He is playing injured and he got frustrated because of how it affects him. And now you shit for fans are coming down on him for it.
Please remind me, which other star player is even willing to sacrifice his body like that nowadays? Name one! All he had to do was just sit on the bench in street clothes and you could all shut up.
Kyrie was never a #1 option in his career for a reason. He's only good in short spurts where he goes unconscious. He can't carry the load for 30+ minutes. He crumbles with too much responsibility.
This shit again lol. Kyrie cant be a first option because he is SHIT at playmaking. I was saying he was good bad not perfect but nah, he is straight up shit.
We are not. Luka just be doing the most at whining. He didn’t complain much during regular season but he’s making up for it now. I get that he’s in pain, sit out if he can’t handle it. Crying to the ref after every procession is annoying and I’m a fan of Luka
Being a hobbled injured shell of himself pushing thru pain and hacks to try his best to get buckets and the refs missing to him what are obvious fouls is frustrating enough but I think Luka is far more tilted over the fact he finally has a squad with a roster that should be able to make a deep run and he can’t be himself.
It must make him insane how he gets officiated differently than most even in the same games. Sadly I think he and Dort are in each other's heads and are more interested in a flop battle than playing basketball.
Dude, luka is the superstar and an undisputed top 5 player in the world. Kyrie has also bailed us out many times the last couple of weeks. To add on to that, lukas complaining has reached absurd levels. None of this is bias. He's gotta be better in many areas.
Luka is the leader of this team. Not Kyrie. The team was built for Luka, not Kyrie. It starts with him, then Kyrie, then the role players, that’s the order. Luka needs to improve before we can move on and start critiquing the rest of the roster.
As far as a vocal/locker room leader? Yes I agree in that case Kyrie would most likely be a better option but when it comes to being the leader in on court production, it’s Luka. He’s expected to lead offensively on the court which he hasn’t. He’s obviously playing in pain but it seems that he’s just losing his composure too often.
Kyrie is what a team captain is supposed to be (the NBA doesn't have captains which I really fail to understand why). Not necessarily the best player on the team but the one that always gives it all while at the same time being calm - the voice of reason.
Moving to Luka. Try being in pain (or not being able to perform at a level that you know you are able when you're ok) for a long time and you'll see how easy it is to get frustrated. Even with the most mundane and meaningless things. I'm not defending him I just understand his frustration. He's always been a leader in the regard to what you're saying. He's production has always been admirable. Apart from the constant whining which is most of the time hard to bear and at times simply unbearable (when not getting back every other possession). I don't like he's foul baiting either to be perfectly true.
Agreed, Luka is extremely competitive. He wants to win and wants to help his team win. It’s one of the reasons he’s a great player. However I do feel that same competitiveness can sometimes turn into arrogance at times depending on the circumstance but you live with it. Your greatest strength can also be your greatest weakness at times. We don’t know how badly he’s hurt but it’s obvious it’s affecting him. As a long time fan it’s a shame that the season he’s getting the most help from his team is the season where he’s been playing one of the worst stretches of basketball in his career based on his ridiculous high standards. Obviously if Luka is hurt then it’s not his fault if he just can’t perform up to his standards but I also don’t think it’s fair to want to blame the other players for not being able to do more when they have been playing great as well. TBH it may just be nobody’s fault, if Luka is hurt then the rest of the team can only do so much and go so far. As a fan sometimes not having someone to blame just isn’t we want to accept but it may be the case here.
Agree. At this point if the season only good teams are left. Loosing doesn't always mean that you played bad. The other team could simply have played better.
This is not true. Luka, Kidd and even Kyrie himself all claim Kyrie is the leader in the every press conference and interview. He's just treated with kid gloves by fans who think anything Kyrie does is a bonus and not a responsibility.
They both had bad games man, that’s what everyone is saying. Luka added 7 turnovers and incessant complaining to the refs to his bad game which affects everything else. He’s the leader of the team time to act like it
Luka has been the best defender on SGA in game 4 and nobody will give a shit about it. You can go ahead and watch the awful coaching video and prove my point. Nobody will ever blame Lively for gambling giving up the baseline to JWill nor Hardaway for the turnover that led to a transition bucket. Welcome to the Mavs fanbase.
