Luka Doncic

[XTraderXL]

He played exactly as expected, he looked a bit nervous to me which is completely normal. I expect him to be offensively better in the next few games. On defense he was ok up until the last few minutes when they started to put him in iso situations.

His scoring is just fine, when he is asked to score he scores. In the playoffs, Laso clearly relies on more experienced players. Luka just needs to do his job which is play defense, rebound and make open shots. I think if there is a game where Real will be down big in second half in this series and Llull is not playing well, then Doncic will step up and do all the things we saw him do in the regular season.

[Mirotic12]

Doncic simply needs the ball in his hands to create things. He only has big games when Llull either takes a backseat for whatever reason, or doesn't play at all. So whoever is watching these super important Real Madrid games and hoping/expecting to see Doncic at his best, prepare for a very high probability to be disappointed.

This is also my worry for him in the NBA. He can be a true star if he's given the keys, but if not, he can regress quite a bit, to the point where he's merely going to be a very good starter.

Doncic has the ball an awful lot, especially for EuroLeague standards of touches. He got the ball the second most after Llull, even in this game. Someone like Rudy, who has tons of big game experience, got less touches. It's honestly nothing to do with how many touches Doncic got. It's the simple fact that the playoffs are different than the regular season.

Not only have teams adjusted to Doncic, and have a good scouting knowledge of him, but the difference now in the playoffs was that Blatt clearly picked Doncic as the weakest link in Real, and made his team's game plan to attack him. Play him hard physically the whole game on defense, and on offense, attack him hard every time, and every time look to get him in switches, then isolate his man and have him attack the rim.

It's the playoffs now, and Real is playing against a good and deep team. There is not anymore that whole mentality at the start of the year, which was, "he's just a high school kid, so let's go easy on him". In this game, Darussafaka clearly singled Doncic out and said we are attacking the 18 year old kid. Which makes perfect sense, because Doncic isn't able to defend those guys one to one, or in pick and roll.

Take any player from the NCAA, any player listed in any mock draft right now (I don't care who it is), and they would get abused playing in the EuroLeague playoffs against a team like Darussafaka.

Put Doncic in the NCAA tournament, and he would have been looking great. It's really that simple....current EuroLeague playoffs is a level too big for any 18 year old player in history.

With that being said, this does not mean that teams at the final four would have the same strategy of attacking Doncic that Darussafaka clearly had in game 1. Darussafaka is built with guys like Wilbekin, Wanamaker, Clyburn, Anderson on the perimeter, so it makes perfect sense to use all of them in ISO and pick and roll to attack Doncic. Real might play against some teams that are not built similar going forward, so Doncic might have it easier, depending on that. Darussafaka isn't a real good match up for Doncic, on an individual level.

[JPF]

Nah, to be honest, he played worse than expected. Just from the last 15 minutes: He wasn't boxing out properly, basics, at least on one occasion Darussafaka got an off rebound due to it. He is getting loads of rebounds due to good feel for the ball, however checking your man first and boxing him out is always the way to go instead of evaluating where the ball would land.
He wasn't low enough in defense with his upper body and didn't even bother defending that way, resulting in penetrations from the 3p line past him, forgot his man on one occasion and turned a 270 degree to search for him another time (to find him at what could originaly be a 90 degree angle).
Dončič looked like he had a pretty bad day.

Scoring insctincts were never questionable with Luka. It's the level issue. I actually like that he isn't forcing himself when he's not playing well, either by forcing up Carrol as one week ago or passing the ball further. Real doesn't have the patience for an 18 years old's heroics.

[Mirotic12]

If it wasn't my $ on the line, I would probably feel the same way. But when you bet, all sorts of pessimistic thoughts rise, really hope OLY takes this.

Olympiacos is greatly weakened by the injuries of Matt Lojeski (easily one of the top 5 SF in Europe), and Daniel Hackett (who might be the best all around point guard in Europe)...with those kind of huge absences, Efes is for sure a more talented and deeper team than Olympiacos. Efes is also a more athletic team than Olympiacos.

However, here is the thing....Olympiacos is without any doubt at all, the smartest team in Europe. When you have guys like Spanoulis, Printezis, Papanikolaou, Mantzaris, a coach like Sfairopoulos...the basketball IQ of that team is off the charts. It's an outlier even for a great European team.

