I tried to link a twitter post from Ben Criddle (the now infamous ESPN top 10 on Saturday) that showed Nick stepping on Luke’s foot being the reason he lost his balance and looked so bad. Well, there is more and you can clearly see it on the video. Not only does Emery step on Luke’s foot because Luke was out of position, Luke puts a hand in Nick’s back and shoves him which causes him to stumble. On top of that, Luke made no effort to pick up the Gonzaga player and prevent him from scoring a layup. This one play sort of typifies what Luke has done for the team this season, which is that he creates more problems than he solves.
Poor Luke moves like he’s 15 years older than he is. When I play in my rec league basketball games, I’m frequently out of position, have lost so much quickness, and am generally not able to do what I want.
Luke seems like a terrific guy and is such a hard worker. But basketball is kind of like dancing in that you need to be aware of your surroundings to as to not step on someone, get in the way, cause an injury, etc. He’s never been strong at any of those things. But as I said, I appreciate his contributions to the program. Though I’ve always wondered why he plays so much. Fish’s recent comments on the topic were eye-opening.
That is why I don’t do rec league anymore… l look more like a wobbling walrus on the court… 
First, where was he supposed to be?
Did Luke move his foot so Emery would step on his foot so he could push him in the back?
Has anyone in the history of the game step on someone’s foot?
I get a laugh when you manipulate the sequence to prove your slanted point.
Here’s my take. Luke was where he was supposed to be defending his man denying a pass to his man. Emery was working hard to stay with his man who is much quicker. Nick was sliding when he cut his angle too much stepping on Luke’s foot. Luke saw Emery’s man going to cut down the lane but with Emery on his foot and in his way, he tried to get by Emery with a slight push. But, was too late to stop the drive without fouling. It was another good play set up by a superior offensive scheme Gonzaga has. Had Baxter been there or Yolie, they would have been late too.
You forgot to mention the fact that you haven’t actually seen what I am talking about. You haven’t watched the film or the Criddle twitter video or anything that might allow you to make a rational comment about it. That’s okay because honestly it wouldn’t matter if you had. You simply do not know what you are watching most of the time and just so you know, your take is not even close to representing what happened.
And another thing, Luke is a liability on defense. I have spent lots of time watching him play. He is predictable on offense. He posts up and tries a jump hook (left and right) that is usually way off. Sometimes he gets in position on rebounds and makes a put back layup. That is good. At 6’10" he has never dunked… that is unheard of in basketball. On defense, he tries hard but can’t jump so players are not afraid to take it to the hoop on him. He has blocked one shot this season. I don’t remember it but it must have been on accident when he was trying to commit a flagrant foul because he has several of those this season. When he is on defense, the opposing team always tries to get the ball inside or post him up because he can’t defend that well. He works hard and hustles his rear off and I will give him credit for that. He doesn’t do a whole lot more.
In my little brother’s defense: I had a really, really good intramural BB team at BYU. We had almost all the same guys for 3 years, and we had guys who could play and meshed well together and we loved playing together. So going into my senior year, I tell the guys, “hey, my little brother will be here, and I want him on our team.” All I heard was, “Come on dude, we are set; we don’t want a new guy; we have a chance to win it all this year (we played in the first division under the “elite” or whatever they called it).” So we show up for daily ratball at the RB, and here comes Craig; 6’2, athletic build, but his face looks like he’s 12. All the guys start giving me crap. “Dude, Tombo, so you inviting grade school kids now?” So we are in the first game and within a couple minutes some guy misses a shot and Craig goes up like he’s gonna slam the rebound back in; misses the ball but winds up grabbing the rim and making it snap back. Big hops, really fast, playing up by the rim. He then proceeds to hold his own with every guy on the court. My buddies are like, “Um, ok, I guess he can be on our team.” I think we finished 3rd or 4th or something like that but it was a fun season. Craig was one of the best athletes on the team but didn’t force it and fit in great with the guys.
“I don’t remember it but it must have been on accident when he was trying to commit a flagrant foul because he has several of those this season.”
