All Things Luka Doncic

[HeadtopChunes]

What position would Luka play in the NBA?

Hopefully PG, or pseudo PG ala Harden/Devin Booker.

Kinda like Simmons? I read about how there's a question mark on who he can defend at the NBA level

[UcanUwill]

What position would Luka play in the NBA?

Hopefully PG, or pseudo PG ala Harden/Devin Booker.

Kinda like Simmons? I read about how there's a question mark on who he can defend at the NBA level

Not a good defender, but is around 6'8, can be switched on defense. Not a big problem.

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[FlorentinoPerez]

Remember when people questioned his scoring ability and mentality? Good times.

Exactly...
I have always seen Luka as a floor general, pass first playmaker whith elite skills playing p&r, not anymore.
I mean, he is still elite on those things, but his scoring habilities are becoming more outstanding

[Derento]

Remember when people questioned his scoring ability and mentality? Good times.

I remember last year when teams were able to hold him to under low single digits & he had trouble against tough defenses. This year he's looking like he's a dominant scorer. Did one year of maturation make all the difference?

[XTraderXL]

Scoring was never an issue with Luka. When the team needed him to score, he could go for 40 every time in the youth competitions. He just didnt do it regularly because he didnt have to. So the mentality was there and it was just a matter of time when he will be able to do it on the senior level. I have been saying this last season when we had a debate about this. He is getting more consistent with his shot and he will only get better in the future. He is more consistent with the floaters, can finish better under contact and is also improving his midrange game.

On defense he was pretty good today until the overtime where he could barely walk. He was playing out of position on defense for the last 10 min of the game, I was even surprised he managed to play all those minutes against Oly which is one of the most physical teams in Euroleague. 5th time in 11 games he had the highest PIR and Real lost 3 of those 5 games. No way they are going anywhere if other players dont show some consistency. Today it was Carrols night but that happens once every ten games. They need Randolph back badly. It was an expected loss but I really didnt expect Luka to play this well today. Very well done my man!

[KD95]

Scoring was never an issue with Luka. When the team needed him to score, he could go for 40 every time in the youth competitions. He just didnt do it regularly because he didnt have to. So the mentality was there and it was just a matter of time when he will be able to do it on the senior level. I have been saying this last season when we had a debate about this. He is getting more consistent with his shot and he will only get better in the future. He is more consistent with the floaters, can finish better under contact and is also improving his midrange game.

On defense he was pretty good today until the overtime where he could barely walk. He was playing out of position on defense for the last 10 min of the game, I was even surprised he managed to play all those minutes against Oly which is one of the most physical teams in Euroleague. 5th time in 11 games he had the highest PIR and Real lost 3 of those 5 games. No way they are going anywhere if other players dont show some consistency. Today it was Carrols night but that happens once every ten games. They need Randolph back badly. It was an expected loss but I really didnt expect Luka to play this well today. Very well done my man!

Who do you think they need back more, Randolph or Ayón? I think they were doing OK after Randolph got injured against CSKA early in the season, but it seems like they cannot recover from losing Ayón.

[SportsGuy8]

Something sick to think about:
- Real needed an all-around glue guy last year >>> Luka provided that
- Slovenia desperately needed a tough rebounder under the basket where they were the weakest >>> Luka responded and was an ELITE rebounder for them
- Real needs someone to score and lead the team >>> Luka is responding by leading the Euroleague in scoring and PIR


What else is he capable of that he's simply not showing since the situation isn't calling for it?

Remember when people questioned his scoring ability and mentality? Good times.

Exactly...
I have always seen Luka as a floor general, pass first playmaker whith elite skills playing p&r, not anymore.
I mean, he is still elite on those things, but his scoring habilities are becoming more outstanding

Same for me. I always thought scoring is going to be secondary for him, but now he's been an elite scorer this season.

I wonder what's going to happen in the NBA. We shouldn't forget that he's kinda forced to score right now, with the situation in Real. It's going to be different in the NBA, with much more talent surrounding him, even if he ends up on one of the bad teams (which is most likely, obviously).

[SportsGuy8]

Scoring was never an issue with Luka. When the team needed him to score, he could go for 40 every time in the youth competitions. He just didnt do it regularly because he didnt have to. So the mentality was there and it was just a matter of time when he will be able to do it on the senior level. I have been saying this last season when we had a debate about this. He is getting more consistent with his shot and he will only get better in the future. He is more consistent with the floaters, can finish better under contact and is also improving his midrange game.

On defense he was pretty good today until the overtime where he could barely walk. He was playing out of position on defense for the last 10 min of the game, I was even surprised he managed to play all those minutes against Oly which is one of the most physical teams in Euroleague. 5th time in 11 games he had the highest PIR and Real lost 3 of those 5 games. No way they are going anywhere if other players dont show some consistency. Today it was Carrols night but that happens once every ten games. They need Randolph back badly. It was an expected loss but I really didnt expect Luka to play this well today. Very well done my man!

Who do you think they need back more, Randolph or Ayón? I think they were doing OK after Randolph got injured against CSKA early in the season, but it seems like they cannot recover from losing Ayón.

Yeah, Ayon seems a lot more important to their success than Randolph.

