Luke wasn't cut, but he was left off the roster for the national team
http://tinyurl.com/q38b5
Is this a good exclusion or bad? Hinrich made it over Luke and it appears he had an injury.
I'm sure Luke's comments will be something like, "I tried, but it's not big deal either way," which is consistent with his personality, but it has to hurt on some level. Especially since Chris Paul is a rookie and Luke couldn't beat him out of that spot.
Does this bring up the "is Ridnour capable," talk again? Probably. Maybe the person that most benefits from Sene being drafted is Luke. Had Brewer been drafted by the Sonics, he could have challenged Luke for that spot. Well, most likely Watson would be a starter and Brewer a backup if he's all of what Brian has been raving about from summer league.
It might also be interesting with new owners. Has Luke been given the postition because he's a "local boy does good," story, or is he really that much better than everyone else that's challenged? It's hard for me to say. I like Luke a lot, but I have my serious question marks about his game.
He doesn't move well enough laterally to defend his spot. I like his on-ball tenacity, but that doesn't matter if your guys continually goes around you--tenaciousness only goes so far.
Dribbling and passing/court vision have set Luke apart, but is that enough?
Of course, these questions aren't out there to kick a guy while he's down--I was excited he was chosen for the national squad and given the chance to compete--but most of us thought last year was a year Luke was supposed to show significant improvement.
Was it enough?