Luka Dončić Discussion - Year 2

[Dirk]

vs Nets

Significant game.

Garbage through 3 quarters (just checked, 16-10-5 4/11 4 turnovers, doesn't look so bad, but it was bad to me). Probably my least favorite game so far in his career (I didn't really care for the rookie season bad games). Some really terrible plays and awful body language.

He is a natural leader (hint:game finished and first thing he did was go ask for a game ball...), so he really needs to not allow himself to go through so many bad passages of play. He has a moment or two every other game, but yesterday it was pretty much all game until the 4th quarter. Also, on this note... him and Barea are just such a weird fit --- it contributes to him just being more lethargic (no real off the ball movement, just hangs out all sad and miserable while Barea does his thing).

At one point I was feeling like, "Dude, wake the **** up. Don't wreck Maxi's big night, he deserves the win."

Paradoxically, what was looking like a disgusting game, turned into his best fourth quarter of the year.

He is nursing injuries, his movements are hindered, but that is not the excuse... can't fall for the trap of having built in excuses for his bad moments. He is likely more than aware of his mistakes. It starts with being aware of his own limitations. You know he knows all of this as you can see him disgusted with himself at times and adapting his game on the go.

Some plays,

This was just about the worst. It wasn't the only one. He was beaten out to rebounds 2 or 3 times. Out of position on a few plays as well.

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This was one of my picks on offense... jesus...

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These ones really irked me, just looked so bad within the flow of the game then

Spoiler:

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Almost forgot

Spoiler:

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4th quarter
15-3-2 +13 5/7 0 tos

You can clearly tell that he cleared his mind. More than his body, it's his mind that plays tricks on him. This is why you can't blindly accept being tired or injured. He can and will be better.

Beautiful...

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My favorite plays...

Gravity... then making the right play...

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Even though he was feeling it and no one would be upset if he took the shot, he still made the right play...

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Powell actually had to make a great play here, but it's awesome to see Luka keeping all options open.

So, all in all, the game was well scripted, he has a lot of film to watch of him looking bad out there and shaking his head at how much energy he spent being miserable and complaining about the world and then he can fall back into knowing that when he gets his mind right, even in the 4th quarter, the game is so slow for him and he can take over games with his confidence and poise.

[wolfram]

I understand it's Luka, the star player, but he is young, still has a lot of growing to do. I remember being frustrated with him before the NBA, wanted him to be better and better. He was basically a kid back then and I wanted him to be near perfect. Most important thing is he keeps improving. This season is a big improvement for him. He will be an All-star, hopefully Mavs get to the playoffs.

Watching him over the years, I still believe it's his stamina, conditioning, body, whatever you want to call it. When he is fresh and rested, without injuries, he looks so much better. He is not smiling a lot lately, that's a bad sign going into games. All the travel and stuff off the court, we don't know how he deals with that.

[J_T]

vs Nets

Significant game.

Garbage through 3 quarters (just checked, 16-10-5 4/11 4 turnovers, doesn't look so bad, but it was bad to me). Probably my least favorite game so far in his career (I didn't really care for the rookie season bad games). Some really terrible plays and awful body language....

You did realize that his role was TOTALLY different than anything else we have seen from the Mavs so far this season? In 4th quarter he was just given the role he usually has. His game was fine, including first 3 quarters. I did yell at him quite a few times, but that's normal with EVERY player that has EVER played the game. Everyone makes some good and some bad plays, it's just that good players make more good plays than bad plays.
Luka has had many worse games than this one. Sorry, but I think you probably weren't in best mood when watching the game.

Oh the rebounding... this was for the second straight game that he wasn't going for rebounds with enthusiasm. I think he is still not 100%. I don't see why else would his defensive rebounding mindset be so different than his entire season so far.

[Nikson]

I understand it's Luka, the star player, but he is young, still has a lot of growing to do. I remember being frustrated with him before the NBA, wanted him to be better and better. He was basically a kid back then and I wanted him to be near perfect. Most important thing is he keeps improving. This season is a big improvement for him. He will be an All-star, hopefully Mavs get to the playoffs.

