Luka Doncic Finally Admits That His Defense Is Dogshit, But Says The Reason Is Because He Plays So Much Basketball
It's not exactly ground breaking news when I say that things at the moment for the Dallas Mavericks are a bit of a disaster. We all see what's been going on these last few weeks (lost 3 straight and 7 of 10) which for the moment has the Mavs on the outside of the Play In tournament.
You may say, "But Greenie, they're just 0.5 games behind OKC for 10th!" That would be true. Unfortunately for the Mavs, they lost the season series against OKC, so even if they finish with the same record, they don't jump the Thunder. The same is true for the Wolves (who have a 2 loss lead), and they also wouldn't jump the Pelicans (3 loss lead).
The point is, the Mavs are looking pretty cooked for the 2022-23 season. They went from a 96% chance of making the playoffs before the Kyrie trade to an 8% chance. That's…not great.
Naturally, everyone sort of pointed to Kyrie Irving as the reason for this team's demise. Maybe in terms of the vibes, but the actual basketball stuff has been exactly what you sign up for when you trade for Kyrie. He's shown up offensively and been the same player he's always been. When we all learned of this trade it was very clear that the Mavs were giving up defense for offense and an additional call handler/shot creator to put next to Luka, something Mavs fans said they needed.
Could they have just paid Jalen Brunson? Of course! But that's a different topic for a different day.
So it should surprise nobody that despite the offense still being OK, the lack of defense is what ultimately sunk the Mavs season. To me, that stuff starts at the top. Your best player sets the tone for the entire team when it comes to that end of the floor, and it's safe to say that Luka's defense has been a disaster for quite some time now. At least he's now owning up to it
It's true that Luka has played a shit ton of basketball in recent years. He plays around 64-66 NBA games a year, then had the Olympics and FIBA in recent summers, so he's not exactly lying.
But here's the thing. It's also true that Luka doesn't exactly look like a guy who puts in the work in the offseason to improve his conditioning/body. There are plenty of players who also played a similar basketball schedule to Luka who are not a total disaster on defense. Look at Jayson Tatum for example. Not only does he play more NBA games, but he also played in the Olympics/FIBA, had deep playoff runs and still finds a way to be a high level two way player. That's because it's clear he puts in the offseason work to improve his body/conditioning.
We cannot say the same thing about Luka, and this is another year where his poor defense played a major role in our their season ended up.
It does feel like on some level that despite being talked about as an MVP candidate and All NBA 1st team player, Luka has sort of skated when it comes to the blame pie of the Mavs. It's always
"Luka doesn't have any help!"
Well, he got the help and what changed?
When it comes to these high level players, we all say the same thing. Everything starts with them on both ends. You can choose Jokic, Giannis, Embiid, Tatum, KD, LeBron, Luka, etc. When we're dealing with the best players in the league, they are held to a higher standard. So while it's nice that Luka is acknowledging that his defense is dogshit, it means nothing if he doesn't actually do anything to improve it. We hold all those other guys to insane standards on both ends of the floor, why should it be any different for Luka?
I get that it's easier to just put all the Mavs issues on Kyrie by default or talk about how Jason Kidd has no idea what he's doing, and while that might be partially true, Luka is the franchise guy. It starts and stops with him. Until he takes his body/defense seriously, nothing is really going to change. Sure the Mavs can go out and find some better rim protection and better perimeter wing defenders, but that all falls apart if their guards refuse to play an acceptable level of defense.
It does make me wonder how Mavs fans feel after hearing that quote. I wouldn't want to hear about how a guy can't play defense because he plays so much basketball while also knowing that guy doesn't exactly work hard to get into shape/improve his conditioning. Defense is about effort when you boil it down, and I'm to believe Luka somehow can't play defense in March because he played in a tournament over the summer? That feels like a pretty lame excuse, especially when there are other players in the league who had that same schedule who also somehow play both ends.
The Mavs certainly have a lot to figure out this summer with Kyrie's free agency, Christian Wood's free agency, the future of Kidd etc. But perhaps their most important task is going to be finding a way to get Luka in the gym and to finally take this stuff seriously. It's not uncommon that players take a few years in the league before they realize they have to get serious about their body/conditioning, and maybe this disaster season will be the wake up call that Luka needs.
Because if not? We'll be doing this same exact dance this time next year.