https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/...reunion-with-rockets-could-bring-huge-payoff/ According to Cleaning The Glass, the 2017-18 Rockets played 418 possessions with Tucker and Mbah a Moute on the court without a true center. In those minutes, they had a plus-29.2 net rating and gave up just 103.4 points per 100 possessions, the exact same defensive rating the top-ranked Boston Celtics had (with garbage time removed). Here's a full minute of Mbah a Moute making defensive plays when teams tried to take advantage of their lack of size, starring Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jakob Poeltl, Fred VanVleet, Jusuf Nurkic and, again, Tobias Harris: If Houston has that guy, it will be much better equipped to survive the minutes in which either Tucker or Covington is on the bench. It will also be able to play ultra-versatile lineups featuring all three of them. With or without a rejuvenated Mbah a Moute, the Rockets will enter the bubble as a sleeper pick at best to win it all. It feels risky to bet that a player who has logged 61 minutes in two calendar years can contribute to a contender, but it fits perfectly with the organization's swing-for-the-fences ethos. Imagine the payoff if they're right.
Totally agree. In fact, I was a loyal fan of Luc when he was on the Clippers. Clippers were very strong in the first 20 games of each season in that period. The key to their victory was "Andrew Jordan controlled the three second zone defense, and Luc controlled the forward and guard defense". Luc went back to defend the strongest forward and guard players of the opponent every game, and the effect was remarkable. And when Luc came to the rockets that season, I already knew his value. When he is on the floor, the defense quality of Rockets will be significantly improved, and the opponent's attack rhythm seems to be immediately visible to the naked eye into constipation. On the defensive side, he can always bring positive influence to the team, and can always make correct defense judgment and defense choice, whether it is one-to-one defense, cooperative defense, supplementary defense, basket protection, boxout, delay and interference of passing route, defensive reboundns. There is no doubt that each of his defensive skills are above the qualification line or even at the elite level. I watched every game of our 65 win season. Our best weapon was our second team (CP3 + eg + Luc + PJ + Nene), which was a playoff level lineup with both attack and defense. On the defensive side, CP3 and Luc were our core. No matter how bad we played in the first quarter, in the second quarter, the opponent will always be beaten by our rotation of 20 points, and may lose the suspense in the third quarter.The players "taken care of" by Luc,I can really feel with my naked eyes how difficult it will be for them to score. Every dribble breakthrough, every shot, every run without the ball, every pick and roll match, they can't get rid of Luc's entanglement. Seriously, Luc's physical talent is not great. But when he is in a healthy state, I think he has the top ten defensive level in the league, I really don't understand how he does this because his physical talent is not excellent 报错
Judging by the video of his workout he has a little hitch in his gettyup.....but I trust Luc more than Thabo.
I don’t think he’s anything more than filler for the rest of the season. I mean, he’s 33, hasn’t played in 2 years and has recent injury history. Plus he’d only have 10 games to prove himself. There’s just no way he’s working his way into the rotation.
Luc has extremely high BB IQ, opportunistic defense and his dribbling/ability to get to basket is underrated. Even if he is only 80% physically, his positional defense, leadership and hustle to the ball will still be able to help team off the bench. His ability to identify and quickly communicate on switches will be outstanding as well.