[FlorentinoPerez]

Definitely, Ayon is the key, hes the only center who can play p&r with luka

[Derento]

Dang didn't know he picked his Jersey number because of V-Span

[Wagonband]

Since i never followed Euroleague much, i've just done some quick look at stats. Doncic has the highest Index Rating if he can keep it at this level in the last 10 years (at least) in Euroleague. At 18y old. Wow

[Mulhollanddrive]

I most like Doncic's ability in PnR, Mid-Range Floaters/Jumpers and 3 Point Shooting.

Imagine if Lonzo Ball could do that you might have Luka Doncic.

[KD95]

One thing that can be encouraging for Real is that they are close to winning games at tough places, like Pana or Olympiacos, with 3 of their best 4 players not available. If they can avoid finishing 8th, so they won't have to play CSKA (if they finist 1st as expected), I could easily see them beating any of the remaining teams in the Playoffs, even without having home-court advantage.

[J_T]

Yeah, seems like bookies were not wrong about this game either.

[FlorentinoPerez]

The referees stole the game from Madrid btw

[Bob8]

Yeah, seems like bookies were not wrong about this game either.

Real looked like trash today. But I have to admit they fight to the end. Carroll and Doncic had the game of their life and they still lost. They’re 1/7 in last games, only 2 games away of last place. I would be really sad for Doncic, if Real doesn’t quality in playoffs. With 2 players scoring 70% of points, things doesn’t look to optimistic, except for bookies of course.

I have the feeling Barca game can be turning point, if they win. If not, even bookies would have to change odds.

[J_T]

Yes, Bob, of course, keep dreaming...

BTW, does anyone know an exact timetable of return for each Real's player? LLull is supposed to be back earlier than it was expected? It was expected he would be back between March and May. It looks to me like he could be back earlier than that. Randolph should be back pretty soon, unless the initial reports were too optimistic. Ayon's return should be February, no chance for January?

End of January will be two thirds of the regular season, 20 rounds. If they manage to win 5 out of next 9 they should be fine. Next 3 rounds will be very interesting:

vs Barcelona
vs Valencia
@ Brose Bamberg

They should be at least 50% after these 3 games, 7-7. But winning all 3 is possible.

@ Fener - don't see them winning this one
vs Maccabi - at least they play at home and hopefully they will have a slightly stronger squad
@ Khimki - tough one
vs Baskonia - must win at that point
@ Unicaja - should be a win, unless they really nosedive
@ Efes - won't be easy but they will have to be winning games like this one

I'll predict a 10-10 at this point. Anyone wants to join with their prediction? And by prediction I mean actual prediction, not "we will see after next two games, next game will be really important, it all depends what happens with this guy..." non-sense. Are they going to be 50% after 20 games? Yes or no.

[Bob8]

Yes, Bob, of course, keep dreaming...

BTW, does anyone know an exact timetable of return for each Real's player? LLull is supposed to be back earlier than it was expected? It was expected he would be back between March and May. It looks to me like he could be back earlier than that. Randolph should be back pretty soon, unless the initial reports were too optimistic. Ayon's return should be February, no chance for January?

End of January will be two thirds of the regular season, 20 rounds. If they manage to win 5 out of next 9 they should be fine. Next 3 rounds will be very interesting:

vs Barcelona
vs Valencia
@ Brose Bamberg

They should be at least 50% after these 3 games, 7-7. But winning all 3 is possible.

@ Fener - don't see them winning this one
vs Maccabi - at least they play at home and hopefully they will have a slightly stronger squad
@ Khimki - tough one
vs Baskonia - must win at that point
@ Unicaja - should be a win, unless they really nosedive
@ Efes - won't be easy but they will have to be winning games like this one

I'll predict a 10-10 at this point. Anyone wants to join with their prediction? And by prediction I mean actual prediction, not "we will see after next two games, next game will be really important, it all depends what happens with this guy..." non-sense. Are they going to be 50% after 20 games? Yes or no.

Dreaming about what? They look pretty bad. Olympiacos was shooting under 20% for 3 before overtime. That won’t happen every day.

Randolph won’t return before January. Llull and Ayon should return in March. 7 month for torn Acl looks minimum. The question is in what form will they be.

Efes game is at home. They must be at least 10:10 after 20 games. Because from 21-25 they have Cska, Olympiacos, Barcelona, Fenerbahçe, Panathinaikos. My guess, to be sure to qualify around 17 wins will be needed. My answer is yes. But that doesn’t guarantee anything.

The most important thing is that someone starts playing constantly except Doncic. Campazzo is worse every game, Causeur took only 2 shots, Rudy tries but with little success and Tavares made some stupid fouls almost in the middle off the court on Milutinov and eventually fouled out. Carroll had great game, but his avg. before this game was 5.4 points. I’m afraid what will happen, when Doncic will have bad game. Doncic is playing incredible good and they’re 1:7 and that’s scary for me.

[Mulhollanddrive]

This was perfect for Doncic because my biggest query was his ability to create and score in the NBA and he looked very impressive off the dribble, had a career high 21 FGA for 33 points.

[Derento]

His up & under is extremly deadly. Looks like he's been watching some Tony Parker.
He's on pace to beat Boban's PIR record & right now has a 2P% of 60% with the majority of his shots UA which is Jokic/Boban tier
His touch is great.