Efes by comparison...it's a very athletic and deep team, but the basketball IQ of its main players is highly questionable. They have a very good coach, but that can only help so much with players with low basketball IQs.

If Hackett and Lojeski were not injured, Olympiacos would sweep Efes easily. However, with those two big injuries for Olympiacos, Efes really does have a better team on paper. But, I will take the smarter team (Olympiacos), over the more athletic team (Efes), because the athleticism difference isn't that big.

Olympiacos is missing Lojeski (one of their top athletes), but they still have a good team athletically, with the level of difference to Efes being much closer than Efes is to Olympiacos in basketball IQ. Athletically, Olympiacos still has Spanoulis, who can blow by any defender, get in the lane any time, get dribble penetration and break down the defense anytime, they still have guys that can run the floor and finish (being able to outrun the other team's big men) - with guys like Papapetrou and Papanikoloau (despite not being athletic overall), that at 6-9 can simply outrun all the other team's bigs.

And they still have guys like Birch and Young that can finish with authority, anything that Spanoulis puts up for them when they dive to the rim. Mantzaris isn't really athletic, but he has good lateral speed and quickness. Printezis isn't really athletic, but he's super physical and strong, with great length. Then there is a guy like Green that is quick and fast with the ball, and gets good elevation on his jump shot, so he is hard to defend in man.

So the advantage Efes has (depth and athleticism) isn't all that big, while the advantage Olympiacos has (basketball IQ) is huge. I could see it ending up a 5 game series (due to Hackett and Lojeski injuries), but I don't trust Efes' players decision making over a 5 game series.

[blazeyo]

Mirotic You think Blatt is a good coach? Did he prepare the team properly?
Zizic with only 13 minutes is not enough, yes, he was on foul trouble but still finished the game with only 3 fouls.
Zizic is a problem and yet he doesnt get enough touches imo.. What do you think?

[Mirotic12]

Mirotic You think Blatt is a good coach? Did he prepare the team properly?
Zizic with only 13 minutes is not enough, yes, he was on foul trouble but still finished the game with only 3 fouls.
Zizic is a problem and yet he doesnt get enough touches imo.. What do you think?

I've always felt Blatt was a good coach overall, but also hugely overrated. Yes, he is a good coach, EuroLeague-wise, NBA-wise, FIBA-wise. But his hype and status of "best Euroleague coach ever" is/was absolutely ludicrous and completely untrue. He's a good coach for sure, but definitely not an elite one.

I like Zizic a lot, but he's also 20 years old and playing in EuroLeague playoffs against guys like Ayon and Hunter that have a lot more experience and more athleticism than him (Hunter especially is way more athletic)...and Reyes didn't even play (highest basketball IQ for a big maybe in EuroLeague, and probably the most physical).

So it's a problem for a coach. If you try to build certain aspects of your team during the season around a guy that is 20, it can work against you in the playoffs. Zizic is big, he's mobile, he is physical, and he finishes with authority. But in terms of athleticism, experience, and general just knowing and reading the game, he's at a disadvantage against Real.

There is also the issue in covering guys like Llull, Rudy, and Carroll on the perimeter, and the issue of how to deal with Randolph if they switch him to the 5. Zizic doesn't have the quickness to defend those guys on the perimeter, and he doesn't have the right kind of quickness to deal with Lull in screen roll. Marcus Slaughter on the other hand, does have those abilities on defense. So some of the issue of playing time with Zizic can also be about team defense. Zizic is very good on offense, but his team defense isn't very good.

If they were not playing against someone like Llull, Zizic would probably play more, but because it's Llull, you need to have a big that can defend screen roll and on switches, and Slaughter can actually do that pretty decently. So it's probably just an issue of experience and match ups. But yeah, he should probably play Zizic 20 minutes.

[blazeyo]

Mirotic You think Blatt is a good coach? Did he prepare the team properly?
Zizic with only 13 minutes is not enough, yes, he was on foul trouble but still finished the game with only 3 fouls.
Zizic is a problem and yet he doesnt get enough touches imo.. What do you think?

