What Luka Doncic must do to be ALL-TIME GREAT with Mavericks | NBA Mailbag | Hoops Tonight
Jason Timpf answers listener questions during an NBA Mailbag segment. Jason discusses what Luka Doncic must add to his game to get into the all-time great discussion, where Ja Morant would likely rank on his player rankings if he had not been suspended, and much more!
Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/kGZkVc0nmXw
Timeline:
00:00 – More valuable: offense or defense?
02:12 – How Jason made his list
04:24 – When Jason’s power rankings comes out
05:32 – Where Ja Morant would rank if not suspended
06:57 – Starting 5 of teams’ 2nd best players
09:41 – Luka Doncic needs to defend
Follow Jason Timpf on social:
Tweets by _JasonLT
https://www.instagram.com/jtimpf15/
Shop the hottest gear in all of sports podcasting: https://thevolume.com/shop-all-new
Follow us on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/thevolumesports
Tweets by TheVolumeSports
https://www.facebook.com/TheVolumeSports
https://www.tiktok.com/@thevolumesports
Learn more about the Volume:
https://www.thevolume.com
#nba #lukadoncic #lakers #jamorant #losangeleslakers #lebronjames #lebron #anthonydavis #nbahighlights #nbabasketball #nbaplayoffs #nbafinals #basketball #sports
23 Comments
Luka has the skills part nailed. He needs to…(1) Quit Smoking (2) Lose 15-20lbs of fat. (Train hard and build back 8-10 lbs of muscle.
The Mavs had the best or second best defence in the NBA after the all star break. Luka was a big part of that
With Luka i think the only way you come to Jason's conclusion is if you believe the Celtics series is a referendum on his whole season and/or career. The Celtics were uniquely built to be able to exploit the Mavs' weaknesses on offense and defense. And even then their offense was being suffocated even with Luka being a "turnstile." JT and JB's efficiency was horrendous but they had pther guys come along. The Mavs on the other hand couldnt hit wide open threes and Kyrie was a shell of a shell of himself. Offense was their problem.
Luka could get better conditioning and better focus so hes not giving up 5 on 4s or committing stupid fouls. But if you actually watched him all season and all playoffs he competed on defense at least just as much (id say more) as we've seen from Jokic or Steph. I also dont think we've held up the likes of Magic and Bird as defensive stalwarts and theyre all time greats.
Luka needs to stop dominating the ball and trust his teammates. Standing in the corner watching him take contested step backs and never touching the ball translates to less defensive energy and is easier to guard in the playoffs. Jordan couldnāt win without sharing the ball and heās the GOAT.
Hello Jason
This is Rey from Manila
This is my 2nd favorite podcast aside from brian windhorst hoop collective
Really enjoy your comment and overview all the time
Luka is 25 years old and has gone to the WCF in 2 of last 3 years with two different teams and been to a Finals. Thereās no Luka problem, the Mavs just need to surround him with talent like the other stars in the league.
You're being disingenuous when you keep saying he wore down at the end of games. Your exact quote in the #2 player video was that he couldn't get lift on his shot. Well duh…..he got hit in the knee out of bounds on a dead ball by Westbrick and sprained his knee. He never took a game off despite being hobbled in several games and having to get his knees drained before and DURING games so he could play. You think that might have had something to do with lacking lift on his jump shot at the end of a game where he played his ass off for 35 minutes on a bad knee? Come on, be honest about it at least. Yeah, conditioning helps, but it doesn't do anything to negate a 200lb guy diving into your knee when you're not expecting it, or what happens after. How many players in the NBA (now that Kobe's gone) could have averaged almost a 30pt triple double in the playoffs on a sprained knee without ever taking a game off?
