Luka Doncic evaluation

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francosy
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Luka Doncic evaluation

Post by francosy »

Hello to everybody!

I was invited to this forum by some key members. They told me that here is a lack of European guys that know well Luka Doncic. Well, I should be one of them :D

I'm from Slovenia, Luka's homeland. I know Luka since he was 11 (I was 15 at that time). At that age he came to our elementary school with his school's basketball club. When he stepped of the floor, I immediately knew that he is special. He was far better than other guys. I'm also a huge fan of Olimpija (Dragic, Baynes, Danny Green, Bertans, Udrih etc. played here), his fist club. At the age of 13 he moved to Real Madrid. As a fan, I was mad at him and I was sure that there is no way that he can prove himself there. No non-Spanish player (except Mirotic, I think) didn't mage to come out from Madrid's junior squad to their first team. But Luka succeeded and I realized that he made a right move when he moved out of Slovenia.

Why would Luka be a perfect fit? Well, I will be honest - when I saw Ayton, I just thought: "that boy would fit perfectly to Suns". I still think so, but if you can have Doncic on 1 and Capela on 5, you just have to take it. If Suns have room for a quality free agent center, Doncic is better solution, because there is no PG on free agents market that would fit to Suns. You will see, his leadership is amazing and he is born winner. Also, don't look just for his stats. He is absolutely better 3pt shooter then it looks, but he takes a lot of difficult shots. Real Madrid has quite slow squad (Doncic is not slow, but other players), and (IMO) bad coach. They often run out of time in attack and Luka or Sergio Llulll (he was named as Euroleague MVP last year, but then he injured) have to shoot in last seconds. In that element, Luka is really great, much better then Llul. Luka is extremely good passer, but slightly inexperienced, so he make a turnover sometimes, and proficient rebounder. In last few months he improved his defense, which is now quite good, but was bad at the start of the season. If I hear someone that he is slow or nonathletic, I think that she/he doesn't watch him a lot. He can dunk over a center, without a problem. He uses his body very well, his legs are long and with fewer steps he can cross over opponent's defense. Luka has a potential in that area for sure, but guys, he is 19, give him time to fulfill it. I also know that sometimes he looks slow, but this is just a consequence of his biggest advantage - basketball IQ. He won't penetrate under the rim, if he knows that there won't be a solution to finish an attack. But on the other hand, he can do that, usually efficiently.

I'm a huge fan of Booker and I really think that he needs a crafty guy like Doncic on PG position. And they could also swap positions in the game. I can imagine that it would be very hard to defend these to guys together. But for a winning combination, they would need a center who can rebound, plays defense and so on. Capela would be perfect fit, Ayton too for sure, but you can't have him and Doncic. Len is to bad, Chandler is to old. Jordan, Kanter or even Nurkic and Favours could be options too.

Another important thing is a coach. I suggest that you watch matches from Eurobasket 2017. Doncic played for Slovenian NT and they took the trophy, lead by Kokoskov (as you all probably know). Maybe you are not fully aware of that success, but that was a miracle. Span, Serbia, Latvia, France, Russia... they all had much better rosters in theory. Dragic played for NT for some years, and Slovenia wasn't even close to the trophy, so he wasn't a key. But Luka... He just makes teammates better. He scores, he assists, he rebounds, he scores buzzer beaters... His impact is amazing. He puts the team on a higher level, his leadership is marvelous. I know that a lot of you are in doubts, but he will prove you're wrong as he come to NBA. To Suns or any other team. Kokoskov knows Luka, Luka knows him, they are in nonstop contact. In NT, we didn't have attackingly the best centers, but we took the trophy, so Igor just knows how to play a game with good guards.

From Lukas perspective, there is no question - Phoenix is perfect team for him. Here is a lot of talent, good and known coach, Dragic (he is a good friend of Luka) can also help him with some city and organisation issues... On the other hand, Kings are one of the worst options. But they have Vlade Divac on GM, I'm sure that he is aware of Luka's potential and will probably pick him.

So, if you ask me, Ayton is a great player and the safest pick for Phoenix. Majority of fans will be satisfied, there won't be any pressure on GM since it is expected event, but Luka is a winning ticket. His will (and ability) to win is just unique and Phoenix Suns, the worst team from last year, needs that.

Sorry for a long post. I just summed up my writings on the other Suns' forum, so I hope it's not too confusing.

I am open to any questions about Luka :)

PS: I don't know what is a culture about topics here. If you think that I shouldn't open new one, I apologize for that, but I wasn't sure where to write it.

