All Things Luka Doncic

[Johnny Firpo]

For the record I don't think Doncic is a scrub. His bball IQ is very high for someone his age. That is his greatest gift.

However his lack of athleticism is what will hold him back from being a great great player. Can he succeed in the nba? Yes.

Will he be an elite player like Bron/KD/etc ? No imo.

But he can have a solid career.

It is just some of the outlandish claims here making him the 2nd coming are funny.

Who says he will be a Top 10 all-time player? That's what Lebron and Durant are/will be. There is not a single poster in this thread who ever said anything remotely close to that, and I challenge you to find a post like that, straw man warrior.

[Nikson]

For the record I don't think Doncic is a scrub. His bball IQ is very high for someone his age. That is his greatest gift.

However his lack of athleticism is what will hold him back from being a great great player. Can he succeed in the nba? Yes.

Will he be an elite player like Bron/KD/etc ? No imo.

But he can have a solid career.

It is just some of the outlandish claims here making him the 2nd coming are funny.

You have not stand in a 15m circle around a player with his bball IQ. And also this does not say anything good about his bball IQ.
His bball IQ is more than very high.

[TankCommander17]

For the record I don't think Doncic is a scrub. His bball IQ is very high for someone his age. That is his greatest gift.

However his lack of athleticism is what will hold him back from being a great great player. Can he succeed in the nba? Yes.

Will he be an elite player like Bron/KD/etc ? No imo.

But he can have a solid career.

It is just some of the outlandish claims here making him the 2nd coming are funny.

Who says he will be a Top 10 all-time player? That's what Lebron and Durant are/will be. There is not a single poster in this thread who ever said anything remotely close to that, and I challenge you to find a post like that, straw man warrior.

Read every pro Doncic post about all his pros and swept under the rug cons. But hey you are euro and love your Doncic I get it. Outside of the USA everyone is uber patriotic. Do you.

[TankCommander17]

For the record I don't think Doncic is a scrub. His bball IQ is very high for someone his age. That is his greatest gift.

However his lack of athleticism is what will hold him back from being a great great player. Can he succeed in the nba? Yes.

Will he be an elite player like Bron/KD/etc ? No imo.

But he can have a solid career.

It is just some of the outlandish claims here making him the 2nd coming are funny.

You have not stand in a 15m circle around a player with his bball IQ. And also this does not say anything good about his bball IQ.
His bball IQ is more than very high.

Sorry but don't understand your point. I am saying it is very high for someone his age. I think that is praising him.

[Nikson]

Not praising enaugh.
His bball IQ is exceptional.

[XTraderXL]

You are basing this on what?

The fact that his coach doesn't pull him might be because he is the better player out of the scrubs in his bench. But in the nba he will be the scrub if he keeps shooting like that and won't get the reps needed to get better. Or he may have just maximized his potential and more reps will not help.

I am basing it on my experience as a 10+ year ex pro player. Doncic is not a bad shooter in any way, he is able to hit every shot he takes. If he was not able to hit them with good enough %, he would not be allowed to take them. If a player is a bad shooter and a good playmaker, a coach takes him out regardless if he takes too many shots he is not able to make. Maybe not in the NBA, but in Europe its always been like that. Of course you dont know that because clearly you dont recognize the differences between the two coaching styles. If Doncic was a bad shooter and taking the same shots he is taking now without coaches permission, he would get benched for a stretch no matter how good of a playmaker he is.

And yes you are right, he maximized his potential at 18

I NEVER said he maximized his potential at 18. I said that if he comes to the nba and shoots like that he won't get the reps needed in order to get better because its not like in europe where there are a bunch of scrubs in the bench. The scrubs in nba benches are starters or stars in europe. Hi Anthony Randolph.

And at some point it might just be that he has maximized his potential and won't get better. Not today. I am saying once he gets to the league.

And you might be a 10+ year player but youa re not a coach or gm or player development personnel in the nba.

The euro game and nba game are played different and coached different. Hell all of the international game is played different than the nba. Look at Blatt a great coach abroad and got tossed like a dirty rag doll after less than a season.

