HALLELUKA: Luka Clinches All-NBA 1st team. 4th in 5 years

[Kammrath]

If anything he can change his diet, and change his eating habits once and for all. Because every time he rests/has a minor injury, he is somehow putting on pounds. After the calf injury, he looked a bit more heavy imo. 

He needs to make his shape a round year thing and never get out of shape. If you don't go out of shape, its way easier to get into shape. I am wondering if his condition problems are workout related or eating/drinking related.

Yep.

[ThisIStheYear]

Luka definitely treats the NBA like one of multiple obligations, like he’s a tennis or golf player, instead of like his main job. I don’t know if that says something about him or about the gradually declining importance of the NBA relative to international ball.  Note: it’s not that the NBA is declining in absolute terms, it’s ascending. But, international basketball has been ascending faster, catching up with the US league.  It is what it is. Luka may not be able to use the off-season to get better at three point or free throw shooting, which he really needs to do. But he can still get in shape.

[MaxiThreeba]

Took Dirk a while to take a step back from the international grind.  He did so in the summers of 2009 and 2010:

Dirk opts out 2009
Dirk opts out 2010

I remember the international grind from those Dirk years and what a big deal it was when he finally pushed pause there.  I also know how important getting the German team qualified was to Dirk and he did just that in 2012…and how cool to see him being the German team into the stadium at the opening ceremonies. 

I don’t think Luka’s international summers are going away anytime soon.  I didn’t know the World Cup qualifiers were this summer in addition to Eurobasket and foolishly thought he would have some more time to really train and dial in to prepare for next season 

He plays with a bunch of dudes that look like they down a 12 pack and smoke a pack of Marlboro reds before they take the court.  Hopefully the Mavs have a plan for not letting last summer happen again.

[michaeltex]

Luka definitely treats the NBA like one of multiple obligations, like he’s a tennis or golf player, instead of like his main job. I don’t know if that says something about him or about the gradually declining importance of the NBA relative to international ball.  Note: it’s not that the NBA is declining in absolute terms, it’s ascending. But, international basketball has been ascending faster, catching up with the US league.  It is what it is. Luka may not be able to use the off-season to get better at three point or free throw shooting, which he really needs to do. But he can still get in shape.

I agree with the getting in shape comments. I also agree it will be difficult to train physically while playing competitively.

Also, the international schedule is shifted so that NBA players can participate while honoring their league contract obligations, witness all the qualifications and tournaments happening during the off season. 

That said, Luka has to be highly visible in Slovenia (whose entire population is less than Dallas) and I can't imagine the crap he would get if he didn't play on the national team. Especially in defense of a previous title. 

What I would like to see is for DAL to support the face of the franchise by getting him some offseason assistance with diet and nutrition while maybe finding ways to help him train for physical improvement. Provide him with an offseason staff so he can both play internationally and prepare for the next NBA grind.

[sefant]

I agree with the getting in shape comments. I also agree it will be difficult to train physically while playing competitively.

Also, the international schedule is shifted so that NBA players can participate while honoring their league contract obligations, witness all the qualifications and tournaments happening during the off season. 

That said, Luka has to be highly visible in Slovenia (whose entire population is less than Dallas) and I can't imagine the crap he would get if he didn't play on the national team. Especially in defense of a previous title. 

What I would like to see is for DAL to support the face of the franchise by getting him some offseason assistance with diet and nutrition while maybe finding ways to help him train for physical improvement. Provide him with an offseason staff so he can both play internationally and prepare for the next NBA grind.

Cuban should throw a few mill at her to build something like that for the Mavs. (Turn on english sub titles)

Basically offer them a variety of healthy food, and the player don't want that unhealthy stuff anymore. They learn what good food is, learn about nutrition. Its literally a fool proof concept.

This is how i would treat nutrition for a NBA team, if i was the owner. Its hilarious how unprofessional the NBA is in that regard. Looks like a comedy show compared to european soccer clubs.

I bet NBA franchises could get 10-20 % out of many players if you take over their entire nutrition and push every player into the right direction. And not praying every player hiring their own nutritioninst and eating healthy.

No shit a 18-25 yr old don't know what proper nutrition is for the most part. You can literally study those things for years.

[ThisIStheYear]

That said, Luka has to be highly visible in Slovenia (whose entire population is less than Dallas) and I can't imagine the crap he would get if he didn't play on the national team. Especially in defense of a previous title. 