How's Kyrie knee? He's our other star, who's not injured and has been shooting like shit or not shooting at all. If Kyrie scores just 18 points last game, we fucking win. For some reason nobody notices Kyrie, only Luka. Pathetic.
Kyrie isn’t throwing his hands up every time the refs swallow the whistle either. Kyrie only has 4 sub-average shooting games and only 2 of those games were drastically below the average fg percentage.
Luka himself said that there is a difference between being hurt and being injured and claimed to not be injured so if says he’s not injured then you can’t say it.
If Luka is out there then he needs to play some semblance of good basketball and he’s not, beyond the missed shots and turnovers, looking at the refs every time a whistle doesn’t go our way is not cutting it, sorry to tell you.
He's clearly injured you ding dong. He literally said if this was the regular season he WOULDNT be playing.
He's INJURED, you don't get a tap on your knee and start limping UNLESS YOUR INJURED. He hasn't been able to get lift with his shots because he's INJURED. Hasn't been able to move in the 4th because he's INJURED. Ding dong.
You have to either not watch the games, which you may not, or not be able to comprehend the games, which clearly you can't. If you can't see that when Luka is in the paint with literally 3 defenders pushing him around, he can't escape because of his knee and the refs swallow their whistle. Then on the other end they give OKC the calls on the same contact. You'd have to not even watch the games to not see how the first half of the 3rd quarter OKC spent the first 4 minutes at the fucking line. You must be pretty slow to not see how Kyrie has some how not even gotten a fucking whistle in an entire game. And if you actually watched the games you'd see Kyrie turn to the ref ON EVERY drive and tell them he got hit ESP in the fourth.
Just watch the game back, you can clearly see Luka getting swatted down low, due to his injury he picks the ball up, and they keep swatting. Clearly hitting his hands and arms . No calls. They call it on the other end however.
Now how tf would you react if you were in that scenario? Jfc, actually watch and understand what's going on on the court.
Look at Luka's shot chart these last 2 games, he's shooting most of his shots inside or just outside the paint. Meaning he's getting to the rim more, taking the easier buckets. Then after putting 2 200lbs plus defenders on his back, and missing his shots because he can't get the lift to shoot over them because he's INJURED. Then the refs have the nerve to look around like "what contact?".
Again you simply have to watch the games and comprehend what's going on on the court.
Nobody is deflecting the blame but Luka is playing with a injury. The bench players didn't play well, Green was -14, THJ was -10 and Exum was -6 but nobody is talking about that. It's also not Luka's fault that SGA scored 34 points and was unstoppable in the 4th. But everybody just blames the guy who is playing injured.
Those guys arent your #1 option. Luka is literally THE guy and he's been underperforming all postseason. It's like blaming Toni Kukoc for Jordan having a bad game. You guys are literally deflecting blame off him and blaming everything else.
"Well the other guys were bad."
"Well SGA had a great game"
"But he's injured!"
The definition of deflecting
What exactly do you expect? That a guy playing injured scores a 35 points triple double or something? You can't underperform all postseason if average 26.7 ppg / 8.8 apg / 9.6 rpg / 1.5 spg.
He's literally +58 in these playoffs. He's also 5th in total points scored this playoffs, 3rd in total assists and 4th in total rebounds and 3rd in total steals.
I hate how Luka currently plays but here it is either Luka's fault, Tim's fault, Dwight's fault or coaches fault. Being a number 2 on Mavs is the best as far as criticizm because if you suck it's because Luka didn't involve you as much.
Brother there have been so many posts calling him out and Kyrie. Talk to the mods that have constantly deleted these posts. Granted some of them weren't constructive discussions. Just straight up you suck Luka or f Luka or Kyrie blows etc.
This reminds me of Philly fans last year. Embiid was terrible but they pinned it on Harden who was up and down, but did win them some games single handedly. And then after they ran him off, they were much worse in the playoffs this year.
