Luka Doncic Discussion: Lean Mean Slovenian Machine

i'd also say that i'm really not certain i trust the "blow-by" stat calculation. as someone who works with a lot of "difficult-to-quantify" data, i'm just not sure there's an easy way to unbiasedly estimate this stat.

i'd like to see the interrater reliability on it, preferably with visual cues of the players involved removed.

but anyway, the luka concerns on defense are overrated even if that stat is valid.

 

Luka is getting attacked by no names analytics aka "Talking heads" is getting ridiculous

 

It’s clearly racial. Soft pasty white euro stuff.

hopefully he’s able to shed the stigma of the silly stuff said. Maybe it’s what he needed the best version of himself. Lit that fire.

 

lol, he's a combination of steph curry and melo? he's combination of magic and bird (two other notably non-adonii(?)) who weren't outstanding isolation defenders.

those guys won A LOT. luka can, too. it's up to someone to put a team around him like those guys had. he hasn't had anything remotely close yet.

 

Luka is already better than D-Wade. Yeah he’ll probably never be better than Kobe or LeBron so what? LeBron is the GOAT and Kobe is the greatest Laker ever arguably for a franchise that had Kareem, Magic, and Shaquille O’Neal.

 

Lebron is not the goat, full stop. Period point blank.
Blasphemy , etc etc.

 

yeah, substantially. though i'm not sure if he just meant he's not going to be ripped/jacked. then he switched to saying he won't defend like lebron or kobe or whatever. and again, i say neither did bird nor magic.

 

Defensively, he’s nowhere close to the level Kobe was at. Offensively, the handle, and mid range is the only thing comparable- he’s soft when he attacks the rim and never yokes on anyone, let alone multiple players at the same time.
Start the comps after he brings in his FIFTH Ring.

 

Kobe as many years in the league as SGA now would have eaten him alive. Take away that f****** arm bar from him OR let Kobe use it too! Kobe was a beast jamming at the rim and a beast master of every skill in the game. SGA couldn't carry his jock at any comparable age if we're being real here. As @abeer3 points out and is obvious he's really nothing special on offense without that arm bar. At least in comparison to the GREAT Kobe Bryant.

 

fact.

not fact. luka is not in the least bit soft. that's actually a hilarious accusation to me a year removed from him making lu dort his personal b**** in a playoff series.

as for the rings...i hate to say it, but give luka prime shaq or prime gasol and see how many rings he has.

SGA is definitely a special player, but yeah, the push off stuff is totally insane. like, it's just blatant all the time, and the defense is..."look at his balance!" yeah, he's got great balance. but the rules of basketball don't say that if you can shove off and still hit a jumpshot, you're the best. they say you can't shove off.

 

I think @FrontOfJersey22 was saying SGA not Luka was soft going to the rim with regard to jamming or trying to jam the ball compared to Kobe. Same thing with “rings”. The whole conversation shifted to this stupid Kobe comparison.

 

ah, sorry frontofjersey--misread the context clues!

SGA most certainly IS soft going to the rim. though i will admit that his co-star isn't as good as anyone kobe had (time will tell on jwill/gasol).

i just got confused bc we were in the luka thread.

luka > SGA. don't care if SGA wins a ring this week. still better. taking no further questions.

 

I was talking about SGA in my post, not Luka.
Luka is not soft at all- well, maybe in the tummy a bit.

 

No way. I'm here. I just bought a business and have been busy with that. I'm not going anywhere my man. The Mavs are dead to me.

 

…. not even passing interest in Cooper?

 

I'll get more involved again once we get into the official offseason. I'm not going anywhere. I'm full Lakers now. The Mavs landing Flagg definitely seems shady. I could care less though. I was all kinds of serious when I said I was done with them.

I just bought a business locally and have been working on building that up. Kind of watching the Finals hoping Indiana would win. But, basically checked out until the offseason begins so we can build this thing up.

 

Nah. Could seriously care less. He's a great young prospect. But, I'll just wait until they trade him to the Lakers to get excited about him.

 

@audiosway …. you’ll be here for camp and all the video clips and hope springs anew enthusiasm …. especially to see yoked in shape Luka after all his “leg days” not missed.

 

The Los Angeles Lakers will support Luka Doncic at FIBA EuroBasket 2025 by sending one of their coaches to assist with his preparation and recovery while he represents Slovenia.
Who is going with Luka to FIBA championship from Lakers assistant coaches ?
Any idea

 

They may be ok. However, the dumbest part of this entire thing is that Nico didn't think about the fact that a TON of LA transplants have landed in Dallas over the last 15 years. That made the Luka trade even worse for him. Not only are the Lakers as popular as the Mavs in Dallas but he just lost have of the Mavs fan base.

Then, you have a Kyrie that is about a year and a half from being back to Kyrie. He will be pushing 35 at that point. Street clothes can't stay healthy and he is on the wrong side of 30. Flagg may end up being "that" guy. But, they are essentially pushing the can down the road building around a rookie again.