The 2019-20 Luka Dončić Thread

Post #341 » by **Fadeaway_J** » Wed Jan 1, 2020 6:35 pm

thekdog34 wrote:He seems to take a lot of 3s for a guy who isn't a very good 3pt shooter?

Most of them seem to be contested stepbacks. I don't think he's good enough at those to justify taking so many.

zonedefense · Post #342 » by **zonedefense** » Wed Jan 1, 2020 6:56 pm

Fadeaway_J wrote:
thekdog34 wrote:He seems to take a lot of 3s for a guy who isn't a very good 3pt shooter?

Most of them seem to be contested stepbacks. I don't think he's good enough at those to justify taking so many.

He starts to settle for 3s when he is tired. Against OKC he went to the FT line 11 times in the first half because he attacked the rim. His 2-point percentage is incredible for a guard. Nearly 61%. For comparisation. Peak LeBron is at 62%. Current LBJ is at 55%.
Problem is that he lacks the engine to do it for 30+ minutes.
Against the Thunder he started 2-4 from 3 and continued to go 1-12 for the rest of the game. Most of the missed shots were short.
Mavs obviously need to find a reliable shot creator that can help him carry the load. Luka himself needs to acknowledge that hero ball isn´t the answer. Especially when he is dead tired. Up by 8 with 3 minutes to go there is no need for contested 3s. Especially if the last made 3 was in the 1st quarter.

Post #343 » by **Texas Chuck** » Wed Jan 1, 2020 7:17 pm

Fadeaway_J wrote:
thekdog34 wrote:He seems to take a lot of 3s for a guy who isn't a very good 3pt shooter?

Most of them seem to be contested stepbacks. I don't think he's good enough at those to justify taking so many.

yeah it's more the 3's he chooses to take that are the problem. And even some of those I can live with because defenders are honoring those shots which opens up driving opportunities which is where he is just lethal. But some possessions are literally just him dribbling around and then taking a very contested 3 which isn't a good shot and when he strings some of those possessions together the offense bogs and his teammates aren't involved.

I thought the end of the game last night was a poor showing by him. OKC stopped defending him with wings who were getting cooked and guarded him with Paul or Shroeder and Dennis in particular just gave him no space and he was having trouble beating them off the dribble. Really felt like he should have either gone down into the post where he can be effective or been more willing to share the ball. Lots of really ugly possessions by Luka and the Mavs down the stretch and meanwhile Paul was getting to his spots and just clinically closing the game.

Peregrine01 · Post #344 » by **Peregrine01** » Thu Jan 2, 2020 5:43 pm

He’s been settling for way too many step back threes. And I think teams are gonna keep inviting him to take more of them given his percentages. He’s most deadly when he gets into the paint.

Post #345 » by **Texas Chuck** » Fri Jan 3, 2020 5:17 pm

So Luka has been playing pretty much the entire 1st and 3rd quarters and then resting half or more of the 2nd Q and coming back in the 4th depending on where the game is at. Last night he got the old Dirk treatment and was pulled halfway through the 1st. I assumed this was due to the injuries and Barea starting and wanting to have him help the 2nd unit, but after the game Rick talked about he felt like he had been playing Luka too long of stretches and it was effecting him at the end of games.

Will be interesting to see how this impacts both Luka and the team moving forward if he sticks with this even after KP/THJ return.

Also thought it was great that the Mavs had a player make his NBA debut last night in the closing minutes of the game and after the game Luka made sure he tracked down the game ball to give it to the guy. Small thing of course, but the sort of thing you want your best player/leader to do.

User_friendly · Post #346 » by **User_friendly** » Fri Jan 3, 2020 6:25 pm

Peregrine01 wrote:He’s been settling for way too many step back threes. And I think teams are gonna keep inviting him to take more of them given his percentages. He’s most deadly when he gets into the paint.

I don't exactly disagree, but the "invitation" should be clarified.:

- He knows he's more effective, so he tries to penetrate, and/or dish
- They make if difficult for him; he's very effective there, so at least, one of the goals is to tire him.
- So, if he FINALLY has to shoot a 3, make it as contested and time limited as possible.

So I think what they've been trying lately (Lakers, OKC and BKN), is basically, exhaust him and trying to push him back, but to make long and rushed shots.

