Is Luka Lebron 2.0?

From Dirk to Luka, immediately

 

But Luka averages ~17 more touches per game

 

Him being on the Mavericks makes me hate him tbh. That is his first sin.

 

The ONLY gripe people have about Harden, and that's the reason they "love" Luka for being basically the same player, is Harden hunting for fouls and trying to trick the officials, hence playing "the wrong way". While Luka plays "the right way".

Having watched a ton of Rockets' games, I don't think Harden has been hunting for fouls for about...last three years. But he has absolutely been doing it on occasions in the past. That's what infuriated people.

 

I'll go on a limb and say Zion will never be as dominant as Luka is in his 2nd NBA season unless he develops an outside shot. If he doesn't, he will be a glorified Ben Simmons with less assists and better motor.

 

We finally got the answer from Luka pre-draft skeptics on "Would Luka dominate the NCAA like he was dominating the Euroleague"?

Also, everyone has a chance to put up incredible stats against GSW, but not many do it.

 

exactly. silver's now moved on from golden skin worriers to dallas white stallions, manufacturing a shiny new product for the suburbs again

 

Sorry, but if you really watched a ton of games, you would know that's just blatant homerism right there. Harden has hunted for fouls this year so stop it. Warriors game 1 last year ring a bell too after not getting undercut? It made sense in that game, but it's part of his game so it's hard to lose that.

He's admitted so himself, he puts his body and arms in certain positions to get fouled and just takes advantage of the rules. However, since the refs have stopped calling certain things and how much of a hard worker Harden is, he's added to his game and now he has the floater so he's definitely toned it down to a minimum.

Regarding Luka, it's crazy what he does for a 20-year old. It's a shame he's with one of the most despicable sport franchises in the NBA, because now I cannot enjoy watching him. Still, look forward to see what he can do. He could be better than Dirk.

 

During past three years, I know Harden put forth good effort to look to score on drives instead of hunting for fouls. Yeah he still does it from time to time. But those first few years with Rockets, where Harden was all ticky-tacky fouls and no defense, really resonate with people today still.

 

MonStar 2.0

 

Guy can't even stay consistently healthy, until he can, we'll talk.

 

Griffin, Embiid, AD...lots of guys who were injured in their first year but went on to do good-great things. I still think Zion will be great.

 

If you dont like Luka, you dont like basketball. I just wish he wasnt on the Mavs. But we are watching greatness unfold.

 

I remember when I wrote pre-draft that Luka is basically white LeBron. Everybody that doesn't have a clue about basketball and more importantly Euroleague (majority) laughed at me hard

 

No, Harden’s ball-dominance and everyone else standing on the perimeter “not involved” is the current reason to hate Harden. They still harp on his “disappearances in the playoffs”. From listening to national radio like the SiriusXM NBA Channel, those are the current reasons to dislike Harden by former players, coaches, and the National media. Lol.

 

That may be the only gripe you personally have had with Hardens game, but that is not the only gripe we have heard from the media and fans for years.

“Who wants to watch one guy dribble the air out of the ball while everyone waits”

“One man show isn’t real basketball”

Well Luka leads the league in time of possession, dribbles and touches. And everyone seems to love it.

 

He's their point guard. Harden shares PG duties on his team.

 

I’m not debating the why or saying it’s wrong.

Luka is freaking awesome and should have the ball.

But his emergence, in my opinion, has revealed a clear bias, double standard or whatever you want to call it.

“They” hated Harden for having the ball more than just about everyone, dribbling more than just about everyone and essentially running an offense through 1 player.

Many, if not all those same people are loving it with Luka.

 

Luka is new and doesn't have the history/baggage that Harden has built up over his 10 year career. And they don't exactly play the same way either. A lot more of Harden's points come from drawing fouls and from creative exploitation of the travel rules, which stylistically is the thing a lot of people dislike about his game.

 

They play VERY similar. The foul drawing is about the only thing Luka is missing.

I get it. He’s new. He’s white. He’s awesome. People love it.

But some of the criticisms Harden has received easily can apply to what Luka is doing now, yet people are loving it.

Ball dominance and dribbling the air out of the ball being the two specific.