I never really thought of Luke as a defensive player, but he has done quite well this series matching up against Ron. Even the commentators mentioned his defensive play during the game. Whenever Luke matches up with Ron, he uses his strength as an asset to stop Ron from driving around and doing his thing. Luke's defense was noticibly different from Trevor. Even thought Trevor is a better defensive player, he's not strong enough to keep up with Ron. Luke is the exact opposite, and he has done more than a formidable job holding Ron all series. I remember against Boston earlier this year, he played well against Pierce as well. Both are sort of similar players, in that they are not overly athletic, or quick, so Luke is able to match up with them. Against quicker more athletic players, he'll be burned. But regardless, props for Luke's defense this series. Hopefully he'll be effective against Carmelo. ...wow what the hell
I don't know if he's an asset defensively, but he was definitely rock solid against the Rockets. However, I don't know if I want to see him against 'Melo...that might be frightening.
He actually defends him pretty well and frustrates Melo. He was also scoring easily on Melo when he backed him down in the post. Luke was amazing in that Denver series last year, then returned to Earth in the Utah series. Melo is a different player this year and the Nuggets have the benefit of Billups now. Ron Artest really struggled when he had to pass out of double teams or pounded the rock for 14 seconds and then hoisted up a low percentage shot. I'm not sure how much credit Luke deserves for Artest being stupid with the basketball.
Lost One, I found this on LG from poster "LollerCoaster24", and I thought of your rants on Luke immediately. :O
