Luke Walton

[The Derski]

How about we start calling Harden’s “step back” which consists of like 4 steps a travel?

 

[Tapey]

If this was the NFL Walton would be fined for these statements

 

[msgkings322]

If this was the NFL Walton would be fined for these statements

It's the NBA and he was fined $15,000

 

[Lakers+USC=#1]

It's the Lakers, BK don't want to understand.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

If this was the NFL Walton would be fined for these statements

Lakers' Walton fined $15K for ripping into refs

 

[Black Adam]

How about we start calling Harden’s “step back” which consists of like 4 steps a travel?

Travelling? that's called a "Eurostep" these days...

 

[tducey]

It's the same across all sports. Consistency in what's a penalty and what's not. To me it's not fair, if it's a penalty for 1 team or 1 game it should be that way all the time.

 

[Shanemansj13]

I don't think you are grasping what he's saying.

He's not talking about the disparity between the fouls called. He's talking about guys driving to the basket and not getting calls. While fouls are being called when a guy flops shooting a jumper.

He's not wrong either. Josh Hart was attacking the rim all night and got zero free throws. There were several drives by Lebron where he was fouled and there were no calls. I remember one drive to the hoop where 3 different players fouled him and there was no call.

It's not just the Lakers either. It seems to be league wide. I think Luke is speaking up because, with their pace, attacking the rim is a huge part of the Lakers offense.

I saw in Cleveland and Lebron. He would attack the rim relentlessly and he would have 4 FT’s. GS would have 25 FT’s shooting jumpshots and Steph falling down everytime he shoots the ball. Not sure why they are giving calls to gives who are jump shooters. I will say Harden attacks a lot but he also is a high volume shooter and they continue to give him these bogus. I dont like the way the game is changing. So far early in the season the everyone averages more than 100 by far. The Cavs are somrthing like 18th in scoring averaging 106. Yeah it’s early but Lebron said something like it is going to be difficult to adjust to the new rules bc you cant touch ab offensive player. I’m getting tired of hearing a whistle every 30 seconds

 

[The Derski]

Travelling? that's called a "Eurostep" these days...

This is def not a eurostep. It’s not quite a step back either. Let’s call it the “Harden Cha Cha”.

 

[broncosmitty]

The nba is doing just fine. Don't watch if you don't like it.

pretty simple

When did you become an old man?

 

[broncosmitty]

Luke's issue is with the fact that the Lakers are driving to the basket at a higher rate than pretty much everyone, but aren't getting any calls.

Lebron shot 11 free throws against the Spurs, but should have had several more. On one of his drives to the basket, he was literally fouled by 3 different players and there was no call.

As Luke pointed out, Josh Hart played nearly 40 minutes and didn't get a single free throw.

As I said earlier, I think a lot of this is a combination of the Lakers being young and the new "freedom of movement" rules.

Luke could've bitched about his best player not making critical free throws.


But I'm guessing he won't be doing any of that if he wants to keep his job.

 

[trojanfan12]

I saw in Cleveland and Lebron. He would attack the rim relentlessly and he would have 4 FT’s. GS would have 25 FT’s shooting jumpshots and Steph falling down everytime he shoots the ball. Not sure why they are giving calls to gives who are jump shooters. I will say Harden attacks a lot but he also is a high volume shooter and they continue to give him these bogus. I dont like the way the game is changing. So far early in the season the everyone averages more than 100 by far. The Cavs are somrthing like 18th in scoring averaging 106. Yeah it’s early but Lebron said something like it is going to be difficult to adjust to the new rules bc you cant touch ab offensive player. I’m getting tired of hearing a whistle every 30 seconds

Yeah, unfortunately the NBA is following in the footsteps of the NFL and making rule changes that give the offense more and more of an advantage.

I understand why their doing it. They want to attract the "casual fan" and more offense is what the they want to see.

They know that junkies like us on here are going to keep watching and attending games no matter what.

 

[SJ76]

Yeah, unfortunately the NBA is following in the footsteps of the NFL and making rule changes that give the offense more and more of an advantage.

I understand why their doing it. They want to attract the "casual fan" and more offense is what the they want to see.

They know that junkies like us on here are going to keep watching and attending games no matter what.

