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SignUp Now!Yeah Luke's effort on defense really isn't the question - he's just completely terrible on that end of the court. He was unequivocally the worst defender on the team last year. On the other hand, JJ has never been a categorically terrible defender nor the worst defender on any team he's ever played on.Also, Luke gives effort on defense. The best he's going to become is JJ Redick on that end -- a net negative but not a crippling one.
I think it's hard to distinguish between lacking defensive effort and lacking defensive intelligence. You have to have effort in order to develop defensive intelligence. Like, if you look at Duke's best defenders over time, defensive effort and defensive intelligence are virtually inseparable--Battier, Billy King, Wojo, TT to name a few. They got smart at defense by putting in the effort and honing their craft. Certainly, they would know the scheme and they would understand the game plan the coaches put in place, but that is also a by product of them putting in the effort to get to a place to understand it. Not just a mental place, but a physical place, tooI disagree with your statement, Farmer. I think some players just lack defensive intelligence. And I don't think it's necessarily connected to how intelligent on offense you are.
The most striking thing to me about this picture is that I would never have recognized Brandon Ingram except for the jersey. I think it's the fact that he's actually smiling and looks awake.