Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

The All-Star voting is still going on, and the Lakers are facing another regular season game.

This time the Lakers came to Dallas and will challenge the Mavericks away.

The Mavericks' star player Luka Doncic ranked third among Western Conference frontcourt players in the first round of All-Star voting, which caused quite a stir. Many people did not expect that as a first-year rookie, he would receive more votes than Anthony Davis and Paul George.

You have to know that there are only three seats for frontcourt players. Last year, they were Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis. This year, there is LeBron James in the West. He and Kevin Durant occupy two seats, which are almost booked in advance.

Then there is only one seat left, and many people think that this seat will be between Anthony Davis and Paul George.

But I didn’t expect Luka Doncic to suddenly appear.

This is enough to show how popular Luka Doncic is now, even surpassing Anthony Davis and Paul George.

After all, in terms of personal data and performance on the court, Luka Doncic, as a rookie, is obviously not as good as Anthony Davis and Paul George.

Anthony Davis averaged 26 points, 12 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game this season.

Paul George also averaged 28 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, which are better than Luka Doncic (21.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists).

However, Luka Doncic is only a freshman, but he has already put up such outstanding statistics, comparable to LeBron James back then, that his popularity has skyrocketed.

Even many fans believe that Luka Doncic has a good chance of being selected to the All-Star team in his rookie season, or even being selected as an All-Star starter.

It is definitely a great honor for a player to be selected as an All-Star starter in his rookie season.

Luka Doncic is naturally looking forward to this.

So in the few days after the All-Star voting campaign started, his performance on the court has become more and more outstanding. In several games, he scored more than 30 points in two of them, and even had a triple-double performance.

Although Doncic's performance is outstanding, the Mavericks' record is not satisfactory and they are now ranked second from the bottom in the Western Conference.

People are naturally not optimistic about the Mavericks in this game against the Lakers, but they are looking forward to Doncic's performance.

"Can Luka score another 30+ today?"

"That may not be easy. The Lakers' defense is very strong. They may even send Zhuang Yu to defend Luka. Hehe, that would be interesting. I really want to know how Luka will perform against Zhuang Yu's defense."

"If the Lakers let Zhuang Yu play against Luka, Zhuang Yu would probably have the upper hand. After all, Luka is still young, and this is only his first season."

"Well, Zhuang Yu is definitely stronger in terms of strength. Although Luka is still in his first season, his performance doesn't look like a rookie at all. He has performed well against some well-known guards in the league before. Even if he is not as good as Zhuang Yu, he should not be too bad."

"Luca still has an advantage in terms of size..."

Amid the discussions of the fans, players from both teams completed their warm-ups and returned to the sidelines.

On the Lakers side, Coach Scott did not make too many arrangements. He just told the players to play good defense, to set the pace on the offensive end, and to play more defensive counterattacks.

On the other side, Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle spread out the tactical board with a serious expression, making pre-match arrangements.

While drawing tactics on the tactical board, he said: "The Lakers' strongest point is Zhuang Yu, but there is no good way to limit him. What we can do is to limit his outside shooting as much as possible. Wesley (Wesley Matthews), you have to defend him forward."

"Also, the others should also be careful not to miss anyone. In addition to Zhuang Yu, people like Holiday and Korver can also score."

"Especially Holiday."

As he said that, he looked at Doncic and said, "Luka, you have to physically confront Holiday, slow him down, and use your height advantage to put pressure on him."

Doncic nodded in agreement.

Although Coach Carlisle made such arrangements, he did not actually have high expectations for Doncic's defense, because defense is not Doncic's strong point.

Doncic is the most talented player Coach Carlisle has ever coached. He has excellent skills, a very high basketball IQ and mature techniques. His performance on the offensive end is impeccable, both in personal scoring and in organizational connection.

However, Doncic's physical talent is not top-notch. He has a good height and wingspan, but his athletic ability can only be considered upper-average or even mid-range.

Doncic is not top-notch in terms of speed, jumping ability, and explosiveness. He relies more on skills and weight to make breakthroughs in the game.

As we all know, defense is based on excellent physical fitness and athletic ability. Only with excellent physical fitness and athletic ability, plus sufficient defensive skills, defensive habits and enthusiasm, can excellent defensive ability be achieved.

Doncic's lack of athleticism limits his defense, making it difficult for him to become a player with both offensive and defensive capabilities like Zhuang Yu, LeBron James, and Kawhi Leonard.

Fortunately, he has outstanding talent in offense.

This season, Doncic's performance is very good and comprehensive, and many people compare him with LeBron James. But in the eyes of Coach Carlisle, if you want to find a template for Doncic, he thinks it should be James Harden.

They are both No. 1 players who are more inclined to offense, can shoot and pass, and also play with the ball in their hands.

"On offense..."

Coach Carlisle then made some arrangements for the offense.

His only concern on offense is Doncic.

Today, the Mavericks' offense is a ball-holding core style of play. The offensive system is completely based on Doncic's personal ability. All tactical coordination and offensive play are centered on Doncic. As long as Doncic performs well enough, the team will naturally be able to play a beautiful offense.

But if Doncic runs into trouble on the offensive end, the Mavericks' overall offense will naturally be in trouble.

In the past 30 games, Doncic has done a great job in this regard, but today they met not other teams, but the Lakers.

As for which team in the league can defend Doncic, Coach Carlisle believes it can only be the Lakers.

Because the Lakers have the strongest backcourt defensive combination in the league.