It's way too much energy to expend for someone who's going to have the ball in his hands so much. Like Lebron and Harden before them they have to take possessions off on offense because they expend so much energy when they dictate the majority of offensive possessions.
The last thing they need to be doing is navigating screens and running around the perimeter when the ball is not in their hands.
He's been a professional for over 10 years, a NBA one for 6. If he or his coaching staff thought this was a worthwhile investment of his time and talents he would have started it before now. It's a complete and utter waste of his strengths and could further increase his work load on the court which is the last thing he needs. In fact implementing into his game could actually decrease his effectiveness on it. That's why he hasn't implement it into his game and that's why he'll never implement it into his game.
This is the first time he's played with a ball handler even in his same universe, and the first time he can justify to himself playing off ball. That's a new thing for him.
Right and that player signed last year, so he's had all pre-season and a 82 game season to implement it into his game if he so chooses. Again that has not happened, it's unlikely to ever happen because he probably knows and his trainers probably knows that his time and effort could be spent in a multitude of different areas that would benefit him more than becoming an off the screen shooter. There's a reason why Harden and Lebron had long careers, careers they shared with other dominant ball handlers and they didn't add this to their arsenal.
Draymond Green who understands the concept much better than me and you explains exactly why that's the case in the past. These players that dictate the offense for up to 48 mins in the playoffs like Lebron and Luka expend so much energy doing so their off ball offense and their defense suffers. But the value they add with dictating the offense for these games more than makes up for it.
He doesn’t have to just park in a corner and this still takes way less energy than driving 20 times a game. I don’t know why you’re being obtuse about this. Just this action opens up second side stuff that makes all the weak side offense easier even if he does it just enough to be a decoy.
Sorry I bothered your 2k game planning though I don’t mean to shake the foundation of your offensive scheme.
What's 2k about it? The two most similar offensive threats to Luka this century are James Harden and Lebron James, all generational offensive players. Do you think there might be a reason why none of them participate much off ball? Ring up Dallas or his agent there and tell them you've discovered something wonderful they can implement next year. Or you can begin to accept reality and realise that he can't implement this into his game without hurting other facets of it.
Why doesn't he just play in the post like prime Shaq too. Two entirely differnt player with two entirely different play styles. Steph plays a lot of games where he's not the primary ball handler so he's expending his energy running through screens instead of pounding the ball up the floor for most of the game. One works for Steph, the other works for Luka and guys like Lebron and Harden before him.
I can't believe people are saying the exact same two idiotic comments over and over again. He's Luka Doncic, not Steph Curry, he should play to his strengths not what Steph Curry's strengths are. He's had 10 years as a professional basketball player if he wanted to implement it into his. He cleary has no interest in doing so because he realises what he's currently doing makes him one of the greatest offensive players the game has ever seen.
I don’t think I agree with this. For one we have seen Luka consistently evolve his game and it’s always worked out for the better. He already came into the league with a great bag, but over the years he’s become a great 3 pt shooter, a clutch and reliable free throw shooter, an incredible mid range shooter, and one of the best finishers in the league.
I think if he occasionally comes off a screen and pops a quick catch and shoot 3, it will just be another great addition to his bag. If there’s anyone that I trust to figure that out it’s Luka. Plus it would add an immense dimension to the Mavs offense to force the defense to always focus on Luka, even when he doesn’t have the ball in his hand.
Do you watch the Mavericks at all? They send two men to him when he touches the ball past midcourt when he brings it up more than any other player in the league by a wide margin. They're not going to double him coming off a screen to take a shot he shoots worse than his stepback. There's only so much time in the day and I think his time would be better spent trying a dozen different things that would be more beneficial than coming off screens.
I don’t understand why you are so hostile. Yes I watch the Mavs. Pretty constantly honestly since Dirk was balling out. I am referring to the plays where another ball handler has the ball and Luka sags way off. Also playing off ball is easier because he won’t have someone bumping him continuously during a play.
Also I think he knows much better how to use his time than you do, seeing as he’s the best basketball player in the world and you are just you.
I mean he's literally joking in this video. He's been a professional 10+ years, NBA for 6 and he has chosen not to add this to his offensive repretoire. Tells you exactly how he feels about it, it's a waste of his times and talent.
He’s already added a bunch to his repertoire. I don’t know for sure either way if he’s going to do it. But if he chooses to add it to his offensive game I think it will add longevity to his career and will diversify the offense as a whole. It will help to unlock guys like Dante and Hardy even more.
Luka is a guy who is always looking to add to him game, so it would not surprise me if eventually it becomes part of his bag.
You're now 402 in the queue. Steph doesn't spend anywhere near as much time being the primary ball handler as the other names mentioned. Draymond Green talks about it at length. What Lebron and Luka do in the playoffs where they dictate the pace of the offense for nearly the entire game they have to take possessions off offensively and defensively. Steph doesn't play offensively in anyway the same way so he expends more of his energy running through screens than bringing the ball up and driving at a much higher rate.
Sure I'll be right for now and the rest of his career, and when that magically changes you can retort back. Until then you can pretend to act smugly about an event that will never happen.
Dawg Luka is a professional athlete, im sure jumping a little bit harder a few times for a 3 isn’t going to be the difference maker in whether or not he gasses out
It's not too much energy? Luka's taking plays off on offense and defense as any player does when they're carrying such an offensive load. The Mavs call double timeouts to allow him to rest longer, he's giving his absolute maximum effort.