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Superbone
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Re: Luka Doncic evaluation

Post by Superbone »

Welcome, francosy! And thanks for the excellent breakdown on Doncic.
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Ring_Wanted
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Re: Luka Doncic evaluation

Post by Ring_Wanted »

Yeah man thanks for the nice content.

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Indy
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Re: Luka Doncic evaluation

Post by Indy »

Welcome, francosy! Glad to see some new blood around here. Thanks for the perspectives.

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Democritus
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Re: Luka Doncic evaluation

Post by Democritus »

Welcome, francosy. What do you think about the ceiling for Doncic? Turkoglu or Ginobili at his prime?
"We shall leave this world as foolish and as wicked as we found it on our arrival"-Voltaire

francosy
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Re: Luka Doncic evaluation

Post by francosy »

Democritus wrote:
Fri May 25, 2018 6:59 am
Welcome, francosy. What do you think about the ceiling for Doncic? T******u or Ginobili at his prime?
You know, this a very hard question. It's quite funny that in the USA or in the NBA fan base you always see those predictions and evaluations of players by comparison. That's not really a case in Europe, not in basketball nor in soccer, which si more popular sport here.

Why is that so hard to say? It's not that we can't evaluate his ceiling, but there is more than that - who knows in which direction will the league go? Even 10 years ago we had era of great big guys, like Shaq, Yao, Duncan, Nowitzki. The style of the game was more "look inside", but now there is more motion. Luka is 19, in 5, 10 years, when he will be on his top, we don't know what kind of basketball we will watch. Another important thing is the team that will draft him. Name one player that came on top from Sacramento. Ok, there was Cousins, but he is a very special guy (as Luka?), but that's it. And they had a lot of 1st rounders. On the other hand, if Suns draft him, he will be here with well-known coach and chances for a faster and bigger improvement are excellent. If we take a look at Ginobilli - I think that he wouldn't be so good, if he wasn't in SAS with Popovich. There is also a question of playing position - we know that Luka can play 1,2 and 3, but I think that he should play 1 with another crafty guy at 2 (Booker?) or 2, but with not so good PG, so he can have a ball. It a team put him on 3 in his first years in the NBA, that won't be good for him IMO. And yeah, which comparison suited Jordan at his time?

To sum up - I think that Luka will be at least 20-5-8(assists) guy. Maybe even more (let's say 25-8-10), it depends on the team that he will play for and playing position. I believe that he will be better then Manu, maybe in a rank of Harden. But as I said, that is a hard question.

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SDC
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Re: Luka Doncic evaluation

Post by SDC »

francosy wrote:
Fri May 25, 2018 1:22 am
Hello to everybody!

I was invited to this forum by some key members. They told me that here is a lack of European guys that know well Luka Doncic. Well, I should be one of them :D

I'm from Slovenia, Luka's homeland. I know Luka since he was 11 (I was 15 at that time). At that age he came to our elementary school with his school's basketball club. When he stepped of the floor, I immediately knew that he is special. He was far better than other guys. I'm also a huge fan of Olimpija (Dragic, Baynes, Danny Green, Bertans, Udrih etc. played here), his fist club. At the age of 13 he moved to Real Madrid. As a fan, I was mad at him and I was sure that there is no way that he can prove himself there. No non-Spanish player (except Mirotic, I think) didn't mage to come out from Madrid's junior squad to their first team. But Luka succeeded and I realized that he made a right move when he moved out of Slovenia.

Why would Luka be a perfect fit? Well, I will be honest - when I saw Ayton, I just thought: "that boy would fit perfectly to Suns". I still think so, but if you can have Doncic on 1 and Capela on 5, you just have to take it. If Suns have room for a quality free agent center, Doncic is better solution, because there is no PG on free agents market that would fit to Suns. You will see, his leadership is amazing and he is born winner. Also, don't look just for his stats. He is absolutely better 3pt shooter then it looks, but he takes a lot of difficult shots. Real Madrid has quite slow squad (Doncic is not slow, but other players), and (IMO) bad coach. They often run out of time in attack and Luka or Sergio Llulll (he was named as Euroleague MVP last year, but then he injured) have to shoot in last seconds. In that element, Luka is really great, much better then Llul. Luka is extremely good passer, but slightly inexperienced, so he make a turnover sometimes, and proficient rebounder. In last few months he improved his defense, which is now quite good, but was bad at the start of the season. If I hear someone that he is slow or nonathletic, I think that she/he doesn't watch him a lot. He can dunk over a center, without a problem. He uses his body very well, his legs are long and with fewer steps he can cross over opponent's defense. Luka has a potential in that area for sure, but guys, he is 19, give him time to fulfill it. I also know that sometimes he looks slow, but this is just a consequence of his biggest advantage - basketball IQ. He won't penetrate under the rim, if he knows that there won't be a solution to finish an attack. But on the other hand, he can do that, usually efficiently.

