honestly I think he has to be able to shoot at least league average (35%) from 3 with a decent amount of attempts per game (at least 4 attempts per game) to be able to see the floor consistently in the NBA. The reason I believe that is the skills he is showing now in the G-League while impressive isn’t really going to be used by our team because he isn’t great (pretty good so far) at what he has showed.
I like that he can put the ball on the deck pretty decent for a bigger player but against NBA level compe ion that and his post game isn’t good enough right now. His defense isn’t good enough either to warrant consistent minutes in the NBA and he is not really a play maker for others and an okay at the G-League level play maker for himself.
of course he has time to improve on all the weaknesses he has in his game and I hope he does because I think he could be really good and can help our team in the future.
IMO, you improve those percentages by getting playing time. If the shot mechanics are good, I'm comfortable giving him those shots with NBA minutes. Our young guards never reached those benchmarks your setting for Luka, but they're getting better each season. Seems you have unusually high expectations for Luka, and that may be because you want to see star potential out of him. There are a number of guys in the NBA right now he is better than, he just needs to get reps.
Agreed you gotta break a lot of eggs before you make a good Omelet - Pop just needs to give a gentle guiding hand for these young guys and just let them play next season go out enjoy the game the right way and dominate
In the big league who does Luka guard?
Zion, AD, Giannis, Sabonis, Julius Randall, Siakim.
Hmmm
Maybe Spurs would mix matchups for some of these dudes cause i am not seeing Luka guarding these dudes without some duress
For sure Luka will have trouble guarding certain types of players. I think that's the great thing about having someone like Keldon on the team, and I hope the team continues adding versatility at the four position. I don't think AD, Sabonis, and Julius will necessarily be trouble to Luka more than they would with other players that we would put on them. AD, Sabonis aren't very physical, and Julius isn't that quick.
Yah and I think Jakob does Zion like last time
Who does match up well with them. Just like all players you can pick the best and unless you have a player designed to stop them you are going to have trouble. His height could hopefully trouble some of these and we still would have KJ to play on them and Poeltl to stop them if they got past them. Great players are hard to guard which is why they are great players. Tim and David both very good defenders had problems with certain players.
Someone else mentioned 35% he would need to get up to I would think 30 would be good maybe even 25. You just need them to be good enough to where people respect it. League avg is just below 37% so there a lots of people that shoot less then that.
Here we go with the young Bertans wrong analysis again. Samanic a C??? NO!
TBH, he's closer to the SF position.
He's tall, he can play the post against smaller players but his skillset, physical tools and character on the court make him a forward. In fact, he would struggle against strong forwards more than he would do guarding over the 3pt line. Samanic could rebound by frame ala Murray but he's and will be a light weight under the boards.
Samanic can shoot, dribble and pass the ball. He understands the game and has good court vision in defense as well. Again, athletically, he's closer to the 3 than to the 5 position. Not a rim protector, not a rebounder. He's better taking screens than setting them. Luka Samanic is a forward.
Bruh, I've been watching every Austin game. Luka has played C half the time. His dribbling is far from being acceptable as a SF and he doesn't have the endurance to be one.
Nobody guards 25. You just help off that, automatically. You might turn and look at a 30% 3 baller. 35 is league average, and the equivalent of shooting 52.5% on twos.
Yep.
Players are smaller in the G-league. 3s are basically NBA guards. Watching G-league and trying to transfer to NBA requires some "imagination"I mean, it's a very different environment. I don't think Samanic could be that successful hitting the offensive boards and sealing players into the paint against opponent centers (not vs strong forwards either). In the other hand, I believe he's able to transfer to the big league what represents his core game, the kind of things made him be selected in the #19.
Yeah, Nielsen is playing him at C a lot but I reckon Spurs organization is making the same mistake the made with Bertans. When they finally realized he wasn't a big nor a power forward, they had wasted several NBA seasons of him trying to become something he is not.
To me, it's intriguing why Spurs are failing recurrently with this kind of players whilst they are incredibly succesful developing guards. It's like they just want them to play close to the basket because they're tall and I'm pretty sure there is something else that such simplistic argument. There has to be something else I'm missing.
About endurance, etc.: yes he needs to improve, that's why he's back to Austin. I believe Samanic is a forward... or nothing. There is no in between for him. He needs to improve and adapt or he will leave the league soon.
