One gets the feeling Luke has come of age as a player ever since Bob Hill took over. Going to head to head with the reigning MVP, matching him and coming away with the W in Phoenix will do wonders for him, even if the season is pretty much shot.
First of all the season is not shot. 6 games back in the Northwest division isn't all that much. Secondly, I don't give Luke any credit for tonight. Steve Nash didn't win MVP for his defense. Good win for the Sonics, especially considering that they just played on Friday.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jurassic:</div><div class="quote_post"> Secondly, I don't give Luke any credit for tonight.</div> Ridiculous comment. You don't think going head to head with the MVP on his own floor is intimidating? Nash played a great game, and Luke not only matched him, he came away with the win too. I don't care who is guarding you, 30 points and 12 assists deserves props.
this is a great recap: http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/nba/nbacom..._589_seaphx.asx it doesn't get much better than this: 2 OTs, allen putting up 21 in the 4th including the buzzer-beater from waaay out, stellar offensive performances from shawn marion and steve nash... this game embodied pretty much everything i find entertaining about the nba.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jurassic:</div><div class="quote_post">First of all the season is not shot. 6 games back in the Northwest division isn't all that much. Secondly, I don't give Luke any credit for tonight. Steve Nash didn't win MVP for his defense. Good win for the Sonics, especially considering that they just played on Friday.</div> You clearly did not watch the game. Luke saved the Sonics at the end of regulation. There was less than 20 seconds on the game clock and Nash had the ball at half court. Nash looked away from Luke for a fraction of a second and Luke went for the steal forcing Nash to turn the ball over out of bounds and give the ball to the Sonics. If he doesn't make that play at that time the Sonics lose. I don't remember if the Supes tied the game on the next possession or if Luke just took away the game winning possession from the Suns, but either way it would have been a loss because Marion or Nash were going to score. Nash is not the best defender in the league, but it isn't like he was playing matador defense. Luke just beat him on the plays he was making, and got the steal when it was needed. If Luke doesn't deserve credit for his performance then why doesn't EVERY point guard who plays the suns get 30, 11 and 6?
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Luke saved the Sonics at the end of regulation. There was less than 20 seconds on the game clock and Nash had the ball at half court. Nash looked away from Luke for a fraction of a second and Luke went for the steal forcing Nash to turn the ball over out of bounds and give the ball to the Sonics.</div> So I should jump on his nuts because of one play? Tell me this, when has Nash ever put an opposing pg on lockdown? Jason Terry established himself as an elite pg against Nash in the playoffs last year, not only scoring a lot but shooting a very high %. Then in the next series he got torched by Tony Parker (although that happens to everyone so it's not too big a deal). You get my point, Nash is not a good defender, nor is he an intimidating trash talker. Offensively Luke has no reason to be scared of Nash because Nash won't bring tough D. Yeah he's the MVP, and it was his home court, but all you need to worry about is limiting his assists.
We're talking about Luke Ridnour here...I personally don't care who Luke put those stats up against...they're still impressive and no matter what, It's gonna boost his confidence. He's been playing really well as of late, averaging something like 18 pts and 8 assists in the past 6 games. From our below .500 season thus far...there isn't much to be really happy about, so why not?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jurassic:</div><div class="quote_post">So I should jump on his nuts because of one play?</div> No, but to say you are giving him NO credit for a performance like that and a clutch play is by far more biased than the comments of those of us who are touting his horn.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting psheehy:</div><div class="quote_post">No, but to say you are giving him NO credit for a performance like that and a clutch play is by far more biased than the comments of those of us who are touting his horn.</div> In case you didn't know, I'm not a Suns fan. So how am I being biased? People give no credit for longevity nowadays. Luke had a good year last year, and everyone fell in love with him. They forget that AD was bailing them out with his defense and ability to close games. Now the Sonics are struggling. Ray gets suspended and Luke has a few good games. Ray comes back and Luke contiues his good play, but the fans are giving him more accolades than he deserves. He is a big part of why we are in this mess (record-wise). So no, I refuse to get on his bandwagon until we start winning regularly.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Casual:</div><div class="quote_post">AD bailing Luke out with his defense would be like Fat Albert replacing Roseanne on a relay team.</div> Hilarious . Don't quit your day job. Do we really need to start a poll to see who was the better defender between Luke and AD ? As I said AD was also better at closing games (he was elite when it came to assist-turnover ratio). No need to worry about him being reckless down the stretch. Funny how quickly the debate can change topics.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jurassic:</div><div class="quote_post">(he was elite when it came to assist-turnover ratio). </div> He was very safe with the ball in his hands, but at the same time when was the last time you saw him make anything other than a basic pass? Luke's turnover numbers are extremely good for the type of playmaker he is. AD was bigger, stronger and a better defender, but he's not the sort of point guard that's going to make something happen out of nothing. Luke has that ability. Anyway, no one's asking you to give Luke credit on his season, because he doesn't deserve much, but as far as the Suns game goes, he deserves plenty as a one off.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting anadagirlballer4strt:</div><div class="quote_post">i miss antonio daniels. how is he doing with his new team?</div> Averaging 6 ppg and 3 apg, only shooting 37%. Like the Wiz he started off hot but now he's coming off the bench..
It doesn't make any sense to criticize a player after he scores 30 points and hands out 11 assists in a winning effort. But then again it doesn't make sense to make excuses for a player that shoots 95% from the line that misses two consecutive free throws that would have tied a game--and ultimately resulted for a disappointing defeat. Life is filled with hyprocrisy.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jurassic:</div><div class="quote_post">In case you didn't know, I'm not a Suns fan. So how am I being biased?</div> Anti-Luke bias. You are letting your dislike of Luke cloud your vision preventing you from admitting that a nice performance is a nice performance. I don't argue with you not jumping on the bandwagon, he hasn't been consistent enough to get me that far over in his camp. My argument was with your following statement... <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jurassic:</div><div class="quote_post">Secondly, I don't give Luke any credit for tonight.</div> The refusal to give ANY credit is where my beef is. Like we saw with Lewis, sometimes consistency takes time to establish. The encouraging thing for me is to see a young player produce a solid, star-quality game against a star-quality player. That indicates potential which on a team that has played this poorly is encouraging. Ridnour is not big/strong enough, does not have the arm length and does not appear to have the latteral speed to be a one on one defender. I doubt his strength or latteral speed will see too much improvement and his size/length are pretty much fixed. He has improved his steals this year, ranking 14th in league and at the halfway point of the season he has 2/3 of the steals he had all of last season. He needs to continue to work on his team defense, and his GM/Coach need to put in post players that help CORRECTLY based on the type of player they have on the perimeter. If Luke can get his numbers to be consistently in the 15 point, 7 assist range with a handful of 20+/10+ games the Sonics have what they were looking for at the point. They need a bigger/stronger/longer, one on one defender to back up BOTH guard spots and complement Wilkens backing up the 2 and 3 spots. That will let Hill mix and match his offense/defense in rotation and the clutch. Is Ridnour worthy of praise? Consistently, no, he has not been worthy. However, when he has been good, he has been REAL good. I remember saying the same thing about Rashard Lewis two years ago. It took Lewis until his 6th year to find that consistency and he started for four of those...he would have been a second year player had he gone to college. Luke is in his third year and only his second year of starting, he would be a second year player if he had finished school. Add to that the fact that most pundits believe the point is the hardest position to learn in the NBA, and I am pretty pleased with where Luke is in his growth.