I'm a huge fan of Booker and I really think that he needs a crafty guy like Doncic on PG position. And they could also swap positions in the game. I can imagine that it would be very hard to defend these to guys together. But for a winning combination, they would need a center who can rebound, plays defense and so on. Capela would be perfect fit, Ayton too for sure, but you can't have him and Doncic. Len is to bad, Chandler is to old. Jordan, Kanter or even Nurkic and Favours could be options too.

Another important thing is a coach. I suggest that you watch matches from Eurobasket 2017. Doncic played for Slovenian NT and they took the trophy, lead by Kokoskov (as you all probably know). Maybe you are not fully aware of that success, but that was a miracle. Span, Serbia, Latvia, France, Russia... they all had much better rosters in theory. Dragic played for NT for some years, and Slovenia wasn't even close to the trophy, so he wasn't a key. But Luka... He just makes teammates better. He scores, he assists, he rebounds, he scores buzzer beaters... His impact is amazing. He puts the team on a higher level, his leadership is marvelous. I know that a lot of you are in doubts, but he will prove you're wrong as he come to NBA. To Suns or any other team. Kokoskov knows Luka, Luka knows him, they are in nonstop contact. In NT, we didn't have attackingly the best centers, but we took the trophy, so Igor just knows how to play a game with good guards.

From Lukas perspective, there is no question - Phoenix is perfect team for him. Here is a lot of talent, good and known coach, Dragic (he is a good friend of Luka) can also help him with some city and organisation issues... On the other hand, Kings are one of the worst options. But they have Vlade Divac on GM, I'm sure that he is aware of Luka's potential and will probably pick him.

So, if you ask me, Ayton is a great player and the safest pick for Phoenix. Majority of fans will be satisfied, there won't be any pressure on GM since it is expected event, but Luka is a winning ticket. His will (and ability) to win is just unique and Phoenix Suns, the worst team from last year, needs that.

Sorry for a long post. I just summed up my writings on the other Suns' forum, so I hope it's not too confusing.

I am open to any questions about Luka :)

PS: I don't know what is a culture about topics here. If you think that I shouldn't open new one, I apologize for that, but I wasn't sure where to write it.
what would happen to luka if kings select him at #2?

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Mori Chu
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Re: Luka Doncic evaluation

Post by Mori Chu »

Welcome, francosy! Glad to have you here. And we appreciate your information about Doncic. I still really hope that the Suns draft him. Ayton is special, but Doncic is more of the player we need, in my opinion. And I think Doncic is a once-in-a-generation player, too.

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Cap
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Re: Luka Doncic evaluation

Post by Cap »

francosy wrote:
Fri May 25, 2018 1:22 am
PS: I don't know what is a culture about topics here. If you think that I shouldn't open new one, I apologize for that, but I wasn't sure where to write it.
This is not only a good write-up on Doncic but also a "getting to know you" for a new poster. Put the two of them together and I'd say it's threadworthy. So, good job.

I am so jealous of people who are able to pick up second (and more) languages well enough to participate in a forum like this.

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Democritus
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Re: Luka Doncic evaluation

Post by Democritus »

Thanks for the long answer :) i really hope that Doncic can be our Nash 2.0 and has the same impact for many years
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francosy
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Re: Luka Doncic evaluation

Post by francosy »

SDC wrote:
Fri May 25, 2018 9:47 am

what would happen to luka if kings select him at #2?
Well, there were some rumors that Doncic will tell Kings not to pick him. Or even that he will resign from draft list if Suns won't give him a hint that they will pick him. I don't think it's true, because after the lottery he said to Slovenian media that Bogdanovic called him and said that they might be teammates next year. Luka said it would be great. But maybe his manager doesn't want him there. (Luka also said that he talked to Kokoskov after the lottery and congratulated him for the first pick, but he said that this is nothing special, since they talk almost every week.)

I heard that Kings have new training coaches, so maybe their situation improved. Maybe Doncic would develop nicely, but I'm sure that there is no place where he can develop better then in Suns, mostly because of Kokoskov, but also because of the very talented squad and better basketball culture in the organisation and city. Kings have mostly mediocre talents - Fox, Bogdanovic, Hield, Cauley-Stein etc. I don't him that any of them (even if I really like Fox and Bogdanovic) will be able to help Luka to reach playoffs next year and maybe something more in next few years. But Luka is born winner, he have to play for an ambitious team.

