Luc is like a spare younger version of Ariza when healthy. the Dubs would definitely be coughing blood right about now if this team had a healthy Mah Boutie.
That is the one good point holic makes, but it's an obvious point, because Draymond negates pretty much EVERYBODY when he is on the court. He is that good defensively. Rockets might go more with the small ball lineup until the Warriors adjust, then they can bring Capela back in to counter that adjustment, and he will (hopefully) get his usual 20/10+. Even last game, when his stats looked pedestrian, his presence was palpable and aided the Rockets adjustment. Harden and him have a lot of "gravity" on the offensive end, and GS is always aware of Capela on the defensive end as well.
Really unfortunate. Right before he dislocated that shoulder again in that laker game he was shooting lights out amd defending really well
If Luc plays again, he needs to be pulled if he misses his first layup ... Those 3 blown layups in game 1 were gamechangers
Hopefully the couple buckets and defensive stops he got in garbage time will give him some confidence.
The good thing about the Lucs, PJs, and Trevors of the world is that they can still be contributors even when it isn't happening on the offensive end. If Luc can stay highly engaged and active on the defensive side of the ball, we can still use him even if in a more limited role than we like. Those 10 minutes (or 25 if his offense starts working) are huge in the rest benefits they can provide other guys. Unlike this last game, we won't have more than a single day off for the rest of the series. We can't run guys 40+ minutes a game with one day off and expect to see an absence of negative effects. We need Luc minutes.
give him one more chance, if luc miss two more ez layups on Sunday then i'm done with him for the rest of playoff...
Lucky for that broken man he plays for MDA, CP3 and Harden who have the most confidence in anyone, even for Ryan Anderson.
For us to be at our best, we need Luc out there playing elite defense and making his contributions on offense. I hope we don't give up on him and he bounces back. I'd still rather see Luc ahead of Green in the rotation for Game 3.
hopefully his shoulder heals up with this small break because he is a key piece for the Rockets against the Warriors and was signed IMO specifically to play against the Warriors. He can still defend well but not being able to trust that shoulder is just really tough right now. He is missing wide open layups and shots pretty badly. I was glad that MDA pulled him last night when he started off poorly. These games mean way too much right now to keep rolling the dice like that. Honestly I would give Ryno or even Iso Joe some spot minutes if Luc cannot trust his shoulder like that. Even if he is a much better defender than both of those guys we cannot play 4 on 5 on offense against the Warriors. They are a tough enough defensive team as it is we cannot have a player that they do not have to worry about at all and have someone like Green or Iggy play free safety roaming around.
Would you rather play 4 on 5 on offense or on defense? Personally, I'd much rather take our shot with a stronger defense.
Obviously, we do. If Luc starts off poorly, then he must be pulled out for Green. There is no other choice.
honestly if LMM is playing like he did these last two games, then id rather have green out there. atleast we know green isn't afraid of the moment and not out there 2nd guessing himself. he just adds that energy dynamic hou needs at opportune times. he has his flaws of course defensively but thats not as bad as what we have seen from LMM overall thus far. hoping these next few days he can clear his head and just play
IMO Luc is better than Ariza, he actually has much better body control on dribble drives and can finish better (when healthy). He's also faster on defense. I really miss non injured Luc
ill disagree with that without hesitation even with a healthy LMM but thats something to discuss another day
At this point, Nene and Luc have to be out of the rotation for this series. EG and GG are our go-to guys off the bench. If we need another, we consider JJ, and then RA. That's it.