I've always felt Blatt was a good coach overall, but also hugely overrated. Yes, he is a good coach, EuroLeague-wise, NBA-wise, FIBA-wise. But his hype and status of "best Euroleague coach ever" is/was absolutely ludicrous and completely untrue. He's a good coach for sure, but definitely not an elite one.

I like Zizic a lot, but he's also 20 years old and playing in EuroLeague playoffs against guys like Ayon and Hunter that have a lot more experience and more athleticism than him (Hunter especially is way more athletic)...and Reyes didn't even play (highest basketball IQ for a big maybe in EuroLeague, and probably the most physical).

So it's a problem for a coach. If you try to build certain aspects of your team during the season around a guy that is 20, it can work against you in the playoffs. Zizic is big, he's mobile, he is physical, and he finishes with authority. But in terms of athleticism, experience, and general just knowing and reading the game, he's at a disadvantage against Real.

There is also the issue in covering guys like Llull, Rudy, and Carroll on the perimeter, and the issue of how to deal with Randolph if they switch him to the 5. Zizic doesn't have the quickness to defend those guys on the perimeter, and he doesn't have the right kind of quickness to deal with Lull in screen roll. Marcus Slaughter on the other hand, does have those abilities on defense. So some of the issue of playing time with Zizic can also be about team defense. Zizic is very good on offense, but his team defense isn't very good.

If they were not playing against someone like Llull, Zizic would probably play more, but because it's Llull, you need to have a big that can defend screen roll and on switches, and Slaughter can actually do that pretty decently. So it's probably just an issue of experience and match ups. But yeah, he should probably play Zizic 20 minutes.

Thanks. I keep seeing Zizic seal off his man and he rarely ever gets the ball down low for some reason. Think he should be involved more in the offense. Yes, he has problems in the PnR but i'm not sure the trapping scheme is working either when Luill is the PnR ball handler.

As for Doncic, if he isn't a PG at the next level, what makes him a unique talent? Prototypical size for a SF, good passer, average rebounder for a SF, average shooter, not very athletic... He has a very high BB IQ but is he a top 5 prospect in the draft ?

[Ettorefm]

So teams are exploring his awful defense and lack of quickness on offense. What a suprise. It's exactly what people have been saying are his NATURAL flaws that are almost impossible to fix due to his below average athleticism and lateral quickness.

Can we stop overrating him now and just appreaciate a very good prospect?

[UcanUwill]

I am completely underwhelmed with Zizic. He is great offnesive rebounder, but other than that, nothing special.

[XTraderXL]

So teams are exploring his awful defense and lack of quickness on offense. What a suprise. It's exactly what people have been saying are his NATURAL flaws that are almost impossible to fix due to his below average athleticism and lateral quickness.

Can we stop overrating him now and just appreaciate a very good prospect?

Name one highschool kid right now that wouldnt have problems on defense in EL playoffs?

[Ettorefm]

So teams are exploring his awful defense and lack of quickness on offense. What a suprise. It's exactly what people have been saying are his NATURAL flaws that are almost impossible to fix due to his below average athleticism and lateral quickness.

Can we stop overrating him now and just appreaciate a very good prospect?

Name one highschool kid right now that wouldnt have problems on defense in EL playoffs?

That's not an answer, that's a cop out. Specially for a guy considered "NBA READY" and having "a professional body".

He can't be both 'ready and looking like a 22 year old out there with his body' and having excuses for not being body ready. calm down.

This is the most athletic he'll ever get regarding lateral quickness and 1st step. Players don't studdenly get more explosive when they are already subpar at 18 FOR EUROLEAGUE STANDARDS.

He can't blow by ANYONE and any player 6'8 and below can easily get past him as he can't keep up. That won't get better at 27. It's a structural problem.

18 year old american players can't defend mature players because they're too skinny and weak, not because they're too slow. Weight is easy to gain, rarely do skinny players at 17/18 end up being that way forever.

Slow players? Well..

[blazeyo]

So teams are exploring his awful defense and lack of quickness on offense. What a suprise. It's exactly what people have been saying are his NATURAL flaws that are almost impossible to fix due to his below average athleticism and lateral quickness.

Can we stop overrating him now and just appreaciate a very good prospect?

Name one highschool kid right now that wouldnt have problems on defense in EL playoffs?

Zion Williamson??????