Thanks to everybody for a warm welcome ;)

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JCSunsfan
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Re: Luka Doncic evaluation

Post by JCSunsfan »

Doncic vs Ayton, Ayton vs Doncic. Here is the one big flaw in this reasoning process. We cannot just go out there and get Capella. Paying Capella the max is a big mistake even if we could get him. If we could so how get both Ayton and Doncic, absolutely, go for it. If we have to choose one--I am 100% Ayton.

francosy
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Re: Luka Doncic evaluation

Post by francosy »

Sure, but there is not just Capela, I pointed out also some other centers. As I said, Ayton is a perfect fit, for sure, but I think it is easier to get a solid center then a good playmaker. And the team needs one.

But yeah, the management should try to sell everything to get the second pick, except Booker and Jackson, but it is probably unrealistic. I think that Doncic and Ayton are among the safest picks in last years. None of them will fail in the NBA.

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Aztec Sunsfan
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Re: Luka Doncic evaluation

Post by Aztec Sunsfan »

Welcome Francosy, hopefully we take Luka and you stay here for a long time. Your enthusiasm for Doncic is contagious and this post is totally threadworthy. For your description, it looks like Luka is some sort of Brandon Roy, a guy who looked slow in the court sometimes but actually was two-three moves ahead of the play and waiting for the opening to kick, then suddenly made things happen in the blink of the eye. He played chess while the rest were thinking checkers. I always hoped for him to survive his injuries, a real shame what the Blazers did to him on that playoffs.

I was already leaning for Luka, so you have an easy sell on me, but your Eurtobasket perspective is very useful, there was indeed authentic powerhouses

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Shabazz
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Re: Luka Doncic evaluation

Post by Shabazz »

Great stuff, Francosy.

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Superbone
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Re: Luka Doncic evaluation

Post by Superbone »

JCSunsfan wrote:
Fri May 25, 2018 1:54 pm
Doncic vs Ayton, Ayton vs Doncic. Here is the one big flaw in this reasoning process. We cannot just go out there and get Capella. Paying Capella the max is a big mistake even if we could get him. If we could so how get both Ayton and Doncic, absolutely, go for it. If we have to choose one--I am 100% Ayton.
I'm with you! I would so love to be able to get both. I would throw most of our future assets out there if it were enough to make it happen.
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francosy
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Re: Luka Doncic evaluation

Post by francosy »

https://www.eurohoops.net/en/nba-news/6 ... hysically/

Very strong opinion by McDonough on Doncic.

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Indy
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Re: Luka Doncic evaluation

Post by Indy »

francosy wrote:
Sat May 26, 2018 7:49 am
https://www.eurohoops.net/en/nba-news/6 ... hysically/

Very strong opinion by McDonough on Doncic.
I am not as concerned about his athleticism as some seem to be. He is basically Joe Johnson's size (I think he is half an inch shorter) and weight when he came into the league. He can use that to his advantage. I don't ever remember anyone saying Joe was really athletic, and it hasn't held him back at all.

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In2ition
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Re: Luka Doncic evaluation

Post by In2ition »

Indy wrote:
Sat May 26, 2018 8:00 am
francosy wrote:
Sat May 26, 2018 7:49 am
https://www.eurohoops.net/en/nba-news/6 ... hysically/

Very strong opinion by McDonough on Doncic.
I am not as concerned about his athleticism as some seem to be. He is basically Joe Johnson's size (I think he is half an inch shorter) and weight when he came into the league. He can use that to his advantage. I don't ever remember anyone saying Joe was really athletic, and it hasn't held him back at all.
Yeah, I agree. I'm not worried about Luka's athleticism either. He's a decent athlete and it will improve as he goes to P3 this summer along with developing better eating habits.
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Cap
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Re: Luka Doncic evaluation

Post by Cap »

In2ition wrote:
Sat May 26, 2018 8:34 am
Indy wrote:
Sat May 26, 2018 8:00 am
francosy wrote:
Sat May 26, 2018 7:49 am
https://www.eurohoops.net/en/nba-news/6 ... hysically/

Very strong opinion by McDonough on Doncic.
I am not as concerned about his athleticism as some seem to be. He is basically Joe Johnson's size (I think he is half an inch shorter) and weight when he came into the league. He can use that to his advantage. I don't ever remember anyone saying Joe was really athletic, and it hasn't held him back at all.
Yeah, I agree. I'm not worried about Luka's athleticism either. He's a decent athlete and it will improve as he goes to P3 this summer along with developing better eating habits.
And as he hits puberty.

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