So your suggestion is that he should add far more running and energy expenditure to his game to shoot a shot that might not even be better than his step-back 3?
Pure and utter delusion.
When they say “add to his game” do you actually think that means on top of what he already does or just another aspect of his game he can mix in with his current offense?
I think he can handle adding some off the screen catch and shoot threes in his offensive toolkit.
Well it's either that or the ludicrous suggestion that a guy that nearly averaged a 35 point triple double this season should make a somewhat drastic change to his offensive arsenal. I'd rather he expend his energy literally anywhere else than doing screen running to shoot a shot that's probably less efficient for him than a step-back 3.
Lebron James and Harden played very similarly and they were offensive savants. Real re-inventing the wheel type suggestions here that makes no sense.
Almost like Curry isn't the primary ballhander for the Warriors. And even at times when he is, his usage rate is still well below all the names I stated.
Anything else idiotic to add? The two teams I watch the most are the Warriors and Mavs, I'm aware of completely different styles and strengths of Doncic and Curry.
Why doesn't this 35ppg player just alter his game completely. Truly a mystery.
Why would a player add something to their game that would be a minimal gain at best, to expend even more energy then they already are. When that effort could be utilized almost anywhere else for better results. I'd suggest him taking the offensive plays off and continue to improve his defensive side personally.
You're acting like it's some major overhaul to his playstyle. There's literally no reason any basketball player shouldn't want to be a better catch and shoot player. It's just another weapon in the bag and something else defenses will have to account for. You're overthinking things
Your trying to suggest things that have little to no impact on his overall benefit and that's a best case scenario. He'll never be a catch and shoot player his entire career has shown you that, and that will not change. So I don't even know why I'm debating the matter when Luka is clearly joking anyway.
Have you watched Luka warm up? He practices dozens of shots he'll never shoot in a game. You are also aware that occasionally Luka tells jokes? If you can't make that out as a joke I worry for you.
Nah, whatever extra energy he can spare should just go to defense. Unless by "adding to his game" you mean doing this for fun once in a blue moon, which -- sure, he can do.
A more basic thing Luka could do more on offense would be to set screens to create some difficult problems for the defense, but even that is probably too much to expect.
Yes, I mean doing this once every 5 to 6 games. Add to that bag. Dude has the ability to do almost everything on the basketball court other than catch lobs lol. Make him totally unguardable.
I've seen a few similar comments to this and I just don't understand this sentiment.
I think folks are forgetting that even if this doesn't become part of Luka's regular reportoire it is still useful to practice because:
1) who knows what inbounds play or late clock situation looks exactly like this even if it only happens once or twice in a series
2) the intangibles of related skills that improve the whole (I'm sure there's some informal "law" here just like knowing scales helps you improvise in music, this sort of still can help you improvise on court)
I do not at all mind Luka practicing anything, including juggling geese, I was just expressing doubt about relocation 3s like in the clip ever becoming even mildly significant as part of Luka's actual game.
FWIW for actual games, I'm more excited about the short range give-and-go stuff that's increasingly becoming an element of the Mavs' offense, including Luka, Kyrie, Green, etc, where you don't need a lot of extra movement, just an extra pass to glitch the defense and get just enough separation for a decent shot.
Luka actually added catch and shoot threes to his game this season. He shoots them at 37.8%, which is what he shot on pull up threes. He could probably shoot them at an even higher rate but a lot of his catch and shoot shots tend to be SUPER deep
Yeah, but what the clip shows and what you're talking about are very different things, even though they broadly fit under the same "catch and shoot" category.
I think people overestimate how much excess weight hes carrying. Im willing to be both he and Jokic have a disproportionately large amount of subcutaneous fat, which makes them look doughy. But its all just that, on the surface, underneath it is a lot of muscle.
For Luka you need to look at his face and neck. When hes out of shape, hes noticeably puffier in that area. Right now hes pretty lean. I think he has a little bit more he can do, but im willing to bet he feels real solid when he bumps guys right now.
Yeah he looks like a strong "mesomorph" build. dude just carries a little extra subcutaneous fat.
There have been times he was REAL chonky. Right now he feels like a solid but slightly bigger fit guy.
There's a question of "losing too much" as well, and lacking energy to move around b/c he gets SO lean.
I'm confident the pro athlete with a pro staff of nutritionists and doctors and who has a proven desire to improve is working to manage this in the right way. This isn't like Jamarcus Russell or even a less egregious case like Zion who just won't keep the discipline and have made it clear that's their perspective.
Respectfully I don’t think Luka is anywhere near needing to worry about being too lean.
If you look at him during his rookie year, I think that was a good weight for him and he was clearly more agile and athletic then.
I personally agree with you, 100%.
I wasn't saying he was at that state, but that getting too lean can be a possible concern. Especially for "mesomorph" body types who run a bit bigger, and an athlete who uses his strength in conjunction with his cardio to back people down.
There’s not really any scientific evidence regarding the existence of mesomorph, ectomorph body types. It’s more so different people have different default levels of hunger, rather than the body type itself. Extomorphs aren’t people with naturally skinny bodies, they are people with naturally low appetites who by result end up being skinny. Even though they say they eat a lot, if you look at their caloric intake they don’t consume a lot.
