Luke Ridnour

infobox NBA Player


name = Luke Ridnour
number = 13
position = Point guard
height_ft = 6 | height_in = 1
weight_lbs = 167
league = NBA
team = Milwaukee Bucks
nationality = American
birth_date = birth date and age|1981|2|13
birth_place = Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
highschool = Blaine
college = Oregon
draft = 14th overall
draft_year = 2003
draft_team = Seattle SuperSonics
career_start = 2003
career_end =
former_teams = Seattle SuperSonics (2003-2008)
awards =

Lucas Robin (Luke) Ridnour (born February 13, 1981) is an American professional basketball player for the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks. He was born in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and grew up in Blaine, Washington.

High school career

He is the son of Rob Ridnour, a former high school basketball coach and current coach of the International Basketball League's Bellingham Slam. When Luke was a high-school sophomore he was given the keys to the gym by his father to practice at night. He was on two state title-winning teams at Blaine High School, and was named a high school All-American by both McDonald's and Parade in 2000 his graduating year.

College career

Ridnour went on to star at the University of Oregon, where he teamed with Luke Jackson to take the Ducks to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament twice including the Elite 8 in 2002. He set the school season record for assists (218) and made a conference-record 62 consecutive free throws.

Ridnour left Oregon after his junior year, when he was Pac-10 Player of the Year, and was picked 14th in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics. Ridnour was so widely appreciated for his efforts at University of Oregon that, during his final game, the entire arena of MacArthur Court chanted "one more year" so loudly that the game had to be stopped while he walked off the courtFact|date=February 2007. Though he seemed to hint during this game that he might stay, he later announced his early departure from the University of Oregon to pursue his endeavor to play in the NBA.

NBA career

eattle SuperSonics

Ridnour played sparingly his rookie season, but became the starting point guard for the Sonics in the 2004-05 season. He participated in the 2005 All-Star weekend, playing in the Rookie Challenge and in the Skills Challenge.

Nate McMillan, despite giving substantial minutes to career backup PGs like Kevin Ollie and Antonio Daniels in place of Ridnour, is reported to have projected Ridnour as a future superstar of the NBA.Fact|date=August 2008 NBAdraft.net compared him to Steve Nash and John Stockton, although his statistics such as Player Efficiency Rating and defense are actually inferior at roughly the 7,000-minute mark of his career when compared to those two at the same point. He was sharing minutes at the point guard spot for the Sonics with Earl Watson, as former coach Bob Hill has said Ridnour "needs to play better defense." [cite web |url=http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=soni02&date=20061002 |title=Sonics facing a harmony test |accessdate=2007-02-22 |author=Percy Allen |date=2006-10-02 |work=The Seattle Times]

Milwaukee Bucks

On August 13, 2008, he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in a three-team, six-player deal that sent Milwaukee's Mo Williams to the Cleveland Cavaliers which ended the 5 year run with the sonics(Oklahoma City Team). [ [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sonics/2008112682_nba14.html Desmond Mason, Luke Ridnour included in trade] , August 14, 2008]

NBA career statistics

Regular season

-
align="left" | 2003–04
align="left" | Seattle
69 || 6 || 16.1 || .414 || .338 || .823 || 1.6 || 2.4 || .8 || .1 || 5.5
-
align="left" | 2004–05
align="left" | Seattle
82 || 82 || 31.4 || .405 || .376 || .883 || 2.5 || 5.9 || 1.1 || .3 || 10.0
-
align="left" | 2005–06
align="left" | Seattle
79 || 77 || 33.2 || .418 || .289 || .877 || 3.0 || 7.0 || 1.6 || .3 || 11.5
-
align="left" | 2006–07
align="left" | Seattle
71 || 58 || 29.5 || .433 || .353 || .805 || 2.3 || 5.2 || 1.2 || .3 || 11.0
-
align="left" | 2007–08
align="left" | Seattle
61 || 5 || 20.0 || .399 || .296 || .857 || 1.5 || 4.0 || .6 || .2 || 6.4
-
align="left" | Career
align="left" |
362 || 228 || 26.6 || .415 || .335 || .855 || 2.2 || 5.0 || 1.1 || .2 || 9.1
###@@@KEYEND@@@###

Playoffs

-
align="left" | 2004–05
align="left" | Seattle
11 || 11 || 34.4 || .393 || .235 || .950 || 3.3 || 4.3 || 1.2 || .7 || 9.7
-
align="left" | Career
align="left" |
11 || 11 || 34.4 || .393 || .235 || .950 || 3.3 || 4.3 || 1.2 || .7 || 9.7
###@@@KEYEND@@@###

References