Last edited by Coach X; 02-20-2021 at 07:45 PM.
useing your numbers of 4 attempts a game it is .2 difference in makes a game for the 30 vs 35. it is .4 if you go to 25%.
Looking at bigs there are some that hit at a high percentage but there also are some that are not. I will say i was surprised that more were higher then I thought. But Turner who a lot have mentioned on here is only shooting 32.5% this year and is 35 for career.
DJM is only shooting 31.5 on 3.3
KJ 32.5 on 3
White 34.1 on 5.5
So your saying he should be our best shooter and 2nd most attempts per game of our starters? Also one of the higher shooting bigs by volume.
All I can do is shake my head at some of the takes on this page
its Either very disingenuous or naive to compare Luka to guys like Murray, White, Keldon,or even Lonnie. All those guys brought different translatable skills that they cultivated in the G-League, proved to be effect in practice or in actual NBA game time.
Keldon proved in the g league and nba bubble that he is a very good finisher at the rim and a great energy guy, White proved he is a really good defender and can run an offense in both the summer league, g league, and nba game time, Murray proved he was a good defender and energy guy in the g league, practice, and limited nba minutes. All those guys while not being the greatest 3 point shooters proved they could do things at the nba level before being given real minutes.
luka has to do that also. The things he is showing in the g league like post finishing and moves I feel he will not be that good at doing at the nba level. his shooting % while solid isn’t the greatest. Compare his to Keldon in the g league. Lol
i hope I’m wrong and I’m rooting for him to be good
I think your talking about my post and I was saying to him that making that high of a percentage on that high of shots is unrealistic. Most NBA bigs arnt shooting it that much and most of our team is not shooting at that percentage. I listed our starters to say that him being the best shooter of them is unrealistic.
So what position would he even be? Can he guard non all star 3s? Or would we put him in the DeRozan role defensively and just put him on the weakest link?
Samanic has a basket of skills suitable for multiple positions, but may have trouble fitting exactly just yet. I'm curious about the comparisons with Bertans, who has an A+ 3-pt jump shot while Samanic... doesn't. His form looks great, but he's at a B-/C+ right now. Everything else, Samanic is a far better player.
Right now, Luka needs to get some upper body strength without sacrificing his mobility. He's not really a shot blocker, so running him at C is risky, but he appears to be a pretty good rebounder. Unless he starts dropping threes at a better clip, it's hard to stick him at 3 or even at 4 in many lineups. But I think he can start hitting them. His form looks fine.
My hunch is he'll be a 4 eventually and may even see sometime as a backup 5.
So the question was"Who does match up well with them" Each of those dudes match up with any one else on the list way better than Luka". I just think Luks is going to get put through the grinder and am not sure he comes out the other side OK.
He does have talent though
To me he's definitely a 4.
Luka is like a homelessman's Durant. KD is/was too skinny to "bang with the big boys" down low, and he had guard skills. So he ended up a 4 or giant 3. Shoot over and post up smaller players, drive around bigger ones.
Luka doesn't have Durant's shooting and may never, but he probably should be the model for what Luka should strive for. Or maybe AD.
I have trouble seeing that, tbh. Durant had strong ball-handling skills and was able to change direction and get his shot off in multiple ways. I haven't seen Luka, who is much more stiff in posture and ability, be able to do that. Durant has always clearly been a 3, while it's a push to suggest our guy is that position.
Your talking about better players at that position. I would say some of them are not good at defense though so it would be more of who scores more. Every team has it strengths and its weaknesses. The team just has to get more strengths then the other team and hope it is able to overcome its weaknesses.
Luka needs to concentrate on being a perimeter 4. He can play on the block, but he won't make his living there unless he learns to take advantage of mismatches on switches. Having him play 5 shouldn't be his role, even as a small ball 5. Luka is like a Michael Porter Jr. who plays 3/4. You want a 4/small ball 5 then go sign Lauri Markkanen. Luka isn't that player.
Matt Bonner was the same 6’10 with alligator arms and was the starting C for how many years?Luka is much more mobile and athletic, has better skills. I know Bonner had Timmy, but I think they can hide Luka with long great help defenders. To play him strictly stretch 4 is not taking advantage of his great post footwork. The guy has wicked spin. He is a backup C, for now, who can play stretch.
Last edited by John B; 02-21-2021 at 01:35 AM.
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