MIKE SHEDD GIVES COACHING PERSPECTIVE ON MAVS

[dynamicalVoid]

As I wrote before, Luka’s conditioning issue has taken a life of its own and got more attention than some other things regarding his game 

Now the thing is we don’t know how much conditioning is a factor on his lack of effort on defense but I have brought up conditioning only because it is a minimum expectation from professional athletes that I have. I will continue to stand by that. If he played a more rigorous schedule in the off season then he should be in shape. 

However I have bigger issues with his game that I have whined about for the last few years. Mainly he wants to play on the ball. If he passes it and two passes go by without him getting it back, you can see him demanding it. Stop over dribbling and taking shots that leave teammates frozen, improving his FT %,  getting back on defense consistently than whining to the refs, and at least making a honest attempt on defense are all things that are much bigger issues I have with his game. 

Now you wrote previously that if he is that bad let us just trade him. He is a 6’8” guy who has superior handles, superior vision and passing skills, and can genuinely play inside or outside. He is a legit franchise changer. I would be thrilled if he plays his whole career here. My point is he can be a Jokic or a Westbrook. It is his choice. Jokic, due to Denver injuries, is currently playing with a surrounding cast that might be worse than Luka’s. He scores too and the ball passes through him a lot, but you watch those games and never feel like he is dominating the ball. He reads defenses and almost every time makes the right play, be it giving the ball up and just being a decoy or scoring if he sees defenses slacking off him due to his passing. I rarely see him hoisting a bad shot. Same with LeBron over the years. Who dominates the ball more than him?  Forget Kyrie or Wade. Even when he had an average cast in his early Cleveland years, you never felt the ball was sticking in his hands. Even though he had some great scoring runs and games too.  So even the excuse that no one else on this team can handle the ball and hence Luka has to hog the ball seems hollow.  

That is where I want Luka to be offensively. Like a Jokic or a Bron. I don’t expect a 22 year old Luka to be what a 27 year old Luka might be. However on some of these flaws I want to see improvement. This is year 4 and many of the things I have mentioned seem to be the same.  At least he can start with taking fewer one possession long shots and getting back on defense.

Ive said it quite a few times around here...save Luka-ball for the Playoffs.   You cant argue that Luka isnt super efficient.  On the other hand...I think teammates get bored/disengaged with his ball dominance night in and night out.  Not to mention it isnt as enjoyable of a product just watching one guy every night(Luka is amazing dont get me wrong).

I suggest Luka/Kidd/Mavs lay off the Luka usage a little and get others involved.   We still need to win games to make it to post season...but get others involved.   It can only help the team.   Chemistry becomes tighter and guys get in a rhythm and more comfortable with the ball in their hands which can only help in the playoffs.

[michaeltex]

Ive said it quite a few times around here...save Luka-ball for the Playoffs.   You cant argue that Luka isnt super efficient.  On the other hand...I think teammates get bored/disengaged with his ball dominance night in and night out.  Not to mention it isnt as enjoyable of a product just watching one guy every night(Luka is amazing dont get me wrong).

I suggest Luka/Kidd/Mavs lay off the Luka usage a little and get others involved.   We still need to win games to make it to post season...but get others involved.   It can only help the team.   Chemistry becomes tighter and guys get in a rhythm and more comfortable with the ball in their hands which can only help in the playoffs.

I agree and Kidd stated before the season that Luka needs to trust his teammates more, implying he needs to share the ball better. However, the teammates have not rewarded his efforts at sharing and so now maybe he's gun shy about trusting teammates. 

Although it was against sub-par teams, these last two games have given everyone not Luka a chance to play effective basketball, which I hope is a confidence booster going forward. It also gives Luka a chance to feel better about how the other players can perform and hopefully improve team chemistry.

[hakeemfaan]

Ive said it quite a few times around here...save Luka-ball for the Playoffs.   You cant argue that Luka isnt super efficient.  On the other hand...I think teammates get bored/disengaged with his ball dominance night in and night out.  Not to mention it isnt as enjoyable of a product just watching one guy every night(Luka is amazing dont get me wrong).

I suggest Luka/Kidd/Mavs lay off the Luka usage a little and get others involved.   We still need to win games to make it to post season...but get others involved.   It can only help the team.   Chemistry becomes tighter and guys get in a rhythm and more comfortable with the ball in their hands which can only help in the playoffs.

I don’t think you need “Luka ball” at all if Luka ball means all of the negatives I listed above. 

I am not asking Luka to be Magic or Kidd. I am saying he can score just like Jokic scores. Like CP3 scores. 