Watching him over the years, I still believe it's his stamina, conditioning, body, whatever you want to call it. When he is fresh and rested, without injuries, he looks so much better. He is not smiling a lot lately, that's a bad sign going into games. All the travel and stuff off the court, we don't know how he deals with that.

It is impossible not to acknowledge your wholehearted optimism about his development through these two-three years. Allways a word or two of sincere support.

[Dirk]

vs Hornets

Looked fresh and much more in control and engaged. Team around him was off and he just kept making the right plays to keep it 'close enough'. Ironically, he ends up the only negative out of the starters, -5. Maxi who has been the only other reliable constant, -12. Amusing.

One interesting nugget was seeing him more deliberately working out of the elbow, he made it look really easy.

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nolookjackson

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nolookorwhateverpowell

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bulletcornerdfs

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~bulletforbarea

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eurosteppingcorner3

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4th quarter

Hard to believe a quarter that starts like this...

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drives+1

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I was so 'happy' to see him attack early here... and then go to the basket...

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turnover

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should like have had a foul on one of these, certainly on rozier

Spoiler:

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So, I rolled my eyes hard at this one... just feels unnecessary... although you always have the backdrop of "growing experiences" and "reps in the clutch"... I am sure that in the long run a few of these will go in, certainly at a rate that will make you forgive the misses... this season has just been miserable.

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gamewinnermiss

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Interesting switch.... the guy on him is an athletic freak... created space though...

He had a great game. Always blames himself, but I saw him make good passes when the game was close in the last 2 minutes. Mavs missed a couple of good looks from 3. He had a poor sequence during the 3rd quarter. Outside of that, I guess the step back 3 with 40 seconds left is the one that will irk me the most. He and the Mavs just have had no real balance in close games. They desperately need to win a couple of them to feel better about themselves. And it would help if Luka got the calls he deserves when he does drive inside and is contacted.

[HMFFL]

Luka Doncic “will be the best player Dallas has ever had” says Jerry West

Better than Dirk Nowitzki? Yes, says the Logo

https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/platform/amp/2020/1/5/21050736/luka-doncic-jerry-west-best-dallas-maverick-player-ever-dirk-nowitzki

Sent from my SM-N975U using RealGM mobile app

[Archx]

Luka Doncic “will be the best player Dallas has ever had” says Jerry West

Better than Dirk Nowitzki? Yes, says the Logo

https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/platform/amp/2020/1/5/21050736/luka-doncic-jerry-west-best-dallas-maverick-player-ever-dirk-nowitzki

Sent from my SM-N975U using RealGM mobile app

There were inside rumors swirling around in our media before the draft that LAC are seriously interested in Luka, they had the assets to go after him but still didn't. Just makes me wonder...

Still, West is one of the best, well if not THE best talent evaluator in the history of the NBA, him saying this shouldn't go unnoticed.

[BlueSan]

No idea why he dodged the media again after this game... or rather he should have not

[DJ_3_Ball]

No idea why he dodged the media again after this game... or rather he should have not

Replied to your comment in the game thread, but I did see a quote from Luka in the recap on ESPN. It was tag lined Associated Press, which is kinda weird because I thought I saw ESPN's Tim Macmahon at the game last night. Usually he writes the recaps for ESPN. Nevertheless, they had a Doncic quote in their game recap.

I played really bad," said Doncic, the 2019 Rookie of the Year. "I felt like I don't know how to play basketball. It wasn't me. I gotta get better. A lot.

So he must of stuck around for a little bit. Normally, I can find the post game, press gang bang interview video online on a YouTube channel called Fanactics View or sometimes on the Dallas Mavericks Youtube channel, but the video wasn't up. Maybe, he only talked to one guy & did it very quickly. Or, maybe he did do the interview & those channels didn't post it.

