NBA – All-Star for the fourth time in his young career, Luka Doncic is simply panicking the counters with 33 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists on average. At 23!
“It’s difficult every game”explains Luka Doncic in the New York Times. “People say it looks easy, but it’s not, trust me! Maybe it looks like it because I’m slow! »
Although in better physical shape this season, after having participated in the Euro during the summer, Luka Doncic is well aware of his limits. He will never be explosive and fast like Ja Morant. But the Slovenian has his own arguments: an innate sense of play, an unparalleled vista, and some physical assets inherited from Papa Sasa…
“Obviously it would be even better [si je pouvais jouer] with more speed”
“It’s not always about speed. Of course it would be even better [si je pouvais jouer] with more speed. But it is above all a question of angles, of timings »analyse Luka Doncic. “I was born like this. My father was like that too, he has very strong legs. My trainers say they are trunks! »
With poles as legs, Luka Doncic has titanic support, which allows him to chain stepbacks, his trademark. But also to slalom, at his speed of course, in the opposing defenses to finish in contact. Huge size on the outside positions, Luka Doncic plays, so to speak, like his great friend, Nikola Jokic. At your own pace, all in fundamentals, and in flashes of genius!
It must be said that the kid from Ljubljana has been hanging out in theaters since he was very young. So much so that Marko Milic, the first Slovenian player to play in the NBA in 1997 (in Phoenix), current assistant coach with the Mavs, deduces: “He integrated [très jeune], almost unconsciously, some things veterans do. »
His coaches even explain that he sometimes had to be sent back to his parents for fear that he would tire too much and harm his own growth. A precocious talent if ever there was one, he left for Madrid at the age of 13, after only a short week of reflection!
“When the last week came, I made my decision. I decided to go there! It’s a part of my life that I’ll never get back, but hey, it worked out pretty well for me. If I had to do it again, I would do it again. »
“If he is good, he will make me progress”
He was quick to understand that he had to go straight into the Madrid institution. Once he missed his alarm clock for a team meeting. His coach didn’t make him play the next match… Little Luka never missed a meeting again after that.
“He had no fear, in fact it was even the opposite, when we brought in another player who was better than him and who could take minutes from him”explains Alberto Angulo, his coach at the Madrid academy. “He thought: no, no, if he’s good, he’ll make me progress. »
As brilliant as he is from the height of his 23 springs, Luka Doncic is still a player who can progress. He works there again and again, in a favorable environment in Dallas, surrounded by Dirk Nowitzki in particular. But also another former local glory, Jason Kidd, the “head coach” in place.
Luka Doncic and his coach have an excellent relationship, based on a shared vision of the game, right down to the little “vice shots”, maintained by games of dominoes on the plane…
Player (and competitor) in front of the eternal, Luka Doncic also spends time on the plane playing chess on his phone. “I always said that in basketball, you try to play like chess,” he concludes. “You try to anticipate the moves of the opponent and you have to read the game.”
| Luka Doncic | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saison | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Until | Pd | Fte | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2018-19 | DAL | 72 | 32 | 42.7 | 32.7 | 71.3 | 1.2 | 6.6 | 7.8 | 6.0 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 3.4 | 0.4 | 21.2 |
| 2019-20 | DAL | 61 | 34 | 46.3 | 31.6 | 75.8 | 1.3 | 8.1 | 9.4 | 8.8 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 4.3 | 0.2 | 28.8 |
| 2020-21 | DAL | 66 | 34 | 47.9 | 35.0 | 73.0 | 0.8 | 7.2 | 8.0 | 8.6 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 4.3 | 0.6 | 27.7 |
| 2021-22 | DAL | 65 | 35 | 45.7 | 35.3 | 74.4 | 0.9 | 8.3 | 9.1 | 8.7 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 4.5 | 0.6 | 28.4 |
| 2022-23 | DAL | 50 | 37 | 50.5 | 34.9 | 73.0 | 0.9 | 7.9 | 8.8 | 8.1 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 3.7 | 0.5 | 33.3 |
| Total | 314 | 34 | 46.6 | 33.9 | 73.6 | 1.0 | 7.6 | 8.6 | 8.0 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 4.0 | 0.4 | 27.5 | |
