European teammates of Luka Doncic, opponents reflect on his ‘unbelievable’ playoff games ahead of first NBA run

Long before Luka Doncic became a second-year superstar for the Mavericks, he was a young boy, about 5 years old, and watched his father, Sasa, play on the KD Slovan basketball team.

Miami Heat guard Goran Dragic was Sasa’s teammate and often caught Luka on the court between breaks and after their games, shooting when he had the chance.

“He always had a basketball in his hands,” Dragic said. “A basketball or a sandwich.”

Dragic could not know it, then Doncic would become a Slovenian basketball kid, EuroLeague MVP and NBA All-Star before he turned 21.

But his nearly two-decade relationship with Doncic’s family makes Dragic one of the most qualified people to judge Docic’s readiness as he leads the Mavericks ‘first round game against the Clippers next week, Dallas’ first playoff appearance. since 2016 and the first of Doncic’s NBA career.

Dragic’s views reflect those of teammates and opponents from Doncic’s professional European renovation: The Mavericks’ franchise cornerstone may be missing NBA postseason experience, but Doncic has flourished – and won – amid playoff pressure, challenges and hype since he was a teenager.

“Probably most people here in the US did not know what to expect from Luka,” Dragic said. ‘But the boys who played handball with him and knew him from a young age, we knew he was really a special talent. He is never afraid of the big moments. To be a child [and] to say so, it is somewhat unbelievable. ‘

Run back to 2017, when Doncic was an 18-year-old at the EuroBasket tournament.

The star tandem that the Mavericks expect to bet for titles in future seasons – Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis – were then opponents in the quarterfinals: Doncic with the Slovenian national team and Porzingis with Latvia’s.

At one point, Porzingis, at center, called in the defense to protect Doncic. Doncic signaled for his teammates to stand back and took Porzingis, already a second-year starter for the Knicks, one-on-one. Doncic shot past him for a lineup.

Doncic also made a 35-foot 3-pointer to extend Slovenia’s slight lead late in the elimination game. He finished with 27 points and nine rebounds, confirming the accuracy of the rumors Porzingis had heard.

“Everyone knew Luke,” Porzingis said, “that he was this enormous talent at 16, 17.”

Throughout EuroBasket, Teenage Doncic shone against NBA players: against France’s five in the group stage; The seven from Spain, including brothers Gasol, Ricky Rubio and Willy Hernangomez, in the semi-finals; and future teammate of Mavericks and friend Boban Marjanovic in the championship against Serbia.

Despite missing some of the finals with an injury, Doncic averages 15.3 points and 9.3 rebounds over the last three elimination games. Slovenia won their first title and finished undefeated.

Doncic and Dragic were roommates during the tournament. Doncic, nearly 13 years younger, often asked Dragic about the NBA’s practice styles, travels, and rigors. He had aspirations to be the eighth Slovenian player in league history.

After three months of watching Doncic dominate every day on pick and rolls and flourishing as a shooter, passer and rebounder, Dragic declared after the tournament that Doncic would eventually become “one of the best in the whole world”.

“You just get a feeling when you see a young player, how he reads the game and how easily he plays the game,” Dragic said. ‘You start asking,’ OK, he did this in practice. We’ll see if he can do it in the game. “And then when you see him do even better in the games, you know he’s going to be great.”

Doncic – who signed a five-year contract with Real Madrid in 2012 at the age of 13 and made his professional debut with the senior team at 16 – showed his potential further in the 10 months leading up to Mavericks’ 2018 night trade.

In Real Madrid’s first practice of the 2017-18 season, Chasson Randle, a new addition to the point guard who had a few NBA stints, notices one of Doncic’s most unique possessions: a tall, sturdy statue that a forward pass, but the ball-handling skills and vision of a point guard.

“Oh man,” Randle thought. “This boy is like a 6-8 point guard. Where do you find yourself? “

That was not the only time Doncic left his teammates wondering.

In Real Madrid’s first game of the season, Doncic scored a career-high 27 points. The following outings: 16 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists.

Then came matches against Barcelona “when he killed and killed them,” Randle said, and a performance against a team from Belgrade, Serbia, when Doncic followed a distinguished standing ovation from opposing fans with a game-winning 3- pointer with less than a second left.

In the first EuroLeague playoff series that season, Real Madrid faced Panathinaikos, whose fans, Randle recalled, cursed, threw batteries and put flare guns in the stands.

Doncic did not doubt the midday of the hostility, and Real Madrid won the series 3-1.

CSKA Moscow prepared to face Real Madrid and Doncic in the Euro Foureague Final Four.

The plan: “beat up” Doncic, “said center Kyle Hines, with physical, tight defense and pressure to speed up his pace. Players then straightened up Doncic’s defense, hoping to carry him.

It did not work.

Doncic, 18, became the Final Four MVP and the latest season of the EuroLeague MVP after averaging 16 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 33 games.

“Dominating Europe on those big teams was something that was never done. Nobody, never at his age, had ever done that, ”Hines said. “That I knew he was special.”

Randle saw most attack opportunities on the wings. He even tried them a few times against Doncic in practice.

“Most of the time he would be like, ‘Young man, I’m bigger than you,'” Randle recalled. ‘He would just put me on my hip. ‘

Doncic’s confidence and charisma prompted Randle to tell NBA scouts who shouted that they would be foolish not to include Doncic at no. 1. People who witness Doncic’s teenage dominance and first hand are surprised by his rise of no. 3 to Rookie of the Year to one of the NBA’s most recognizable international stars.

That’s because Doncic’s approach to becoming the NBA’s season leader in triple-doubles – with his first playoff matchup against an upcoming championship game – has remained the same since he was a toddler balancing shots and snacks.

“He loves the game of basketball, and nothing got in the way of that – no expectations, no pressure from the game, not from the NBA,” Randle said. ‘You see that when he plays. It is pure joy. ”

Find more Mavericks stories from The Dallas Morning News here.