Very odd for Fanactics View not to post. They posted interviews from Howard, Green, and other Lakers last night. They had Carlisle's post game press conference up like they normally do. They must be based in Dallas because they post Mavericks content all the time. They only have 17.2k subscribers on YouTube, but they go to all the Mavs away games too. I think it must be funded by a big time Mavs fan with deep pockets. You guys should go check it out & subscribe. Lots of good content on that channel.

If Luka didn't sit down for the post game interview, then someone needs to talk to him about the importance of folks seeing your face after a tough loss (and how to handle it i.e. no Cam Newton-like post game Super Bowl blow ups), if it's the Mavericks or Fanactics View who didn't upload that video, then they need to realize the importance of folks seeing Luka handle the tough questions after a loss.

At least we know he didn't bolt though.

[DJ_3_Ball]

I want your guys' opinions on this.

I think I'm a little unsure of how I feel about Luka at the moment. I'm referring to his demeanor and maturity level, primarily. But, also some of his play on the court.

I thought maybe I was being too hard on him about the complaining to the refs aspect just because it's a personal pet peeve of mine. One of those things too where it's annoyed me the whole time, and finally on Wednesday vs Denver when they're talking about it on national TV, I'm like ok this isn't just all in my head. Other people are seeing it too. So, I unloaded on about it on here in a very long post. That again was cumulative, but also seemed like Luka's been more frustrated than usual lately.

Then we see him rip his jersey last night. Clearly frustrated. And, that's an interesting occurrence because as (I think it was aggerrad) one member pointed out that shows his passion & that he cares about his performance too.

So, where do you guys fall on this?

Is Luka leaning towards being out-of-control?

Is Luka just a fiery player who is going to have "outbursts" from time to time?

Is Luka just dealing with the normal growing pains of a 20 year old and/or 2nd year player in the NBA?

Do you think it's related to the opposing defenses? Related to the offensive schemes and/or teammates? (personally, I don't think so. Because Luka always raves about his teammates, but that's to the public. I wonder what he might think internally...)

Also, regards to on the court, what if anything do you think is different about Luka's play from when he was the Western Conference player of the month for November to what we've seen lately?

I think he might just not be 100% since the fall in LA & the Chriss shove the next night in Golden State. It's possible that he was dealing with a soreness in Golden State from the previous night in LA and that Chriss shove that sent him into the cameras might of hit that exact spot where he was dealing with soreness & made it worse. I don't know, but he looks a bit more lethargic out there to me since that game. He looks like he's favoring his body in a way. Like he's full on when he has the ball on offense, and when there is action in front of him on defense, but if he's walking up the court or there's another "lull" in the game, he doesn't look like he has that full go approach. Like he's taking it easy on his body a bit. Or he's just out-of-shape. I don't know. What are your guys seeing?

I'm asking because I don't think I'm coming down near the truth on this. I think he's been a bit up & down from MVP level performance to even Sophomore slump levels as highs & lows, and it makes it hard to know his base line. And, by the way I know during his slumps, he's still posting 25 pts 9 rebs 7 assts lines, but his usage is sky high, so he's going to rack up assists & points and rebounds (especially with KP out). That's not all that impressive to me considering the circumstances. I'm more focused on the quality of play. (i.e. last night he air-mailed a pass into the 2nd row. Jalen & Jacoby were talking about the Luka vs Jokic match up, and Jacoby said "Luka has his lowlights too" and they showed a lot of his TOs from the DEN game, which for sure were lowlights, so the quality of play just hasn't been the same from what we saw in November).


Edit: One other thought I wanted to point out. At least for me, I think it's possible to have the decision-making down at an advanced rate for your age---from years of professional experience---but, at the same time, lack maturity just due to your age & still lacking life experience. I think both of those things can be true & happen simultaneously.

[J_T]

He's ripped his jersey twice so far and in both cases it's because his shot was not going in. It has nothing to do with lack of calls. I don't really care for it, I don't know why people are making fuss about it.