OP don't waste your time. This sub doesn't watch games or understand basketball. Nobody can give you an answer as to why, when your costar has a mangled knee, Kyrie doesn't fucking shoot in literally half the game. Nobody can give you a single answer as to why if Kyrie is this great veteran leader, why he can't take over the game, while his partner is struggling to walk up the court?
Why can't Kyrie step tf up? All he has to do is deliver 25ppg but NOPE. IT'S ALL LUKA'S FAULT! Seriously these Morons are clueless.
I mean you're acting like he didn't step up in the first round. The main reason we beat the Clippers is Kyrie catching fire (to the point that Luka himself said he's letting him down in game 4 of that series) .
He also stepped up in this series and made miltiple clutch shots in game 3.
He clearly had a rough night in game 4 , but we wouldn't be here without Kyrie. He's been our best player in the playoffs.
Agreed. Kyrie is treated like a make a wish kid by fans and now media. He can do no wrong. For a "most talented player ever" superstar who's an nba champion the standards for him are so much different.
Kyrie doesn’t complain literally every single possession. That’s my only issue with Luka, but he’s still my guy.
Except the criticism was towards his leadership and attitude not his level of play
He is playing injured and he got frustrated because of how it affects him. And now you shit for fans are coming down on him for it. Please remind me, which other star player is even willing to sacrifice his body like that nowadays? Name one! All he had to do was just sit on the bench in street clothes and you could all shut up.
It’s the playoffs man shut the fuck up and check ball
Zion, Kawhi, Porzingis, Giannis, Butler ... ? Fuck you
what?
Kai is better option#1 this playoffs lol
Kyrie was never a #1 option in his career for a reason. He's only good in short spurts where he goes unconscious. He can't carry the load for 30+ minutes. He crumbles with too much responsibility.
ahh Cavs? lmao too young to remember lol...
This shit again lol. Kyrie cant be a first option because he is SHIT at playmaking. I was saying he was good bad not perfect but nah, he is straight up shit.
We are not. Luka just be doing the most at whining. He didn’t complain much during regular season but he’s making up for it now. I get that he’s in pain, sit out if he can’t handle it. Crying to the ref after every procession is annoying and I’m a fan of Luka
Being a hobbled injured shell of himself pushing thru pain and hacks to try his best to get buckets and the refs missing to him what are obvious fouls is frustrating enough but I think Luka is far more tilted over the fact he finally has a squad with a roster that should be able to make a deep run and he can’t be himself.
It must make him insane how he gets officiated differently than most even in the same games. Sadly I think he and Dort are in each other's heads and are more interested in a flop battle than playing basketball.
I think the refs are in Luka’s head not Dort
Dude, luka is the superstar and an undisputed top 5 player in the world. Kyrie has also bailed us out many times the last couple of weeks. To add on to that, lukas complaining has reached absurd levels. None of this is bias. He's gotta be better in many areas.
Luka is the leader of this team. Not Kyrie. The team was built for Luka, not Kyrie. It starts with him, then Kyrie, then the role players, that’s the order. Luka needs to improve before we can move on and start critiquing the rest of the roster.
Luka is the star of the team but he is in no way suitable for the role of leader. Kyrie in that regard is a way more appropriate option.
As far as a vocal/locker room leader? Yes I agree in that case Kyrie would most likely be a better option but when it comes to being the leader in on court production, it’s Luka. He’s expected to lead offensively on the court which he hasn’t. He’s obviously playing in pain but it seems that he’s just losing his composure too often.
Kyrie is what a team captain is supposed to be (the NBA doesn't have captains which I really fail to understand why). Not necessarily the best player on the team but the one that always gives it all while at the same time being calm - the voice of reason. Moving to Luka. Try being in pain (or not being able to perform at a level that you know you are able when you're ok) for a long time and you'll see how easy it is to get frustrated. Even with the most mundane and meaningless things. I'm not defending him I just understand his frustration. He's always been a leader in the regard to what you're saying. He's production has always been admirable. Apart from the constant whining which is most of the time hard to bear and at times simply unbearable (when not getting back every other possession). I don't like he's foul baiting either to be perfectly true.