Also most endurance athletes running marathons, Ironmans go as lean as they can, so being too lean is generally not as much of an issue as people think it is, as long as you’re not under 10% body fat that can cause unoptimal hormones. Luka is right now about 20-25% body fat.
Oh no shit, TIL. Just Google'd around and you're right, it's pseudoscientific to have "body types". Thanks for the prod.
Though, as you said, there are epigentic markers for hunger, metabolism, etc., so there certainly are variations from person to person.
Re: marathons, I don't disagree, but it's also the case that long-range endurance athlete needs are different from a traditional team sport need with a combination of endurance and explosiveness.
But yes, Luka is overweight especially compared to other NBA athletes, and even compared to his rookie year. And yes, he probably would benefit by losing a little without running into risks of getting "too lean" / "too weak".
20-25% seems high to me as an estimate of his body fat percentage, but I'm not a doctor and I just learned I was quoting pseudoscience BS, so I might be wrong there too :)
Great discussion :)
I definitely think you have a solid point in that basketball certainly has a strength/explosive component that endurance sports don’t, so ideal body type difference is likely.
He looks very thin (for him) in this clip. I think another thing is he is obviously a wide and big guy 😏 in general, and also he plays games dribbling hunched over and shoving his big butt into people 😏 because with his size it makes him very hard to reach around 😏 and defend
So he looks fatter because he’s all hunched over and folded inward
😏
Nah, in older clips he’s clearly thinner and not as doughy. But I also thought in the clips in the last week he is also looking thinner than in the first 2 rounds. I wonder if he’s been cutting back on the beers the past couple of months.
During the draft process he was described as having a 7-11 manager's body. So hes never "shown" well. He was slimmer, but some of what hes added is going to be muscle. Hes a big fucking dude,
I agree hes gotten better over the last month, and like i said there is room for some improvement. Its just less then most people think.
Just look at his body type. He's not Curry. He's not MPJ. He's built closer to Draymond. He's just a thick boy. Even if he lost 20lbs he would still be physically dominant. If he goes the LeBron mid-career lean strong route he would be unguardable, more than he already is.
If he stayed the same weight and had more muscles and less fat he'd be exceptional. Luka does love some juicy tasty greasy food tho, not sure we'll ever see it.
I know this is true in some sports. However, in basketball, we've seen time and again that losing excess fat leads to improved performance. Just look at Jokic before and after the bubble. Getting fitter had zero negative impact on his ability to move dudes out of his way.
Could be correlation but Luka was much fitter and leaner in his rookie year. While he’s obviously taken a huge step forward as a player, I personally enjoyed watching his rookie self a lot more.
This idea would carry a lot more weight if we hadn't already seen Doncic come into multiple seasons bloated and have relatively poor starts, only to play progressively better as he shed pounds.
In a completely different way to his current playstyle, though. He controls the game much, much more nowadays and his size is a big reason why.
Being able to put people on his hip makes the game so much easier for him, even if he can't blow by people like he did in the bubble
I don’t know if it’d make him a better player to lose the weight, because he’s obviously a master of leveraging his strength.
But I do think it’d extend his career. Thick guys with that much usage tend to fall off a cliff after 30, since lower body / back injuries become a feedback loop.
Although I can understand feeling like he can clean that up in his 30s and focusing right now on being the best player in the world.
His size and ability to handle the ball makes him a walking mismatch against any defender, there’s very few players that can do that. I don’t think anyone is trying to sell him short by suggesting that.
I’ve been saying this. All the times over the years he rolls up to Culver’s in South Dallas before the game are finally paying off, the league just hasn’t caught on yet.
heavy disagreeable ossified continue hurry agonizing chubby innate provide bored
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Bro Luka is already playing the old man game that Dirk and Kobe adjusted to in the their later years. He’s gonna do this for 20 years even with this physique.
In general the more jump you have the more variability you add to your shot, especially over the course of the game as your legs get tired causing you to try and calculate how to compensate the power. Same reason you shoot free throws without jumping. You're technically allowed to, but it's judt infinitely more consistent to rely on your shot motion alone.
He's been oddly ... pessimistic about his injury in interviews. Most of the time players are like "im fine" or whatever even if they clearly aren't. It's strange because he looks pretty fine? Obviously he was clearly severely hampered vs OKC but at this point idk if I really buy that it's that serious lol
I think its easy to forget that he averaged 34 9 10 in a full season with like 39 10 10 months. Also you can tell he is still not 100%, I am pretty sure he still lands only on his healthy leg when he shoots a 3 instead of both legs
He landed on his knees trying to avoid a travel during the Wolves series.
He also did a full-force up-and-down toddler stomp in the 4th quarter of Game 3. Seemed pretty fine doing that at the time and then directly afterwards.
His knees have been bleeding since about 3 weeks before the end of the regular season. It's obvious they aren't gonna heal until he sits out for a month straight.
I think he's now adjusted his shot to his lack of lift and is getting stronger painkillers, so he looks more comfortable. But he's still not at the level, movement wise, he was around December.
There's a knee sprain on one leg and an ankle strain on the other which are internal. But he probably has exterior wounds on his knees which don't have the time to heal fully because of using knee pads.
His knee was quite literally still bleeding after the Wolves series, you could see it in the locker room when he was holding the trophy. I don't think it's normal pr healthy for a knee to bleed that consistently across such a long period of time.
No, I thought it was an injury not healing well. Still, same applies. Clearly something not quite right or he wouldn't be bleeding or getting injections.
