Carmelo Anthony and PJ Tucker discuss Luka Dončić’s terrible defense: “JJ wants to hold the M’fker accountable, but he know can’t really hold this M’fker accountable like that because he’s giving me 40.”
Melo basically recounting his experience
the worst was watching the few moments in Melo’s career when he actually tried on defense - he was really good. Made me hate him even more.
Way more capable defender and passer than he presented himself to be. I still remember when he came back from that surgery in NY and decided to be a playmaker before ramping up his scoring.
100% effort buy-in defense/rebounding/playmaking Melo averages 5 fewer for his career but wins a lot of playoff games. I feel like it’s pretty rare for a guy to have all the tools, not use them, but still be a hall-of-famer — probably the best Melo compliment I can give.
I’ve heard people describe Derrick Coleman in similar terms. Not quite as talented as Melo, obviously
Derrick Coleman might be every bit, if not more, talented than Melo, to be honest. Completely different types of games of course, but DC had everything in his arsenal to be the best big in the game if he was completely applied it. It also should be noted he had a heart defect that clearly affected his effort.
Only because they both played for Syracuse, otherwise there’s no reason to compare them at all, aside from the fact that you can compare any NBA player to any other NBA player…
If you watch LeBron and really squint, there’s a little bit of Barney Cable in there
This sounds really nice to say but the problem with the Knicks was Amar’e’s contract and not Melo’s defense, even if he does this they are still losing a majority of the series due to their highest paid player playing 8 games a season.
Jeremy Lin success clouded melo presence seal the deal that melo didnt belong there
Melo used em all, just when he had the ball
I remember he had a triple double vs the Bucks lmao
Melo didn’t really wanna win is what it comes down to - not his fault, just who he is as a guy - sure he still loves his life lol
How do you know that? Even if that was true, would that make the other 11 players on the team not want to win either? Do you think people just accidentally end up in the NBA? Chill with regurgitating ESPN talking points.
Melo was one of the most uniquely “I play my way” good players that I have ever watched. That doesn’t take away from him being good, being hardworking, being a smart dude or whatever. But he was extremely committed to playing his way.
Great way of putting it
Ya I remember hearing Billups say Melo was really just focused on his own performance each game and didn’t care near as much about the team performance. Like he would always be happy if he played well even if the team didn’t play well, and would be pissed if the team won but he played crappy.
I watched a LOT of Knicks games with him. Dude loved shooting 7⁄24 before even looking at the scoreboard
People who want to win give full effort?
Every player in the league makes decisions about how much effort to give on each side of the ball and when. “Full effort” is a meaningless concept when we’re not looking at the totality of a players game.
Anyone who says they give full effort on both sides of the court doesn’t understand basic biology.
Do you have an effort meter that tracks how much effort someone gave? He led the league in scoring. Thats elite effort.
Thank you! Not like he just rolled outta bed and got them footwork and shooting skills. We can speculate if he cared about defense or was a selfish player but not that he didn’t make a good effort in general.
He put in 100% effort on offense, and then didn’t put effort into defense.
Some call it an effort meter. Others call it eyes.
Honestly just from his career decisions and play style - he obviously wanted to go to NY over all else even if it meant the trade would make the team weaker, and he also never adjusted his play style to contribute more to winning. Nothing is wrong with that, and the man was a total pro the whole time. But from an NBA player standpoint those aren’t the choices you make if your career goals are to win a championship. I think it was clear he had other priorities, which is cool too man, not everybody has to devote their life to winning, but those are the facts
From what I recall of him, Melo would rather lose and he does well, than win and he doesn’t do well.
Lol Baron davis has said if the knicks won but melo didn’t get his shots he would be upset and if melo made a lot of shots and the knicks lost he would be in the locker room happy af. It’s a known thing. Melo cared more about himself then winning and as a team. You’re saying he’s regurgitating talling points but knicks fans and people that actually watched him every game know this.
We know because he was trying his ass off against Kobe in the latter 2000s
He doesn’t know that. He just grew up on First Take / social media brain rot sports narratives.