[Derento]

Mirotic You think Blatt is a good coach? Did he prepare the team properly?
Zizic with only 13 minutes is not enough, yes, he was on foul trouble but still finished the game with only 3 fouls.
Zizic is a problem and yet he doesnt get enough touches imo.. What do you think?

I've always felt Blatt was a good coach overall, but also hugely overrated. Yes, he is a good coach, EuroLeague-wise, NBA-wise, FIBA-wise. But his hype and status of "best Euroleague coach ever" is/was absolutely ludicrous and completely untrue. He's a good coach for sure, but definitely not an elite one.

I like Zizic a lot, but he's also 20 years old and playing in EuroLeague playoffs against guys like Ayon and Hunter that have a lot more experience and more athleticism than him (Hunter especially is way more athletic)...and Reyes didn't even play (highest basketball IQ for a big maybe in EuroLeague, and probably the most physical).

So it's a problem for a coach. If you try to build certain aspects of your team during the season around a guy that is 20, it can work against you in the playoffs. Zizic is big, he's mobile, he is physical, and he finishes with authority. But in terms of athleticism, experience, and general just knowing and reading the game, he's at a disadvantage against Real.

There is also the issue in covering guys like Llull, Rudy, and Carroll on the perimeter, and the issue of how to deal with Randolph if they switch him to the 5. Zizic doesn't have the quickness to defend those guys on the perimeter, and he doesn't have the right kind of quickness to deal with Lull in screen roll. Marcus Slaughter on the other hand, does have those abilities on defense. So some of the issue of playing time with Zizic can also be about team defense. Zizic is very good on offense, but his team defense isn't very good.

If they were not playing against someone like Llull, Zizic would probably play more, but because it's Llull, you need to have a big that can defend screen roll and on switches, and Slaughter can actually do that pretty decently. So it's probably just an issue of experience and match ups. But yeah, he should probably play Zizic 20 minutes.

Thanks. I keep seeing Zizic seal off his man and he rarely ever gets the ball down low for some reason. Think he should be involved more in the offense. Yes, he has problems in the PnR but i'm not sure the trapping scheme is working either when Luill is the PnR ball handler.

As for Doncic, if he isn't a PG at the next level, what makes him a unique talent? Prototypical size for a SF, good passer, average rebounder for a SF, average shooter, not very athletic... He has a very high BB IQ but is he a top 5 prospect in the draft ?

I think why he's such a lauded prospect so far is mostly for his overall production at his age at his level of competition.
He's great passer imo. Solid shooter but not a great one. He'll definitely fall down the draft boards if he doesn't improve by next year this time.

[soulzen]

So teams are exploring his awful defense and lack of quickness on offense. What a suprise. It's exactly what people have been saying are his NATURAL flaws that are almost impossible to fix due to his below average athleticism and lateral quickness.

Can we stop overrating him now and just appreaciate a very good prospect?

Name one highschool kid right now that wouldnt have problems on defense in EL playoffs?

That's not an answer, that's a cop out. Specially for a guy considered "NBA READY" and having "a professional body".

He can't be both 'ready and looking like a 22 year old out there with his body' and having excuses for not being body ready. calm down your lobby

How is that a cop out when defense is never going to be his strong point, yet all is see is you commenting about his athleticism when no one ever seriously claimed he is an elite athlete. Not to mention everybody knows what NBA ready body means on a prospect without ignoring the fact that they are still teenagers and disadvantages that come with it, so no one will take you seriously with comments like that. You sound borderline insulted with Doncic so you come up with comments like "Has he blown by anyone yet?" and repeat the same thing over and over again while there are people actually having a decent exchanges and opinions on his weaknesses. I'm just blown away with how upset you are about the hype, like he is the only top pick prospect ever to be hyped, you know you can be hyped about a player and still acknowledge his weaknesses. Some people will overrate him, some will underrate him, get over with, I imagine you don't get so upset about every top prospect every year, or just about the ones you personally don't like?

[Derento]

Him being not quick is what it is.
He needs to become a 3pt bomber of the dribble and spot up along with having a viable midrange/post game
To become a very valuable player.
His shooting coach is one of the best so I am optimistic in that area.

[916fan]

Name one highschool kid right now that wouldnt have problems on defense in EL playoffs?

That's not an answer, that's a cop out. Specially for a guy considered "NBA READY" and having "a professional body".

