All Things Luka Doncic

[Meat]

Nope.

Reminds me of all the Rubio hype. I'm aware Doncic is a better prospect than Rubio but the comparisons remain. People get far too carried away with what these guys do in competitions against players with inferior athletic ability to Americans. I think he'll be a good player but there's no way I'm taking him over one of the American prospects with better athletic ability.

you think rubio's problem is lack of athleticism?

[SportsGuy8]

The way dantheman74 got roasted in this thread is highly reminiscent of the way Doncic has been roasting his opponents in Europe this season.

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

Man, NBA players carry a lot, but he does it on a different level.

Obviously, I think its something that should be easily fixed, but he underhands it on near every dribble.

[JXL]

"With the 1st pick in the 2018 NBA draft, the New York Knicks select..."

[UcanUwill]

Yeah, comparing 28 years old Anthony Randolph to 18 years old teenagers... If you have to win a game right now, you pick Randolph before Porter and Bagley. But 18 years old Randolph wouldn't play for Real Madrid. You are making a very weird argument.

Do you really pick Randolph if you want to win a game tho? I mean I am aware hes been playing very well so far,but he is not that great. His defense is very good, but on offense he is super soft and just takes long twos most of the time. Frustrating player, and I am not sure I would want him on my team.

I am not even sure what original poster wanted to say bringing up Randolph. Was that supposed to roast Doncic? Doncic is already better player than Randolph, a guy who back in the day was hyped as the next big thing. If Randolph was Real Madrid superstar and Doncic a role player, than you might have a point, but its opposite.

[NYKHardKnock]

"With the 1st pick in the 2018 NBA draft, the New York Knicks select..."

....Miles Bridges

[UcanUwill]

"With the 1st pick in the 2018 NBA draft, the New York Knicks select..."

....Miles Bridges

I bet NYK fans boo Doncic, as they boo every Euro they pick, no?

[SportsGuy8]

Some would sure, but the hype might be too strong this time. If Doncic keeps this up for the whole season there's going to be unreal hype around him.

[nomorezorro]

age absent from the equation, how good is he as a euroleague player? like, not judging on a scale, he is somewhere around the [X]th best player in the league right now

i don't know if it's fair, but my gut instinct with a guy like doncic is to worry that he might just be developing his skillset quicker than 99.9% of players, and then he'll run into a ceiling quicker, too.

is that kind of what happened with rubio, or are the situations not really comparable? i know rubio's shooting is probably a much bigger flaw than anything in doncic's game, so that's something you don't have to worry about as much.

[SportsGuy8]

Right now he's actually looking like the best player in Europe. But please note that we're only 1 month into the season.

As for him being close to the ceiling, I was just writing about this on the Bulls forum, so let me just copy-paste it:

In the summer of 2016 we already started having debates if Doncic was simply a case of someone who matured very early, close to his peak and that it's questionable if he's going to improve much.

Then the 2016-17 season started and he visibly improved.

Then for the most of this year we were having debates how Doncic is close to a finished product, that he is what he is and that we shouldn't really expect much more.

Then the 2017-18 season started and he clearly took another giant leap forward and even started dominating (yes, what he's doing in Europe this month is actual domination, the game is much less individual compared to the NBA).

Lesson learned: you should really be extremely careful when trying to call him a finished product who is very close to his ceiling.

[SportsGuy8]

This was the case with Rubio, though. He basically reached his peak (or very close to it) in his teens. This is also part of the reason why so many expected the same might be happening to Doncic, he was too reminiscent of Rubio, but so far he's managed to turn those statements upside down.

Maybe this is the year when he finally hits his ceiling ...

... but I wouldn't bet on it anymore.

P.s.: Shooting really seems to have been the key with Rubio. It really limits your game a little bit too much.

[UcanUwill]

age absent from the equation, how good is he as a euroleague player? like, not judging on a scale, he is somewhere around the [X]th best player in the league right now

i don't know if it's fair, but my gut instinct with a guy like doncic is to worry that he might just be developing his skillset quicker than 99.9% of players, and then he'll run into a ceiling quicker, too.

is that kind of what happened with rubio, or are the situations not really comparable? i know rubio's shooting is probably a much bigger flaw than anything in doncic's game, so that's something you don't have to worry about as much.

When a guy is so polished already, the worry that he hits the ceiling very fast is always there. But so far hes been developing so fast and is not showing any stopping. Last year he improved his shot a lot, during summer he improved his ball handling to elite levels, and it really looked like what else could he do, but he came into the season with much improved foul drawing rate. He is drastically improving all aspects of his game.