Textbook example of a Top 1% Commenter ⭐️ cranking out thoughts with no understanding of the person / player, and the drive it took for them to become what they were
I don’t think it’s unreasonable at all to say that the Melo who had the drive to bring a national championship to Syracuse did not have that drive on the Thunder, Rockets or Blazers.
Lol I didn’t mean as a knock, just honesty - I think Melo was amazing, he’s an all time player and one of the greatest basketball players ever - but you can be that and also not be truly devoted to winning games - both things can be true. In the real world there’s nothing wrong with that, Melo is a success
There was a quote someone said to the effect that Melo was more concerned about having 20 pts than winning
Yeah I mean Im sure he cared about winning, I think all pro athletes do, just think its clear he wasn’t willing to change certain aspects of his game to maximize winning
Only in the Olympics, dude went all out. Honestly, I loved watching him there.
He still loves his wife, too. She just doesn’t love him back.
That 09/10 Melo Nuggers was the best I saw him imho. Defended prime #24 Kobe well I think? I honestly thought that’s his coming out party (not gae ofcourse).
Kobe dropped 34 ppg on his head but he was playing good defense. Just better offense from Kobe unfortunately
yeah the only time i thought melo was really competing was against kobe in playoffs nuggets
Yes that was definitely the most frustrating thing about him. He was clearly a capable defender and passes when he wanted to be, which really made it feel like him often being a bad defender/passer was a choice.
From all of these media appearances it seems to me he’s going to be taking the role of very salty old head. Every time he seems like he’s either shitting on a current player in the league or building up his own ego and accomplishments. He’s not as blatant as someone like Shaq but he talks with a dickish and arrogant attitude at every turn
Like yeah Luka doesn’t defend a single bit at times but that was basically Melo’s career, but without the transcendent offensive skill that Luka has
The thing is Luka adapts his game and he actively cheers on his teammates as they shine. Melo was a hater. Knick players have come out and said Melo was a hater and hated losing his shine to anyone else being the better option.
Luka is more than a glorified jumpshot merchant
You guys are insufferable. Melo is a Hall of Famer lmao. He was atrocious at defense and self-centered but he wasn’t a glorified jumpshot merchant.
Melo was straight up a worse defender than Luka. He could defend but he didn’t want to.
It’s so funny I was just watching the Lakers play the Kings and thinking, man this reminds me of the Melo Knicks
Game recognize game
He took those Luka criticisms personally lmao
Yep. These shoes fit Melo too.
As someone who watched Melo nightly as a Knicks fan, he was never AS BAD as his reputation. He had some effort issues, but when the team was on good stretches, he was engaged and decent defensively.
By his late years though in OKC and LA, he was basically a cone.
The more you watch oldhead podcasts, the more you realize they just talk about themselves when they’re talking about how the current generation sucks
“Get the rebound”
Melo criticizing Luka for not fighting through screens is surreal.
Melo knows lol
Melo: I’ll conserve my energy on defense so that I can score more on offense! If I get a 40 piece nobody can say shit.
JR Smith: …man I have no idea what the score even is bro I’m so high right now
Rocco: Woof Woof motherfucker!
Lmao
Laugh track
Therealestyeti: I guess we gotta WEED OUT the players that are not paying attention 🤷🏿♂️
JR Smith gets up and stares therealestyeti down
Audiences gasp
JR Smith: Whatchu say?!
Therealestyeti: Gulps uhhh nothing??
JR proceeds to beat the alternator out therealestyeti
Reddit the fuck on take my updoot and get out! r/loveforredditors
I know “Luka doesn’t care about defense” is what’s hot in the streets right now, but I haven’t been terribly upset at his effort since the Detroit game.
I don’t think his defense has been bad this season (for the most part). People need to realize that’s different than “He’s not good” on defense. And I don’t think that’s ever going to change, he’s just not that kind of athlete.
EDIT:
It’s similar to Jokic. There are just things he’s not going to excel at because that’s not what they’re capable of (Jokic it’s playing above the rim and with Luka it’s staying in front of faster ball handlers).
Yeah everyone keeps talking about effort and caring when even when he “locks in” he gets cooked. 36 year old Demar had one of his best games of the year last night and most of it came against Luka who actually was trying. He’s severely limited against NBA ball handlers and ever since the Celtics series every team has made it a point to hunt him. Not sure what you do with that.