Yep. Completely agree. He has to play. I would too. He is Slovenian basketball. I guess there’s a lot worse ways an NBA player could spend an off-season than playing a lot of basketball.

[burekemde]

Yep. Completely agree. He has to play. I would too. He is Slovenian basketball. I guess there’s a lot worse ways an NBA player could spend an off-season than playing a lot of basketball.

This is what many posters here and other places dont seem to understand. By playing basketball in offseason he becomes better skills wise, and also experience wise. Yes this prevents him in getting to the gym and work on his body, but this does, and it has, made him become better skills wise, this couldnt be more clear. So many skills he has added since he entered the league. We were beaten in terms of skills and scheme from GSW as overall their team is just more skilled if you take away Luka and Brunson. This is the key in modern game, having more skill than your opponent. Luka should keep focusing on improving his skillset.

Im not saying that having more muscles is not good for Luka. But its limited how much a player can improve over a course of an offseason, and people disregard that Luka has improved skills wise each and single offseason, and the way he has improved is as much you can even dream about. He has improved so much that he is consensus top 3 player in the NBA, and arguably the best. Giannis maybe better right now, but the speed with Luka is improving his skillset, this is going to be his next decade or even more.

[Chicagojk]

I saw this on Reddit and it is pretty shocking seeing Luka in such great shape.  I hope this isn’t viewed as a fat shaming post as it it truly remarkable how much weight we ask to be put on his shoulders and he delivers most times.  But I do wish we see him come in closer to this weight next year.

https://youtu.be/z1PGVZUNcFQ

[Kammrath]

I saw this on Reddit and it is pretty shocking seeing Luka in such great shape.

He absolutely has lost his "NBA athleticism" that he had when he came into the league. Sure, it is good that he is stronger, but he is not nearly as mobile as he once was. It is amazing what he is still able to do. But if he can get his body back to an ideal weight then he has a shot at being the GOAT IMO. If his body stays as it is, I think he will deal with injuries AND not have enough athleticism to be nearly as great as he could be.

[ItsGoTime]

I thought I read a Tweet saying he hired a personal chef and that he basically only eats chicken, rice and vegetables because he doesn’t like seafood. Isn’t that enough to know he’s gonna do what he needs to to stay in shape?

I kinda thought this discussion was basically over since then.

[Kammrath]

I kinda thought this discussion was basically over since then.

This discussion is on pause I would say....we will see what he looks like at the beginning of next season. But I 100% believe his extra weight hindered him significantly in the playoffs and has contributed to his nagging injuries that will not go away.

[ItsGoTime]

This discussion is on pause I would say....we will see what he looks like at the beginning of next season. But I 100% believe his extra weight hindered him significantly in the playoffs and has contributed to his nagging injuries that will not go away.

Pause would imply there is stoppage to the discussion.

[Kammrath]

Pause would imply there is stoppage to the discussion.

Ok, maybe the "debate" is on pause till we get new evidence. The discussion will probably be somewhat dormant till then as well. We have all said our piece on it. And we need new evidence to move forward in the debate.

[KillerLeft]

Ok, maybe the "debate" is on pause till we get new evidence. The discussion will probably be somewhat dormant till then as well. We have all said our piece on it. And we need new evidence to move forward in the debate.

It's not like any single other topic we've ever obsessed about around here has ever been "paused" lol!

I was bewildered by how much people obsessed about trading out players on a team who made it to the WCF...DURING THE WCF!!

Even now, if I mention Steve Nash, it might inspire the awakening of a decade old debate over whether or not Cuban was right to let him go (even though he wasn't, obviously). 

Don't give in to peer pressure, @"Kammrath". You drive the conversation in whichever direction you choose.

[michaeltex]

I thought I read a Tweet saying he hired a personal chef and that he basically only eats chicken, rice and vegetables because he doesn’t like seafood. Isn’t that enough to know he’s gonna do what he needs to to stay in shape?

I kinda thought this discussion was basically over since then.

I think it went on hiatus due to the team's overall performance and Luka's increased efficiency after his injury/COVID break, but a lot of us are holding our breath for what happens over the summer and how Luka returns next fall.

