interesting how u don’t hear any talk of how so many players could average Luka’s numbers if u gave them 23 shots a night and 38% usage while being allowed to live at the line
It's really obvious, and when you try to point it out to people, they will go do their best to try to tell you it isnt true.
Luka should do this every offseason. Coming in relatively good shape and gearing towards the offseason where he should peak.
You'd hear it more about Doncic if he was shooting closer to 44% from the field rather than over 50% from the field. A lot of the bias against Harden came from the (generally false) impression that he was inefficient, minus the free throws.
this is a reach Harden averaged 34 on 22 shots and 12 free throws a game…Luke averages 34 on 23 shots and 11 free throws a game the bias came because of free throws and being labeled a ball hog who got to dribble all game and have the ultimate green light all we heard was a lot of players could average these numbers if they just had as many shot attempts and free throws as Harden even when he averaged 38, 7, and 7 for an entire calendar year…not a peep with Luka
Wood is a Rocket: "He sucks, get him out of here!" When it's time to show how worse Harden's team has been than Mavs: "Luka has Wood right now!" Also: When it's time to back up Harden: "Your stats are taken out of context!" When it's time to berate someone: Let's take stats out of context. With a few exceptions here, it's useless talking to any fan because he is doing the same thing to other players he hates others doing to his favourite player. This is true for every US forums, not just this one.
But, we didn't hear that bias against Doncic last year when his field goal % was far below 50% either...
"Far below 50%" last year was actually 45.7%, which is his lowest since rookie year and still higher than any Harden's year in Houston. Luka plays much more in the post than Harden, which explains his higher FG%. Harden relied too much on his 3s IMO, but his TS% was high enough exactly because of free throws. Each one plays to his strength and that's why their teams are sucessful. I'd argue though that this year's team is Luka's worst since his rookie year. Because Kleber is probably done for the year and the other two best defenders (Green and DFS) are still out, they can't play their preferred defensive scheme and have to rely on Wood as their rim protector. Which means they have to outscore their opponent each game to have a chance (that's why Luka had so many 40 and 50 point games last month).
Negative bias also builds up over time, as playoff disappointments mount. Doncic was 22 years old last year.
Wood was our best player last year, no one wanted him because he was bad for development, people wanted him when he was here with Harden. That's not me saying his team was better without him, this is me saying that he def had teams around him than Harden has had.
I agree with the bolded part. They're both great players and while not completely identical they are about as close as two superstars get in style. But, If you actually compare this current Luka season he takes 11.3 FTA. Harden was at 11.0 in his 36ppg season and 11.8 in his 34 ppg season. I guess you could say he was a better FT shooter so he made more but he wasn't going to the FT line a bunch more than Luka is now. So, I was responding to a response about why people aren't saying 'anyone can put up Luka numbers' like they did with Harden. You mentioned FG%, I mentioned the previous Luka season where he put up good numbers too but had a similar FG% to prime Harden and no one was saying anyone could do it. So, my point (I won't speak for Reeko) is that there's no really statistical reason to say anyone could do what Harden was doing in his prime, the same way that you can't logically say that for Luka. If your point is that Harden was receiving a negative bias on his regular season performance for reasons other than his regular season performance, I would agree. But, that's a different discussion that's been going on here before that Reeko comment.
Luka started to get to the line more only this year. The reason being he started to play more in the post. Previous two seasons, his FTAs were at 7, even though he was a Top 3 driver in both seasons. Here's where he and Harden differentiate: Harden had multiple seasons of 10+ FTAs as a prolific driver, while Luka - driving at least as much - had only 7 FTAs for two consecutive seasons. One of the big reasons is probably his constant complaining and being young, although he is doing things at 22 and 23 year old that other superstars reach only in their prime. So I never understood why Giannis and Embiid always got a friendly whistle, while Jokić and Luka (up until this season) didn't. One of explanations I came up is Giannis and Embiid play with "force", while Luka and Jokić play more with finesse. But then again, Harden playing with more finesse than force got 10+ FTAs each time, so I guess it must come down to refs' preference. Another interesting tidbit: Harden's regular season playstyle didn't carry over to playoffs, where he always received less FTAs compared to RS. While Luka's FTAs always increased from those 7 in RS. It will be interesting to see if his FTAs this year will carry over to playoffs. That is, if Dallas reaches playoffs at all.
Lukas current season is very similar to 2020 James harden which I consider to be peak harden. Harden that year going into February and his reduction in usage before the COVID shutdown was at 38.4 ppg, Bottomline is I don’t expect that Luka has another level above this unless he suddenly becomes better from the 3 and the ft line
I think Luka can still improve statistically. If he cleans up his diet and gets his conditioning together, he will be more efficient throughout the whole game. Now he picks his spots in defense, and also on offense. When he's tired or a bit anemic, he just launches a couple of threes. With better conditioning, he will replace those threes with even more postups/drives. Our "resident" analyst has a great article about it: https://www.dmagazine.com/sports/2023/01/luka-doncic-mavericks-mvp/
I like LUKA I think he definitely can surpass Harden using the Harden Style Honestly . . . . The both of them have near complete offensive games They are lethal on all three levels shooting and more importantly .. they are lethal passing from near anywhere on the court and They are willing passers Luka has more size so he could be a better Rebounder but both are still competent to above average rebounders. Thing about Triple Doubles (assist) is the reliance on other people making the shots. Luka . . . like Harden can carry a team only so far He needs strong Teammates to get him over the Championship hump Look at DIRK's Championship. . . . people point to him being a 1 star Champion team but man While his supporting cast were not at their peak Let's start with JASON KIDD = CP3 before CP3 Jason Terry and Caron Butler - Servicable Tyson Chandler/Shawn Marion. Peja Stojakovic/ - Names maybe but there were good in spurts and could contribute Honestly with Bronson and maybe better front court help . . .Mavs could have been much more threatening Rocket River
Some argue Luka is good enough he doesn't need a 2nd superstar, but only a solid team. Kind of like Giannis, if you don't count Middleton or Holiday a superstar. Imagine Dallas could get Bogdanović from Detroit and Turner from Indiana this trade deadline, each for a 1st round pick. That could be a good enough team to get to the finals.
