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About Luka from Igor Kokoskov from his exclusive interview for index.hr, translated by Google:

About Luka from Igor Kokoskov from his exclusive interview for index.hr, translated by Google:

From what planet did Luka Doncic fall?

Until yesterday, we talked about Luka as an upcoming player, today we talk about him as one of the NBA's best players. The basketball he plays at the age of 20 puts him in the position of one of the most dominant players of today, and the fascinating speed at which all this has taken place is especially fascinating. It no longer makes sense to talk about his potential, Luka has grown such a narrative. His game is mesmerizing. He is just as dangerous about the basket of a rival as he is in a fantastic way to play the team and make his team-mate better than he might be. Today, Luka is perhaps the most versatile player in the world.

Isn't it a bit surreal for a kid who comes to the NBA league from the age of 19 to become a legitimate candidate for MVP of the strongest league in the world at the age of 20?

Of course it is, but Luka is the type of man who has responded incredibly to every challenge thrown before him, and by that I mean the speed of his reaction. As a kid he went to Real and immediately fought for a place in the first team. Then he decided to get into serious rotation, so he did it in record time. That wasn't enough for him either, so he became the team leader and then the best player in Europe and MVP of the Euroleague Final Four. Then he was the leader of the Slovenian national team, which became the champion of Europe. Europe then became too tight for his talent, he decided to come to the NBA and became rookie of the year, and in his second season he is a serious contender for the league's best player. Do you know what is the best thing about everything? Luka is still growing, developing, and he knows that there is still much room for progress. Every day he is working on himself, he is improving and with each passing day, every next game he will be an even better player. I know this all sounds unreal, but Luka is an unreal player, so what he does today doesn't surprise me at all. He was never an ordinary player. Human gets scared when he remembers his age, but the fact is that he is still growing as a player and a person and no one knows at which point he will reach his limit. At the moment, we can only enjoy the basketball he plays.

Some say it's great that he ended up in Dallas because there is room for him to impose himself so young as a leader and decision maker, and some find it a pity he is not in a club that can contend for the title. What do you think?

Luka is in a fantastic situation because everything Dallas does is not spontaneous and every decision made by the club has its own reasons why. Dallas systematically brought him in, they wanted him, and the great thing about Luka was that he could play with Nowitzki one season, which conveyed him the qualities of a leader. At 19, Luke has learned to be a leader in an NBA team, a man who takes matters into his own hands when the game breaks, which is invaluable to a young player. Proving that his decision to come to Dallas was excellent, his status as one of the league's best players. Luka, on the other hand, has such an adaptation ability and so much talent that if happened to go to a stronger multi-star club in the locker room, I am sure he would have found his place there as well.

When Doncic came to the NBA last year, you were the head coach of the Phoenix Suns, the club that made the first draft pick, but instead, Arizona State University star DeAndre Ayton was selected. Why?

Unfortunately, I cannot answer this question because of a professional codex, but when you have already asked me, I will tell you that I sleep peacefully.

They had a coach with a lot of experience and trust in Luka but chose Ayton because he went to the team owners old college.

Cuban's not perfect but he is vastly better then some of these NBA team owners.

Can you imagine Luka with Booker and proper use of the assets the Suns have had over the last 2 seasons!!!

(12-05-2019, 05:34 PM)LukTheShadow Wrote: [ -> ]When Doncic came to the NBA last year, you were the head coach of the Phoenix Suns, the club that made the first draft pick, but instead, Arizona State University star DeAndre Ayton was selected. Why?

Unfortunately, I cannot answer this question because of a professional codex, but when you have already asked me, I will tell you that I sleep peacefully.

Translation: I told them they were out of their #^%&*^%^*^% minds when they drafted Ayton. As the season went on, I said "I told you so". They fired me. Such is life. Not on me.

(12-05-2019, 10:42 PM)Mavsfan12 Wrote: [ -> ]Translation: I told them they were out of their #^%&*^%^*^% minds when they drafted Ayton. As the season went on, I said "I told you so". They fired me. Such is life. Not on me.

He, he, good one.

