Adelman made an adjustment that I really like - he gave Head's playing time to Brooks. Luther is clueless against the Jazz, can't hit a shot, has never known how to make a simple pass. Luther can't play the point. If you're going to play an undersized 2, Bobby Jackson is vastly superior in that role. He plays bigger, can penetrate reliably, is a much better defender, gets rebounds. You name it. If Luther isn't shooting it well, he's utterlly useless. (a lot like Novak.) As for AB, Brooks is just a better all around basketball player. He has a much higher ceiling than Luther. Is this a harbinger of an offseason move of Luther's expiring contract. It makes sense to me. All indications are that Brooks has a greater future in this league. Why not give him the minutes.
As long as Rafer, BJax and Brooks are healthy along with T-Mac there's no need to give him any minutes at either the one or two.
love luther as a person, like him during the regular season, can't stand him during the playoffs. sorry luth, we gotta give the minutes to the guys who come to play.
Luther cant do anything. Can he drive? No, unless against a blind defender. Can he finish? No, except against Turiaf. Can he get an open shot? No, he cant dribble for crap. Can he hit the open shot? Sometimes, but you hardly get em in playoffs. Can he pass? No, he passes at the feet of Yao. All in all, Luther is a worthless piece of s**t.
Luther is still affected by the pressure of playoffs. So he need to sit a bit and watch how the others deal with the playoffs.
I wouldn't count him out just yet. He really needs to figure out how to contribute, b/c we need him. He can be useful...so I hope someone helps him out.
didn't like him that much even during the regular season. too one dimensional, and he isn't even spectacular in that one dimension (better than average, but nothing exceptional: 35% from 3 on the season is Rafer-like). The same could be said about any of the guys warming our bench: Mike Harris , Loren Woods, Steve Novak. You can't put luther out there in the playoffs and wait for him to figure it out, because he's hurting the team more than he helps. In fact, I don't know that he helps at all, he just hurts. Heck, the same could have been said about Gerald Green, who, if he ever "figured out how to be useful," has the skillset to be lightyears more helpful than Luther will ever be.
with the balls he has shown in the regular season especcially in the 4th quarter I am totally confused as to why he cannot do anything in the playoffs.
luther is not done. far from that. yes, he's been horrible in the playoffs. but the jazz is the only team he has seen in the playoffs. not a good matchup for him with their taller and physical guards. luther has made some improvements this year. in many game situations he could be very useful, especially when yao playing.
I only really agree with you regarding Mike Harris. I remember watching him warm up pre-game and I swear i saw him hit about fifteen 3s in a row. Although, pre-game != real game and << playoff game. I think Harris and Luther Do have more to their games. We'ev seen more of it from Luther, just not consistently enough. I think he is stuck in that place where he needs to run the play and only create if the shot clock is running low. He's shown he can get to the cup a lot more this year. I wish I knew what could be done to maximize those guys' effectiveness, but I have no clue. Maybe more plays run for them in the reg season. Luther is a good ball player that needs to still calm down a little. Harris I find is very solid too. It seems RickA throws em out there to just "do something." I don't know...I'm still thrilled over last night's win.
Luther needs to get traded the first day of the offseason. If his shot is off, he is pointless to this team. I would have rather kept kirk snyder on this team then luther head. Kirk at least had some decent size and had a decent game
great post. Everyone thinks it's the playoffs. Look at his career stats against the jazz... he can't handle this team. He doesn't match up well with them. The fact that he doesn't match up against certain teams certainly says he has limitations and is no better than an 8th man on a team. But he can be an 8th man! He has improved his cutting and finishing off cuts this year, although his 3 point shooting came down a bit (partially due to increased shot attempts at the urging of the team and coach...and partially I assume due to Yao being out). I'd like to see Luther against any other team in the playoffs before we say he can't perform under that pressure.
As am I. The hate for Luther here is unnatural. He's the team's best shooter, he makes some dumb decisions, but his turnover rate isn't bad at all, and he is the best on the team at turning defense into offense. I don't think it's the playoffs that get to him, I think it's the Jazz. Their guards are all big and strong and dirty, none of which Luther is.
