San Antonio Spurs Unexpected STAR
Luke Cornett is everything for the Spurs. He played 34 minutes plus 11 in a four-point victory. He’s such an underrated connective piece. Just a master of his role and in this video I will prove just that. So he checks in the game and immediately makes an impact on both ends of the floor. He swipes at Jordan Pool that makes him double pump. Then Castle gets a good contest. Then Cornet shields off Queen resulting in a Spurs rebound. Look at this beautiful play. They give it to him at the elbow. This ghost screen from Castle sets everything up. Vel now has initial separation going into a dribble handoff. Just perfect execution on this screen from Cornette. Now the center has to switch except Murphy sticks with Vel. There’s no rim protection at the rim anymore. Great pass from Julian, but also this is Herb Jones, one of the best at getting deflections, and Cornette catches, avoids that steel attempt, and now it’s a free layup. And this is fundamentally sound defense against Derek Queen, forcing a miss on the hook shot. Then immediately he starts the offense. He’s working with Vel again. Great job realizing Jordan P is sleepwalking, so there’s no need to screen. Just roll hard to the basket right away. The rim protection has to help on Facel miss. But guess who’s there to clean it up? Luke Cornett and the only option to save the day for the Pelicans is Jordan Pool. So he’s forced the foul and now it’s two free throws for the Spurs. What do you know? Jordan Pool falling asleep again. He sees Julian screening. So he’s like whatever. Unfortunately for him, out of nowhere, Julian dribble handoff. Immediate roll from Cornet. The opposing center has to contest and nobody is covering Cornet. He bobbles it, reathers and gets fouled. Everything was going his way. He breaks the free throw and it goes right back to him. Then he skies in the air for the slam jama. Now in transition, Dylan Harper drives to the rim, draws multiple guys. He misses. No worries, Luke Cornet is there. Nine offensive rebounds, four of them took place in the first quarter. He checks back in midway through the second quarter. If you’re the Pelicans right now, you’re screaming, “Yay! We forced a miss and got a stop.” Psyche. Luke Cornet is playing volleyball out there to get another possession. He’s working the twoman game with Webby. Great screen because 1 second later, the defender disappears behind Wemby. Derek Queen has to stay in front, leaving the cutting cornet open. Just amazing execution. Next defensive possession, he gets switched on to Jordan P and forces a contested deep mid-range. You live with that every time. Such an effective screener. The guards on the Spurs are going to love playing with him. Look at the separation Harper has from his initial defender right away. Another switch forced, meaning the role is wide open and the backline defense is just too small. Here we go again. Jordan P is trying to work him. He gets around, but the length affects him too much and he smokes the layup. Then in the second half, he had three assists. Early offense, Cornet catches in the paint. He’s looking at the top of the key, but immediately turns his head back, locating the open back door cut. The accuracy is pitch perfect. Look at how difficult it is for the Pelicans to secure a simple defensive rebound because the presence of Luke Cornet. A foul was eventually called with WBY and him. They will be taller and longer than pretty much every opponent. Pelicans try zone. The problem is Wemb’s in the middle and Cornet is in the short corner. Great hands by Cornette. Again, that’s probably one of his most underrated traits. He’s not one of those bigs who has stone hands. He can catch in and through traffic, which means the pass to him doesn’t always have to be perfectly accurate. And with Cornett, you have this bailout option for easy offense. Nothing going on. Give him the rock. Have someone run to him for a dribble handoff. And the positioning of Cornett on this play has the defender Trey Murphy screwed. He can’t get over because he will get crushed. So, he has to go under. And the three goes up because he went under. That right there was one of the biggest possessions of the game. A one-point game turns into a four-point game just like that. It turns out currently Luke Cornet has eight screen assists, which currently is tied for fourth in the NBA. He could very well be top 10 in that category by the end of the season. Definitely something to keep an eye on. And of course, defensively, just like in the first half, in the second half, he was clogging driving lanes and protecting the rim. He was crucial in overtime on defense to secure the win. The Spurs defensive rating with him on the court yesterday was 102.9. To put that in perspective, last season the Thunder led the league in that category with 106.6 defensive rating. Just an amazing pickup for the Spurs. If they take a jump this season, which it seems like they will, Luke Cornett will be playing a major role.
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11 comments
The games the Spurs have played so far would look different if Sochan, Fox and Olynyk were available. Kornet is the best off-season move we made by far. He's made life so much easier for the entire team, especially Wemby. I think the refs were WAY too generous on the foul calls against Wemby and too harsh on the fouls against him. The amount of times Zion can just lower his shoulder and initiate contact with no repercussions is disgusting. Him and SGA get away with an insane amount of offensive fouls.
Still a Celtic idc
As crazy as vic stats are. Luke was the mvp of this game.
Half double big line-ups mean a ton of offensive rebounds. He’s on a great deal too. Plus the Spurs won’t bleed points with Wemby on the bench. Winning.
Kornet has the best non-rookie contract in the NBA. For 10 million a year, it's a huge steal!
Kornet is a fan favorite
People forget that all of the celtics shots are like threes and its tough to get offensive rebounds that way, Kornet now has a team that scores in multiple ways so he looks even better
Another good video showing how ROLE PLAYERS are so valuable. Fundamental skills and high basketball IQ are underrated and not appreciated !
Name a better roll player I dare you I DARE YOU
If Kornet can start making occasional 3-pointers…
🏀🏀🏀
He can further manipulate the opponents defense.
Wemby can now sit on the bench and not worry about the Spurs giving up the lead because of poor rim protection. Kornet solved the Spurs biggest problem the past 2 seasons. When Fox and Sochan/Olynik comes back, the 2nd Unit will be Kornet, Sochan/Bryant, Keldon/Olynik, Champagnie and Harper. That is one very solid bench. GSG!