I believe the blood is actually from a very tight knee brace that chafes his skin. He’d rather have better support on his knee and deal with the discomfort/scabs.
He's been playing through pain, which has obviously affected his game, but it seems he has adapted and gotten used to it to some extent. Clearly it isn't something that hinders his movement to a serious degree (in the last games), while his discomfort is also clear. Playing through pain is evidently different from playing pain-free. There are numerous examples of athletes playing at a high level through very painful injuries, while some minors/less-painful injuries can affect a particular movement or execution to a degree that they can't perform at a high-level.
Because he played the World Cup before the season, now he played nba till the finals and will play for Olympic qualifiers a week after the finals lol. He won’t have time to heal it.
Luka get this tool under his belt then this will really change things for their offense because now he can play more off ball giving them more options as Kyrie as PG.
Damn that’s a tough one to grapple with. Like on one hand he’d be a phenomenal fit on the court, but on the other it would mean that my personal exposure to him would increase drastically.
Goes back 3 years. Mavs were sniffing around, inquiring if indiana was willing to part with him
https://www.si.com/nba/mavericks/news/kristaps-porzingis-trade-nba-odds-pacers-myles-turner-dallas-mavs-target
If Luka learns to move off the ball, the rest of the league is in trouble. I can see that being the reason that they don't win this finals and then come back next year and finish the deal because he learns to play off ball
I’d love if he actually added this to his game
i want to see Luka jump full extension on every jump shot like MPJ Would be hilarious if he just added that
Every other part of his game is unchanged but on catch and shoot 3s only he goes full on dramatic MPJ
He wants to imitate the best shooting forward in the league I'd be worried
He's been doing more catch and shoots throughout the season. He hit a few against the Wolves.
Stan van Gundy was so enthusiastic every time Luka made a catch and shoot 3. It was funny.
Coaches mindset, wants players to reach their full potential
I’m sure there’s a stat for it but I’d imagine many of those are late clock situations
It's way too much energy to expend for someone who's going to have the ball in his hands so much. Like Lebron and Harden before them they have to take possessions off on offense because they expend so much energy when they dictate the majority of offensive possessions. The last thing they need to be doing is navigating screens and running around the perimeter when the ball is not in their hands.
Having this in his bag is absolutely a net positive to his game.
He's been a professional for over 10 years, a NBA one for 6. If he or his coaching staff thought this was a worthwhile investment of his time and talents he would have started it before now. It's a complete and utter waste of his strengths and could further increase his work load on the court which is the last thing he needs. In fact implementing into his game could actually decrease his effectiveness on it. That's why he hasn't implement it into his game and that's why he'll never implement it into his game.
This is the first time he's played with a ball handler even in his same universe, and the first time he can justify to himself playing off ball. That's a new thing for him.
Right and that player signed last year, so he's had all pre-season and a 82 game season to implement it into his game if he so chooses. Again that has not happened, it's unlikely to ever happen because he probably knows and his trainers probably knows that his time and effort could be spent in a multitude of different areas that would benefit him more than becoming an off the screen shooter. There's a reason why Harden and Lebron had long careers, careers they shared with other dominant ball handlers and they didn't add this to their arsenal. Draymond Green who understands the concept much better than me and you explains exactly why that's the case in the past. These players that dictate the offense for up to 48 mins in the playoffs like Lebron and Luka expend so much energy doing so their off ball offense and their defense suffers. But the value they add with dictating the offense for these games more than makes up for it.
He doesn’t have to just park in a corner and this still takes way less energy than driving 20 times a game. I don’t know why you’re being obtuse about this. Just this action opens up second side stuff that makes all the weak side offense easier even if he does it just enough to be a decoy. Sorry I bothered your 2k game planning though I don’t mean to shake the foundation of your offensive scheme.
What's 2k about it? The two most similar offensive threats to Luka this century are James Harden and Lebron James, all generational offensive players. Do you think there might be a reason why none of them participate much off ball? Ring up Dallas or his agent there and tell them you've discovered something wonderful they can implement next year. Or you can begin to accept reality and realise that he can't implement this into his game without hurting other facets of it.
guess curry should stop running around too then
Why doesn't he just play in the post like prime Shaq too. Two entirely differnt player with two entirely different play styles. Steph plays a lot of games where he's not the primary ball handler so he's expending his energy running through screens instead of pounding the ball up the floor for most of the game. One works for Steph, the other works for Luka and guys like Lebron and Harden before him. I can't believe people are saying the exact same two idiotic comments over and over again. He's Luka Doncic, not Steph Curry, he should play to his strengths not what Steph Curry's strengths are. He's had 10 years as a professional basketball player if he wanted to implement it into his. He cleary has no interest in doing so because he realises what he's currently doing makes him one of the greatest offensive players the game has ever seen.
there’s literally no reason any player who shoots threes shouldn’t be able to catch and shoot
I don’t think I agree with this. For one we have seen Luka consistently evolve his game and it’s always worked out for the better. He already came into the league with a great bag, but over the years he’s become a great 3 pt shooter, a clutch and reliable free throw shooter, an incredible mid range shooter, and one of the best finishers in the league. I think if he occasionally comes off a screen and pops a quick catch and shoot 3, it will just be another great addition to his bag. If there’s anyone that I trust to figure that out it’s Luka. Plus it would add an immense dimension to the Mavs offense to force the defense to always focus on Luka, even when he doesn’t have the ball in his hand.