Forget all your knowledge of euro ball because it is nothing like nba ball.

You asked me what I am basing my opinion on and I answered. You didnt ask if I was a coach or a GM. Now that I answered, you are changing the narrative. Is being consistent too much to ask of you?
The debate was about how he is playing in Europe right now, not how he will play in the NBA in the future. You obviously only care about the NBA and know nothing about Euro basketball so your opinion is basically irrelevant here. I doubt you have watched more than just highlights and stats of Doncic based on what you are saying.

And you did say he may have maximized his potential. Are you really claiming you didnt say it?? Its in your post #1387.

[TankCommander17]

I am basing it on my experience as a 10+ year ex pro player. Doncic is not a bad shooter in any way, he is able to hit every shot he takes. If he was not able to hit them with good enough %, he would not be allowed to take them. If a player is a bad shooter and a good playmaker, a coach takes him out regardless if he takes too many shots he is not able to make. Maybe not in the NBA, but in Europe its always been like that. Of course you dont know that because clearly you dont recognize the differences between the two coaching styles. If Doncic was a bad shooter and taking the same shots he is taking now without coaches permission, he would get benched for a stretch no matter how good of a playmaker he is.

And yes you are right, he maximized his potential at 18

I NEVER said he maximized his potential at 18. I said that if he comes to the nba and shoots like that he won't get the reps needed in order to get better because its not like in europe where there are a bunch of scrubs in the bench. The scrubs in nba benches are starters or stars in europe. Hi Anthony Randolph.

And at some point it might just be that he has maximized his potential and won't get better. Not today. I am saying once he gets to the league.

And you might be a 10+ year player but youa re not a coach or gm or player development personnel in the nba.

The euro game and nba game are played different and coached different. Hell all of the international game is played different than the nba. Look at Blatt a great coach abroad and got tossed like a dirty rag doll after less than a season.

Forget all your knowledge of euro ball because it is nothing like nba ball.

You asked me what I am basing my opinion on and I answered. You didnt ask if I was a coach or a GM. Now that I answered, you are changing the narrative.
The debate was about how he is playing in Europe right now, not how he will play in the NBA in the future. You obviously only care about the NBA and know nothing about Euro basketball so your opinion is basically irrelevant here. I doubt you have watched more than just highlights and stats of Doncic based on what you are saying.

And you did say he may have maximized his potential. Are you really claiming you didnt say it?? Its in your post #1387.

The debate is how he will translate to NBA ball because we are talking about the NBA draft. WTF? Lol how is this not clear?

If you want to strictly talk about euro ball yeah he is one of the best players there.

[XTraderXL]

It was not actually. The premise was that he is taking too many bad shots AT THIS MOMENT which I agree with. That has nothing to do with how those shots will translate to NBA. If they are bad here, they will be bad there. Its that simple. You made it about the NBA draft.

You should really read the whole thread. If you did you would notice that the debate is not always about how he will perform in the NBA but we debate about his current game most of the time. But I understand that if you just read the thread title and start writing comments, you cant know what the debate is about.

And you still didnt adress your statement about him maximizing his potential already;-) So did you write that or not?

[camillepd]

Doncic is Ben way overhyped by some. He will be a good NBA player, not great.

[narcolepsy]

I NEVER said he maximized his potential at 18. I said that if he comes to the nba and shoots like that he won't get the reps needed in order to get better because its not like in europe where there are a bunch of scrubs in the bench. The scrubs in nba benches are starters or stars in europe. Hi Anthony Randolph.

Im not sure if there's even point in replying to you, since you obviously have your own agenda and know nothing about European basketball.
NBA teams shut down their better, older players after the all star break in order to develop younger players and tank for higher draft picks and you're telling me he wont get chance to develop his game as a top 5 pick?
There's no incentive to lose in Europe, you get nothing in return. And please stop with "NBA scrubs" are stars in Europe, thats why Doncic can do whatever he can, this isnt China. Anthony Randolph is a solid player, but he averaged 9.5 ppg last year, what a superstar. You put him on Nets right now and he'll average that.