His biggest weakness is lack of burst speed. He struggles blowing past his man, therefore he relies on step backs way too much I would say.

[Capn'O]

The comparisons to Hezonja are a joke of course.

One can only hope. Hezonja wasn't even the most hyped Euro talent in his own draft let alone prospect. People were hopeful that his athleticism would get him somewhere but his rawness and attitude were known issues.

[mcmurphy]

Right now he's actually looking like the best player in Europe. But please note that we're only 1 month into the season.

As for him being close to the ceiling, I was just writing about this on the Bulls forum, so let me just copy-paste it:

In the summer of 2016 we already started having debates if Doncic was simply a case of someone who matured very early, close to his peak and that it's questionable if he's going to improve much.

Then the 2016-17 season started and he visibly improved.

Then for the most of this year we were having debates how Doncic is close to a finished product, that he is what he is and that we shouldn't really expect much more.

Then the 2017-18 season started and he clearly took another giant leap forward and even started dominating (yes, what he's doing in Europe this month is actual domination, the game is much less individual compared to the NBA).

Lesson learned: you should really be extremely careful when trying to call him a finished product who is very close to his ceiling.

Exactly.

In season 2016-17 (at 17 yo) had average PIR (similar to FIC of Nba) of 13 with and PIR_40 of 26 (top5 in euroleague)

This season (at 18 yo) after 3 games has PIR of 31 (best in EL) with PIR_40 of 46! !

[leolozon]

Yeah, comparing 28 years old Anthony Randolph to 18 years old teenagers... If you have to win a game right now, you pick Randolph before Porter and Bagley. But 18 years old Randolph wouldn't play for Real Madrid. You are making a very weird argument.

Do you really pick Randolph if you want to win a game tho? I mean I am aware hes been playing very well so far,but he is not that great. His defense is very good, but on offense he is super soft and just takes long twos most of the time. Frustrating player, and I am not sure I would want him on my team.

I am not even sure what original poster wanted to say bringing up Randolph. Was that supposed to roast Doncic? Doncic is already better player than Randolph, a guy who back in the day was hyped as the next big thing. If Randolph was Real Madrid superstar and Doncic a role player, than you might have a point, but its opposite.

It's impossible to prove, but I think that, at this moment in time, Randolph is better than Porter and Bagley. (He's also more proven).

Randolph is doing good in Madrid. He's at his peak and he wasn't even THAT bad for most of his time in the NBA. He wasn't a good shooter (he's better now), but he was playing good defense. I think he was an okay bench player for a while. At 20 he put up 11.6/6.5 in 23 minutes.

Anyway, impossible to prove. But I think it's weird to say Doncic will be bad in the NBA, because Randolph was bad and he's doing good in Madrid 4 years later.

[Domejandro]

To briefly comment on the Hezonja comparison, a substantial amount of European posters on the forum commented that he had a poor attitude, couldn't dribble, and really had no other discernible skills other than his potential shooting and athleticism. Luka is nothing like him.

[NYKHardKnock]

"With the 1st pick in the 2018 NBA draft, the New York Knicks select..."

....Miles Bridges

I bet NYK fans boo Doncic, as they boo every Euro they pick, no?

No I doubt it. Doncic ia getting hype from all around the world. KP was more of a project and well, everyone knows, New Yorkers have zero patience for that.

[Potedon]

While everyone else is blinded by the Doncic hype, I noticed another Slovenian player currently playing for Real Madrid:


6'11, condoresque wingspan, can step out and hit the 3, guard every position on the court.

Possible #1?

And doubt Doncic has any chance of being a franchise player, see solid starter at best, but he seems pretty cocky. Would probably run back to Europe to be a star once he realizes he can't be one here.

Yeah, comparing 28 years old Anthony Randolph to 18 years old teenagers... If you have to win a game right now, you pick Randolph before Porter and Bagley. But 18 years old Randolph wouldn't play for Real Madrid. You are making a very weird argument.

Point being that just because a guy does well in one league doesn't mean he'll amount to anything in a much, much superior league.

[Heej]

I think he'll be elite offensively but if he's expected to guard wings on the perimeter he'll get cooked his entire career. Teams will need to pair him with a Morris twin/Crowder-esque forward that can guard the tougher matchup at either forward spot for him. If his rebounding is legit he could be a dominant small ball 4 for years to come.

[BarbaGrizz]

TRUE

Last evening vs Armani Milano (Euroleague)

27 pts (5/9 2P, 2/5 3P, 11/12 FT), 8 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl in 28 min at 18 years old

Watch on YouTube

Not one single dunk from the free throw line, definitely will be a bust.