Just gotta be realistic about it - either truly get on his ass and make him D up, or accept that its not gonna happen, and structure your roster around it. 4 good defenders around Luka could definitely be a decent defense - man is still a 6’8 guard which isn’t nothing
The realistic way for him to contribute is to box out, rotate regardless of he gets beat. He does most of these but at some point in the game he gets tired and loses focus which is understandable when he’s the only guy scoring/ making it easy for other players
hahah funny you say he gets tired cuz he also moves so damn slow out there lol like it works incredibly but not exactly the most high energy guy - great points tho
I was watching one game and 41 year old LeBron was defending Cade in the left corner, and Cade got to make a pass down the baseline to the other corner to an open shooter cause Luka wasn’t paying attention.
That’s his biggest issue to me is effort and focus
the mavs had a top 10 defense with him in 2021, 2022 and 2024
Dude if 6’1 200lbs Payton Pritchard can be a good defender with his .00025in vert, 6’8 230 can find a way to be more than a cone on defense.
It’s not like he’s just letting dude by him. He has terrible footwork and isn’t quick laterally. Two departments Pritchard is naturally better at. He also doesn’t carry 1⁄3 of the offensive load Luka does so naturally has much more energy to expend on that side.
We have to stop act like defense is solely effort.
And Payton isn’t giving you 30 a game….
His defense has been ass. Look at that foul on KPJ late in game. It’s a possible game winner and he’s guarding KPJ standing almost completely upright with his hands down. That is NOT how you get into a defensive stance. Game on the line and dude can’t bend his knees and put his hands up because he doesn’t care
Shhh. Don’t be reasonable.
He’s simply not good at defense, it’s honestly not for lack of trying. If he would just stop complaining so much to refs and get back on D, that’s enough. Rest of it is a roster issue. Like we know what kind of player he is. He won’t turn into Kobe or LeBron on defense
He’s average most times on defense.
He goes back and forth depending on injuries and his overall engagement which waxes and wanes throughout the season. Sometimes he’s locked in and other times he’s on his Mac Dre “not my job” energy.
honestly Lakers defense has just been bad whether or not Luka is on the floor
He has cone drills run on him which makes the rest of the team have to work harder.
The other guys cant hold their own either.
Teams arent focused on going at him the whole game, they easily do it against Smith, Dalton, Gabe, Laravia, Klebr too, Lebron too if he’s saving energy.
He’s easily playing better defense than the last two years but that’s wasted effort on this roster who also cant do anything on offense aside from Lebron.
Demar obviously torched him last night but he still shot 80% when defended by any other laker. And its not like those bums are doing anything on offense to offset that
This narrative doesn’t even make sense? The lakers team as a whole is terrible defensively and people are acting like the whole reason is cause of Luka. I understood (but disagreed) with the narrative when talking about the 23⁄24 Mavs cause the team was exceptional on defence and covered for him. I see multiple players on the lakers get cooked all game but check reddit after the game and it’s all about Luka being a cone.
He’s their new scapegoat. I notice no one is throwing people like Ayton, who is expected to give it all on defense, under the bus. Luka is contributing SOMETHING.
You have to remember this is PJ Tucker, who had to do things like rebound (10 a game) and guard Big Baby even though the Longhorns had Lamarcus Aldridge at a half foot taller than him AND THEN claw his way back to the league from another continent AND THEN stick around as a glue piece for contenders forever.
He’s on the Mount Rushmore of hustle and has a perspective almost no one else has.
Luka being by far the most talked about player in the NBA on a mid Lakers team is pretty fascinating.
It’s the Lakers. If LeBron and Luka weren’t on the team, Austin Reaves would be the most discussed NBA player
There was a time when I was tired of hearing about Max Christie.
Remember Talen Horton Tucker though?
Kuzma!
I think the trade saga is also more than a small part of it. Everyone wants to see how he’ll do in the wake of it.