He can't be both 'ready and looking like a 22 year old out there with his body' and having excuses for not being body ready. calm down your lobby

How is that a cop out when defense is never going to be his strong point, yet all is see is you commenting about his athleticism when no one ever seriously claimed he is an elite athlete. Not to mention everybody knows what NBA ready body means on a prospect without ignoring the fact that they are still teenagers and disadvantages that come with it, so no one will take you seriously with comments like that. You sound borderline insulted with Doncic so you come up with comments like "Has he blown by anyone yet?" and repeat the same thing over and over again while there are people actually having a decent exchanges and opinions on his weaknesses. I'm just blown away with how upset you are about the hype, like he is the only top pick prospect ever to be hyped, you know you can be hyped about a player and still acknowledge his weaknesses. Some people will overrate him, some will underrate him, get over with, I imagine you don't get so upset about every top prospect every year, or just about the ones you personally don't like?

One thing I noticed in this forum is that some people evaluate Doncic in terms of Euro basketball standards. Can't do that when you're talking about a NBA prospect.

One person talked about Doncic's lateral quickness getting exposed on defense in the playoffs. Another user countered with asking if there's any HS prospects who wouldn't struggle on D in the EL playoffs.

These are two completely different things that they're arguing. Asking if any kid in HS will struggle or not is a complete cop out imo. Yes, Michael Porter Jr would struggle a bit on defense in the EL. However, he would struggle for complete different reasons. He's not going to struggle because he's not quick enough to stay in front. Porter Jr would struggle because he's young and doesn't have his fundamentals 100% down.

It's completely fair to criticize Doncic's lateral quickness. Yes it's true, no one is arguing that Doncic is a great athlete or even a good one. However, being a good athlete and having good lateral quickness is one of the most important things with any NBA prospect. For European basketball, it's not a big factor, and some people just brush it to the side. I don't think you can do that, especially if we're discussing Doncic as the potential #1 overall pick.

[soulzen]

That's not an answer, that's a cop out. Specially for a guy considered "NBA READY" and having "a professional body".

He can't be both 'ready and looking like a 22 year old out there with his body' and having excuses for not being body ready. calm down your lobby

How is that a cop out when defense is never going to be his strong point, yet all is see is you commenting about his athleticism when no one ever seriously claimed he is an elite athlete. Not to mention everybody knows what NBA ready body means on a prospect without ignoring the fact that they are still teenagers and disadvantages that come with it, so no one will take you seriously with comments like that. You sound borderline insulted with Doncic so you come up with comments like "Has he blown by anyone yet?" and repeat the same thing over and over again while there are people actually having a decent exchanges and opinions on his weaknesses. I'm just blown away with how upset you are about the hype, like he is the only top pick prospect ever to be hyped, you know you can be hyped about a player and still acknowledge his weaknesses. Some people will overrate him, some will underrate him, get over with, I imagine you don't get so upset about every top prospect every year, or just about the ones you personally don't like?

One thing I noticed in this forum is that some people evaluate Doncic in terms of Euro basketball standards. Can't do that when you're talking about a NBA prospect.

One person talked about Doncic's lateral quickness getting exposed on defense in the playoffs. Another user countered with asking if there's any HS prospects who wouldn't struggle on D in the EL playoffs.

These are two completely different things that they're arguing. Asking if any kid in HS will struggle or not is a complete cop out imo. Yes, Michael Porter Jr would struggle a bit on defense in the EL. However, he would struggle for complete different reasons. He's not going to struggle because he's not quick enough to stay in front. Porter Jr would struggle because he's young and doesn't have his fundamentals 100% down.

It's completely fair to criticize Doncic's lateral quickness. Yes it's true, no one is arguing that Doncic is a great athlete or even a good one. However, being a good athlete and having good lateral quickness is one of the most important things with any NBA prospect. For European basketball, it's not a big factor, and some people just brush it to the side. I don't think you can do that, especially if we're discussing Doncic as the potential #1 overall pick.

