All Things Luka Doncic

[Mirotic12]

Yes, I agree with all of this, but I still think you're a bit too harsh on him. Quite often his role at Barca was to simply go stay in the corner and do his work on the defensive end. He rarely saw the chance to do his thing as a PG.

But wasn't that because Barca had guys like Navarro, Lorbek, and Mickeal that the offense was based in, simply because they were so much better on offense overall than Rubio was? The point being, USA sports media, and even NBA general managers claimed Rubio was not only the best player in Europe, they even claimed he was the best EuroLeague player of all times...

So, it's not fair for someone to use Rubio as a comparison to Doncic here, based on "hype prior to NBA". Simply because the hype in USA surrounding Rubio was obviously fake and imaginary - he was touted as being a player that was some levels beyond what he actually was.

Doncic's hype seems to be more in the level of, "one of the best players in Europe", and "perhaps the best player ever in EuroLeague at his age" - basically, Doncic's hype seems to be far more accurate to what he actually is, versus the hype Rubio had, which was totally exaggerated.

Rubio was never going to live up to the ridiculous over the top hype, which was not based in facts, but Doncic's hype is much closer to how he's actually performing as a player. In other words, no reason to talk about Rubio and Doncic, as far as how Rubio did not live up to his hype, so somehow that means Doncic is to be written off also.

[Mulholland]

https://youtu.be/zRCWayfj2KY

Enviado desde mi SM-A500FU mediante Tapatalk

[Marcus]

Cant belive Im saying this I agree on most Mirotic12 points

lol. I know it's "cool" to bash him and hate a lot of his post but they really aren't bad more times than not. Its the absoluteness and pitbull like stubbornness with his words that can rub folks the wrong way. When it's taken in as just information it's fairly credible.

[Derento]

Harden is a better athlete in terms of strength, verticality, body control and change of direction. Also has a better handle.

Russell got the Harden comps too til folks realized the gulf in physical/athletic profiles.

Lol you might think I'm crazy but the way he moves in Pick n Roll & the elevation on his pullup & stepback shot and his scoring/attacking the basket and passing to shooters on the corners/wings right now reminds me of Kelsey Plum at Washington
She's had of rough start to her WNBA career but in College her game was electric.
If he adds more dexterity jumping off on one foot watch out. His game is clear evolved into being the primary threat for this level of comp.
But he needs to add more things to help his skills translate to wings that can stop him one on one.

[Derento]

I noticed that he uses his left in situations like off cuts,put backs,driving in not big traffic areas but when he's slashing with a lot of resistance he prefers to uses his right and also in the post. If he developed a left hook & left extend finish he'd be even more dangerous.

[916fan]

IQ wise, sure. He's playing against better competition. I don't think anyone is doubting the kids IQ. I think athleticism wise, Euro basketball is a major step down from NCAA. That's where he has the biggest question mark. Can he produce at a high level when he's not as athletic or strong as these other players in the NBA? That's usually the reason why Euro players fail in the NBA with the exception of a few.

EuroLeague athleticism level is higher than NCAA Division I. The average USA DI college player couldn't even play in the rotation of a good European national domestic 2nd division.

There was a study a few years back, which showed that less than 1% of American NCAA Division I college basketball players will ever step on an NBA or EuroLeague floor in an official game.

Never mind that the biggest DI college teams are smaller than any team in EuroLeague.

This athleticism discussion...Joe Ingles, for example, was nothing more than average (at best) athlete for EuroLeague.

As for GOAT Euro prospect, as great as Doncic is, the GOAT euro prospect -- that's Sabonis.

Considering the eras, more Like Janis Krumins. If he came to NBA in the 50s/60s, he would have been totally dominant.

Athleticism does NOT automatically mean you are a NBA player. In general, the top college schools are more athletic than Euroleague. However, the college players are nowhere as talented as Euroleague players. I kinda assumed that this would be a generally accepted idea.. I don't even know why Euro fans would be annoyed by it either.

Saying that the NCAA is more athletic is not an insult to Euroleague.

[reanimator]

Athleticism does NOT automatically mean you are a NBA player. In general, the top college schools are more athletic than Euroleague. However, the college players are nowhere as talented as Euroleague players. I kinda assumed that this would be a generally accepted idea.. I don't even know why Euro fans would be annoyed by it either.

Saying that the NCAA is more athletic is not an insult to Euroleague.

Polished, not talented is the word I would use.

The lotto players are more athletic and talented on average but the Euroleague players are polished and physically mature.

