” What’s your favorite Mavs jersey? This funny question, Sean Sweeney, in charge of the defense of the Mavs, asked it to Luka Doncic last March. The latter asked him at the time on several occasions the ” Why ? of such a question. Technician’s response: Because when you’re in the running for Most Improved Defender and we make a poster out of it, we want you to look presentable! »
This trophy does not exist but the Slovenian perhaps deserves his “poster” to salute the defensive progress year after year of the player, on whom Sean Sweeney has obviously had an important influence in this sector. The native of Ljubljana is no longer just a huge striker and he would like to be noticed.
” People won’t admit it, but I think this year I really took a big step. I don’t need people to believe, I believe in myself. I think defending much better than the first four years and have taken a big step forward », repeats the interested party to Dallas News. An observation confirmed by Jason Kidd according to whom the defensive progression of his leader is ” huge ” this season.
What do the numbers say? The top NBA scorer, for example, has never intercepted so many balls in his career. With 1.8 balls stolen each evening, against 1.2 last season, he is even the 4th best player in the league in the category. He is also in the Top 10 for the most deflected balls with more than 3 units per game.
No longer help him in defense
” He has very good instincts, he is incredibly intelligent. He knows our systems very well. And that’s partly why you see him stealing a lot of balls right now, because he has that instinct, that IQ. He is in the right places and often makes the effort to do so “appreciates Sean Sweeney.
Notable fact according to Jason Kidd, his best player asks his teammates not to help him in defense. “ He wants to defend the ball carriers. And so that helps our defence, but we are also still in the collective aid phase. We are built like this defensively “, underlines the technician.
The latter, however, has not forgotten that the Slovenian is sometimes targeted in defense. The Suns had for example literally harassed during the last playoffs the player who still has a good margin of progress in this area. This season, his direct opponent shoots still nearly 51% success against him, which is still important.
The positive according to Jason Kidd is that he has this desire to progress. ” It is a pleasure to know him, to teach him and to work with him. His competitive spirit manifests itself in many ways. This year, he has made progress in the way he communicates with his teammates, giving them important messages. He feels like he wants the ‘total package’. Few people can say they have that in them. With a bit of luck, we can help him get there. »
| Luka Doncic | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2018-19 | DAL | 72 | 32 | 42.7 | 32.7 | 71.3 | 1.2 | 6.6 | 7.8 | 6.0 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 3.4 | 0.4 | 21.2 |
| 2019-20 | DAL | 61 | 34 | 46.3 | 31.6 | 75.8 | 1.3 | 8.1 | 9.4 | 8.8 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 4.3 | 0.2 | 28.8 |
| 2020-21 | DAL | 66 | 34 | 47.9 | 35.0 | 73.0 | 0.8 | 7.2 | 8.0 | 8.6 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 4.3 | 0.6 | 27.7 |
| 2021-22 | DAL | 65 | 35 | 45.7 | 35.3 | 74.4 | 0.9 | 8.3 | 9.1 | 8.7 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 4.5 | 0.6 | 28.4 |
| 2022-23 | DAL | 16 | 37 | 50.3 | 29.4 | 75.0 | 1.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 8.1 | 3.1 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 0.5 | 34.0 |
| Total | 280 | 34 | 46.0 | 33.5 | 73.8 | 1.0 | 7.5 | 8.6 | 8.0 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 4.1 | 0.4 | 26.8 | |
