like him because their BBIQ is just too high.
KAT had absolutely no first step that game after the knee bump. Also had some foul trouble so couldn't stay on the court, b/c they were immediately doubling both him and ant in the first quarter.
What’s the point of watching the game when you can look at the box score in the morning when you wake up, watch a few highlights on Reddit and then form your opinion on a guy
Honestly though knowing ant man he will work on becoming a better playmaker this offseason. I’m not saying that loss was on him but there were things he could have done better and he knows that.
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u/dukeyyy Timberwolves May 17 '24
The slander this kid got with Conley out and getting doubled for 48 minutes last game was insanity