Luka had a crazy game. In the first half he was automatic from all over the court. He was double-teamed during most of the second half and got very few shot opportunities. He could have easily gone over 80 if he tried to score more in second half.
It's probably more like a 10-15 point curve compared to a decade ago, but that's still extreme. In the 2012-13 season, just 11 players averaged 20 or more ppg, with Carmelo the scoring champ averaging 28.7 Today? 55 players and scoring champ Embid is at 36.0 ppg Prime Luis Scola would be averaging 25 & 10 right now lol It means he ded, and Embiid & Luka ain't yet.
I swear I’m not at all trying to diminish Luka’s game. He’s insanely great. At the same time holy crap this game has changed so quickly. We are looking at statistically the top 4-5 offenses of all time all playing this season. That’s wild. 70 point game. 60 point game. Will be interesting to see if defense can ever catch back up. But it’s a skill sport and the skills of current players are so well refined
Not to dismiss his accomplishment. But some of those drives to the basket were met with zero resistance.
Doncic moving defenses like marionettes. He's a master out there. If you have a step back or fadeaway in this league, it makes you un-guardable. You either miss or make it. Every player should master it. The same goes for the sky hook. I don't understand players that don't add those shots by age 12.
I must admit, Luka on the Fakers and he already has a chip......with their NBA clout. Good thing they only go for 29+ year olds....
Is competition better now than it was in the 90s? Cause if dudes scoring 70 points left and right in todays league than the past is left in the dust.
You know what's kind of interesting - it could just be that the generation is fading out of memory, but for the last 20 years or so, the 1990s old guard that still dominated broadcast basketball discourse (and the regular people amplifying their message online) maintained that the general increase in offensive productivity that started around 2005 was the product of, inter alia: rule changes, hand checking, a watered down league due to expansion, players today generally being "soft" etc.. .. and that the true apex of human performance in basketball was - unlike in any other endeavor - achieved between the years 1985-2000 and could never be matched even though the world's population is now 3x as big and the raw amount of people who have access to competitive basketball is now 10x or 100x greater than it was back then. That was obviously bogus and it seems like, basically after "The Last Dance" came out in 2020, that talk all kind of died off because it's become increasingly clear just how much better (at shooting in particular, though not exclusively this) today's guys are compared to previous generations. (Also, the NBA really needs to expand again - the talent pool demands it)