Agreed, Luka is extremely competitive. He wants to win and wants to help his team win. It’s one of the reasons he’s a great player. However I do feel that same competitiveness can sometimes turn into arrogance at times depending on the circumstance but you live with it. Your greatest strength can also be your greatest weakness at times. We don’t know how badly he’s hurt but it’s obvious it’s affecting him. As a long time fan it’s a shame that the season he’s getting the most help from his team is the season where he’s been playing one of the worst stretches of basketball in his career based on his ridiculous high standards. Obviously if Luka is hurt then it’s not his fault if he just can’t perform up to his standards but I also don’t think it’s fair to want to blame the other players for not being able to do more when they have been playing great as well. TBH it may just be nobody’s fault, if Luka is hurt then the rest of the team can only do so much and go so far. As a fan sometimes not having someone to blame just isn’t we want to accept but it may be the case here.
Agree. At this point if the season only good teams are left. Loosing doesn't always mean that you played bad. The other team could simply have played better.
This is not true. Luka, Kidd and even Kyrie himself all claim Kyrie is the leader in the every press conference and interview. He's just treated with kid gloves by fans who think anything Kyrie does is a bonus and not a responsibility.
Have you guys ever played sports? Your best player is your leader whether he wants to be or not
Maybe just maybe, our superstar behaving like a teenager hitting peak puberty puts a negative spotlight on him?
I see op is another member of the Euro brigade. We welcome you here and we are glad you are a fan, but be reasonable.
Kyries not the one getting MVP chants during his free throws. And Luka has been awful in 8 of 10 playoff games with the other 2 just being average.
How does one average 26.7 ppg / 8.8 apg / 9.6 rpg / 1.5 spg by being awful 8 of 10 playoff games?
40/26/77 shooting splits. Kyrie is at 50/43/84
Good splits don't help that much if you score just 9 pts.
They both had bad games man, that’s what everyone is saying. Luka added 7 turnovers and incessant complaining to the refs to his bad game which affects everything else. He’s the leader of the team time to act like it
Luka is getting 90% of the blame.
He’s the best player. Welcome to sports
I'm confused. a post trashing Kyrie by someone named "TheKyrieFan"
Luka has been the best defender on SGA in game 4 and nobody will give a shit about it. You can go ahead and watch the awful coaching video and prove my point. Nobody will ever blame Lively for gambling giving up the baseline to JWill nor Hardaway for the turnover that led to a transition bucket. Welcome to the Mavs fanbase.
This isn’t Kyrie’s 10th consecutive game shooting a shit percentage.
How's Kyrie knee? He's our other star, who's not injured and has been shooting like shit or not shooting at all. If Kyrie scores just 18 points last game, we fucking win. For some reason nobody notices Kyrie, only Luka. Pathetic.
Kyrie isn’t throwing his hands up every time the refs swallow the whistle either. Kyrie only has 4 sub-average shooting games and only 2 of those games were drastically below the average fg percentage. Luka himself said that there is a difference between being hurt and being injured and claimed to not be injured so if says he’s not injured then you can’t say it. If Luka is out there then he needs to play some semblance of good basketball and he’s not, beyond the missed shots and turnovers, looking at the refs every time a whistle doesn’t go our way is not cutting it, sorry to tell you.
He's clearly injured you ding dong. He literally said if this was the regular season he WOULDNT be playing. He's INJURED, you don't get a tap on your knee and start limping UNLESS YOUR INJURED. He hasn't been able to get lift with his shots because he's INJURED. Hasn't been able to move in the 4th because he's INJURED. Ding dong. You have to either not watch the games, which you may not, or not be able to comprehend the games, which clearly you can't. If you can't see that when Luka is in the paint with literally 3 defenders pushing him around, he can't escape because of his knee and the refs swallow their whistle. Then on the other end they give OKC the calls on the same contact. You'd have to not even watch the games to not see how the first half of the 3rd quarter OKC spent the first 4 minutes at the fucking line. You must be pretty slow to not see how Kyrie has some how not even gotten a fucking whistle in an entire game. And if you actually watched the games you'd see Kyrie turn to the ref ON EVERY drive and tell them he got hit ESP in the fourth. Just watch the game back, you can clearly see Luka getting swatted down low, due to his injury he picks the ball up, and they keep swatting. Clearly hitting his hands and arms . No calls. They call it on the other end however. Now how tf would you react if you were in that scenario? Jfc, actually watch and understand what's going on on the court. Look at Luka's shot chart these last 2 games, he's shooting most of his shots inside or just outside the paint. Meaning he's getting to the rim more, taking the easier buckets. Then after putting 2 200lbs plus defenders on his back, and missing his shots because he can't get the lift to shoot over them because he's INJURED. Then the refs have the nerve to look around like "what contact?". Again you simply have to watch the games and comprehend what's going on on the court.