There was also a big blow-up between a couple of significant board members that started from comments about Luka's physical conditioning. IMO, there was an unspoken agreement by the rest of us to just let the issue lie dormant for a while. Especially once the team was playing well after Luka's return.

Luka's making enough $$$ now he can hire his own support staff to help with conditioning, training and nutrition. If he's committed to a long successful career (as we all hope he is) then he'll realize that he will need a team to help manage himself and his career.

---

What are the summer tournaments Luka is expected to play in? Will the game feed be available in the US?

[SleepingHero]

We don't appreciate this kid enough man.

Just thinking back the last 4 years and seeing all the accomplishments Luka has done, it's truly insane. The dude is a nightly 30pt triple double bucket. 3 straight first all-nba teams in 4 years. Just as many all-star selections (and should have 4 straight). Finished top 5 in MVP voting twice now. Luka was so good his rookie year, he inspired a parody ballad of Hallelujah, AND Cuban brought the guys in to perform live during his rookie year. Oh! Don't forget that game Luka brought the Mavs back with his own 11-0 run in the 4th against the Rockets, as if the song was actually prophetic. 

Dude is AVERAGING 32.5/9.3/7.9 on 47/37/69 splits in the playoffs. Read those stats again. 2nd highest scoring average all time in the postseason. Fastest to 100 points in the post season. Only Wilt and Jordan scored more in their first 25 playoff games...

I mean c'mon, the list goes on and on. 

We throw around a lot of titles nowadays, but Luka really is the real deal.  His first 4 seasons in the NBA is only really comparable to MJ/Bird/Duncan/Magic/Lebron (*If we're only counting post merger modern NBA). Like????? 

I really feel like we harp on Luka because it's become too ordinary to praise him. We have to nitpick because there's literally no major holes in his game. He's elevated it when it matters. Comes through time and again. 

Also some more feel good stuff? He just signed his max extension to keep him here for the foreseeable future. He routinely says he loves it in Dallas. His mom has gone on the record saying she could see Luka spending his entire career in Dallas.  Future is bright MFFL's. Halleluka we got the wonderboy on our team. NBA should be scared.

[Kammrath]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT61m0BxQZE

[burekemde]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT61m0BxQZE

I didnt watch this video, just the front image. Knowing Luka from early on and his game, my view is that getting too muscular would hurt his game a lot. Its no wonder that players relying too much on physical ability, tend to forget the focus on skill, this was emphasized lately by an expert i forgot who it was, but it is so true. Thats why some of the most physical freaks never develop any skills, because in most situations in a game they tend to rely on being stronger, rather than smarter and better at the game. Skill is infinitely more important. Yes, Luka cant limp and be injured to be effective, we have seen early in season when injured what happens. And yes being even stronger/more fit than normal can and will have benefits in certain games and situations. But it can also have major disadvantages. And like I said, spending the offseason playing basketball is the major reason Lukas skills have evolved and he added many skill aspects to his game such as mid range game, fadaway, improving FTs, decreasing complaining to refs, improved his defense a lot, and many other tactical aspects that he has improved so much at since joining the NBA. He is so much better than in his rookie year, and this also shows by regular playoff and WCF appearance. Spending more time in gym and playing less basketball and developing skillsets, would with high chance decrease all of those developed skills. There is a very very fine balance between gym and improving the skillset, and the one extreme you suggest is not the way to go. Luka is doing the right thing, he added skills that no other player did at that speed of these 4 years. His body is all fine, he is far stronger now, and he will get more muscles as he gets older, but not with the extreme Hulk speed that you are dreaming of. Skills first. As smart and intelligent and skilled player Luka is this will keep him in the game far longer than anyone else. Its the beauty of Lukas game, that he beats with skillset.

When I think of the entire GSW series, we were not beaten on speed, nor on physicality (other than Powell vs their Center). We were beaten on skillset, we were beaten on scheme, bbIQ. Simply put, they had more skilled players than us, and it wasnt even close. Luka however, was the most skilled player in that series. We need as a team build around two of our most skilled players, which are Luka and Brunson, and add more skilled players so they can flourish even more.

[Kammrath]

https://twitter.com/MatejSportinfo/statu...0921704449

[MAVS-SLO]

Currently, only for Goran's final game for Slovenia, but it will be nice to see both of them together on the court 

https://twitter.com/FIBAWC/status/1533776931983851520