Luka Doncic put on an exceptional show in NBA basketball early Wednesday morning Finnish time. The Slovenian star collected 60 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists as the Dallas Mavericks defeated the New York Knicks 126-121 in overtime.
Impressive in Susijeng’s coaching these days Teemu Rannikko watched the match highlights. Doncic’s performance made even the experienced ex-back gasp.
Doncic is the first player to record a triple-double of at least 60 points and 20 rebounds in the NBA.
– An incredible performance that no one has done before. A historic act. There was also the fact that Dallas was able to come away with a victory, even though they had already practically lost the game with half a minute to go.
Dallas was down by nine points with 26.8 seconds left.
– When you watch sports, you always have to understand that everything is possible. In that situation, it was very unlikely that Dallas would still win, but only with the help of New York did they get to overtime and eventually win the match.
Rannikko pointed out that Doncic played more than 47 minutes when the game went into overtime.
– It is difficult to equate that with anything, when it is a historical act. After all, we have seen games with more than 60 points here, and From Kobe Bryant for example, there was that 81 surface evening. It will certainly rise to the same series.
Doncic had a total of 91 points, rebounds and assists Wednesday morning (60+21+10), the second most of 50 in the last NBA season! Just a basketball legend Michael Jordan has been able to do better once – 93 (69 points, 18 rebounds and 6 assists). Kobe’s record balance is 89 (81/6/2).
– When we talk about the back man and 21 rebounds and another ten assists, the player must have been on the ball a lot in the match. That’s what Luka always is in general. Shows his skill and how good a basketball player he is at the moment, Rannikko praises.
A big butt man controls his body and dominates
When you watch the NBA games in Dallas, Ranniko thinks that the balls fall pretty much to Doncic. Not all of them are “hard” rebounds, but as a smart player, the Slovenian handles the job with his positioning and size. In the Knicks game, Doncic grabbed 16 defensive zone rebounds.
– Those more than 20 rebounds cannot be directly compared to European basketball, when in the NBA the numbers are bigger, that is, there are more loose balls and more playing time. A normal game under Fiba lasts 40 minutes. After all, he (Doncic) is a big back (201-centimeter tall), but that’s more than 20 rebounds, which is still a terrible amount.
Rannikko says that Doncic has included his teammates when looking at his assist statistics. However, ten assists is not a miraculous number for Doncic. 10-15 rebounds are everyday for a star guard in the NBA.
– As a player, he is exceptional when he is not really the world’s elite in terms of his physical characteristics. As a large back man, he skilfully controls his body and thereby dominates, controls the game, Rannikko describes.
Doncic’s physical attributes have been questioned since the beginning of his NBA career. He has not been considered athletic enough for his position.
– He does things a little more calmly and slowly and sees the field at the same time all the time. You rarely see a performance from Luka where he puts his head down and just goes towards the basket. He always has a vision of what he is going to do.
Rannikko, 42, has played against Luka Doncic in 2017 in the opening group of the home European Championships. In addition, Rannikko has played many times against Luka’s father Sasa, 48, for example in Slovenia in 2005-2007, when the Finn represented KK Olimpija at the club level.
– From those times, I remember Luka as a child, when he was often throwing after the games. Luka’s father owned a restaurant where we often went to eat. The five- or six-year-old boy could not yet see that he would become a great player of his era.
– In the 2017 European Championships, Slovenia won the European Championship for the first time, and Luka were Goran Dragic with the best players on their team. I think Luka was 17 years old and then he saw that he was going to be a really good player.
Rannikko doesn’t want to rank the world’s best basketball players because it’s hard to put players from different places on the same line.
– I believe that it is still a surprise to many that Luka, at the age of 23, is already among the top 5 players in the world. Nikola Jokic, Kevin Durant’s, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Stephen Curry’s with Luka is right there at the top of the world.
Doncic’s 60 points on a record night consisted of free throws (21/31 67.7%), threes (2/6 33.3%) and free throws (16/22 72.7%).
– Luka has room for improvement in three-point throws. He can actually take his own throw against any defender. He is basically bigger than his defender. In that particular match, Luka shot a lot from near the basket, where it is easier to score points and with a harder percentage.
Where are Doncic’s limits as a top basketball player?
– At least the going has been improving every year, even though in the NBA it has been questioned a little whether he can still improve when he is that type of player.
– I personally see that he has the potential to develop – especially as a thrower. Percentages and throwing skills can improve with age. Game intelligence, where he is already at the top, can of course also improve even more. It will be interesting to see how good a player he can still become, Rannikko enthuses.