It would be a cop out if Doncic was projected as a good defender/athlete, which he isn't and nobody claimed that so in terms of how Doncic is expected to perform at this age it's naturally for him to not be a good defender or at driving to the rim. I was bothered because he said he doesn't do this things well at such a high level, implying there are other top prospects who could do it so that's why someone said no other high schoolers could do it, doesn't matter what their reason is, so yeah in this context it makes sense to say it. Of course it's fair to criticize him for his weaknesses, but that guy is a hypocrite if he criticizes him for his weaknesses and then gets bothered over how hyped he is for his strengths, which he shows time and time again, he keeps saying things like "Did he blow by anyone yet" or "He couldn't get past traffic cones", how is a guy like that contributing in any way.

[XTraderXL]

So teams are exploring his awful defense and lack of quickness on offense. What a suprise. It's exactly what people have been saying are his NATURAL flaws that are almost impossible to fix due to his below average athleticism and lateral quickness.

Can we stop overrating him now and just appreaciate a very good prospect?

Name one highschool kid right now that wouldnt have problems on defense in EL playoffs?

That's not an answer, that's a cop out. Specially for a guy considered "NBA READY" and having "a professional body".

He can't be both 'ready and looking like a 22 year old out there with his body' and having excuses for not being body ready. calm down.

This is the most athletic he'll ever get regarding lateral quickness and 1st step. Players don't studdenly get more explosive when they are already subpar at 18 FOR EUROLEAGUE STANDARDS.

He can't blow by ANYONE and any player 6'8 and below can easily get past him as he can't keep up. That won't get better at 27. It's a structural problem.

18 year old american players can't defend mature players because they're too skinny and weak, not because they're too slow. Weight is easy to gain, rarely do skinny players at 17/18 end up being that way forever.

Slow players? Well..

Most of your post is completely wrong. First of all, he does not have an NBA body. People who say that obviously have no clue what they are talking about. He has a big frame but thats about it. He needs to put on quite a bit of muscle to have an NBA body. That will also help him on both sides of the court.

Athleticism definitely improves, especially with players like Doncic. He still has pretty weak legs, you can clearly see it in a number of games. I wonder how many full games of Real you watched this year if you havent noticed that. I am 100% certain he will improve his explosiveness and lateral quickness, i have seen it many times especially with Euros when they get to the NBA. They all become more athletic in 1 or 2 years...

Well, he blew by Oladipo this summer and he is considered an above average defender. It is true he cant blow by defenders consistently yet, but that is also because he is not strong enough not just lack of explosiveness.

We will just have to wait and see. I believe he will have a very good season next year and by the time he goes to the NBA he has at least 2 full summers and a full season with Real as one of the main players of the team.

[Mirotic12]

One thing I noticed in this forum is that some people evaluate Doncic in terms of Euro basketball standards. Can't do that when you're talking about a NBA prospect.

One person talked about Doncic's lateral quickness getting exposed on defense in the playoffs. Another user countered with asking if there's any HS prospects who wouldn't struggle on D in the EL playoffs.

These are two completely different things that they're arguing. Asking if any kid in HS will struggle or not is a complete cop out imo. Yes, Michael Porter Jr would struggle a bit on defense in the EL. However, he would struggle for complete different reasons. He's not going to struggle because he's not quick enough to stay in front. Porter Jr would struggle because he's young and doesn't have his fundamentals 100% down.

It's completely fair to criticize Doncic's lateral quickness. Yes it's true, no one is arguing that Doncic is a great athlete or even a good one. However, being a good athlete and having good lateral quickness is one of the most important things with any NBA prospect. For European basketball, it's not a big factor, and some people just brush it to the side. I don't think you can do that, especially if we're discussing Doncic as the potential #1 overall pick.

It's the perception and the viewpoint coming from most American NBA fans. But it's a myth, just one of many that USA sports culture has about EuroLeague and European basketball in general.

Defense and the abilities of players to play defense is much more emphasized in EuroLeague than it is in NBA. Quite frankly, defense is much more important in European basketball in general than it is in NBA. And it's honestly not even close either.

Just look at how people in these forums talk about Giannis Antetokounmpo on defense...they rave about him and call him a defensive monster. While in European basketball, he has some really huge flaws and weaknesses that get exposed every summer he's playing in the Greek national team.

Aside from Doncic's issue of lateral quickness and foot speed, he's playing in an offense first, or even offense only team in Real Madrid. That's a concept that you really only see some in the Spanish League, and some in the Italian League. It's mostly because American players and coaches have been playing and coaching in those leagues since the 1960s. So they have a lot more American influence to their basketball.