It is rather gay IMO. Defense is an art just as much as offense is. Great defense is fun to watch. I miss it

 

[gohusk]

It is rather gay IMO. Defense is an art just as much as offense is. Great defense is fun to watch. I miss it

It is so much harder to play defense now than it was 20 years ago. The players are more skilled and everybody runs aggressive rotation offenses with tons of back picks. The reason they huck up so many 3's is because the shooters are better. Just about everybody in the NBA can drain a wide open 3 from the corner at a high clip. You can complain about defense but the teams that try to play team defense, as much as a losing cause that it is because it's really hard to play defense, are the ones that tend to be successful. Maybe part of it is the rules but a big part of it is that the players are a lot more skilled than they were in the past. Guys like Jordan, Bird, Johnson, ... played college ball without a 3 point line. There was no point for them working on 24 footers even though they were naturally good at it to begin with.

 

[SJ76]

It is so much harder to play defense now than it was 20 years ago. The players are more skilled and everybody runs aggressive rotation offenses with tons of back picks. The reason they huck up so many 3's is because the shooters are better. Just about everybody in the NBA can drain a wide open 3 from the corner at a high clip. You can complain about defense but the teams that try to play team defense, as much as a losing cause that it is because it's really hard to play defense, are the ones that tend to be successful. Maybe part of it is the rules but a big part of it is that the players are a lot more skilled than they were in the past. Guys like Jordan, Bird, Johnson, ... played college ball without a 3 point line. There was no point for them working on 24 footers even though they were naturally good at it to begin with.

When the league is calling more fouls on jump shots than going to the rim you got a real problem. It’s ass backwards like I said

 

[gohusk]

When the league is calling more fouls on jump shots than going to the rim you got a real problem. It’s ass backwards like I said

Yes, I agree with you. But there's a lot of "just give up the 2" in today's league as well. 3 point dominates the league because players shoot a lot better. Everybody needs to shoot in today's game.

 

[msgkings322]

It is rather gay IMO. Defense is an art just as much as offense is. Great defense is fun to watch. I miss it

Like anything there can be too much of that too. Nobody wants to return to the mid 90s with Detroit-Indiana playoff games with scores of like 75-70.

It's probably swung too far towards offense this year. Hopefully they course correct.

 

[msgkings322]

It is so much harder to play defense now than it was 20 years ago. The players are more skilled and everybody runs aggressive rotation offenses with tons of back picks. The reason they huck up so many 3's is because the shooters are better. Just about everybody in the NBA can drain a wide open 3 from the corner at a high clip. You can complain about defense but the teams that try to play team defense, as much as a losing cause that it is because it's really hard to play defense, are the ones that tend to be successful. Maybe part of it is the rules but a big part of it is that the players are a lot more skilled than they were in the past. Guys like Jordan, Bird, Johnson, ... played college ball without a 3 point line. There was no point for them working on 24 footers even though they were naturally good at it to begin with.

This is part of why I'm convinced you could assemble a team today that would be an even match for the 1992 Dream Team. Guys are more skilled today. But we had a long thread on this, and I became convinced it depends on the rules. If we used 1990s rules those players win, in the current setup probably the modern players win.

Here's the modern team that goes toe to toe with the Dream Team: LeBron, KD, Curry, Draymond, Harden, Westbrook, A Davis, Kawhi, Klay, Butler, DeAndre Jordan (need another big and all the good ones are foreign LOL), Ayton (college guy)

 

[gohusk]

Like anything there can be too much of that too. Nobody wants to return to the mid 90s with Detroit-Indiana playoff games with scores of like 75-70.

It's probably swung too far towards offense this year. Hopefully they course correct.

This is part of why I'm convinced you could assemble a team today that would be an even match for the 1992 Dream Team. Guys are more skilled today. But we had a long thread on this, and I became convinced it depends on the rules. If we used 1990s rules those players win, in the current setup probably the modern players win.

Here's the modern team that goes toe to toe with the Dream Team: LeBron, KD, Curry, Draymond, Harden, Westbrook, A Davis, Kawhi, Klay, Butler, DeAndre Jordan (need another big and all the good ones are foreign LOL), Ayton (college guy)

That modern dream team would shoot the old school dream team out of the gym. That's not discrediting the old school's dream teams skills. They dominated in their era but the fundamentals of this era are unreal because the game evolved. You have to be good at just about everything to play in today's game.

 

[DJ Fieri]

None of these quotes do anything to disprove what Luke has said or what has been said on this thread. It's like you're having a completely different discussion.

Here is a factoid that supports Luke's complaints:

In the 3 games so far, Lakers opponents have shot 97 free throws, the Lakers have shot 73. This despite the fact that the Lakers are attacking the basket more than pretty much every other team in the league.

Not uncommon for him. He also thinks awful and sucks aren't the same thing.