Is Luka turning into an elite defender?

[enigmatics]

Clearly someone got into grandpa's caugh medicine.

[WentzerWuver]

Luka has turned up a notch defensively in the playoffs. I'm not sure he'll ever make an all defensive team in the regular season because he paces himself, but this video breaks down Luka's brilliance defensively when he's actually trying to defend.

First we had playoff Murray.

Now we have playoff defense Luka.

https://youtu.be/MUnZ3cLJyxQ?si=e6LZpimqAdlO5qhQ

Is that why OKC players was constantly slashing to the rim for easy layup and dunks whenever they were guarded by your Luka last night?

He was like help me double team cus I can't stop these youngin' making me look like a fool Lol

https://youtube.com/shorts/Ctl2DvuWwUs?si=Cy43Ok3E8BwzDB4d

He look worse than Dlo on defense last night...

https://youtu.be/YVO5XKyNBI0?si=UuIIg5ghcYAUu6re

[WentzerWuver]

Luka is taking a break now...

https://youtube.com/shorts/zmeT-yuLss0?si=I0gG8AeFRZzKo99P

[Handlez]

They laughed at me.

They scoffed at me.

And then Luka turned it up again DEFENSIVELY!

What a time.

[naabzor]

Does not seem to me that's the case. He sure is capable when locked in, but that's always the case with this type of juggernaut offensive player: they picked their spot when to turn intensity up and when coasting on defense.

[dirkdiggler4177]

Luka is taking a break now...

https://youtube.com/shorts/zmeT-yuLss0?si=I0gG8AeFRZzKo99P

That looks like some **** my mother would post on facebook, not knowing they are all actors.

Luka started out slow and did not give it all on defense in the first quarter. He did not attack much either at the start of the quarter. Seems like part of the gameplan to start him off slow.

[Handlez]

Luka quietly put together a defensive masterclass...

https://youtu.be/HofUQhnToWM?si=SaFXR6IBqD039t1Q

[dirkdiggler4177]

Luka quietly put together a defensive masterclass...

https://youtu.be/HofUQhnToWM?si=SaFXR6IBqD039t1Q

The reason why he is able to play solid D is because the rest of the team is playing D. He also guards the weakest player, so the numbers look good. With that said, without him doing his part it would be impossible for them to win. They would just screen and switch every play to put Luka on Shai. The clippers did the same with Harden, the problem was that the Mavs did the same against Harden, so suddenly Harden had to give 100% of every possession. That won't work in the long run.

In the regular season he (Luka) can't be super focused on D and O. It is just impossible for a wing to do that. Like Kawhi did it, won DOY but he only averaged 16 and 21 ppg those seasons while having a great defensive team around him. Kobe, LeBron, Jordan, etc. were known to be great defensive players, but they never played at a consistently high level.

As I said before in threads, you can't be mad at wings like Luka and Harden leading the league in scoring while also playing bad defense in the regular season. They guard the worst offensive player and they rarely get shots. So what if a defensive wing scoring 10ppg drops 15 in a game if it means you get 35ppg and 10apg on 50% shooting?