[J_T]

P.s.: He did get like 8 points, a couple assists and rebounds in garbage time, though, but let's not hold that against him.

What do you mean let't not hold that against him. We are definitely holding this against him. This was actually a bad game vs a bad opponent. Cause Euro.

if teams would start defending him like they do Spanoulis for example.

Don't be silly, Doncic will NEVER be guarded like Spa, Sp... I can't even pronounce the name of the god. Yeah, you are definitely right, it's all about coaches not thinking that Doncic is actually a good player, they all think he is average. They should have 3 players on him all of the time and then hope than the rest of the squad misses the dunks. It's not like Real Madrid has any other good players, they only have Doncic who is half decent. I don't understand why are they coaching those teams and we are writing online posts. Not fair.

In general, the top college schools are more athletic than Euroleague.

I think that different people have different definition of what athleticism is. I just have to think that strength has something to do with it and EL players are stronger. Let's put it this way. You can't be athletic unless certain groups of muscles are well developed. And 17 year old players will just not have them as developed as 24 year old players will. So I think that you are probably defining athleticism as being only a part of what I think athleticism is. I'm not saying one way is right or wrong, but it doesn't make sense to argue about something when even the definition is different, right?

[CjayC]

Harden is a better athlete in terms of strength, verticality, body control and change of direction. Also has a better handle.

Russell got the Harden comps too til folks realized the gulf in physical/athletic profiles.

Lol you might think I'm crazy but the way he moves in Pick n Roll & the elevation on his pullup & stepback shot and his scoring/attacking the basket and passing to shooters on the corners/wings right now reminds me of Kelsey Plum at Washington
She's had of rough start to her WNBA career but in College her game was electric.
If he adds more dexterity jumping off on one foot watch out. His game is clear evolved into being the primary threat for this level of comp.
But he needs to add more things to help his skills translate to wings that can stop him one on one.

I just watched some highlights of her and I swear this is dead on

She quite amazing though.

[Oscar9992]

Far ahead of any 18 Y. O. player in the World.

[saphan]

[XTraderXL]

EuroLeague teams don't have a defensive plan on him yet. Same exact thing last year. At first the teams didn't guard him, then they started to.

Now this season, the teams put very little defensive pressure on him, like he's just a random rotation player.

This is complete nonsense, you were saying this last year already. Real goes as Luka goes. That was true last season in many games and this year its even more obvious. When he is on the floor, Real plays way better. He is the ACB leader in +/-, cant find the stat for EL but I think its the same. Coaches are not stupid. If they let him do whatever he wants, their team will loose, its that simple. Do you really think they are not game planning for clearly the best player in Euroleague? Who are they gameplanning for then? Spanoulis? LOL

Did you ever think he is simply that good and there are no teams in Europe that can really stop him? I think thats much more likely than what you are saying.

I know you will come here and say I told you so when he has a bad game which will surely come at some point, but you will ignore 90% of games where he is the best player on the floor.

[Rn5ho]

https://heavy.com/sports/2017/10/nba-draft-2018-rankings-best-prospects/

Some interesting notations in there.

Identifying skill is the easy part, but picking players who will continue to stay motivated after receiving an NBA contract, as well as players who will mesh with a team’s current roster is far from an exact science.

This one I especially like. As Doncic is a definition of this (so far in his career). VERY humble, down to Earth guy, who is not selfish and play for the team. Every time they ask him about his personal performance, he brushes it off and talks about team effort. He's just enjoying the basketball and always looking to win and money and fame are simply not something he's interested in. Can the same be said about the rest of prospects?

[pacersGM]

im adding another player who doncic could end up becoming in the nba on the ceiling end of the projection.

LAMAR ODOM
child prodigy
excelent vision, passing, handling, rebounding
statt stuffer
not standing out explosivnes wise
taller then doncic
not as good of a shooter
point forward if you like

if you say odom is his floor you land again in the magic johnson / lebron stratosphere.
if you say teams like san antonio can unlock doncic true potential max stats wise, then look in history what the best pg/distributor in the spurs system averaged in assist per season? spurs are the least of the team, who would give the keys to one player only.

if he lands under d,antoni in some weird way, then i can see him get to 8/8/20 (the steve nash, james harden, mike dantoni effect).
other teams, im staying with my "humble" projections

[UcanUwill]

His floor is Evan Turner.

Doncic is far better than Evan Turner is. Right now, he is much better. His floor can't be a player he's already way better than. Turner is probably more athletic....that's it. Doncic is clearly way better at everything else.