As for lack of calls complaints, yes there were couple of guys on national TV saying that he should keep playing, etc. However from their words it was clear to me that they haven't followed his season very closely in that regard. Also just the fact that the organization itself, coaching staff and above, are complaining about it louder and louder is showing that it's getting to the boiling point. I have a feeling that there's gonna be few people outside of the locker room paying fines very soon. I know it's Dallas homers, but you don't usually get such straight statements from TV commentators saying that Luka is being robbed all the time. I think Luka is actually handling it much much better than before in the season. I still believe that complaining about calls does help, but I understand that this is contentious.

There is no doubt that he is blaming himself for the shooting problems and that's good. It's good that he remembers the feelings he's been having because there is no better motivation to try to get better. He will become a much better shooter.

Also another thing that I think is good about all of this is that I think that with every game like this, he will become more relentless in the future games. He has often been playing like he is out there having a game with friends. He is starting to understand that his mentality going into the game should be war. The problem with his attitude has been that if all is going well, then fantastic. Lots of fun. Such great fun playing basketball, right? But when things don't go well, then what? It's no fun.

[DJ_3_Ball]

... The problem with his attitude has been that if all is going well, then fantastic. Lots of fun. Such great fun playing basketball, right? But when things don't go well, then what? It's no fun.

I've noticed this too. If things aren't going well, Luka doesn't have a smile for us & he's sometimes ducked the media after the game. Those are maturity issues imo. I agree with your sentiment about going to war. I think he had that coming in; otherwise, how do you win a Euroleague title. But, maybe the NBA has been a bit of an adjustment in that sense. You always see Luka dabbing it up with opponents, almost like a fan would. I don't necessarily have a problem with that. But, I want to make sure he's ready to rip their heart out on the court too.

I feel like he has this Wonder Boy pressure placed on himself. Like he reads the MVP press clippings & if he's not playing at that level, it's like he can't take it. Then he goes hog wild on the refs & he doesn't smile or be himself & he usually plays worse.

You make an interesting point about how the tone he takes with the refs might be an extension of his frustration with himself over missing shots & poor play. I hadn't thought of that before.

[Archx]

... The problem with his attitude has been that if all is going well, then fantastic. Lots of fun. Such great fun playing basketball, right? But when things don't go well, then what? It's no fun.

I've noticed this too. If things aren't going well, Luka doesn't have a smile for us & he's sometimes ducked the media after the game. Those are maturity issues imo. I agree with your sentiment about going to war. I think he had that coming in; otherwise, how do you win a Euroleague title. But, maybe the NBA has been a bit of an adjustment in that sense. You always see Luka dabbing it up with opponents, almost like a fan would. I don't necessarily have a problem with that. But, I want to make sure he's ready to rip their heart out on the court too.

I feel like he has this Wonder Boy pressure placed on himself. Like he reads the MVP press clippings & if he's not playing at that level, it's like he can't take it. Then he goes hog wild on the refs & he doesn't smile or be himself & he usually plays worse.

You make an interesting point about how the tone he takes with the refs might be an extension of his frustration with himself over missing shots & poor play. I hadn't thought of that before.

We're used to it. He is one of the most competitive players you'll ever find. His age obviously contributes to stuff like this.

But at the end of the day, would you rather have a giant panda on your team aka Ayton, who goofs around all the time... Or a fierce competitor who wants to win no matter what?

Watch on YouTube

[Jstock12]

Luka could benefit from getting a mindset/life coach. Really.

We plebeians have no clue what it's like to be hyped as the next big thing since you're a 16 year old, then get to the NBA and in your 2nd season be talked about as the potential greatest of all time player. As a 20 year old.That's **** crazy. I know that sh*t would certainly get to my head and perhaps make me more arrogant/egocentric/unstable. Luka seems like a guy who probably has a better mindset and is more mature than your average 20 year old, but it's still not enough, IMO. Oh, and then there's the $100M Nike deal and probably a bunch of gold-diggers on his doorstep.

Some type of external support could really be benefitial. Both for his own mental well-being and for his professional life.

[J_T]

Dr. Phil Show, 5482 Wilshire Boulevard #1902, Los Angeles, CA 90036.