The problem is a lot of the media and fans ( including Cuban who gloated about the European way va AAU hero ball) rushed to anoint Luka as a basketball savant. They point to the Euroleague MVP and the Olympics to show how Luka is already there. However when we see on a daily basis especially his tendency to be a volume 3 pt shooter with poor efficiency is not an aberration.  A lot of what he does can be termed as AAU heroball stuff. 

Luka is a phenomenal talent. Just like a Harden. They are not basketball savants yet. I am not saying it because of the lack of a title. I consider CP3 as a savant despite no titles. Luka’s game needs a lot of growth. Mostly on the mental part.

[dynamicalVoid]

I don’t think you need “Luka ball” at all if Luka ball means all of the negatives I listed above. 

I am not asking Luka to be Magic or Kidd. I am saying he can score just like Jokic scores. Like CP3 scores. 

The problem is a lot of the media and fans ( including Cuban who gloated about the European way va AAU hero ball) rushed to anoint Luka as a basketball savant. They point to the Euroleague MVP and the Olympics to show how Luka is already there. However when we see on a daily basis especially his tendency to be a volume 3 pt shooter with poor efficiency is not an aberration.  A lot of what he does can be termed as AAU heroball stuff. 

Luka is a phenomenal talent. Just like a Harden. They are not basketball savants yet. I am not saying it because of the lack of a title. I consider CP3 as a savant despite no titles. Luka’s game needs a lot of growth. Mostly on the mental part.

I dont think Luka takes dumb shots in the Playoffs though.   I think Luka is pretty on point when it matters.  Im not saying he is perfect...but he is about there.   Hes just really really good at basketball offensively.

I have no complaints with Playoff Luka...its night in night out Reg Season Luka I have a few issues with.

[BasketballJones41]

I think the Luka ball you guys are describing only exists because he can’t consistently depend on his teammates. And after the last two playoffs I don’t blame him. He still has the same supporting cast that failed to step up when he really needed help. Add in the fact that his Robin is not a natural fit with him. The problem only gets exacerbated by the fact that anytime he dribbles inside the three-point line he gets swarmed because the other team has no fear that anybody else on our team is going to step up and make them pay. That’s not to say that he couldn’t take better shots order improve on some things offensively I just think that his cast of characters is more to blame than him.

I think the stuff about his conditioning is fair to a point though I think it’s been extremely overblown. What I object to is the nitpicking and unnecessary Luka bashing that I feel like it’s going on. It’s true to be the best version of himself he needs to be in elite shape. And it’s fair to expect that. Some of his lingering injuries probably would cease to be problems if he was in better shape. He wouldn’t have to take so many step back threes if he had the gas to keep attacking all game. But I don’t think it’s a big issue of him being a diva or lazy or unwilling at all. I think the way the schedule has played out the last two years has been the main culprit. The Olympics this last off-season were bad timing. After the short off-season after the bubble going straight to the Olympics didn’t really allow him any time to work on conditioning. Personally I wish he would’ve just skipped but I understand why he wanted to represent his country.

I firmly believe that he’ll get himself right in the off-season and show up next year in the best shape of his career. If he doesn’t then maybe some of these criticisms would be more fair.

[KillerLeft]

I firmly believe that he’ll get himself right in the off-season and show up next year in the best shape of his career. If he doesn’t then maybe some of these criticisms would be more fair.

I don't know if I'm ready to stick my neck out about it happening so quickly, necessarily, but I completely agree that this is just a part of youth that Luka will grow out of, eventually. He's too competitive and too accustomed to seeing himself as an international superstar to allow himself to go out like Hedo Turkoglu, imo. I think all that's needed here is for he, himself, to fully realize that he's holding himself back (to what extent, we can debate all we want) and then he'll address the issue and move right past it.

[BasketballJones41]

I don't know if I'm ready to stick my neck out about it happening so quickly, necessarily, but I completely agree that this is just a part of youth that Luka will grow out of, eventually. He's too competitive and too accustomed to seeing himself as an international superstar to allow himself to go out like Hedo Turkoglu, imo. I think all that's needed here is for he, himself, to fully realize that he's holding himself back (to what extent, we can debate all we want) and then he'll address the issue and move right past it.

I agree with everything you just said except I don’t think it’s a maturity thing that has caused this. I think it has so much more to do with the last two off-season schedules and how abnormal it’s been. Probably with some growing pains sprinkled in there somewhere. I guess debating that part is really splitting hairs but I only brought it up because I feel like he’s getting unfairly labeled. 

But at the end of the day I know we all just want to see peak Luka.