Luka Doncic Discussion: Lean Mean Slovenian Extension Machine

He's turnover per 100 possession is definitely higher what he did since his first few years in the league. And he absolutely misses opportunities to reset the the offense or the rotation swing passes. He's a home run hitter with his passes and not a traditional PG - I mean the whole heliocentric term came around Harden and Luka for a reason. Not really how to quantify this TBH (percent time held with the ball before a pass?).

He's played with Brunson and then Kyrie but the Lakers have 2 guys who are equal or better then those two at their stages of their careers so he has more tools he didn't have to work with in the past and I think he can use them better.

 

i mean...higher than peak but much closer to that than trough. it's better than jokic, turnover-wise, for comparison purposes. it's not SGA levels, but his whole thing is not turning it over. his lack of risk-taking and playmaking creativity is also why the thunder are beatable, imo.

my point is that constructing a narrative that luka is a turnover-prone guy hunting assists is some b*******. if you weren't doing that, ok, but that's how it read to me. the numbers don't support it, and i don't see harden when i see luka. i see the guy the fans/media said harden was (when he was actually just a guy who knew how to maximize his stats, winning be damned).

as for better tools...i don't know. i'm guessing you mean lebron? because otherwise (and in some cases including him), he has some defensively-challenged guys who don't make open shots right now. since we traded for him, we've been in scramble mode to get the right supporting cast, and it hasn't come to fruition yet.

you can win a title with this version of luka. again, he's the least of our problems. he's the start of a solution. we need to get the rest right now.

 

I mean he has both Lebron and AR now. He definitely hasn't played with two guys who are elite playmakers (the third best offensive player was liek Tim Hardaway Jr or Porzingis take your pick). And I really don't think he's maximized that. I'm fine with taking flack that yes he holds the ball instead of resetting the offense or swinging the ball - I've commented in game chat so it's not something that is new which I think he can improve on.

I'm not really sure where any of my posting leads one to think you can't win a title with Luka or saying he's not a great player. The level of reaction to a mild criticism of his game is strange since one reason he gets into trouble is he's so good, he gets into trouble on some moves which look breathtaking at other times (behind the back thru the legs to beat a double is not a move most even elite player will contemplate doing). Again is there nothing Luka can do to move up to be in that tier with Jokic and Shai? I think he can because it's not just total team wins why he's not at that tier in the MVP rankings this year.

 

i think he needs teams as good as jokic and shai, built to his strengths. dallas finally had that, and they went to the finals with him playing mvp-level basketball. we don't have that right now. everyone can improve. saying someone can improve and saying they're allergic to making the right play are just very different statements to me.

 

Well....Dallas only won 1 game in the Finals. It's not a big deal for Luka to be rated, behind SGA and Jokic IMO. Both have performed better, in the 4 quarter of games this season,

( Luka is 41% fg 21% 3pt during the 4 th quarter. SGA is 52% fg 43% 3pt. Jokic 57% fg 41% 3pt)and both have actually won MVP, A Championship, and a Finals MVP. He's not at that level yet.

 

being rated behind jokic and SGA (disagree on the latter--give luka SGAs team and they're winning just as much and are tougher to beat in the playoffs) is one thing. being fundamentally deficient in some offensive category is another.

we have plenty of things limiting our ability to contend right now, but luka not being able to make the right pass isn't one of them.

 

I don't know professor, possibly, but It's also possible, that put SGA or Jokic on this team, and were are better.

 

false. jokic would be like the denver team pre-gordon/kcp. can't defend anyone. you have to cover for jokic even more than luka, imo, but they found the right guys to put around him so that they can. we haven't.

and if we don't like ball-pounding and heliocentrism, i'd suggest you not trade for SGA. they basically use him like rudy t used kobe, lol. luka's a more dangerous offensive player.

basically: our defense is bad, and it's a personnel issue. luka and reaves are good enough offensively that the plan should be to surround them with defenders. we haven't done that, so we're just pretty good instead of awesome.

it's weird to me that i'm having to explain this.

 

This is strictly my opinion and preference. In my eyes we play ugly basketball. When we win it is tolerable, when we lose it accentuates just how ugly it is. We have had so many key guys missing multiple games that JJ is having to figure out ways to claw out wins instead of building continuity with a steady group. AR, Luka and DA are a great trio to build around if we can keep them on the court. Vando, Smart and Adou could be great defenders around them but they miss games as well. Unfortunately, we appear to be a team built with players that have high injury rates. Maybe they will all get healthy at just the right time to make a run. It is possible but the odds are stacked pretty heavy against it. In the meantime, it is just enduring more ugly ball with a few breakout exceptions. We have just enough to make a championship run if all falls our way at playoff time.

 

Nope. Not at all. You do realize that OKC WITHOUT Shai beat Utah by 30 about 3 weeks ago right? That team is straight up stacked.

Luka seems to play more timid with LeBron out there. LeBron seems to be trying to "assert" himself more right now which is the wrong thing to do. Against the Clippers he was running the show even before Luka went out. And they were losing as a result. Granted, not having Ayton and AR doesn't help one bit.

But, this team needs to be active at the deadline. They still need to be better balanced to fit around Luka. Right now they are in between the LeBron and Luka era as far as the personnel goes.

We'll get there. Luka is at his best when he is the undisputed leader of the team. I just don't think LeBron is completely letting that happen.

 

Meh..Luka is not the best player in the league period. He is top 3'ish tho, and that is more than enough to win a championship. I already pointed out the 4th quarter stats this season. They are important, this is when your best players have to step up. In the playoffs last season

Luka shot 30% FG and 14% from 3.

SGA 43% FG 32% from 3.

Jokic 44% FG 31% from 3.

I only point out his offensive numbers, because offense is his super power. Both guys have a significantly lower defensive rating too.

I see no reason to place him above those two guys. You can say they had a better team, or he could have just performed better. We are close enough, if he can step it up more IMO.

Edwards also delivered more, in the 4th in the playoffs, and so far in this season too. Soo...t's definitely not blatantly obvious, that Luka is the best player in the NBA. However he doesn't have to be, we can still win with him as is.

 

You and your damn MEHs. A guy with limited talent around him where he’s being pressed practically every play and still averaging 35-9-9 isn’t the best player?

 

We have talent, he's gifted offensively, that doesn't make him the best player in the NBA.

 

moving the goalposts again. you want to quibble about whether luka is the best or one of the three best? ok. i can handle that. this started with me being agitated with claims of his inability to make simple basketball plays.

i'm not even sure why i bothered to counter other than there's nothing to discuss.

but throwing out 4th quarter numbers from this year is kinda rich. ask luka's opponents in the playoffs how end game situations feel.

 

I threw out his playoffs numbers from last season too. I don't care what happened in Dallas, he's here now, what happens here, is what's important to me. Again I love Luka, Id prefer if he scaled back a bit on the shot attempts tho, maybe he'd have more gas in the 4th quarters. Or maybe JJ could do a little better than the just give Luka the ball and get out of his way scheme?

 

For those who think Luka and/or Austin in any way shape or form, are the problem with this team are just looking for an argument.

 

All I know AR>Luka, fa sho.

 

The playoffs will be the judge of that. Austin didn't exactly light it up in the playoffs last season either. We are the Lakers, the stars are going to be judged harsher here.