Artis-this will not be popular....

[Crimmins27]

I thought about all those very same things Crim, and those are valid concerns. I think it comes down to whether the opponent is playing zone or man, as another poster pointed out Artis has struggled badly against man defense. On the other hand, against man D Luther has enough handle and perimeter game to pull a big out of the paint and either take him off the dribble, shoot over him or feed the ball to the post or a cutter from the high position.

I don't know, it's not an easy one. But it's also not acceptable to have a guy who won't give max effort and focus in critical games. Artis could have had his miserable 6 points and I wouldn't have a beef, if he had played hard, collected rebounds that he could have had, went after loose balls, protected the ball, been careful and crisp with his passing, and exerted some effort on defense. He did none of the above, and it killed us today. His laziness in the last couple of minutes was the biggest contributor to the loss IMO.

I'd just as soon see what R-Luke could/would do with those minutes. I'd trade Artis' overrated ball handling and offense for Luther's effort and scrappiness at this point. On top of that, I think Luke has some pretty good offensive skills to boot. I'll tell you one thing, that rebound that came right to Artis and ended up out of bounds off Jones would never have happened had Luther been there instead. It would have been Pitt ball for sure.

We share the same frustrations ... just do not think Luther's feel would allow him to be an asset at the 3, he has struggled when he gets too aggressive on offense with some turnovers himself ... but I agree about his scrappiness and rebounding. He has been most effective when he plays completely within himself ... hitting the boards, spot up three's and that baseline shot.