The struggles of Luka Doncic have been no secret to the NBA community. Through the first few games, his numbers saw a sharp decline in almost every statistical category and his shooting percentages were pretty concerning.
Right on time, however, Doncic responded with a signature performance, dropping 33 points, 19 rebounds, and 11 assists against the Rockets on Monday. According to Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle, his rough start was nothing more than the side effects of a shortened offseason and a new start date.
“His preparation schedule was thrown off, and he just got behind the curve. It’s pretty clear now that he’s working his way back to where he needs to be,” via Callie Caplan of Dallas Morning News.
Rick Carlisle on Luka's conditioning improvement after anticipating Jan/Feb. start for this season:
"His preparation schedule was thrown off, and he just got behind the curve. It's pretty clear now that he's working his way back to where he needs to be."
— Callie Caplan (@CallieCaplan) January 5, 2021
If accurate, it’s obviously good news for the Mavericks and an indicator that their 3-4 start might be more of a fluke than a trend we should expect to see for the next few years to come.
But it does pose a bigger question: if it had such a negative effect on Luke, who else might it be impacting, and how long before they get out of their slump?
With all the excitement of the new season, it can be easy to forget just how unusual this offseason was. With barely any time to rest or prepare, many players are finding it tough to adjust.
Over the next few weeks, we should hopefully start to see things settle down a bit.
