Quote:
Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson
Per basketball-reference.com
As far as I know, it's a solid stat. Like any other stat, it's not at all definitive by itself, but as part of a bigger picture, it's reliable. So while I don't think we can take this to mean that Luka is now the best defensive PG in the league, we can take it to mean that his defense has improved by a lot. No doubt this is due to a combination of his improved conditioning, and an an overall increased focus on defense coming from the coaching.
I don't think he'll ever be an elite defender, but you can see it with your eyes that he's more than serviceable on that end. He's extremely big and strong for a point guard, and his basketball IQ is through the roof.
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Thanks for the info…
I wonder with this data if there’s a breakdown of who he was guarding… how often it was a pg, sg, sg, pf, or even C. Or perhaps just pg, wing, or big…
Agree that the eye test shows good footwork and anticipation in cutting off drives, he’s very solid/thick too so if he beats you to the spot you’re not going to clear him out with a bump…
I think we’ve seen him take pride in his defense too. When he makes a play there he’s just as excited and competitive as when he’s breaking ankles on offense. Could see that the other day when he was begging for a replay/challenge on that ball off the fingertips. He still seems to loaf a bit in close outs preferring to stay in position for rebounds but overall he’s clearly better on that side of the ball