I also think he is better than Turner, but thats his bust scenario. Turner was also very good prior to NBA and looked like potential superstar.

[J_T]

https://heavy.com/sports/2017/10/nba-draft-2018-rankings-best-prospects/

Some interesting notations in there.

Identifying skill is the easy part, but picking players who will continue to stay motivated after receiving an NBA contract, as well as players who will mesh with a team’s current roster is far from an exact science.

This one I especially like. As Doncic is a definition of this (so far in his career). VERY humble, down to Earth guy, who is not selfish and play for the team. Every time they ask him about his personal performance, he brushes it off and talks about team effort. He's just enjoying the basketball and always looking to win and money and fame are simply not something he's interested in. Can the same be said about the rest of prospects?

Good article. I think there are different ways to draft as well. The team can always decide what's more important to them, higher perceived ceiling or higher perceived floor. Depending on the state of the franchise, they could both be legitimate. This draft is so stacked that if there is only one bust out of top 4, the GM who picked him will have nightmares. If you really want to add Bamba to the top group, I'd say he has the lowest floor of them. Doncic I think has the highest floor.

[burek3]

But if I understand correctly, when you are drafted, you are "doomed" to that team for 8 years? Yikes.

[Nikson]

im adding another player who doncic could end up becoming in the nba on the ceiling end of the projection.

LAMAR ODOM
child prodigy
excelent vision, passing, handling, rebounding
statt stuffer
not standing out explosivnes wise
taller then doncic
not as good of a shooter
point forward if you like

if you say odom is his floor you land again in the magic johnson / lebron stratosphere.
if you say teams like san antonio can unlock doncic true potential max stats wise, then look in history what the best pg/distributor in the spurs system averaged in assist per season? spurs are the least of the team, who would give the keys to one player only.

if he lands under d,antoni in some weird way, then i can see him get to 8/8/20 (the steve nash, james harden, mike dantoni effect).
other teams, im staying with my "humble" projections

I don’t think his priority is personal statistics.
He is more a team success guy.

Parker, Ginobili, even Duncan could all have better statistics if played for some less successful teams with even bigger role. Should they be unhappy at the end of their careers?

I don’t see Luka as a statt stuffer. And if I have to choose of options you gave us I go with Magic. End result greatly depends on system and team around him.

Magic in Atlanta is not Magic in LA.

[pacersGM]

im adding another player who doncic could end up becoming in the nba on the ceiling end of the projection.

LAMAR ODOM
child prodigy
excelent vision, passing, handling, rebounding
statt stuffer
not standing out explosivnes wise
taller then doncic
not as good of a shooter
point forward if you like

if you say odom is his floor you land again in the magic johnson / lebron stratosphere.
if you say teams like san antonio can unlock doncic true potential max stats wise, then look in history what the best pg/distributor in the spurs system averaged in assist per season? spurs are the least of the team, who would give the keys to one player only.

if he lands under d,antoni in some weird way, then i can see him get to 8/8/20 (the steve nash, james harden, mike dantoni effect).
other teams, im staying with my "humble" projections

I don’t think his priority is personal statistics.
He is more a team success guy.

Parker, Ginobili, even Duncan could all have better statistics if played for some less successful teams with even bigger role. Should they be unhappy at the end of their careers?

I don’t see Luka as a statt stuffer. And if I have to choose of options you gave us I go with Magic. End result greatly depends on system and team around him.

Magic in Atlanta is not Magic in LA.

i never said that he is out for the stats. its not about that. everything stats related is in relation what he could accomplish in the nba. and that is mostly seen through the stats prism. rightfully so in most cases.

the reason i put san antonio there is that most posters seem to think he would make most of himself if he would play in san antonions system. but that would mean he would not get the keys to the team (nash suns, harden rockets, westbrook okc),

as far as doncic comparable to magic johnson . hmmm magic averaged 11 assist per game, i dont see 10 assist per game in doncics P&R heavy play, sorry on any team. doncic wont be the world savior in the nba you guys think he will be, sorry, and its bugging me to wait those 4-5 years so you can say: dude you very cocky, but you were right. he did have a solid career, but some dudes in the forum really believed he would be on magics lebrons etc level

he will be-already is a EURO god already at 18 - like i said, he is build for this, but the nba - meh - solid starter but not averaging lebrons rebs or assist ever

[burek3]

Taking in consideration what everything is counted as an assist in NBA today, that statistical aspect is the very least of concern of Doncic's translation. It's almost Euro assist *1.5