#1 Play - Offense
Not necessarily a bad shot in terms of mechanics. Feet could have been better balanced and more apart from each other.
What interested me here was that he gave up on driving once he looked at the shot clock. There was enough time on the clock to penetrate inside and even find a pass later on. Doesn't look like he has the confidence to drive through traffic off-the-dribble, does it?
#2 Play - Defense
I sucked at defending these and never even understood how to do it let alone execute it. So I have no idea what he does wrong here lol, but obviously subpar transition defending. Even when I see players defending these plays well, I go "Well, he defended well" and am still oblivious to how exactly these should be defended to this day.
He complains to the ref but replay clearly shows him hitting Garino's arm.
#3 Play - Offense
Good pass. Shows how much Baskonia interior defenders are aware of his passing as Timma rotates to potentially close out to Llull and Diop's awareness is decent.
The reason he needs to pick up his dribble since he can't to through the needle of two Baskonia defenders (Huertas & Beaubois in this, many others in Game 1 and throughout the series) is that he's not confident enough in his handle to go outwards and beat them. He had the momentum to blow by Huertas' left with an in & out dribble but that would require the transition from a pound dribble (high dribble even if Luka's body is low) to the in and out crossover (low dribble).
#4 Play - Offense
Tremendous passing execution. Ayon being able to touch pass with both hands indicates he would have caught the ball if Thompkins wasn't there and he needed to catch it.
#5 Play - Defense
Good to see him running towards his man's space with small steps instead of hopping into the close-out but just... never stops running? Was about to run to the stands if Timma started his attack half a second later.
#6 Play- Defense
We see Doncic as the screener's defender in the PnR. Good positioning to cut off Huertas' drive path, and great awareness to run back to his man before Huertas is able to complete the pass. Should have contested the shot though. Finish the play.
#7 Play - Defense
Tags Diop while in position to close-out to his man if necessary, his help allows Ayon to fully commit to the driver and alter the shot but that leaves Ayon out of position for DReb. Doncic battles with Diop enough to prevent an easy OReb. Ayon comes back and secures the board to Llull. Little things erase 2 points a lot in the course of a basketball game.
#8 Play - Offense
Again, he's good at punishing defenders overplaying his cuts to the perimeter. We can't see the whole play but it seems like that's the situation again.
#9 Play - Offense
Vildoza was actually in perfect position to take a charge. Feet set. Doncic sees this, and accelerates to the right. How? With a left to right crossover and is in position to blow past Vildoza. Vildoza takes a step to the left instead and his set feet break up, so it's a foul on him.
This is in transition, having the same confidence to pull off that crossover close to the defender in a tight space and accelerate to the rim in the halfcourt is more important for Doncic's improvement.
#10 Play - Offense
Can't criticize much here, Garino defended greatly. Nice to see not giving up on the play once Garino defended in the post perfectly. Not giving up created the open hook after Garino jumped on the fake but Doncic didn't take the shot. That's the only mistake I can point out. That open half hook was the best shot available to them in the possession, regardless Thompkins making a contested 3 after Ayon's pass to him in the corner.
#11 Play - Defense
Hopping into the close-out messes up with his balance in the subsequent lateral slide and gambles to compensate. Foul.
#12 Play - Offense
Rescreening & using right angles to benefit from the screen are usual positive Doncic PnR ball handler attributes.
This play is like %80 of the ideal halfcourt attacking possession for him. He goes from high to low dribble without problems and uses the in & out dribble towards the big to attack. But that one last dribble to go towards left to the rim to completely leave the defender behind isn't there. It's a tight space and he doesn't do it. That's why he can't extend to the rim to use the glass. However, because of that in & out dribble towards the big and perfect high to low dribble transition, he had some good acceleration and that acceleration allows him to get closer to the rim more than usual in his "stop and fadeaways" and more power on the shot. Made basket.
#13 Play - Defense
Good help D fundamentals from Doncic. Jeffery Taylor should have not committed to the roller %100 and stayed between his man and the roller with active hands. Janning made the 3 when he didn't.
#14 Play - Offense
Flawless passing execution against the hedge. Again. His eyes look at the weakside shooters before throwing the pass to roll man. Again.
#15 Play - Offense
Nice to see Luka being able to fill the lane for once when he's not the transition ball handler.
#16 Play - Defense
Yes. This. Small but quick steps and running into the space of his man. No hopping and stopping when necessary. And contesting the shot with his left against against a right-handed shooter. Muy bueno.
#17 Play - Defense
Shengelia is the best mid-post player I've seen in Euroball since Smodis and Vujcic and Baskonia offense uses a lot of Shengelia mid-posts for creation. #16 Play was like that. This play, too. Look at Doncic reading the backscreen and Toko's cut, then anticipates the pass and steals. Great defensive playmaking.
#18 Play - Offense
This isn't a play where he has a choice to pick up his dribble or not, so I won't criticize that again and there wasn't an opening to the rim. He made the right play, didn't do anything where there was a better alternative. Tremendous vision and decent execution on the pass.
#19 Play - Defense
Not on his toes as much as he should be when trying to deal with on-ball screens.
#20 Play - Offense
The deceleration, timing, and the execution of the pass are all elite. World class PnR ball handler.
#21 Play - Offense
Bad passing execution, good hands afterwards.
#22 Play - Offense
I thought this was a good shot. Good ball handling, effective spin, stepback with rhythm. But a miss is a miss obviously. And you don't make every shot where you didn't make a mistake before, during and after shooting it; just as you don't miss every shot where you made a mistake before and/or during and/or after shooting it. Should try to minimize the misses on the ones you don't make a mistake and don't expect anything on the ones with a mistake.
#23 Play - Offense
Yep, lots of this. Firstly, that deceleration. No issue with the low to high ball transition. No carry. Then no issue with the high to low dribble transition & right to left crossover into the defender in tight space without problems accelerates him all the way to the rim and he finally uses the glass on a quick 1-2 motion finish with extension. Look how much he celebrates haha.
#24 Play - Offense
Where all the overblown athleticism question marks are actually %100 valid are plays like this. Doesn't seem to do anything wrong. Baskonia forms a wall (shoutout SVG). Is this something that can be improved by gaining better core strength, or improving the body in any way, really? Genuinely asking because I have no idea. I would think not, but I don't know for sure. This is only a play where an athletic player who can get the contact and rise along with the shot blocker can finish with his touch. Doncic isn't that player as it stands, possibly not ever.
#25 Play - Defense
Not on his toes enough again and should have went under the screen against Beaubois when the screen was that far out and he would met him behind the 3pt line anyway.
#26 Play - Offense
So he pulls off the low to high ball and then high to low dribble transition after the initial deceleration and with the left to right crossover again like in the #23 play. That allows him to beat his defender. But doesn't dribble the ball around FT line and picks up his dribble instead. With not dribbling into the dropped big, he doesn't gain any acceleration towards the rim and even if Diop fouls here, Diop was in a much more favorable position to defend than Doncic to finish.
#27 Play - Offense
Bad passing vision, bad passing execution. Granger was in the perfect position there, Real offense didn't have any leverage anywhere. Too early of a pass. Don't do memorized reads like that.
#28 Play - Defense
Exact copy of play #11. Hop into the close-out messes up his balance in the subsequent lateral slide and fouls.
#29 Play - Offense
Decent footwork and clean mechanics. What I wrote for play #22 exactly applies here.
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