It’s by design, you can’t tell me the Mavs didn’t want to shop Luka and get more than just broken AD
They didn’t say any lies tho
In 2023-24, Luka moved by far the least on defense in the NBA, and then moved even less in the playoffs, and he took the Mavs to the Finals: https://www.nba.com/stats/players/speed-distance?Season=2023-24&dir=A&sort=AVG_SPEED_DEF&SeasonType=Regular+Season
This is not a unique thing for him, he is actually moving a lot more on defense this year than he was that year. It’s less about effort, and more about saving energy for offense where he carries a ridiculous burden. But the Lakers are just a horribly constructed team, and their defensive issues are far from being just a Luka issue. People are hunting clips of him being bad to blame on their struggles when its the basically the entire team being bad.
To me, Redick needs to get on him more when he gets into his head about the refs, that’s when I see a noticeable impact on how he plays offensively and getting back on defense. But JJ might scream at the refs more than Luka lol, its like I’m getting flashbacks to when Nick Nurse was coaching for us.
Edit: The amount of times I’ve been “So you hate waffles”’d here. Yes, other players have had his offensive load and been better defenders. Yes, you can and still should still criticize his defense. I’m saying its not this effort issue for the Lakers that JJ can fix and hold him accountable, I’m saying its been a clear limitation of his throughout his career.
I genuinely feel like he still wouldn’t be a good defender if you cut his offensive role in half and he didn’t have to “conserve energy” for offense. I never really bought that whole idea of players being bad defenders because they do so much offensively. We’ve seen players carry a big offensive load and still be positive defenders before; it’s not impossible at all. He’s that good though where it is something that should be worked around he has made a Finals after all we have seen it’s doable.
depends on the matchup really. If you’re going to sit around expecting him to be good on defense against a team like the Spurs with athletic af guards, its just not going to happen. But team like the Clippers or even the Nuggets tbh, I do think he’s capable of neutral to positive defense with more stamina.
I also think you’re understating the offensive burden Luka, Harden, and Lebron have had at their best versus any other player. There’s a difference between a scoring burden, and then a scoring, playmaking, and ball handling burden.
Well I agree, nothing I really said here is really going against that, Luka definitely has conditioning issues and the fact that he isn’t able to put in the energy on defense that other star players can should be held against him.
I’m more just saying that he isn’t deliberately not trying on defense, but actually has a limitation that the Mavs were able to work around with a better constructed roster to bring out his strengths. JJ hounding on him in that regard isn’t going to make it much better.
more about saving energy for offense where he carries a ridiculous burden
When he was playing with both Bron and Reaves his defensive effort was still really bad
If y’all truly believe it’s about offensive load you should logically have guys like SGA, Giannis, and Tatum on a whole level above Luka and Jokic. They somehow find the energy to compete on both ends.
Mentioning Luka and Jokic in one sentence is completely unnecessary here lol
Doncic is utterly static off the ball on offense. Jokic works his ass off. Jokic actually has an excuse to go slow on defense because he does way more on offense (nobody say the words “usage rate”, that bullshit doesnt account for all the off-ball work- watch the games).
In terms of overall contribution to a team, there’s Giannis and Jokic in a tier of their own, then there’s the SGA getting-close tier and the Steph Curry “still an alien” tier, then its all these others guys that are debatable.
Relative to Luka I can agree that Jokic gives more effort on defense, but relative to the other guys he’s definitely not on their level of effort.
He’s already regressing to his old ways: standing around, not bending his knees, complaining to refs, subtly blaming his teammates.
TBF that year his knees were bleeding every game.
It’s less about effort, and more about saving energy for offense where he carries a ridiculous burden.
Didn’t seem to stop MJ. Gave 100% on both ends. He ain’t the only one either, lots of all time greats gave full effort on defense, they’re called two way players, they exist. If you need to conserve energy for one end of the floor then you are obviously not in peak physical condition and need to take steps to correct that.
Ain’t no way Carmelo Anthony is hemming and hawing about a high-volume scorer not giving effort on defense.
He knows what it’s like from experience
yeah I think this is actually very direct insight and confirmation here. He’s relating to, and explaining why, the problem exists
Especially when the high volume scorer is also a better playmaker than he could ever dream of being.
He did add some insight to that, which is nowadays the 4th and 5th guys are even more skilled so defense is even more critical because they’re even capable of making shots so you really need to position yourself better to mitigate their ability to score.
