Jerry West thinks Doncic will be better than Dirk ever was. He loves him. Compared him as a 20 year old to Kobe and Magic. Magic is a bit much, but Kobe is not beyond his reach, IMO.
I'd just advise people to put the Mavericks perspective aside and appreciate Luka. I hated LeBron for the majority of his career and refused to appreciate his greatness. Over the last few years I learnt to accept it and appreciate watching him play while he still can. I'm not making the same mistake with Luka.
that's funny. i was the other way..i loved watching lebron play and thought that one day he could even topple the pantheon of all-time greats. i defended his "decision" and cheered for him when he went back and got his ring with cleveland. to me, he seemed like that rare player who cared more about playing a team game and supported his teammates, unlike kobe. he seemed like the rare unselfish superstar. i'd pore over his game-tapes.. especially his team usa vids where he was shouting so loud on defense that you could hear his voice over the broadcast. i argued against my friends that he wasn't a diva, that he wasn't high-maintenance. lebron did so much grassroots community work and seemed to genuinely care about making a positive difference in society and to fight injustice. my friends told me that it was all just a front and just for pr. i refused to believe them. and then he stopped caring about the game of basketball. he went to hollywood and turned hollywood. he became laissez-faire on defense. he became more obsessed with self-promotion via his social media accounts and using as many exclamation points as possible instead of working on his free throws. he didn't give a **** about "chasing the ghost of jordan" in terms of championship rings.. something that he had said just a few years earlier. and then he spoke on the whole hk/china issue... that people misinformed should stay quiet.. that speaking up for others is a mistake if it affects someone else's wallet. a social justice warrior who doesn't care about social justice bc it affects his $$$. how convenient. lebron suddenly became really easy to read and understand, when before he almost seemingly had the aura and enigma of mj.. lebron proved to be insecure. he needs fans to shower him with love.. he needs the media to promote his greatness and speak it into existence that he's still the best player in the nba, even in 2020. he's a great talent for sure and we shouldn't miss out on watching him play. but i was wrong to think he had that same mentality as other greats... mj, hakeem, bird...they were consumed with basketball and finding every way possible to win. you could see their love for the game. i mistakenly thought that lebron was the same... but with lebron, his no.1 priority is his brand... and it shows with every predetermined calculated move he does to promote his brand. it's really disappointing that he never really had that same hunger... because many of us thought that he was on the path to be the greatest of all time and that we were watching history. but then it made sense as to why he would defer to others and put himself in the corner at the end of the most important nba finals games without even touching the ball. thank god james harden took the responsibility to take his game to levels never before seen. rockets fan or not, harden evokes the whole range of emotions from everyone, whether it's love or hate, the same way jordan did... due to their basketball prowess and unlike that of lebron, who gets love/hate because of his actions outside of basketball and not specifically for what he can do on the court. when it's all said and done, perhaps we can say we were lucky to have watched the greatest of all time play in a rockets uniform.
That's funny. Where did I say I root for the Mavs? Not sure how LeBron factors into this? Well you see, LeBron is mentioned in the thread title. LeBron is mentioned in multiple posts throughout, as, stated before, LeBron is mentioned in the thread title. You managed to fit a whole lot of confusion in such a short comment.
That's funny, because isn't that exactly what Luka is doing in this thread? I despise LeBron as a person, don't get that twisted.
yea sorry to get off topic. luka has the 'it' factor for sure. we'll see how he responds to failure and having his game torn apart by critics... see if he can respond the way other greats have responded when they faced criticism. but luka's passion for basketball really shows and i'm sure he'll be able to overcome those steps.
Doncic is an amazing talent. Fantastic player and to do so at his age is really spectacular. I would hold off on the Magic, Lebron comparisons as people forget he was playing against grown men for years while Magic, Lebron and Jordan etc had to evolve to playing against men in the NBA. I think with this he has had a great accelerated start though I believe the rate of growth will not come close to the top players ever. He really is the best of the European game, a Dirk mixed with the point forward abilities of Toni Kukoc. Enjoyable to watch despite my hate for the mavericks. People are so quick to extrapolate a continued growth and always looking for the next big thing instead of appreciating what is here, today and now. Giannis, Luca etc. James Harden is doing things i don't think anyone has ever done. He is an offensive wrecking ball not just as a scorer but probably the best creating and assisting scorer of all time. And he is so focused and keeps getting better and better. I think we will look back on this time with awe at a guy that is just hacking basketball in Harden.
So sick and tired of the knob slobbing bspn is doing for this kid. Yes, I understand hes good, but stop stepping on the gas so damn hard. I swear they just did an hour long special on him. Admittedly, I hate it even more cause its the mavs. Atlanta youre a shithole franchise that will continue to be a shithole franchise.
Apparently refs are the only ones that can stop Luka. They've been treating him terribly in last couple of games. He averaged 9.8 FTA per game in october in november. January: 6.5 FTA. On 21 drives per game in January, he is averaging ONE free throw attempt. Between Nets and Hornets games last week, he went for 49 drives in a row without a free throw attempt. Opponents know this and hammer him even more. I guess he complained too much in December and refs are trying to show him who is the boss? Very bad way of doing it.
Just in general, I honestly never understood this kind of logic. Driving 21 times doesn't necessarily guarantee you anything if the opponents play smart, clean defense. I also have a gripe with people complaining about "refs being biased" if their team attempts less FTs than the opponents... Their team might just be jumpshot-heavy and not aggressive enough to earn those FTs. Simple as that. As for Luka, I think he was getting too much of a royal treatment before, now he's coming back down to Earth a little bit with the free-throw attempts.
Well they don't. Or do you want to tell me all these players are encountering stupid defenses except Luka? FT attempts and drives per game in January: DeRozan 23.3 drives -- 4.5 FTA Young 22.5 drives -- 3 FTA Rose 21 drives ---- 2.5 FTA Doncic 20.8 drives -----1 FTA Fox 20 drives ---- 5 FTA Harden 20 drives --- 4 FTA Dinwiddie 18.3 drives --- 4 FTA Morant 17.5 drives ----- 3.5 FTA So Morant, Fox, Dinwiddie...are getting royal treatment?
First of all, extremely small sample size. We're not even 1/3 into January. Secondly, based off this clip/tweet, I'm not surprised Luka only attempted 6 FTs yesterday, that's some good defense: You can drive 20 times against Jerami Grant, don't expect to get many FTAs. The Mavs also played the Bulls (one of the better defenses this year) a few days ago, that also has an effect on Doncic's FTAs.
Sorry, but … although I agree with you often, here I can't. You talk about small sample sizes and then you show me one clip? So far, Dallas has played 5 games in January. The difference between Luka's FTA in January and in OCT/NOV is so stark, it can't be assigned to small sample size. I mean, 49 drives without a FTA? People who actually watch Dallas games know that Luka is a physical player and is great at absorbing contact. Despite lack of calls on drives, he is averaging 33.8 points in january over those 5 games, which to me is impressive.
Yes 4 games is an extremely small sample size. The clip I posted was just to illustrate the point that there's a difference between driving against some random players on bad teams, and a Jerami Grant type player - a long, athletic and disciplined defender. You won't get many FTAs against the latter, and if that accounts for 25% of the games played (1 of 4 in January) it's understandable it will affect the FTA stats a lot. I agree that 33.8 points would be impressive for anyone. Especially on 49/40/77 shooting splits. This is a good opportunity to also appreciate Harden's greatness, who averaged 37.3 points on 48/43/85 shootings splits in December. Mindblowing.
