sure, he's crazy for his age, but i don't think some of the advanced stats put him with the top players and he just spent this entire season blowing big 4th quarter leads and missing every game winner he took (literally, not figuratively). in fact, if the mavs didn't blow another fairly large lead late in the game (when luka finally got guarded by kawhi), they don't even get to the game-winner. i would say his ridiculous stats are ahead of his impact at this point (which is typical of younger players, lebron's statistical peak was his first time in cleveland, but his peak impact might not have even been until cleveland after his miami years). we're putting him over MJ signature games now? i don't even like jordan, but this was in the finals, not the first round, and the final score was 90-88. you would literally have to multiply jordan's stats by 1.5 to make it equivalent to the 135 for dallas. we're talking 57/11/7 in a finals game if you do that (and the clips and jazz are basically the same quality).
QUESTION: IS Luka an argument to allow 15~16 yrs to start playing professionally? Do you know if he even graduated without googling? And how important is that ? https://www.eurohoops.net/en/nba-ne...go-to-class-he-was-just-focusing-on-his-game/ “He’s playing great ball,” Durant said according to ESPN. “Definitely for a 19 year-old to average 20 [points], six [rebounds] and five [assists] is definitely numbers you can look at and consider him for an All-Star selection, but there’s so many great players out there at his position so you never know but just his poise for the game, his stepback three — that’s what he wants to get to most of the time. He’s big and strong, can pass, can play in the pick and roll. He played in Europe last season. The rest of the rookie class played in college. So he’s in the second best league in the world learning how to play the game. He didn’t have to go to class, study hall, none of that extra stuff the rest of the guys had to go through, he was just focusing on his game probably since he was 14 years old. So that’s an advantage for him and you could tell that he’s not shy, he’s not afraid of the moment. And he’s going to be a force.” Rocket River
Doncic reminds me of when The Rocket Great Gabe Muoneke describe having to play Peja Stojakovic "He told me to guard Peja. Great. The league’s best three-point shooter. Sac down by three, and me (a rookie free agent) guarding him. The bad part is not me being a rookie free agent like I couldn’t guard him. The bad part is every guy who’s been there for a while, knows you are a rookie free agent. So they go right at your ass. I mean, right at you. But I was confident. **** it. I’m about to shut down this, little, slow, goo… Tall, swole, huge… What the? As I jogged closer to him, he was much bigger and athletic than what I thought I saw on TV. " I figure so many players get hit like that impression when they first see Luka in person Rocket River
No question, this dude is going to be a thorn to us for years to come. We need to draft high and we'll after Harden.
Game winners are an extremely overrated stat, that's just human bias but from a purely analytical point of view it's just worth 2-3 points the same as the first shot in the game. If a dude scored 10 pts in the first quarter vs another dude who hit the game winning shot who did more for winning the game? If the last shot is all that mattered teams would sit their stars the first 46 mins and only play them the last 2 and every field goal made at the buzzer beater would be worth 10-20 pts instead of 2-3. What you can argue is that last second shots are HARDER mentally than normal shots, but that just tells you a guy is more mentally strong than another dude that may or may not matter. Like Kobe is obviously more mentally tough than Lebron but Lebron is still the better player. Robert Horry has more game winners than MJ but he isn't even seen as a star, funny how being clutch doesn't matter when it's other people but when it's MJ it's all that matters. How are the Clips and Jazz the same quality? We are talking about 20 years of training, knowledge and improvement including the globalization of the NBA. Take the US army 20 yrs ago vs the US army now with drones and **** who would win? People always discount Bill Russell rings in favor of Jordan cuz the competition was inferior due to the 2 decade gap well the difference between Russell and Jordan is the same as the years difference between Jordan and today. Obv the generational talents like MJ, Pippen and Rodman would stand the test of time today but in general and esp when it comes to role players the bar is much higher today. Jazz had Malone and Stockton and a bunch of scrubs, Clippers have Kawhi, PG and a deep players at every position. A. Wing Defenders MJ's wing defenders: Byron Russell, Jeff Hornacek, Chris Morris, Shandon Anderson Luka's wing defenders: Kawhi Leonard, Paul George (who is still good defensively even if he is missing all his shots), Marcus Morris Like there is no comparison between their defenders so why are you upgrading Jordan's stats by 50% when he got defended by inferior defenders? Who are these players on the Jazz Kawhi and PG have multiple all star and all NBA defense teams between them. B. Supporting Cast MJ's Teammates during the Flu Game: DENNIS RODMAN, PIPPEN, Toni Kukoc, Steve Kerr Luka Doncic's teammates: Trey Burke, Seth Curry, Hardaway Jr MJ still had 2 all star teammates while Doncic is lliterally by himself along with rookies and vet min dudes. Like compare Seth Curry vs Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman lol. As for the Finals vs First Round...who cares? It's still the playoffs with playoff intensity. Again that's just human bias putting emotional emphasis on a Finals vs a First round matchup. That's like saying GSW vs Rox WCF is less intense than Cleveland vs GSW cuz that was the Finals even if the WCF reached game 7 while the Finals Cleveland got swept. If you don't think this game is better than the Flu game that's just Nostalgia talking. Just remember all the things you said when old people said Russell is better than MJ back in the day.
If Toronto wins another chip this year and Clippers not even getting to WCF, they will be the laughing stock of the league.
If the Rockets advance past 1st round, there are just so many interesting matchups to look forward to in the later rounds.
Lol at this. Time for you to eat crow! 3rd option on a team? He's not a 3rd option but a legit top 3 player in the league with LeBron and Gianni's. Hell I don't think LeBron or Gianni's could have won today's game for the Mavs. Paul George? Doncic has more pts in just one game than PG in 3. You swap PG and Doncic and the Mavs get blown out and swept every game. Your so called option number 3 just beat two number one options in PG and Kawhi by himself.
I almost quit watching the game before halftime when they were down by 21. Wow. What a comeback. I honestly didn't think they would win with Porzingis out when they started off so poorly. This series just got real.
Nah, I'll eat crow if the series ends the way YOU think it will end. Not even over, and it's a tied series. Doncic fans are losing it, I swear.
Win or lose. He's clearly not a 3rd option. But a top 3 player. You look like a fool if you still insist PG is better.
yes, but i added in that dallas has blown a ton of leads this year and lost almost all of their close games. that's not just one shot. and this is dallas fans saying this, they seem to just expect to blow 4th quarter leads. some of that might be flukey, but it speaks to a lack of something (maybe experience) that made them less than their talent. thus why i said his stats are probably ahead of his impact. again, i don't like jordan. i was just pointing out luka hasn't been clutch, which he hasn't been until like 5 hours ago. what? i assume we were talking relative strength compared to the league. both were title contenders. i mean jordan (or russell) all had the same relative training/knowledge compared to their peers. the jazz did not have elite wing defenders, but so far the clippers aren't actually using their elite guys to guard luka. i specifically said why. because the mavs scored 135 compared to the bulls 90. given the way the nba is played today vs back then, there was 50% more scoring to rack up stats in this game. again, i don't like MJ. but legendary finals games are more important than 1st round games. and not accounting for the massive difference in scoring back then and now doesn't make sense. donovan mitchell just completed his second 50 point game in the DEN/UTA series.