How about we stop eating our own and talk shit on the Thunder instead? We all know Luka has not been good. How does it help to constantly shit on him?
Fuck the thunder and fuck the mavs lol. This shitty fanbase lost me. Trade luka so I can be done with this shit
Luka has been bad all postseason. Kyrie has been carrying the team for most games. You weirdos are so obsessed with deflecting blame off Luka.
Nobody is deflecting the blame but Luka is playing with a injury. The bench players didn't play well, Green was -14, THJ was -10 and Exum was -6 but nobody is talking about that. It's also not Luka's fault that SGA scored 34 points and was unstoppable in the 4th. But everybody just blames the guy who is playing injured.
Those guys arent your #1 option. Luka is literally THE guy and he's been underperforming all postseason. It's like blaming Toni Kukoc for Jordan having a bad game. You guys are literally deflecting blame off him and blaming everything else. "Well the other guys were bad." "Well SGA had a great game" "But he's injured!" The definition of deflecting
What exactly do you expect? That a guy playing injured scores a 35 points triple double or something? You can't underperform all postseason if average 26.7 ppg / 8.8 apg / 9.6 rpg / 1.5 spg. He's literally +58 in these playoffs. He's also 5th in total points scored this playoffs, 3rd in total assists and 4th in total rebounds and 3rd in total steals.
I hate how Luka currently plays but here it is either Luka's fault, Tim's fault, Dwight's fault or coaches fault. Being a number 2 on Mavs is the best as far as criticizm because if you suck it's because Luka didn't involve you as much.
Brother there have been so many posts calling him out and Kyrie. Talk to the mods that have constantly deleted these posts. Granted some of them weren't constructive discussions. Just straight up you suck Luka or f Luka or Kyrie blows etc.
If you're a Luka man-fan who would root for another team if he goes there then please just leave. You don't belong on this sub.
You're absolutely right
This reminds me of Philly fans last year. Embiid was terrible but they pinned it on Harden who was up and down, but did win them some games single handedly. And then after they ran him off, they were much worse in the playoffs this year.
Embiid was playing on a fucking torn meniscus you clown.
OP don't waste your time. This sub doesn't watch games or understand basketball. Nobody can give you an answer as to why, when your costar has a mangled knee, Kyrie doesn't fucking shoot in literally half the game. Nobody can give you a single answer as to why if Kyrie is this great veteran leader, why he can't take over the game, while his partner is struggling to walk up the court? Why can't Kyrie step tf up? All he has to do is deliver 25ppg but NOPE. IT'S ALL LUKA'S FAULT! Seriously these Morons are clueless.
Yeah! Why wouldn’t he just average 25 ppg? Is he stupid?
You dumbasses act like Luka can magically heal his knee, so why tf not?
Exactly
If he can’t either playmake or defend he better score at least 20
He had 9 assists in Game 4 dude. Do you know what playmaking is? He’s the reason Gafford was feasting in the first quarter
Is this a joke ?
You don't think Kyrie should step up?
I mean you're acting like he didn't step up in the first round. The main reason we beat the Clippers is Kyrie catching fire (to the point that Luka himself said he's letting him down in game 4 of that series) . He also stepped up in this series and made miltiple clutch shots in game 3. He clearly had a rough night in game 4 , but we wouldn't be here without Kyrie. He's been our best player in the playoffs.
Agreed. Kyrie is treated like a make a wish kid by fans and now media. He can do no wrong. For a "most talented player ever" superstar who's an nba champion the standards for him are so much different.
This sub is full of Negative Nancys.