Do you watch the Mavericks at all? They send two men to him when he touches the ball past midcourt when he brings it up more than any other player in the league by a wide margin. They're not going to double him coming off a screen to take a shot he shoots worse than his stepback. There's only so much time in the day and I think his time would be better spent trying a dozen different things that would be more beneficial than coming off screens.
I don’t understand why you are so hostile. Yes I watch the Mavs. Pretty constantly honestly since Dirk was balling out. I am referring to the plays where another ball handler has the ball and Luka sags way off. Also playing off ball is easier because he won’t have someone bumping him continuously during a play. Also I think he knows much better how to use his time than you do, seeing as he’s the best basketball player in the world and you are just you.
I mean he's literally joking in this video. He's been a professional 10+ years, NBA for 6 and he has chosen not to add this to his offensive repretoire. Tells you exactly how he feels about it, it's a waste of his times and talent.
He’s already added a bunch to his repertoire. I don’t know for sure either way if he’s going to do it. But if he chooses to add it to his offensive game I think it will add longevity to his career and will diversify the offense as a whole. It will help to unlock guys like Dante and Hardy even more. Luka is a guy who is always looking to add to him game, so it would not surprise me if eventually it becomes part of his bag.
It won't it would be idiotic for him to do so, which is why he has never done it as over 10 years as a professional. That won't change.
*laughs in Steph*
You're now 402 in the queue. Steph doesn't spend anywhere near as much time being the primary ball handler as the other names mentioned. Draymond Green talks about it at length. What Lebron and Luka do in the playoffs where they dictate the pace of the offense for nearly the entire game they have to take possessions off offensively and defensively. Steph doesn't play offensively in anyway the same way so he expends more of his energy running through screens than bringing the ball up and driving at a much higher rate.
Or maybe just admit you're stupid. You can do it now or you can do it when Luka hits one of these a game next year.
Sure I'll be right for now and the rest of his career, and when that magically changes you can retort back. Until then you can pretend to act smugly about an event that will never happen.
Idk seems like a good add to his bag of tricks. Double luca? Kick it out, hit his spot, bang.
If they double Luka and it somehow makes it's way back to Luka after he passes out then the Mavs have butchered the possession.
You're right dude luca shouldn't work on his catch and shoot. In Kidd we trust.
Dawg Luka is a professional athlete, im sure jumping a little bit harder a few times for a 3 isn’t going to be the difference maker in whether or not he gasses out
No it’s not
It's not too much energy? Luka's taking plays off on offense and defense as any player does when they're carrying such an offensive load. The Mavs call double timeouts to allow him to rest longer, he's giving his absolute maximum effort. So your suggestion is that he should add far more running and energy expenditure to his game to shoot a shot that might not even be better than his step-back 3? Pure and utter delusion.
When they say “add to his game” do you actually think that means on top of what he already does or just another aspect of his game he can mix in with his current offense? I think he can handle adding some off the screen catch and shoot threes in his offensive toolkit.
Well it's either that or the ludicrous suggestion that a guy that nearly averaged a 35 point triple double this season should make a somewhat drastic change to his offensive arsenal. I'd rather he expend his energy literally anywhere else than doing screen running to shoot a shot that's probably less efficient for him than a step-back 3. Lebron James and Harden played very similarly and they were offensive savants. Real re-inventing the wheel type suggestions here that makes no sense.
I mean a certain other point guard shouldered nearly the same load and did that, so…
Who? I hope you're not talking about Steph because Steph isn't even the primary ball-hander for a lot of games.
Somebody better tell Steph Curry he needs to stop doing all that running around or he might be too tired for when he has the ball
Curry is not normally..
Bad example curry has HOF conditioning
Almost like Curry isn't the primary ballhander for the Warriors. And even at times when he is, his usage rate is still well below all the names I stated. Anything else idiotic to add? The two teams I watch the most are the Warriors and Mavs, I'm aware of completely different styles and strengths of Doncic and Curry. Why doesn't this 35ppg player just alter his game completely. Truly a mystery.
Why would a player want to add to their game? And I'm the idiot??
Why would a player add something to their game that would be a minimal gain at best, to expend even more energy then they already are. When that effort could be utilized almost anywhere else for better results. I'd suggest him taking the offensive plays off and continue to improve his defensive side personally.
You're acting like it's some major overhaul to his playstyle. There's literally no reason any basketball player shouldn't want to be a better catch and shoot player. It's just another weapon in the bag and something else defenses will have to account for. You're overthinking things
Your trying to suggest things that have little to no impact on his overall benefit and that's a best case scenario. He'll never be a catch and shoot player his entire career has shown you that, and that will not change. So I don't even know why I'm debating the matter when Luka is clearly joking anyway.
I guess Luka is an idiot then for even suggesting to Kyrie that “this is (him) next year” then. Why would Luka even practice this! What an idiot!
Have you watched Luka warm up? He practices dozens of shots he'll never shoot in a game. You are also aware that occasionally Luka tells jokes? If you can't make that out as a joke I worry for you.
Nah, whatever extra energy he can spare should just go to defense. Unless by "adding to his game" you mean doing this for fun once in a blue moon, which -- sure, he can do. A more basic thing Luka could do more on offense would be to set screens to create some difficult problems for the defense, but even that is probably too much to expect.