It’s not an excuse though. He should have definitely played more defense in his career.
But he’s also not wrong even if he’s being hypocritical.
is he wrong
Melo isn’t as bad on defense as you’re implying. He isn’t some Trae Young bad on defense
he was a:
Melo knows from experience.
Melo wasn’t that bad. He was, overall not good. But he wasn’t atrocious as some people trying to make him out to be.
At least in his prime years.
Melo is a good defender when he tried
He never tried
This the stance Melo always had, efficiency and effort on D be damned
Melo is an expert on terrible defense
Melo a better defender than Luka
Both these guys were 1 way players too lol. PJ was just the much less valuable version- a defender that gives you nothing on offense.
PJ on the 2018 Rockets at least spread the floor with 40% 3pt shooting and gave you a few clutch offensive boards
So does saying this mean that Lukas defense isn’t a problem? And PJ def was a 3 and D guy.
Maybe you’re thinking of Bucks PJ and on but he had literally the best corner 3pt% in the league when he was on the Rockets so nah we definitely appreciated his (yes, very specific) contribution on offense. You definitely couldn’t just help off him like you can with true defense-only players, so the spacing was valuable even if he didn’t actually shoot often
Yaaaaaall. Having Melo talk about “winning the margins” is the most hilarious shit ever. He was the king of not giving a single fuck on defense, wouldn’t box out unless he could get an easy dbl dbl
The thing is you can hide one bad defender of he’s surrounded with good defenders. Mavs succeeded with that in their run to the WC and Finals. It’s just they run into bad matchups in Warriors and Celtics. Lakers just don’t have the personnel for that.
Even then I think the Mavs got lucky in that one year, partly due to semi-decent availability of Lively and Kyrie, and partly Luka going super-saiyan. They had an even better team with Brunson, KP and Carlisle but that didn’t pan out.
I mean he’s not wrong. Playing defense to a high level is exhausting and will take away from your offensive game massively, when the rest of your team is trash and you’re the one carrying the entire offensive load, how is it worth it to step up defensively? They’re not gonna compensate enough on the offensive side
Nobody on that bench can hold Luka accountable because they suck. Lakers have the worst bench in the league they don’t play defense and can’t score
Melo should know about horrible defense
I think if you wanna be cynical you could make a case that Luka is more interested in being a genius than he is playing truly winning basketball - he pretty much does very little without the ball in his hands, and he’s incredibly lazy on defense even though he knows its a problem by now. To me those are things that could easily be fixed if you wanted to. He also seems most engaged when he’s going back and forth with the fans, refs or another player. I think you could argue he’s more interested in challenging other players and flashing his incredible gifts than he is going all in on winning games.
Not saying I totally believe this, or that he’s not a winning player, but I think it could explain some of his strange qualities as a player. Its a conundrum because he’s obviously one of the best in the game, took a team the finals, and is clearly a competitive mf’er. Obvioulsy he affects winning and cares about, I just wonder whether subconsciously that’s his highest priority. Genius can get in its own way sometimes
Another day another podcast
All this over a children’s game
So sick of this shit with Doncic. He has effort lapses but for like the past month feel like it’s been mostly fine. People act like his defense is team killing level bad when it’s really just bad defender carrying an entire offense bad…
i been saying this. idgaf if he doesn’t guard he drops 40 a night. the whole roster is broken, upgrade and tell them to play defense
Luka come back to us
Luka is not the problem. Team is trash. No one is playing D and and the rest of the team can’t score
But you also have a bad defensive team. The Mavs had it right with 2 good defensive centers a 3rd serviceable center and a bing if 3 & d guards. & wings. All they need was a few upgrades at the 3&d but the concept was right
Mfer talks loud as fuck
pot, kettle, takes one to know one…
I know someone like PJ who had to play in Israel, Germany, and Ukraine to get back in the league has to be disgusted by Luka’s BS 😭😭😭😭😭
Takes one to know one
Melo knows all about scoring a bunch and losing in the playoffs.
As a laker (and Mavs fan believe it or not), dropping 40 doesn’t make up for giving up a bunch of points as well
The sad part is Luka CAN lock in at times
This is seriously annoying. There are 3 other players on the court that can’t defend. At least Luka is carrying the offense - wtf are the other 3 doing?