Johnny Firpo · Post #347 » by **Johnny Firpo** » Sat Jan 4, 2020 8:37 am

Anyone who watches Luka a lot understands that he has amazing room to grow as a shooter/percentage wise. His mechanics are near perfect, his release is quick, he will get there.

Pg81 · Post #348 » by **Pg81** » Sun Jan 5, 2020 5:02 am

Johnny Firpo wrote:Anyone who watches Luka a lot understands that he has amazing room to grow as a shooter/percentage wise. His mechanics are near perfect, his release is quick, he will get there.

I think shot selection is really where it is at. Luka seems to be a bit too much in love taking those deep step back threes and half court shots or playing hero ball when he is frustrated imho. Think this is a more of a mental problem than an actually problem with skills and ability.

zonedefense · Post #349 » by **zonedefense** » Mon Jan 6, 2020 6:38 pm

Read on Twitter

TheBonzaiEffect · Post #350 » by **TheBonzaiEffect** » Mon Jan 6, 2020 8:19 pm

zonedefense wrote:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Luka gets fouled more than any player in the NBA (even Giannis), they just don't/won't call them all. Realistically, he should be averaging 15 FTs a night. The amount of slapping, hand checking, and shoving that guys get away with on him is comical. Yeah he whines a lot, but it's justified.

leolozon · Post #351 » by **leolozon** » Mon Jan 6, 2020 9:08 pm

zonedefense wrote:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

There was at least 2 very problematic ones and it would have allowed the Mavs to win.

The worst reffed games were in Dallas too, which is weird. I can’t remember which one, but there was 2 games where it looked like the refs purposely decided not to call the fouls on Luka. It was crazy how many they let go.

If he ever gets the respect most star players gets...

TheBonzaiEffect · Post #352 » by **TheBonzaiEffect** » Tue Jan 7, 2020 6:39 pm

After that awful shooting game from 3, Luka is 15-32 from deep over his last three.

Post #353 » by **bondom34** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 3:42 am

Read on Twitter

JordansBulls · Post #354 » by **JordansBulls** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 3:46 am

It seems the mega stars aren't dominating as much in the bubble but those growing into stars are. Like Luka, Mitchell, Murray, etc.

kayess · Post #355 » by **kayess** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 7:30 am

How the **** is this thread dead??

Also: I love the sneaky "mega star" vs "growing into star" jab JB threw at Luka here. You know he's feeling threatened because Luka is already an actual mega star and is a tier above Mitchell, Murray.

Guy is the **** truth.

OverAndOut · Post #356 » by **OverAndOut** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:16 am

If he can continue to improve on defense, he has potential to be the GOAT eventually

70sFan · Post #357 » by **70sFan** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:45 am

Luka is amazing, such a well rounded player despite the age. He really reminds me Magic Johnson with his approach, but he's even better than young Magic so far!

AussieBuck · Post #358 » by **AussieBuck** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 9:28 am

kayess wrote:How the **** is this thread dead??

Also: I love the sneaky "mega star" vs "growing into star" jab JB threw at Luka here. You know he's feeling threatened because Luka is already an actual mega star and is a tier above Mitchell, Murray.

Guy is the **** truth.

There's about 90 active threads about him.

Saints14 · Post #359 » by **Saints14** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 12:02 pm

JordansBulls wrote:It seems the mega stars aren't dominating as much in the bubble but those growing into stars are. Like Luka, Mitchell, Murray, etc.

I wonder how much of that has to do with them getting basically a whole offseason to progress. Not taking anything away from Luka, but when we look back at his 2nd season it's likely actually his 3rd year version in the playoffs

GSP · Post #360 » by **GSP** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 3:18 pm

Mavs have had an 118 ortg so far for the series. I know they're missing Pat but it's still insane. What makes it crazier is the offense is in the 120s when Luka is sitting so I'm not sure how much of the offensive resilience to put on Luka or Carlisle's coaching

I think with how the team situation/coaching is not only for Luka but more modern players with the increased knowledge of the game, we're gonna do future player comps with heavy emphasis on how said player was optimized

Stuff like what Luka is doing at 20-21 will prolly be more common in a decade too. The game is moving fast and even eras like the 2000s are starting to look prehistoric

Alot of that is team/strat developments and how much more optimized players are now with spacing as well as the lack of defensive rules now. It's gonna be very difficult to make cross era comps in the future without looking at a heavy emphasis on their level relative to their respective eras/metas