San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has such high admiration for Luka Doncic that he offered several reasons why the
Mavericks’ superstar point guard is one of the best ever at his position.
“None of us have the answer to how he continuously just destroys whatever defense is thrown at him,” Popovich said before the Mavs drilled the Spurs, 144-119, on Saturday night at American Airlines Center. “I think he must be underestimated as an athlete. You look at him and he looks like he ate a couple too many donuts sometimes. You don’t think of him as an ‘athlete’ athlete.
“But talk about beyond basketball IQ, just a feel for the game, making decisions at exactly the right moment. You teach your players not to play in a crowd, for instance. Well, he doesn’t even get close to that because earlier he did what he was supposed to do.”
In other words, Doncic is such a deep thinker on the basketball court that he’s always two or three steps ahead of what the defensive player is attempting to accomplish.
“And it’s his IQ and his total kinetic view of the court,” Popovich said. “He knows where everybody is all the time (and) he understands all those spatial relationships.
“He’s not jumping out of the gym. He’s not blowing by you. But he uses that body and understands how to put (defensive) people in positions that they cannot handle.”
Doncic produced 39 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists against the Spurs. With those 39 points, he is now just 11 points away from scoring 10,000 career points.
Also, Doncic has accumulated 36 triple-doubles that involves him scoring 30 or more points. That’s one more than James Harden (35) and only trails Oscar Robertson (106), Russell Westbrook (48) and LeBron James (37).
Mavs coach Jason Kidd pointed out that the evolution of Doncic becoming a high-octane basketball player started at an early age.
“I think when you’re 12, 13, 14 and you go to a different country – Real Madrid – to understand how to play the game, they taught him the game at a high level,” Kidd said. “His dad played the game. I think it’s just in the blood – the DNA – of knowing how to play at a very, very high level.
“When you talk about Luka, he’s in the one percent of basketball players – Giannis (Antetokounmpo), (Joel) Embiid, Nikola (The Joker) Jokic. Those are the names that are mentioned with him. I think it’s just the fundamentals of his talent, of his build, of his speed, which m
akes him special.”
Six of the 62 all-time triple-doubles Doncic has stitched together have come against the Spurs. That’s the most he’s had against any team, which means Popovich has had a front row seat to many of the gemstones the third overall pick of the 2018 NBA Draft has created.
“Every time I watch him play I’m more amazed at what he gets done, because he does it so consistently,” Popovich said. “Guys can do what he does every now and then, but he does it every night.
“He’s a special young man.”
KID REPORTER INTERVIEWED KIDD: Kameron Patton, a Mavericks’ Kid Reporter, had a chance to ask coach Jason Kidd a question prior to Saturday’s game.
The eight year-old asked Kidd if he has any goals or New Year’s resolutions.
“That’s a great question,” Kidd said. “You should come here more often.”
That drew laughter from the assembled media, and from Patton.
“We always talk about winning or losing or making shots, but one of my biggest goals is health,” Kidd said. “Being healthy, I
think, as we get older, that becomes more important. And then as a team goal health is something that hopefully for 2024 we’re healthy to make a run for a championship.
The second part of your question, again this is the hard part of the season because there’s so much flu around. So, I’m just trying to watch my diet and my weight so if we do get hurt too much I can come back and play.”
POPOVICH ON WEMBANYAMA: Back in 1989, when center David Robinson started his NBA career with the San Antonio Spurs, he was the consensus center of attention whenever his team rolled into town. In essence, there was a media frenzy wherever Robinson appeared.
Fast forward 34 years, that distinction now belongs to Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, who was the No. 1 overall pick of this past summer’s NBA Draft. But Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has noticed one distinct difference between how life was on the media circuit for Robinson as opposed to how it is now with Wembanyama.
“The media has changed a bit since David’s day, so it is a lot more geometric by a long stretch,” Popovich said. “The fortunate thing is that (Wembanyama) handles it.
“We don’t really do anything that is of note other than the basics that any team will do to protect your players or see what’s going on or filter requests through Tom (James, the Spurs’ vice-president of communications).”
Unfortunately, Mavs fans were able to get their first up-close glimpse of Wembanyama. He was a late scratch from Saturday’s game after he sprained his right ankle during pre-game warmups.
“He’s got an uncanny maturity for a 19-year old, and senses what’s of substance and what’s not,” Popovich said. “He avoids situations that are problematic for whatever reasons on his own.
“It makes our job a lot easier in that respect.”
BRIEFLY: The Mavs played Saturday’s game without guard Kyrie Irving (right heel contusion), center Dereck Lively II (left ankle sprain), guard Josh Green (right elbow sprain) and forward Maxi Kleber (right small toe dislocation). . .Mavs guard Luka Doncic bought each of his teammates a bicycle for Christmas. . .Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was asked about the significant number of players in today’s game creating space horizontally rather than vertically to create space between themselves and the defender so they can get off a three-point shot. His answer? “That’s where the space is,” Popovich said. “They’ve all figured that out, so the step-back has basically become like a layup for a lot of guys. The pump fake, the side-step dribble, east west dribble, one dribble and the (defensive) guy flies by (are all the rage). They’ve figured out ways to get that (shot) off. It’s become a skill that’s almost mandatory for most three-point shooters now.”
X: @DwainPrice
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