And for the last time, will you PLEASE stop saying his defense was embarrassing? Two TOP TWENTY scorers went at him on dozens of possessions in every game and the result was the two of them averaging well below their season average. If you're going to come back with, "Well it put the defensive rotation into chaos", then show me the baskets that the 3pt shooters made off those drives. Because the last time I checked, Boston still scored 101 per game (20pts below their average) and never scored more than 107 against the Mavericks. You can talk to me about your opinion of how it looked until you're blue in the face…..THE ONLY stat that matters in defense is how many points you give up. Everything else is a cute narrative, but it doesn't matter if the result is you hold them to a very low scoring output. Defensive ratings are officially a joke….NBA.com has Smart and Caruso between 30-50 for the last 2 seasons while they have worthless players like Gobert at the top. You can find a dozen mediocre/bad defenders high on their list (even Luka is top 75), so obviously they mean nothing. You take the best defender in the league (your choice) and have Tatum and Brown take them in isolation and you're lying if you say they won't score at least 40 between them (they got 43 against Luka). He needs to be better, but you're cherry picking stats and ignoring the most important ones so you can keep trotting out this narrative that a naturally slow guy with a serious knee injury is at fault for not being able to keep up with 2 of the top 20 scorers in the league.
I'd love to see Curry out there trying to stop those two. You can't stop gushing about the 32nd best 3pt shooter in the league last year and COMPLETELY ignore his defensive flaws (I will be honest enough to admit he tries, which is why I try to not harp on it too much).
I really appreciate defense and strong defensive players — Dennis Johnson, Walt Frazier, Jason Kidd. I'd like to see some GOAT talk centering on defense. Bill Russell number 1?
Steph is a really good defensive player because of his great conditioning, his intelligence, his rebounding, his help, filling in spots. He's serious on that end of the court. He realizes that his team needs him, and he is a great team player. It's one of the things I really like about Steph.
Bottom line is yah gotta stack chips. Jokic has 1, Giannis and Tatum have 1 each. To be considered an all time great yah got to have multiple chips and be the best player on a championship team. Otherwise heās jus a great player without the ā all-timeā
The starting five of the second best players on a team was a good question and started me thinking about another hypothetical. What would your starting five be if 1) you could take any player from your top 25, but 2.) no other players from the top 25 could be on the team. Who would you choose in that scenario and do you think they could contend for a title this year?
Ignore the negativity. We're just a bunch of whiney fans but we love you
I was pretty convinced that Jason was my First choice about basket on the tube, but the more the show goes on the more I realize I never agree with him on anything, and he tends, like others, to change the narrative to justify his point of view.. I mean, this is the same guy who still says that lebron in the playoffs is a top 5 players, and wonders if Luka an all time great.. there is craziness in these takes..
As a newer NBA fan, what is up with Luka/Mavs fans and the victim complex/whiney toxicity? I was thinking it was EU fans, but Jokic fans aren't like this. Very confused
Man yall really riding this Luka cant defend lol. He was defending fine till the finals where he had to carry a boatload of the offense as no one could hit a shot. Dude was also injured and the Celts are a nightmare to guard with 5 players who can shoot. Am i saying Luka is a all world defender? Heck no. But he is decent esp last season. Now his complaining is something he has to work on. His O on the other hand, no one in the league compares. Im sorry.
Jokic don't play defense and you consider him the best player in the world and an all time great so what's your point on Luka
the steph curry narrative about becoming a mediocre defender is such a balloon of stinky air. steph curry is competing this doesn't make him a mediocre defender he is still bad. luka has passed steph as a defender. by a mile. both not good. both have issues. but don't bring him up as an example when you are critisizing another player for not being all defense. keep things real.
My #1 content creator for everything anything about NBA basketball.
Needs to come into the season in shape. Drop 15-20lbs and he wonāt have these fatigue issues
Dame over Kyrie?? š¤£
Dude you sound silly…..Luka had the best defensive rating on the Mavs in the playoffs, despite being on one damn leg…..
I think the issue with Luka's defense isnt a physical issue.
Even if he worked out into "better shape". He just isnt athletic enough to be an effective wing defender. Because he isnt that athletic, he doesnt have as much room for error or ways to impose on players like elite athletes.
That being said, Luka does have an issue in defence. It's just that he loses focus alot. This is why he looks lost at times. He needs to be always on point and ahead of the play if he wants to impact in defence.
Funny take on Luka not even trying on defence:
1. Luka had 1.9 steals per game in playoffs which makes him second.
2. Comparing Luka defensively with JokiÄ and Steph is well just funny. Look at the first point.
3. They lost the finals because of the offense.