Luke Kornet appreciation thread

[Neurotic Guy]

I have to admit that I tend to underestimate Luke. No more after this game.

I'm guessing the opposite will happen now, where we're expecting a beast-like performance every night and disappointed when it's not there.  Luke has had an amazing season, but I wouldn't want to lean on him too hard.

Yes.  He?ll make mistakes tomorrow that will have the forum blasting him for costing us a lead, or the game.   He?s a very valuable third center, and a decent backup.  Luke should get a good payday - he?s earned it.   Would love to keep him since we have the question mark in KP and Al may be done.  But he?s going to make decent money and I don?t think he?s a starter (though I think he should start tomorrow).

[Redz]

My own evaluation of Luke went like this:

1.  I liked him when we traded for him.  I spoke the Green Kornet nickname into existence.  I thought he was a really solid pick-and-role defender who provided nice pop from outside.

2.  I soured on Luke in 2022 and 2023.  He bounced around in 2022, and it was frustrating to see the team not upgrade the center position when they seemingly had some better options.

3.  2024 I started to appreciate him more.  He seemed to be in the proper role on our team.

4.  Full-on love affair, particularly when he's dunking on everybody.  He's a smart guy, and a likeable one.  My daughter (13) always likes to ask questions like, "if they weren't athletes, which Celtic would most likely be friends with?"  The answer is clearly Luke for me.  He knows his role, brings great chemistry, and seems to have an awesome sense of humor.

I really appreciate his good nature of course, but I'm super impressed with his ability to focus in on the skills that the team needs him for and show huge improvement in those areas.  The guy is actually a decent 3-point shooter, but he doesn't shoot them because he better served throwing screens, rolling to the hoop and crashing the glass.  On the other side he's just pure hustle and positioning.  Being wicked tall helps too!

[bello_man09]

7 blocks in a playoff game--- that's big time stuff.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

7 blocks in a playoff game--- that's big time stuff.

3rd most in nba playoff history for a guy coming off bench. announced last night

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

I have to admit that I tend to underestimate Luke. No more after this game.

I'm guessing the opposite will happen now, where we're expecting a beast-like performance every night and disappointed when it's not there.  Luke has had an amazing season, but I wouldn't want to lean on him too hard.

Agreed. If he played like that every night he wouldn?t be a vet minimum player. If  Celtics are going to win tomorrow night they will need Porzingis to step up and that?s looking bad. The Celts are essentially missing Tatum and Porzingis which is tough to overcome. Kornet has done more than expected to keep the series alive now they need someone else to step up.

great point. media wont use that narrative tho to hurt their knicks.  we are down 2 starters. jt and kp are basically out with injuries.

[Surferdad]

My own evaluation of Luke went like this:

1.  I liked him when we traded for him.  I spoke the Green Kornet nickname into existence.  I thought he was a really solid pick-and-role defender who provided nice pop from outside.

2.  I soured on Luke in 2022 and 2023.  He bounced around in 2022, and it was frustrating to see the team not upgrade the center position when they seemingly had some better options.

3.  2024 I started to appreciate him more.  He seemed to be in the proper role on our team.

4.  Full-on love affair, particularly when he's dunking on everybody.  He's a smart guy, and a likeable one.  My daughter (13) always likes to ask questions like, "if they weren't athletes, which Celtic would most likely be friends with?"  The answer is clearly Luke for me.  He knows his role, brings great chemistry, and seems to have an awesome sense of humor.

I really appreciate his good nature of course, but I'm super impressed with his ability to focus in on the skills that the team needs him for and show huge improvement in those areas.  The guy is actually a decent 3-point shooter, but he doesn't shoot them because he better served throwing screens, rolling to the hoop and crashing the glass.  On the other side he's just pure hustle and positioning.  Being wicked tall helps too!

[/b]
It more than just helps, being tall is Luke?s best asset, IMO. He does best on plays where his height is a key advantage on either side of the ball (lobs on offense, block on defense).  I am warming up to Luke, but I still think he has bad hands, not enough strength, and not enough agility/athleticism. Those deficiencies can be masked (as we saw last night), but ultimately limit his effectiveness.

[Phantom255x]

I thought the guy was useless a few years ago and wondered why CBS kept keeping him despite all the roster turnover around Jaylen/Tatum/White over the years. I was dead wrong. He's a great role player and fringe starter too. He's not a legit starting big but that's fine, he can still fill in as needed and again, he's become a very solid bench player in a real role.

[SHAQATTACK]

Kudos for stepping up big when a brother is out .

[ozgod]

I thought the guy was useless a few years ago and wondered why CBS kept keeping him despite all the roster turnover around Jaylen/Tatum/White over the years. I was dead wrong. He's a great role player and fringe starter too. He's not a legit starting big but that's fine, he can still fill in as needed and again, he's become a very solid bench player in a real role.

I think what Luke has gotten good at, after the training staff have worked on him for years, is just being good at his role. He's no longer trying to be what he's not. He's not a stretch big even though he came into the league shooting 3s (he took 3-4 3s his first 4 seasons in the league, including his first stint with the Cs) since his second stint with them he's basically just focused on the basics for a tall bench big - screens, dribble hand offs, rolling to the rim for dunks, rebounding, and defending the rim and blocking/altering shots. That's it.

Sometimes we get frustrated at him because of those limitations, or because he gets roasted on the perimeter when they call switches on him, and because he doesn't do "other stuff" but I think they've told him "if you just focus on this part that you can be good at, rather than being mediocre at everything, you will have a career here instead of having to learn Mandarin and playing in China". And so he's just focused on that part of the game. As long as we can accept that he can be flawed in those other areas, but good at what he is in the team for, he's a very serviceable NBA bench big.

[keevsnick]

I like Luke, seems to be a great locker room guy as well.

I posted this in the game page but I'm worried some team will swipe him out from the C's this summer. The C's have full bird rights, so they can pay him whatever, but given their tax constraints it would be very expensive to match even an 10-12 million dollar contract if some team thought he could start for them.

Another reason to move KP or Jrue. Opens up more financial flexibility.