Paul George: Luka Doncic has GOT to stay off the ref! | NBA Countdown

Paul George: Luka Doncic has GOT to stay off the ref! | NBA Countdown

he of course fouled out of his first playoff game ever on Wednesday he picked up two late fouls in quick succession and afterward he and I had a chance to sit down and talk about it how do you reflect on fouling out for the first time in your playoff career yeah it was tough uh probably wasn’t the smartest thing just you know it was a physical game to get six Falls I live for those moments you know tie game uh and of course uh I live for those moments uh obviously I wish I was in the game feel like we could have got him your defense has been under a lot of scrutiny maybe because you’re hurt maybe because of of something else do you think the scrutiny you’re under is fair yeah for sure I mean you know they always going to talk about it but the end day I don’t think the biggest problem is our defense at this point I think we scored three games on the 100 points I mean that gives credit to Boston’s defense but I think our offense is a little bit more problematic right now than than defense I think we got to do a better job with that what did you find towards the end that you feel like you can build on moving forward I think we’re having fun we were playing our basketball uh that’s we do we got stops uh we ran with pace and that’s that’s kind of how we play the whole playoff so just having fun on there we kind of forgot to have fun certainly appreciate uh Lucas cander there but he does average 35 points a game when facing elimination that’s the highest in the NBA so perk I mean what what effect do you think that Lucas’s frustrations have had on on this series and his team well it’s everything right when your franchise guy you know uh you know have show those type of emotions it drains the team it drains your coach like you emotionally have to be engaged especially on the defensive side of things I could care less to be honest with you guys if Luca go out there and have 40 points 11 assists and 10 rebounds I need to see the 50/50 plays is he going to be diving on the floor for lose balls is he going to be fighting to get over screens is he going to get down and slide those puppies defensively those are the things that I need to see out of LCA tonight he has to set the tone and he has to make it right with his teammates and the organization because they got to be looking at him sideways right now cuz it’s an ongoing Behavior it’s a pattern with him it’s a pattern but it’s more alarming now and here’s the reason why his most frequent defensive assignments has been on Jaylen Brown and Drew holiday they’re shooting 14 and 24 Gam them that’s 58% that means they’re cooking you now we have to make we have to take this into consideration you know it’s one thing when you’re lack aicle it’s another thing entirely when that’s followed up or that follows up you getting cooked now there are times you noce PG you know this from covering the sport you both know this when you are on the court and somebody giving it to you and in Jaylen Brown’s case talking to you about giving it to you and it’s usually something that you do to other people but now now it’s being reciprocated to you that is problematic particularly when you’re losing on this stage I think the combination of that is what has gotten Luca looking in game three even worse than he has looked in the past because we’re watching him get humbled before our very eyes I’m going to let Paul have the last word on this let me just jump in real quick he’s also getting cooked on 68% of the drives defended an incredible number it’s like the worst number ever since they began keeping that stat but Stephen A I I I agree with you completely with you and perk look he’s too good he’s too talented he means too much to the franchise to the league to basketball as a global entity not to maximize right and that’s the stage we’re on now right so he’s been doing this since he’s 15 years old he’s been a great great great great great player on all levels except late in games that are huge whether it’s his national team his club team in Europe and not of Dallas Mavericks there’s getting it fouled out he should be getting technicals he’s lucky right they’re the league is taking it easy on Luca donic he should have been teed up and probably ejected along the way and he hasn’t been so what’s tonight is it the first step toward his own personal discipline toward becoming maybe the greatest player in the league and one of the greatest of all time or we going to see that or we going to see him sort of meekly bow out I choose right now as we sit here Paul to think we’re going to see that first step toward that maturity I hope I hope so to your point Stephen A I’ve been there before not getting the foul calls the benefit of the of the doubt you know is he getting fouled he probably is but when I wasn’t getting fouled I took it as all right I’m going just go ahead and get a stop and use that energy towards my opponent more so than trying to use this to you know try to go at him off L um we all love Luca big fan of Luca but he’s got to stay off the ref he got to use that energy on the defensive side and uh you know that’s what the team is relying on at this point it’s almost like he’s going listen when you whine too much about the referee you know what that really really means what you want to say it’s it’s your fault that it’s your fault that this is happening to me as opposed to you owning it and doing something about it list all the Hall of Famers I didn’t play with when the lights are bright they do the little things they make sure they put in the defensive effort he’s not giving that if if they’re trying to take that next step we saw we said Jason Tatum and jayen brown learned from their mistakes in 2022 and it had nothing to do with their effort it was everything about making shots offensively and not turning over the basketball again this is a problem that J kid uh the front office they’re going to have to address an offseason with Lucas if we’re slicing up blame pie though as to why why the Dallas Mavericks are in this position sure I I think that Luca donic can be handed a slice but I’m going to be giving three4 of that pie to the Boston Celtics they are doing this to that team and Jaylen Brown certainly a favorite right now to be the finals MVP don’t forget to protect your parlay with daily so close protection from ESPN bet if one leg of a qualifying parlay misses customers are eligible to get 100% of their wager back in a bonus bet said what IBA [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George joins NBA Countdown with Malika Andrews, Stephen A. Smith, Michael Wilbon and Kendrick Perkins to discuss Luka Doncic’s shortcomings in the 2024 NBA Finals.

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