2020-2021 MAVS NEWS: Archived

[BasketballJones41]

There is some good and unusually balanced discussion about Luka going on in this thread. We all love him so much it's kind of difficult to bring up even minor criticisms around here for fear of striking the wrong chord. 

Nevertheless, I think both @"F Gump" and @"Kammrath" make valid points. Luka does need to get better about his conditioning. Luka does need to do (even) better on the floor, understanding that he's the leader of the team and the wins or losses are going to rest ultimately on his shoulders. Luka does need to learn to keep the refs out of his thinking during play, and not to hang his head after missing a shot, letting his man beat him back down the floor. 

All of those things are true, imho, and it's STILL clear that he's a special, once-in-a-generation talent. 

Here's the thing that I don't think people are fully understanding: HE IS 22. I've been writing over and over for like a year that all of this contention talk and all of these super high expectations are premature. Luka is putting up top 5 numbers because he's phenomenal and because he landed on a team fully willing to go all in on building around him. But, in the last five minutes of a close, meaningful game, he's not a top 5 player yet. It couldn't be more clear, imo. He's a 22 year old kid. I mean, at this point, he's almost a lock to literally throw the ball directly to a defender a couple of times per game. He's still dribbling into triple teams down the stretch. He's amazing, so it works sometimes, but this notion that he ALWAYS makes the right play rings false. 

Between now and say age 26 (?), my dude is going to improve. A LOT. Most of that improvement is going to happen between the ears, and I don't think it's selling his current level short to say so. It's AMAZING that he's this effective at this age, and pulling a team from where the Mavs were in 2018 up to where they are now is no small thing. But, getting from where they are now to where the top 4-5 teams are is probably even more difficult, and it's not ONLY about adding other talented players to the roster. 

I've said it before, but I really feel this way: it's like we're waiting in line at six flags. A little patience is all we need.

I think Kam’s criticisms were very valid. And I very rarely disagree with you but I’m going to on a couple of your above points. I think the majority of mistakes that Luka makes in the last five minutes of a game has more to do with his lack of help in the back court. He has to work so hard to carry them most nights just to keep the game close. And at the end of games when defense tightens nobody else in our back court ever steps up. When one player is all you have to worry about that becomes pretty easy to defend no matter how good that one guy is. That’s not to say that his youth doesn’t cost him from time to time because I believe it does. I just don’t believe it plays as big a role as you do.

I think your part right when you talk about the need for patience and that building this thing is going to take a little bit more time. I just disagree on how much time we’re talking. I think Luka is going to be ready to compete much sooner rather than later. It’s all going to come down to whether the MBT can put the right team around him. But man if we can ever get that right cast around him I think that he can bring us multiple titles.

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Being critical of someone isn't hate.  Part of the issue without society today is wanting to lump everything into black or white when there is a lot of grey in-between.  Luka could have a better body right now and stay in condition year round.  He might need another early exit or two from the playoffs to figure that out.  We do know he is a competitor so he'll figure this out much like Jordan did after getting manhandled by Detroit so many seasons.  Maybe Carlisle needs to tweak his minutes a bit in the short term.  In the long term, as the team gets better, his usage should hopefully go down which will help on the wear and tear aspect.

Being critical is absolutely not hate. It’s even fair in a lot of instances. I just think that some of the criticisms he’s receiving are off-base.