You go to Balkans basketball (ex Yugo countries and Greece), and the ex Soviet countries like Russia, Lithuania and defense is hugely important and emphasized, as is physical basketball. Much more than it is in USA. And in the Spanish and Italian leagues, only some of the teams play like a Milano or Real Madrid. But even in the ones like Real Madrid, they really place a huge emphasis on physical play, something very hard by NBA standards, like how 90s NBA was.

In the whole EuroLeague I can only think of teams like Baskonia and Milano that don't play very physical basketball, and only them and Real Madrid that really don't care about defense.

If you spend enough time playing in EuroLeague as a rotation player, you better be tough mentally and especially physically, and you better not be a hole on defense, or it will absolutely kill your playing time, almost no matter how good you are on offense. In NBA, plenty of guys have been stars over the years, without ever playing any defense. In EuroLeague, in say the last 15 years, the only such players I can think of are De Colo (he's not that big of a star in reality though), Teodosic and Jasikevicius - a whole 3 players. NBA is full of such examples.

In reality, the not caring about defense and the level of importance of defense being very low is the NBA, not EuroLeague. Any player good enough on offense can be a star in NBA, nothing about defense really matters (NBA had numerous league MVPs that could not guard anyone). That's rare in EuroLeague (De Colo and Teodosic are the only EuroLeague MVPs, or so-called "best players" at one time or another, that were really bad at defense, and even then they are not as bad as some NBA MVPs defensively). Reality is, NBA is where no one really cares if guys like Doncic can guard anyone. It's not where he plays now.

His defense speed issues would be more of a problem for his career in the long-term, if he stays in Europe. That would be lessened a lot in terms of mattering, upon entering the NBA. The NBA is focused to the extreme on offense, scoring points, and creating highlights and high scoring "superstars". That's how it is designed, how it is coached, how it is schemed, how it is played, how it is reffed, and how it's rules system works. Defense isn't applicable to the NBA in any actual real terms. So the whole issue of how guys in NCAA or Europe will do on defense at the "higher level NBA" is really just nonsense. Even NCAA DI is more physical than the NBA is, and has much more strict rules against offense.

[SportsGuy8]

Mirotic, now you're making the same mistake many European basketball fans often make: glorifying European basketball and severely underrating NBA (in this case it's defense and the importance of it). When you do it, you're really not that much better than the other side (the Euro-ball sucks crowd). You're just the other extreme ...

Anyways, because of the rules, it's a lot easier to defend in Europe/FIBA, or better said, you can take advantage of physicality, smarts etc., while in the NBA, you need to rely on your athleticism a lot more. That's why everyone points it out so much. It's easier to overcome your physical shortcomings on defense in Europe/FIBA, but in the NBA, you really cannot hide it much.

And I thought he had the ball in his hands plenty, not as much as in regular season, but its not like he was just spotting the entire time.

Doncic simply needs the ball in his hands to create things. He only has big games when Llull either takes a backseat for whatever reason, or doesn't play at all. So whoever is watching these super important Real Madrid games and hoping/expecting to see Doncic at his best, prepare for a very high probability to be disappointed.

This is also my worry for him in the NBA. He can be a true star if he's given the keys, but if not, he can regress quite a bit, to the point where he's merely going to be a very good starter.

Doncic has the ball an awful lot, especially for EuroLeague standards of touches. He got the ball the second most after Llull, even in this game. Someone like Rudy, who has tons of big game experience, got less touches. It's honestly nothing to do with how many touches Doncic got. It's the simple fact that the playoffs are different than the regular season.

I should have worded that better. Of course he has the ball, he's often playing as a PG (or point-forward, if you want), but their game-plan doesn't allow him to truly create anything. Let's take this last game, for example. Doncic was often used only as the guy who had to put the ball in the hands of the player they wanted (like someone posting up). How many times did he even get a p'n'r opportunity, something that's his bread-and-butter right now? They simply had other plans ...

Right now, Doncic is at his best when he can be the main facilitator, when he can actually take his time and pick his spots in various p'n'r situations. But he only really gets these opportunities after Llull takes a backseat and/or doesn't play.