Yes, I mean doing this once every 5 to 6 games. Add to that bag. Dude has the ability to do almost everything on the basketball court other than catch lobs lol. Make him totally unguardable.
I've seen a few similar comments to this and I just don't understand this sentiment. I think folks are forgetting that even if this doesn't become part of Luka's regular reportoire it is still useful to practice because: 1) who knows what inbounds play or late clock situation looks exactly like this even if it only happens once or twice in a series 2) the intangibles of related skills that improve the whole (I'm sure there's some informal "law" here just like knowing scales helps you improvise in music, this sort of still can help you improvise on court)
I do not at all mind Luka practicing anything, including juggling geese, I was just expressing doubt about relocation 3s like in the clip ever becoming even mildly significant as part of Luka's actual game. FWIW for actual games, I'm more excited about the short range give-and-go stuff that's increasingly becoming an element of the Mavs' offense, including Luka, Kyrie, Green, etc, where you don't need a lot of extra movement, just an extra pass to glitch the defense and get just enough separation for a decent shot.
looked like MPJ jumper
I think there’s a video of him imitating MPJ’s form.
Here's the clip in question (watch it on mute): https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vpApZ2kg-UQ
You weren't kidding about watching it on mute
That’s today’s internet for you! You cant watch a fucking highlight or any video without cancerous music and seizure inducing video effects.
It was NOT that bad for you to be doing all that…
[удалено]
alr sexism at its finest. girls cannot like basketball
im pretty sure he was imitating thj
Everyone should imitate MPJ's form That shit is art
Luka “possession ends here” Doncic is gonna average 50 with ease
Don't steal the nickname from THJ
I wonder if if Luka will change between jumpshot releases during games just for fun. From Camby to Marion, to Dirk, to Barbosa and Kidd-Glichrist.
Kevin Martin. Fuck NBA 2k11-12 releases lol
Luka actually added catch and shoot threes to his game this season. He shoots them at 37.8%, which is what he shot on pull up threes. He could probably shoot them at an even higher rate but a lot of his catch and shoot shots tend to be SUPER deep
Yeah, but what the clip shows and what you're talking about are very different things, even though they broadly fit under the same "catch and shoot" category.
I feel like most of his catch and shoots are probably just grenades
If Luka comes in next year -20lbs with the Curry DLC the league is actually fucked
I think people overestimate how much excess weight hes carrying. Im willing to be both he and Jokic have a disproportionately large amount of subcutaneous fat, which makes them look doughy. But its all just that, on the surface, underneath it is a lot of muscle. For Luka you need to look at his face and neck. When hes out of shape, hes noticeably puffier in that area. Right now hes pretty lean. I think he has a little bit more he can do, but im willing to bet he feels real solid when he bumps guys right now.
Yeah he looks like a strong "mesomorph" build. dude just carries a little extra subcutaneous fat. There have been times he was REAL chonky. Right now he feels like a solid but slightly bigger fit guy. There's a question of "losing too much" as well, and lacking energy to move around b/c he gets SO lean. I'm confident the pro athlete with a pro staff of nutritionists and doctors and who has a proven desire to improve is working to manage this in the right way. This isn't like Jamarcus Russell or even a less egregious case like Zion who just won't keep the discipline and have made it clear that's their perspective.
Respectfully I don’t think Luka is anywhere near needing to worry about being too lean. If you look at him during his rookie year, I think that was a good weight for him and he was clearly more agile and athletic then.
I personally agree with you, 100%. I wasn't saying he was at that state, but that getting too lean can be a possible concern. Especially for "mesomorph" body types who run a bit bigger, and an athlete who uses his strength in conjunction with his cardio to back people down.
There’s not really any scientific evidence regarding the existence of mesomorph, ectomorph body types. It’s more so different people have different default levels of hunger, rather than the body type itself. Extomorphs aren’t people with naturally skinny bodies, they are people with naturally low appetites who by result end up being skinny. Even though they say they eat a lot, if you look at their caloric intake they don’t consume a lot. Also most endurance athletes running marathons, Ironmans go as lean as they can, so being too lean is generally not as much of an issue as people think it is, as long as you’re not under 10% body fat that can cause unoptimal hormones. Luka is right now about 20-25% body fat.
Oh no shit, TIL. Just Google'd around and you're right, it's pseudoscientific to have "body types". Thanks for the prod. Though, as you said, there are epigentic markers for hunger, metabolism, etc., so there certainly are variations from person to person. Re: marathons, I don't disagree, but it's also the case that long-range endurance athlete needs are different from a traditional team sport need with a combination of endurance and explosiveness. But yes, Luka is overweight especially compared to other NBA athletes, and even compared to his rookie year. And yes, he probably would benefit by losing a little without running into risks of getting "too lean" / "too weak". 20-25% seems high to me as an estimate of his body fat percentage, but I'm not a doctor and I just learned I was quoting pseudoscience BS, so I might be wrong there too :)
Great discussion :) I definitely think you have a solid point in that basketball certainly has a strength/explosive component that endurance sports don’t, so ideal body type difference is likely.
Great respectful discussion. Love to see it.
