Quote:
Originally Posted by Underdog
I dunno, I see Doncic playing against some pretty lousy competition once you get past the top-tier players, especially the guys actually trying to defend him... It seems like there are more specialists in the NCAA, players who are great at one thing and lousy at others, whereas Euroleague has a lot more guys who are decent at everything, but great at nothing (which is probably why they're not in the NBA). I see more zone defense being implemented in Euroleague, largely because there doesn't seem to be an abundance of excellent man defenders -- whereas there are several guys in college who do nothing but specialize in defense (and most teams have a couple).
Maybe I just caught bad games against weaker competition, but it looks like Doncic is somewhat benefiting offensively from a lack of strong defenders. I don't see too many guys chasing him around on the perimeter, nor do I see any superior rim protectors. I just don't think he's going to be able to carve up an NBA defense the same way he has with Euroleague, not without superior athleticism... So he's really going to have to get more efficient with that shot if he wants to be find the same level of success in this league.
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Those are legitimate concerns for Doncic's competition. I think it's more fair to question his style of competition than the level of competition. As you say the Euroleague seems to deploy more zone defense than NBA or NCAA basketball does. I do agree you don't see very many highlights of Doncic where he's going against an agile, lanky defender who's shadowing him on man coverage i.e. a Tayshaun Prince type. He's usually going against a defender who's a bit shorter than he is and not much more athletic, if any, than Doncic. He does face his fair share of double teams tho.
The reverse side to this argument is college players get to pad their stats against guys who 5 years from now will be working at home depot & not even talented enough to get a tryout with a Mexican C league team post college. Doncic doesn't pad his stats vs any creampuffs like that. Although, his stats aren't that impressive, just yet. One thing that is impressive is the moves he put on Porzingis. 27 pts vs Lativa in the Eurobasket tournament. 12 pts in the 4th qtr of a close game where Lativa put Porzingis on him several times on switches on the pick n roll. Doncic scored on Porzingis 3 times including a nifty post move and a tough step back 3. I don't think those skills disappear in the NBA. Plus, this guy has legit one of the best handles of any 6-7/6-8 18 year old in history. His dribbling will be his saving grace imo.