There lies the problem. You need to surround Luka with good to great defenders. The Lakers haven’t, hence we are where we are.
Luka will never be a plus defender. He will often be a pilon. It’s an unfortunate but proven fact at this point.
These guys got rings
my problem with luka is more it’s a combination of his crazy amount of turnovers as well
yes, he gives you 40
but he’s also a cone, he got hunted by the kings most of the game specifically, and he didn’t provide like any resistance
so how much is that 40 worth when you give just as good as you get?
let’s be really conservative, and say he only cost the lakers 10 points with his bad defense
so that 40 is more like 30
then let’s count in his 4+ turnovers
we’ll be conservative, call that 5 points, but that down to 25 points now
luka can shoot the ball like 30+ times some nights, and curreently his efficency is pretty ass, especially from 3, where he’s shooting 10+ times at 30%
well when you factor in his defense and the lakers defense and giving the opposing team more chances cause you’re bricking 3’s so much.. maybe you bump that down to 20
the problem i have with his bad defense and chucking, is how much are his points really worth in games like the kings where he got hunted and gave up a lot more than just 10 points?
how much value is his 5-10 assists when he can just as many turnovers some nights?
the defense isn’t all on him but it’s a lot different when he specifically is hunted by the opposing team and it works, and when he chucks 3’s and turns it over that means the other team is getting more cracks at it, he’s also a big reason why the lakers take so few shots a game, because he’s constantly holding the ball himself and doing iso a lot of those 30 shot range he takes
luka always pumps out great stats like carmelo says, but the problem is if you look any further at it, it’s a lot less pretty
Scoring 40 is cool unless the person you’re guarding is doing the same
Idc! As a laker fan it takes all of us to win! Mf needs to guard!!!!!!! Bron still out there at 41 doing more than Luka ever has on D
Melo is just trying to excuse his own years of horrendous defense. Ask SGA, ask Tatum, ask giannis, as Jaylen Brown, ask Embiid, ask LeBron, etc. these guys have all scored 30+ regularly while being very good to elite defensively. It absolutely can be done.
Real stars want to be held accountable because they want to win
That’s the most frustrating part about Luka’s sycophants. They act like he’s the first high usage guard who was expected to play defense.
luka is who he is… he’s an elite scorer who will give 90% effort on offense and 10% effort on defense. if you dont surround him with 3 and D guys its shitty roster construction
I feel like we had some of that with DFS. Someone Luka respected from previous years that could let him know he lacking on D. Also Markieff to an extent as someone not afraid to voice his opinion.
Melo dissing Bron in this lmao
lol, they just out here giving Lebron a pass to be the vet.
“Luka needs a vet to push him”…..meanwhile the oldest and one of the best players ever “……..”.
Melo laughing at a mirror image of himself
You can’t be considered an all time great and play one side of the floor. And Melo talking about it is hilarious to me.
I’d rather take 30 and defense and less turnovers
HE GIVING ME 40 lmaoooo. I mean that’s facts Luka is the offense right now so can only say so much about his defense when the rest of the team outside of Bron and Reaves is garbage
My slack line to Luka is incredibly long because he’s surrounded by butterfingers and YMCA hoopers (except Bron and AR).
Everyone complains about his usage rate but have you seen Smart or Nick Smith try to handle the ball? One dude throws passes that go straight to the other team and the other ballroom dances with it like it’s prom night. Then there’s the issue of when he’s actually passed a mind blowing cross court past two defenders pass, there’s a guy on the 3 that has a whole 5 seconds to throw the ball in and misses anyway. The kings game last night showed that - there were a couple of passes to Smart and Vando that was wide open but the kings did not care to even go defend it cause they almost knew that’d be a brick. Some of his turnovers I don’t even blame him because dude is legitimately gassed. Can he complain less, run back and try more? Yes. Is he that much of a terrible defender? Given everything, no.
I can see people here didn’t watch or pay attention to Melo during his prime years.
Man to man, he was alright. Not good. Not great. But acceptable and definitely above average.
His help defense was slightly below average. He wasn’t great but it wasn’t horrible. he’d affect the shot and he’d try for the “swipe block”.