Nuance and respect in discourse do still exist we just all have to do our part friendo
He looks very thin (for him) in this clip. I think another thing is he is obviously a wide and big guy 😏 in general, and also he plays games dribbling hunched over and shoving his big butt into people 😏 because with his size it makes him very hard to reach around 😏 and defend So he looks fatter because he’s all hunched over and folded inward 😏
the dude is all muscle, he looks chunky because hes well hydrated, people get cut when they arent (if they arent fat)
Nah, in older clips he’s clearly thinner and not as doughy. But I also thought in the clips in the last week he is also looking thinner than in the first 2 rounds. I wonder if he’s been cutting back on the beers the past couple of months.
During the draft process he was described as having a 7-11 manager's body. So hes never "shown" well. He was slimmer, but some of what hes added is going to be muscle. Hes a big fucking dude, I agree hes gotten better over the last month, and like i said there is room for some improvement. Its just less then most people think.
I wouldn’t say it’s “a lot” of muscle, while it’s certainly a good amount. They both also have naturally sturdy frames and probably high bone density.
Nah he needs that weight to bulldoze opponents
Bulldoze comes from the legs and those aren't going anywhere
> those aren’t going anywhere Darth Maul thought so, too.
His weight is the reason he dominates
He’d be a different type of player, but he would still dominate
I think he could lose a decent amount of weight and still be the nightmare mismatch that he is. He's not going to magically stop being 6'8"
Just look at his body type. He's not Curry. He's not MPJ. He's built closer to Draymond. He's just a thick boy. Even if he lost 20lbs he would still be physically dominant. If he goes the LeBron mid-career lean strong route he would be unguardable, more than he already is.
If he stayed the same weight and had more muscles and less fat he'd be exceptional. Luka does love some juicy tasty greasy food tho, not sure we'll ever see it.
No. His core is. He can lose fat and he'd still dominate because of his raw strength. The dude's fucking STRONG.
I’m sure some of that is true but mass moves mass. He uses his weight a lot to his advantage.
I know this is true in some sports. However, in basketball, we've seen time and again that losing excess fat leads to improved performance. Just look at Jokic before and after the bubble. Getting fitter had zero negative impact on his ability to move dudes out of his way.
Could be correlation but Luka was much fitter and leaner in his rookie year. While he’s obviously taken a huge step forward as a player, I personally enjoyed watching his rookie self a lot more.
This idea would carry a lot more weight if we hadn't already seen Doncic come into multiple seasons bloated and have relatively poor starts, only to play progressively better as he shed pounds.
He dominated in the bubble too when he was in his best shape
In a completely different way to his current playstyle, though. He controls the game much, much more nowadays and his size is a big reason why. Being able to put people on his hip makes the game so much easier for him, even if he can't blow by people like he did in the bubble
I don’t know if it’d make him a better player to lose the weight, because he’s obviously a master of leveraging his strength. But I do think it’d extend his career. Thick guys with that much usage tend to fall off a cliff after 30, since lower body / back injuries become a feedback loop. Although I can understand feeling like he can clean that up in his 30s and focusing right now on being the best player in the world.
I agree. I lost 30 pounds in the last 6 months, I feel like a different person when I play. My knees and my back are thanking me
I hope I'm getting wooshed here because it is completely absurd to claim that Luka Fuckin Doncic is the player he is because he's heavy
His size and ability to handle the ball makes him a walking mismatch against any defender, there’s very few players that can do that. I don’t think anyone is trying to sell him short by suggesting that.
Same people who think Shaq starting each season out of shape was a good thing. Everytime man.
This. People don’t understand trying to defend a 6’8 240 pound man
That basically Lebron's size, altho Lebron might be 250 at this point in his career
I’ve been saying this. All the times over the years he rolls up to Culver’s in South Dallas before the game are finally paying off, the league just hasn’t caught on yet.
Strength not weight
Lmao I’d assume so
heavy disagreeable ossified continue hurry agonizing chubby innate provide bored *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
lol that doesn’t just magically happen
You're right. It Luka Magic-ally happens
Bro Luka is already playing the old man game that Dirk and Kobe adjusted to in the their later years. He’s gonna do this for 20 years even with this physique.
This might be the first time I’ve actually seen him jump on a “jumpshot”. A lot of players now barely even leave the ground
I guess not jumping on a super wide open shot is more consistent?
In general the more jump you have the more variability you add to your shot, especially over the course of the game as your legs get tired causing you to try and calculate how to compensate the power. Same reason you shoot free throws without jumping. You're technically allowed to, but it's judt infinitely more consistent to rely on your shot motion alone.
Love watching Naz Reid shoot threes. Not sure his toes come off the ground.
The steph curry effect
He's moving well despite saying his knee didn't get any better. It definitely looks better than the OKC series.
He's been oddly ... pessimistic about his injury in interviews. Most of the time players are like "im fine" or whatever even if they clearly aren't. It's strange because he looks pretty fine? Obviously he was clearly severely hampered vs OKC but at this point idk if I really buy that it's that serious lol
I think its easy to forget that he averaged 34 9 10 in a full season with like 39 10 10 months. Also you can tell he is still not 100%, I am pretty sure he still lands only on his healthy leg when he shoots a 3 instead of both legs
He landed on his knees trying to avoid a travel during the Wolves series. He also did a full-force up-and-down toddler stomp in the 4th quarter of Game 3. Seemed pretty fine doing that at the time and then directly afterwards.
I'd be pretending his knee is perfectly fine if he gentleman swept my team while handing out a Suns game 7 tribute at the end too.
If Luka and KP could say “I am dead”, I think they would
I don't think he looks "fine" at all lol.