[Jstock12]

Dr. Phil Show, 5482 Wilshire Boulevard #1902, Los Angeles, CA 90036.

I think you missed the point

[Archx]

Luka could benefit from getting a mindset/life coach. Really.

We plebeians have no clue what it's like to be hyped as the next big thing since you're a 16 year old, then get to the NBA and in your 2nd season be talked about as the potential greatest of all time player. As a 20 year old.That's **** crazy. I know that sh*t would certainly get to my head and perhaps make me more arrogant/egocentric/unstable. Luka seems like a guy who probably has a better mindset and is more mature than your average 20 year old, but it's still not enough, IMO. Oh, and then there's the $100M Nike deal and probably a bunch of gold-diggers on his doorstep.

Some type of external support could really be benefitial. Both for his own mental well-being and for his professional life.

I understand your concerns but you are very wrong in my opinion. He lived a rich life for quite some time now. Got a lot of money since he became a pro player in Madrid. We obviously get to see his personal life and his family a lot more than outsiders because of our media and i can tell you, his mom and grandmother raised him the right way. Outside of court he always takes time for kids/fans, takes care of his friends, family and 2 dogs. But on the court, he turns into a fierce competitor who absolutely hates losing. Obviously i'm not saying he doesn't need to mature more, ofc he does, but even Rick said, he loves him the way he is and team needs him to be like that.

I know other all time great players who were competitive as hell did quite a lot of dumb stuff on the court, but you just have to live it and understand that some players will do just about anything to win. Even if it means tearing up a jersey mid game just to let out frustrations and maybe kick yourself in the ass to get your game going
And this is why he complains to the refs a ton. People see it in extremely negative way, like he is a spoiled brat or something, but obviously he cares deeply what happens on the court and tries to squeeze out everything possible to push his team an inch further to winning. But you know just as i do, every great player will push refs to their limits to maybe get that 1 call which will matter down the line.

[Jstock12]

Luka could benefit from getting a mindset/life coach. Really.

We plebeians have no clue what it's like to be hyped as the next big thing since you're a 16 year old, then get to the NBA and in your 2nd season be talked about as the potential greatest of all time player. As a 20 year old.That's **** crazy. I know that sh*t would certainly get to my head and perhaps make me more arrogant/egocentric/unstable. Luka seems like a guy who probably has a better mindset and is more mature than your average 20 year old, but it's still not enough, IMO. Oh, and then there's the $100M Nike deal and probably a bunch of gold-diggers on his doorstep.

Some type of external support could really be benefitial. Both for his own mental well-being and for his professional life.

I understand your concerns but you are very wrong in my opinion. He lived a rich life for quite some time now. Got a lot of money since he became a pro player in Madrid. We obviously get to see his personal life and his family a lot more than outsiders because of our media and i can tell you, his mom and grandmother raised him the right way. Outside of court he always takes time for kids/fans, takes care of his friends, family and 2 dogs. But on the court, he turns into a fierce competitor who absolutely hates losing. Obviously i'm not saying he doesn't need to mature more, ofc he does, but even Rick said, he loves him the way he is and team needs him to be like that.

I know other all time great players who were competitive as hell did quite a lot of dumb stuff on the court, but you just have to live it and understand that some players will do just about anything to win. Even if it means tearing up a jersey mid game just to let out frustrations and maybe kick yourself in the ass to get your game going
And this is why he complains to the refs a ton. People see it in extremely negative way, like he is a spoiled brat or something, but obviously he cares deeply what happens on the court and tries to squeeze out everything possible to push his team an inch further to winning. But you know just as i do, every great player will push refs to their limits to maybe get that 1 call which will matter down the line.

Ha, I agree with you, and I think you and J_T misunderstood me a little bit. Perhaps I've worded it wrong, not sure.

I'm not saying Luka needs a shrink. Life coaches and sports psychologists are quite different from psychoterapists, lol. All I was saying is that he could benefit from that. 99% of the population could. But especially people who are under a lot of pressure and are experiencing some major changes to their lifestyle/environment.

[Archx]

Spoiler:

Luka could benefit from getting a mindset/life coach. Really.