[TankCommander17]

I NEVER said he maximized his potential at 18. I said that if he comes to the nba and shoots like that he won't get the reps needed in order to get better because its not like in europe where there are a bunch of scrubs in the bench. The scrubs in nba benches are starters or stars in europe. Hi Anthony Randolph.

Im not sure if there's even point in replying to you, since you obviously have your own agenda and know nothing about European basketball.
NBA teams shut down their better, older players after the all star break in order to develop younger players and tank for higher draft picks and you're telling me he wont get chance to develop his game as a top 5 pick?
There's no incentive to lose in Europe, you get nothing in return. And please stop with "NBA scrubs" are stars in Europe, thats why Doncic can do whatever he can, this isnt China. Anthony Randolph is a solid player, but he averaged 9.5 ppg last year, what a superstar. You put him on Nets right now and he'll average that.

No he won't. He was out of the league by age 24 but has a job in europe.

I never said he won't develop. I am saying he is not as good as some of you make him out to be if he came to the nba.

[narcolepsy]

"if he comes to the nba and shoots like that he won't get the reps needed in order to get better"

And yet Randolph's career NBA average is 7 ppg. He's been playing in second highest competition after the NBA for a couple of years. He's also in his prime. I think it's pretty logical he's a better player now than when he was in the NBA, but let's agree to disagree.

Luka with another great game vs Unicaja, it didnt look like he was trying all that hard, but he finished with 18 points (6/8 FG), 6 rebounds, 5 assists in just 21 minutes. He also clowned on some poor Unicaja player when they tried to double team him. Hope he keeps being so consistent in Euroleague.

[Bob8]

Read on Twitter

[BoardCrusher]

"if he comes to the nba and shoots like that he won't get the reps needed in order to get better"

And yet Randolph's career NBA average is 7 ppg. He's been playing in second highest competition after the NBA for a couple of years. He's also in his prime. I think it's pretty logical he's a better player now than when he was in the NBA, but let's agree to disagree.

Luka with another great game vs Unicaja, it didnt look like he was trying all that hard, but he finished with 18 points (6/8 FG), 6 rebounds, 5 assists in just 21 minutes. He also clowned on some poor Unicaja player when they tried to double team him. Hope he keeps being so consistent in Euroleague.

yup, he had a very good game, +/- 27 in 21 minutes, and it looked like he wasnt even trying

[juanc]

I think that Luka is going to be a better player than Hayward or Dragič(Who are both borderline allstar players). I also think that he is the least physicaly developed(He has the biggest reserve) player from the top5 debate(Ayton, Bamba, Porter, Bagley).

Some of you are concerned about how he will adapt to the league, becouse of his physicality... Luka has played his whole carrer against physicaly superior players. He allways was weaker/slower/smaller... than his opponents, but he has allways found a way to play his game.. Unlike the other top prospects who have allways been superior to others...

Real hasn't lost in both euroleague or Acb this season.. For example, the last 4 games Luka has played( Efes and Valencia away, CSKA and Unicaja at home) Luka's average is just spectacular.. 18,7 pts 6 reb 5,3 ass in 25:30 min... I think that all of those 4 teams Real played against would reach the NCAA final 4. Just to give you a comparisson of what Luka is doing and against what kind of competition.

[Nikson]

I think that Luka is going to be a better player than Hayward or Dragič(Who are both borderline allstar players). I also think that he is the least physicaly developed(He has the biggest reserve) player from the top5 debate(Ayton, Bamba, Porter, Bagley).

Some of you are concerned about how he will adapt to the league, becouse of his physicality... Luka has played whole his carrer against physicaly superior players. He allways was weaker/slower/smaller... than his opponents, but he has allways find a way to play his game.. Unlike the other top prospects who have allways been superior to others...

Real hasn't lost in both euroleague or Acb this season.. For example, the last 4 games Luka has played( Efes and Valencia away, CSKA and Unicaja at home) Luka's average is just spectacular.. 18,7 pts 6 reb 5,3 ass in 25:30 min... I think that all of those 4 teams Real played against would reach the NCAA final 4. Just to give you a comparisson of what Luka is doing and against what kind of competition.

