12-06-2019, 07:33 AM
Interesting take...The Ringer article below breaks down the numbers for the worst half of the games played this season for Luka and his fellow MVP candidates. To me, what Luka is doing in his worst games (27/10/8 on .578 TS%) if very close to what I expected him to average either this year or next. Those numbers would have made me VERY HAPPY.
It is crazy to think the bar is now so high that 27/10/8 feels like an off night. The other thing this article does is gives me confidence that this isn't some small sample size fluke. Luka is the real deal.
Luka Doncic
Averages from worst games: 27.1 points, 10.1 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.1 blocks, .578 true shooting, plus-9.6 on-court differential
As discussed above, Doncic is nearly averaging a triple-double in the worst half of his games. Only Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook have ever averaged a 25-10-8 line before, as Doncic is during his off nights.
Like Antetokounmpo, Doncic struggles from 3 in his worst games. (That’s a common theme across the board—the easiest way to lose game score points is to miss a lot of shots.) But he compensates by getting to the line 9.4 times per game, which allows his true shooting percentage—the best measure of a player’s per-shot scoring ability—to flourish regardless. Bad Doncic has a TS% of .578 this season; for context, Thompson, Lillard, and Irving are all lower in the .570s in their careers.
So Doncic at his worst still scores as efficiently as All-NBA guards and nearly records a triple-double every night. He’s been so impressive on a nightly basis that his 31-point, 13-rebound, 15-assist explosion against the Lakers last month qualifies as a worst game for him. He’s finished below 20 points in just one game all season.
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2019/12/5/20995952/worst-of-the-best-introducing-a-new-way-to-frame-the-mvp-debate
It is crazy to think the bar is now so high that 27/10/8 feels like an off night. The other thing this article does is gives me confidence that this isn't some small sample size fluke. Luka is the real deal.
Luka Doncic
Averages from worst games: 27.1 points, 10.1 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.1 blocks, .578 true shooting, plus-9.6 on-court differential
As discussed above, Doncic is nearly averaging a triple-double in the worst half of his games. Only Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook have ever averaged a 25-10-8 line before, as Doncic is during his off nights.
Like Antetokounmpo, Doncic struggles from 3 in his worst games. (That’s a common theme across the board—the easiest way to lose game score points is to miss a lot of shots.) But he compensates by getting to the line 9.4 times per game, which allows his true shooting percentage—the best measure of a player’s per-shot scoring ability—to flourish regardless. Bad Doncic has a TS% of .578 this season; for context, Thompson, Lillard, and Irving are all lower in the .570s in their careers.
So Doncic at his worst still scores as efficiently as All-NBA guards and nearly records a triple-double every night. He’s been so impressive on a nightly basis that his 31-point, 13-rebound, 15-assist explosion against the Lakers last month qualifies as a worst game for him. He’s finished below 20 points in just one game all season.
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2019/12/5/20995952/worst-of-the-best-introducing-a-new-way-to-frame-the-mvp-debate