We plebeians have no clue what it's like to be hyped as the next big thing since you're a 16 year old, then get to the NBA and in your 2nd season be talked about as the potential greatest of all time player. As a 20 year old.That's **** crazy. I know that sh*t would certainly get to my head and perhaps make me more arrogant/egocentric/unstable. Luka seems like a guy who probably has a better mindset and is more mature than your average 20 year old, but it's still not enough, IMO. Oh, and then there's the $100M Nike deal and probably a bunch of gold-diggers on his doorstep.

Some type of external support could really be benefitial. Both for his own mental well-being and for his professional life.

I understand your concerns but you are very wrong in my opinion. He lived a rich life for quite some time now. Got a lot of money since he became a pro player in Madrid. We obviously get to see his personal life and his family a lot more than outsiders because of our media and i can tell you, his mom and grandmother raised him the right way. Outside of court he always takes time for kids/fans, takes care of his friends, family and 2 dogs. But on the court, he turns into a fierce competitor who absolutely hates losing. Obviously i'm not saying he doesn't need to mature more, ofc he does, but even Rick said, he loves him the way he is and team needs him to be like that.

I know other all time great players who were competitive as hell did quite a lot of dumb stuff on the court, but you just have to live it and understand that some players will do just about anything to win. Even if it means tearing up a jersey mid game just to let out frustrations and maybe kick yourself in the ass to get your game going
And this is why he complains to the refs a ton. People see it in extremely negative way, like he is a spoiled brat or something, but obviously he cares deeply what happens on the court and tries to squeeze out everything possible to push his team an inch further to winning. But you know just as i do, every great player will push refs to their limits to maybe get that 1 call which will matter down the line.

Ha, I agree with you, and I think you and J_T misunderstood me a little bit. Perhaps I've worded it wrong, not sure.

I'm not saying Luka needs a shrink. Life coaches and sports psychologists are quite different from psychoterapists, lol. All I was saying is that he could benefit from that. 99% of the population could. But especially people who are under a lot of pressure and are experiencing some major changes to their lifestyle/environment.

Ooh... yeah i get what you mean. We see that often in all of sports. Well yeah i mean, i don't know him personally but sure, given his age, any advice how to handle emotions and stress situations could be helpful. Starting with his FT's. Once he misses two or 3 in a row, you can see it gets into his head and can potentially miss 10 in a row. So he obviously could need some advice how to stay calm and not to overthink too much.

But i think he mentioned that Barea is already doing something similar by giving him advice how to handle life and stuff given his new lifestyle. And i think he mentioned he also talked with Dirk etc.. He's lucky to be around such great personalities.

[J_T]

Well, the team does have sport psychologist and one that Cuban values a lot. He once said that his biggest mistake is to let him go after the championship. But he is with the team now and from what I heard he is actually working with the players all the time, it's not one of those "come see me if you need". He is going around with the team and it was said on TV that Luka is often working with him. So if the problem is his sport related behavior I'd say they are on it.

The Dallas Mavericks have had psychologist Don Kalkstein on staff for 15 years. While coaches closely examine offense and defense, Kalkstein focuses on something else. "[Players] do so much training, physically, fundamentally, that they often lack mental skills training," he said.

Kalkstein said when a player averages, say, 20 points a game, he's expected to get those points despite troubles in his personal life — and that creates added pressure. He teaches them tools to lessen that pressure.

"We don't want the thought process to be 'I have to make this shot,'" Kalkstein said. "We want the thought process to be, 'I'm going to catch and shoot, I'm going to get myself in a good position.' So they concentrate and focus more on the process, which eliminates what we consider pressure and anxiety."

Another tactic he uses is something called a concentration grid — players cross off numbers 0-to-100 on a grid in sequential order as quickly as they can in one minute. He distracts them as they do the task. "They learn to develop really laser focus when they're asked to do that, instead of people talking about, 'Hey, you got to concentrate,' or 'You got to focus,' but they never tell them on what or how to," Kalkstein said.