Ok that made me laugh out loud after a really long day at the office. Thanks Hawks!!!
You are welcome, glad to help out.
I’ll be here all week!
Good memories. That was a fun season.
It’s your opinion he’s a liability yet he made important defensive plays against SD and others. Also, I have watched it several times and your slanted view of Luke is darkening your review. Take off the sunglasses while watching 
By the way, Luke was on BYU Sports Nation. You should watch his interview. I wish our hot shot players that come to BYU were more like Luke.
This was never meant to be a thread demeaning Luke in any way. The point of this is to discuss what our best lineup is and why. It should be below, listed by playing time:
Childs
Haws
Baxter
Emery
Cannon
Seljaas
Harding
Bergerson
Worthington
Am I missing anyone? I’m assuming Hardnett is injured.
I have 2 intermural “Champs” shirts for basketball and one for football at BYU. We had the starting center from Boston College (at Law student as I recall). Loaded with talent. Lived at Wymount Terrace, Danny Ainge was in our ward…Our guys could scrimmage with BYU’s final 8 team that year and make a game of it.
After watching the Denver/Utah game last night, I messaged Ainge about trading Isaiah Thomas out of Boston, he says, “best trade I EVERY made”
HAHAHAHAHA
Lol. That is so funny. IT and Jimmer came out in the same draft and both went to the Kings. I always thought Jimmer was so much better, but for whatever reason, it worked out for IT in the NBA but didn’t for Jimmer.
IT is now a benchwarmer for the Nuggets. A few years ago, an NBA coach got in hot water because he said IT is virtually impossible to guard because he palms and carries the ball so much. I can’t remember the coach who said it. I totally agreed. Watch him dribble as he starts and stops so much while carrying.
last night, O’Neil from Utah guarded him so tight, IT finally in frustration, threw the ball to guys calling the game. Here was Utah, without Rubio and the other 2 point guards, taking it to Denver from start to finish and I think IT managed 2 points.
Never could understand why any team would play big $$ for Thomas. Meanwhile, old man Korver goes for 22, couldn’t miss.
If they were, BYU would never win any games.
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So what part of the watching did you not see Emery step on Lukes foot? What part of it did you not see Luke put a hand in Nick’s backside and push him away? What part of the watching did you not see Luke fail to slide over and make a play after he had pushed Nicki out of the way?
Flat out the guy doesn’t know how to play basketball. This is the main reason why we see plays like this happening. This is why we see multiple flagrant fouls during the season from Luke. This is why he can’t dunk the basketball, even though he is 6’10".
I don’t have any slanted views of Luke. My views are based on watching him try to play basketball over the past several years. Also, if you read the post again, you will note that I gave him props for his work ethic and the occasional rebound and put backs he makes. Outside of those things, he is just not very good. Not a slanted view, just an objective view of lots of observations.
I was referring to their attitudes and loyalty. Other teams in the WCC keep their best players for 4 years. They don’t seem to be premadonnas looking for the gold. What former player is doing worth a darn that left early? None.
I already answered your questions about the play. None was Luke’s fault.
Attitude and loyalty? What do you expect Luke to do when he is on scholarship and will have no career that involves playing basketball? Boy, I am so glad that Luke didn’t leave early and test the waters of the nba or europe. It has made such a difference over his career… LOL. Also, I don’t know if it is true or not but he may have those huge monetary donations from his family hanging over his head as well. Of course he is going to have a good attitude and be loyal. Anyone would do the same.
See the conclusions you can make when you simply think through a situation? It is called critical thinking - the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment. You should try it some time.
But, he does have a career in basketball starting next year. He’s going to grad school at BYU and be a graduate assistant for the basketball team.
I’m glad Rose is the coach and not someone like you only thinks about himself. Because that’s what you are doing. Sure, we want to win and go to the NCAA’s. But, not at all cost.
And, you hear something about a donation without any proof whatsoever. You’re sounding more like the Democrats all the time.