Common sense. Aleluja.

[Johnny Firpo]

Doncic's physical weaknesses are overstated. He is a good, albeit not great athlete. Contrary to the popular belief, you don't have to be an elite athlete to be a star in the NBA. Is it a big advantage? Sure. Do I say he will be a star player? No. Can he? Absolutely. He has the skills and the body - which is improving at a rapid pace, btw - to do it. If you see how Gallo can draw fouls at an elite rate, if you see how Rubio can pass at an elite level, if you see Jokic doing whatever he wants on the offensive end, you cannot rule Doncic out as a potential star player. Give Gallo Rubio's passing skills and Jokic's footwork, consistent health, and that's a star player imo.

Doncic seem to possess excellent footwork, elite coordination, elite passing skills, good handles for his position, and a somewhat inconsistent, but great-looking jumpshot. Imagine if he puts it all together, how is that not a star player? Not saying Lebron-level player, but a second-tier star. Someone like Petrovic, someone like Chris Mullin. That's where I put his ceiling, probably. Somewhere around Chris Mullin and Pau Gasol, and I don't think that's crazy at all. I mean, that's why he will be a top 3 pick next summer. Another factor, the pace and space league. It is TAILOR-MADE for the kid.

[XTraderXL]

Wow, ACB and Euroleague must be really terrible this year. I would say on the level of American Highschool competitions. I mean if Doncic is doing this, how good can the teams he plays against be? Mirotic12, whats your take?))) Can you enlighten us on how coaches make every possible mistake and how worst defenders in Europe are guarding him?

[TankCommander17]

It was not actually. The premise was that he is taking too many bad shots AT THIS MOMENT which I agree with. That has nothing to do with how those shots will translate to NBA. If they are bad here, they will be bad there. Its that simple. You made it about the NBA draft.

You should really read the whole thread. If you did you would notice that the debate is not always about how he will perform in the NBA but we debate about his current game most of the time. But I understand that if you just read the thread title and start writing comments, you cant know what the debate is about.

And you still didnt adress your statement about him maximizing his potential already;-) So did you write that or not?

His potential is obviously not maximized. He is 18. He is one of the best euro players. But I could care less about euroball. I care about how he will translate to the nba. Because my team might have a top pick and I don't want it wasted on a guy who will be ok when there might be other prospects who have a better chance of being great.

I see his lack of athleticism and bad defense as things that will hamper him. And his offensive game is not refined enough due to this lack of athleticism to compensate for that. Is he going to be a bench warming scrub? No. But my team needs a stud franchise player or perennial all star. And I don't see that in him.

[TankCommander17]

Doncic's physical weaknesses are overstated. He is a good, albeit not great athlete. Contrary to the popular belief, you don't have to be an elite athlete to be a star in the NBA. Is it a big advantage? Sure. Do I say he will be a star player? No. Can he? Absolutely. He has the skills and the body - which is improving at a rapid pace, btw - to do it. If you see how Gallo can draw fouls at an elite rate, if you see how Rubio can pass at an elite level, if you see Jokic doing whatever he wants on the offensive end, you cannot rule Doncic out as a potential star player. Give Gallo Rubio's passing skills and Jokic's footwork, consistent health, and that's a star player imo.

Doncic seem to possess excellent footwork, elite coordination, elite passing skills, good handles for his position, and a somewhat inconsistent, but great-looking jumpshot. Imagine if he puts it all together, how is that not a star player? Not saying Lebron-level player, but a second-tier star. Someone like Petrovic, someone like Chris Mullin. That's where I put his ceiling, probably. Somewhere around Chris Mullin and Pau Gasol, and I don't think that's crazy at all. I mean, that's why he will be a top 3 pick next summer. Another factor, the pace and space league. It is TAILOR-MADE for the kid.

Rubio, Gallo and Jokic are not star players. None of them have been an all star game and none are franchise players. They are good solid starters however and that is the level he can get to when he moves to the nba.

But the #1 pick needs to be a franchise player or perennial all star. So the answer to the topic headline is no.