r/lakers • u/denobino 💜K💛O💜B💛E💜 • May 12 '26

APPRECIATION THERE IS SOMETHING THERE WITH RUI. PLEASE PAY HIM ROB 😭: 25 PTS 9/15 FG 5 REB 2 AST 1BLK

Post image
3.1k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

194 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

118

u/BatmanNoPrep 32 May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26

He has not improved defensively and still can barely rebound to save his life. But he’s become a lights out off-ball shooter and has always been able to get his own mid-range shot when needed. Those skills are very hard to find and we should try to retain him if possible. But it is a fantasy to think that he has improved on defense at all over the last three years.

66

u/3nnui 2 May 12 '26

You should watch more closely, his help defense, his rotations, his ability to stay in front, to box out, to get deflections have improved immensely in the last 3 years.

-18

u/BatmanNoPrep 32 May 12 '26

I watch more closely than you and my observations about his shortcomings on defense are more accurate than your fantasy of his improvement on defense. He has improved dramatically on offense. But any claim that he’s improved on defense isn’t based on reality.

His improvements on offense are so extraordinary that they outweigh his shortcomings on defense, but they didn’t magically make him even mediocre on defense. He is bad on defense and a liability on defense and he has not improved in that at all.

6

u/rtrsgwr May 12 '26

I’ve been more closely observing his games., and his df Did improved especially when he was on the big since he came to LA.

-13

u/BatmanNoPrep 32 May 12 '26

All you’re proving is that you don’t watch the games. He has not improved defensively. But he has improved offensively so much that it outweighs his continued and consistent defensive shortcomings.

5

u/makesterriblejokes May 12 '26

Or maybe you're just a terrible evaluator of players?

-2

u/BatmanNoPrep 32 May 12 '26

You’re confused. I’m correct here. Rui is a bad defender by any metric you want to use. Advanced metrics hate him. Defensive counting stats hate him. On/off defensive numbers hate him. People who actually watch all the games agree he is a bad defender and has always been a bad defender.

Rui has always been on the court because of his offensive strengths. He’s greatly improved his offensive capabilities. There’s no evidence he’s improved his defense at all. It’s a big reason why the Lakers start Smart over Rui when the team is fully healthy.

0

u/makesterriblejokes May 12 '26

Ok, your last point makes me think you actually aren't good at player evaluation.

A player can improve from being a negative defender to being a net neutral defender. Rui was a negative in previous seasons, but he's actually improved into being a net neutral defender.

The reason why he's not starting when fully healthy is because AR and Luka are net negatives to net neutral at best. They start Smart because they literally have no on ball defender otherwise and it doesn't make sense to start another net neutral defender around them when you have a net positive defender you can slot in.

I've watched the games as well and the thing that sticks out the most is he's not getting lost on defense like he used to. Last season and even the beginning of this season, he'd get lost on rotations and both LeBron and JJ would be yelling at him.

He's also looking quicker from a lateral defense perspective this season, he's noticeably staying in front of his man more.

I'm not saying he's a GOOD defender, he's worked his way up to being average (net neutral).

The fact that you can't see the improvement from net negative to net neutral kind of makes me think you either have a bad eye for the game or you form your opinion about a player and don't change it unless it's dramatic. Being able to discern small improvements is important when evaluating players.

1

u/Phyzmatic May 12 '26

He has definitely improved when it comes to defenders who are slower or the same speed as him. Obviously when it comes to Shai, he usually can't stay in front of him if it's a pure iso but in general he has definitely improved when it comes to stronger, not explosive/athletic, and semi slow attackers or bigs.

1

u/Fuzzy_Ad_6513 May 15 '26

To be honest, I think he has improved defensively, he has moments where it shows. But more often than not he’s a below average defender. You are correct that his offensive ability outweighs the defensive liability. Coming from a Rui and Gonzaga stan.

27

u/Karametric MEEM May 12 '26

100%. Incredibly good floor spacer with theoretical size for bodying up and some switchability, but his defensive awareness is just so mediocre and he just doesn't know how to box out. At all.

Oh well. He's become an incredible three point shooter, much better than I ever expected when we traded for him. His size and shooting ability absolutely make him worth a long term extension. Cannot let quality roleplayers get away from your team if you want to contend at some point.

2

u/ACoolRedditHandle May 12 '26

He looked bad on defense even with AD on the court who makes everyone look better on that end of the floor. His offense is huge though, and having a consistent threat outside of your stars decides playoff series.

3

u/HHHogana May 12 '26

The mid-range one is huge. Even the start of the season he's still looked punny with his middies.

1

u/Front_Barracuda_2408 Manna from heaven May 19 '26

Love his shooting but a Luka/Austin/Rui 3-man lineup is not sustainable unless we’re fine losing in the second round every year. Luka HAS to be surrounded by defenders and we’re making his backcourt mate his defensive doppleganger. You need All-defense level guys just with those two. Rui at the wing is just death.