However, Ayton was a safe choice for their GM and coach. I bet no one really gave a tough fight, not even Kokoskov. Ayton was projected number 1 pick by most analytics, favoured by the owner.

It is easy to be smart one year after :-) This was their thinking in 2018:
- If we take Doncic and he doesn't perform better than Ayton, all of us will be fired on the spot.
- If we take Ayton, he is pretty much guaranteed 20-10 guy. We can't really miss here. There is a risk that Doncic will be better in the end, but there is also risk, that he will not be.

I understand Phoenix decision. I can also understand Atlanta. They got Young and another pick. It is Sacramento that is a real head scratcher here.

As much as I like Kokoskov, he wasn't able to make Suns any better from a season before, despite getting Ayton.

Imagine Dallas had number 1 pick in 2018, Phoenix second and Sacramento third. How much different they would look today. Dallas would first trade down with Phoenix and then with Sacramento
1. Pho: Ayton, Dal: Bagley and 2019 first rounder from Phoenix
2. Sac: Bagley, Dal: Doncic and 2019 first rounder from Sacramento

:-)

Interesting take...The Ringer article below breaks down the numbers for the worst half of the games played this season for Luka and his fellow MVP candidates. To me, what Luka is doing in his worst games (27/10/8 on .578 TS%) if very close to what I expected him to average either this year or next. Those numbers would have made me VERY HAPPY.

It is crazy to think the bar is now so high that 27/10/8 feels like an off night. The other thing this article does is gives me confidence that this isn't some small sample size fluke. Luka is the real deal.

Luka Doncic
Averages from worst games: 27.1 points, 10.1 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.1 blocks, .578 true shooting, plus-9.6 on-court differential
As discussed above, Doncic is nearly averaging a triple-double in the worst half of his games. Only Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook have ever averaged a 25-10-8 line before, as Doncic is during his off nights.

Like Antetokounmpo, Doncic struggles from 3 in his worst games. (That’s a common theme across the board—the easiest way to lose game score points is to miss a lot of shots.) But he compensates by getting to the line 9.4 times per game, which allows his true shooting percentage—the best measure of a player’s per-shot scoring ability—to flourish regardless. Bad Doncic has a TS% of .578 this season; for context, Thompson, Lillard, and Irving are all lower in the .570s in their careers.

So Doncic at his worst still scores as efficiently as All-NBA guards and nearly records a triple-double every night. He’s been so impressive on a nightly basis that his 31-point, 13-rebound, 15-assist explosion against the Lakers last month qualifies as a worst game for him. He’s finished below 20 points in just one game all season.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2019/12/5/20995952/worst-of-the-best-introducing-a-new-way-to-frame-the-mvp-debate

https://slate.com/culture/2019/12/luka-d...bonis.html

(12-06-2019, 08:32 AM)Hypermav Wrote: [ -> ]https://slate.com/culture/2019/12/luka-d...bonis.html

Fun article!

(12-06-2019, 08:36 AM)fifteenth Wrote: [ -> ]
(12-06-2019, 08:32 AM)Hypermav Wrote: [ -> ]https://slate.com/culture/2019/12/luka-d...bonis.html

Fun article!

"He’s a 6-foot-7 point guard who’s built like a fifth-year senior playing fraternity ball between cigarette breaks."

Tongue

https://www.si.com/sportsperson/2019/12/...kout-award

If Luka plan to visit NY on 9th he should take KP with to show him around ... MSG and so .. Wink

https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/...9486759937

https://twitter.com/Rachel__Nichols/stat...4166986760

(12-06-2019, 07:33 AM)DanSchwartzman Wrote: [ -> ] Bad Doncic has a TS% of .578 this season; for context, Thompson, Lillard, and Irving are all lower in the .570s in their careers.

So Doncic at his worst still scores as efficiently as All-NBA guards and nearly records a triple-double every night. He’s been so impressive on a nightly basis that his 31-point, 13-rebound, 15-assist explosion against the Lakers last month qualifies as a worst game for him. He’s finished below 20 points in just one game all season.

This is absolutely insane.

https://clutchpoints.com/mavs-news-steve...-all-time/

https://twitter.com/2KRatings/status/120...6056439808

https://streamable.com/6qmol

Kobesque