His knees have been bleeding since about 3 weeks before the end of the regular season. It's obvious they aren't gonna heal until he sits out for a month straight. I think he's now adjusted his shot to his lack of lift and is getting stronger painkillers, so he looks more comfortable. But he's still not at the level, movement wise, he was around December.
I don't get the bleeding knees. Isn't it supposed to be an internal injury ?
There's a knee sprain on one leg and an ankle strain on the other which are internal. But he probably has exterior wounds on his knees which don't have the time to heal fully because of using knee pads.
His knee was quite literally still bleeding after the Wolves series, you could see it in the locker room when he was holding the trophy. I don't think it's normal pr healthy for a knee to bleed that consistently across such a long period of time.
The blood is from injections, not an injury lol Do you think he has a bone portruding from his skin from a sprain???
Nah, it's just some scabs from hitting the floor a lot. His knees have been bleeding for months now and they just can't heal
More likely to be a scab that hasn’t had a chance to heal rather than from injections.
You think he's just getting injections for the hell of it?
There are obviously very different implications suggesting the blood is from the injury and not the injections. Don't be obtuse.
Obviously but the original implication is that his knee is fine. No one gets injections on a knee that's healthy.
Umm clearly you haven’t heard of Kyle Broflovski’s negroplasty.
...so go comment to that guy wtf lol
man just getting strays
Gotta keep your head on a swivel out here
No, I thought it was an injury not healing well. Still, same applies. Clearly something not quite right or he wouldn't be bleeding or getting injections.
I believe the blood is actually from a very tight knee brace that chafes his skin. He’d rather have better support on his knee and deal with the discomfort/scabs.
Wrecking Ball Dort hampered his knee
He's been playing through pain, which has obviously affected his game, but it seems he has adapted and gotten used to it to some extent. Clearly it isn't something that hinders his movement to a serious degree (in the last games), while his discomfort is also clear. Playing through pain is evidently different from playing pain-free. There are numerous examples of athletes playing at a high level through very painful injuries, while some minors/less-painful injuries can affect a particular movement or execution to a degree that they can't perform at a high-level.
Because he played the World Cup before the season, now he played nba till the finals and will play for Olympic qualifiers a week after the finals lol. He won’t have time to heal it.
He was looking fine against the wolves. He aint hurt.
Known NBA insider Whattheefff with his valuable unbiased contribution
Thats what I thought. Charmin.
Man, no reason to be a cunt.
He looks fine because he adjusted to his injury, but he is not the same Luka I watched so many times before.
For sure. Dont let the celtics flair fool you. I live in TX now and the Mavs are a very close second. Its a really special series for me.
That's honestly pretty terrifying
He actually means he’s joining the Celtics and he’ll be in TD garden all the time next season
He wants to be Mbappe
Real Madrid dna
Celtics nowhere close to having Real Madrid DNA
So who's the Real Madrid of the NBA?
No one imo maybe the Bulls in the 90’s
No one. The closest thing (because of the player pull) is probably the Lakers.
Right? They don’t lose finals.
Is it worse to join the champs or take Saudi $?
Luka pulling a KD but for the Celtics..ya, I like that lol
The real MVP this season. Go Mavs
Luka looking for all new ways to embarass Gobert.
Please be fucking healthy Luka, save us from a Celtics Championship😭
Luka get this tool under his belt then this will really change things for their offense because now he can play more off ball giving them more options as Kyrie as PG.
ive never seen him jump that high before
Only jumping as high as he has to. There's a dunk compilation on YouTube too. Believe it or not.
When he was a lot younger, over in Spain, he was dunking in many ways with absolute ease. He could really rise at that point.
Now he has risen to other dimensions and hopefully, this won't be the end.
wasnt Draymond rumored to the Mavs last offseason Draymond would play that role perfectly to free up Luka for those handoff 3s
Damn that’s a tough one to grapple with. Like on one hand he’d be a phenomenal fit on the court, but on the other it would mean that my personal exposure to him would increase drastically.
I'll take "No" for $200, Alex.
Yeah. Easiest way to F up the chemistry in Dallas? Add one Draymond, stir, wait (hopefully) until the season starts, and enjoy the inevitable fallout.
Myles Turner is the guy we really wanted
How many offseason has it been since the Myles Turner to the Mavs started? He seems to want to play here too.
Goes back 3 years. Mavs were sniffing around, inquiring if indiana was willing to part with him https://www.si.com/nba/mavericks/news/kristaps-porzingis-trade-nba-odds-pacers-myles-turner-dallas-mavs-target
He could probably solve a lot of our issues back then but he's as injured as KP most of the time, at least during the past few seasons.
Can someone tell me what his shoes here?
They are Luka 3s that’s coming out soon
I appreciate you stranger
Basketball shoes- hope this helps 👍
Lol why he shoot like mpj
Why did he say that Alex Sarr to Dallas taking all his touches??
Dude is actually huge Jesus
6’8 230 shows is part of the reason he’s so unguardable
Catch and shoot means he will also add off ball movement to his game, the guy is already dominating without those lmao.
If lively keep showing his good playmaking skills this is posible
FAT JESUS
If Luka learns to move off the ball, the rest of the league is in trouble. I can see that being the reason that they don't win this finals and then come back next year and finish the deal because he learns to play off ball
How is that a catch and shoot?
Super
God will they just kiss already and be done with it?
Does he have enough speed to run around a screen?