Where he faltered BIG TIME was off-ball. He would lose his man.
but narrative for people that didn’t watch or for haters was “he bad on D”.
He was, overall. But he wasn’t atrocious. He had positives. Man 2 man defense was slightly ok. His help defense was lacking but he was somewhat effective here. Just that real bad off-ball stuff.
Lakers roster is not built well. Luka had a contender in Dallas, then was traded to a team that’s gonna take years to build around him. Dude shoulda just said fuck the Lakers and make his way to San Antonio.
It’s wild how much nba players don’t know about actual basketball
People take the regular season way too seriously.
The Lakers will make the playoffs and when they do, they’ll need to have a system in place. If Luka can’t turn up during the playoffs and JJ can’t figure out ways to cover for Luka, then it’s an actual problem. Until that happens, it’s just regular season bullshit.
“Half the defense, Double the offense” 😲
they are just telling on themselves here…both melo and pj were one way players. Luka does it better so idk why they talking about this non sense…there are not many two way players in the league like giannis, kawhi, etc.
Why does Carmelo look like a retired lottery winner who somehow invested perfectly and is just doing whatever he wants to do now?
He can’t play defense the way refereeing is set up with these bs touch fouls and isolation/athleticism. He is a high-IQ, high-offense player, and WILL foul out — look at what they do to Curry… no calls and he fouls out every so often because the way the games are called.
They’re refereeing for entertainment, point margins, and fines. It’s the game, not Luka.
He also gets a lot of rebounds
All he has to do is not be cone. People act like we want Luka to be Patrick Beverley or Dort.
These people are so low class and trashy.
Luka needs a Rajon Rondo to get up his grill about competing.
You dont need him to give you 40. Its irrelevant if you also give up 40
NBA basketball is the stupid-Olympics
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIAxGBZBRCu8GImWo01IaqbEIP3__1IL_GnuclDo0pt_pSaL8xjLCdPzl3V9zyJfNehTIwaQvo5YEVbJsBtyomkU14-6_m2km4DQa4YrJjnqJIAKLn3RflJxd6zWCHNRGv4GRun60qZfA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-12-31+at+5.22.06+PM.png
Luka is not incapable of functioning on a good defense, but he will never be a stalwart defender. Luka can guard someone who mostly uses physicality to get to their spots quite well, but he will always get blown by by speedy players. He’s not fast. Just get some defenders on his team and he will be fine.
The Mavs had a top 5 (maybe number 1) defense the year we went to the Finals.
All Luka has to do is continuously try on defense and he’ll be fine. Jokic is a mediocre defender at a much more critical position and still is the best player in the league. Luka is an offense on 2 legs, just give him defenders who can catch and shoot 3s and make a layup/dunk and he will be fine.
If you can’t hold a pro accountable, they really aren’t a pro…
PART of being an actual pro, is owning up to your mistakes, poor play, bad decisions etc.
So many for so long think they are above being criticized, put down etc.
Mentally weak folks can’t take being corrected.
These young Dudes getting paid stupid money and don’t care about the work ethic
It’s so funny watching all these former pros talk about playing defense when they never did it themselves
obviously melo could’ve been a much greater player if he adapted and changed his mentality when necessary but people talk about him like he did something personal to them
Luka wouldn’t need to get 40 if he gave effort on defense. Maybe 30 points with defensive effort is better than 40 points and little to no defensive effort.
The rest of the team can’t shoot. There, problem solved
Melo: “when you’re a star, you can do anything”
Still dragging this narrative huh lol
melo should remind us how he drove Linsanity out of NY
Don’t let this conversation distract you from the fact that Lebron’s defence is even worse than Luka.
It’s the culture of the game today. A weak commissioner runs the NBA, coddling these players.
It’s gonna be so funny if Nico actually right
MELO - MOST OVERRATED OF LAST 20 YEARS. GO AWAY.
Carmelo is the expert on this.
Not melo. He’s also so bad in defense.
Duh….
Luka drops the 40 and then gives up 40 on the other end. Perfectly balanced
I have always wondered how people fail to do the simple math in their head that says having no defensive effort negates much of your offensive effort.