2020-2021 MAVS NEWS: Archived

[Jason Terry]

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.

For sure. We all need to constantly remind ourselves to pump the breaks. Luka is a top 5 talent but not quite a top 10 player in the NBA yet. The numbers and accolades are misleading at times. The last 5 minutes of games just mean so much more and he constantly gets into bad habits late in games. The hanging his head low and jogging back after a turnover. Him letting the refs control his mood. These things rub off on the team as a whole. It affects the other players on the team too. He will learn though. 

One thing i think will improve beginning next year is his conditioning. I think he knows now how big of a deal it is and he will have a true offseason this year to make it better. 

It may be best to keep the team mostly intact. Keep adding the right guys around Luka, but preserve continuity to help Luka grow/develop personally. The NBA seems to keep adjusting to how we play Luka. He just needs to keep growing