Luka Doncic, as exceptional as he is, has a tendency to argue with referees during matches. And obviously, that’s not too much to Jason Kidd’s taste. After the Mavs’ new loss to the Pelicans on Friday, the Dallas coach put the dots on the i’s.
“Oh my god, umpires are bad. “ This is what Luka Doncic had swung a few days ago on the floor of the Pels, just before half-time. On Friday, Luka once again faced the New Orleans team and we imagine that his opinion on officials has not changed since, even if the referee crew were different. Frustrated by the lack of whistles in the second leg against the Pelicans, and undoubtedly also by the current level of the Mavericks (defeat 107-91 against NOLA), Doncic chained the discussions and other whining to the officials. What annoy a little … his coach Jason Kidd. Whether he’s right or not, Luka tends to grumble a bit too much in the eyes of his coach, who would especially like to see his star come back faster in defense (via ESPN).
“I would like us to play more in five-on-five. You’re not going to get any whistles. Referees, they don’t tend to stop the game to change their decisions. You have to understand that there are specific times in the match – during stoppage time – when you can talk to the referees. “
Complain less, and above all be smarter to prevent the team from paying the price. Friday against the Pelicans, the Mavericks fell for the sixth time in eight games (and the third time in a row at home), with a Luka Doncic having a terrible night (21 points, 7/20 shooting, 0 / 6 from afar, 7 turnovers). An evening where he thought he deserved more whistles in the face of numerous opposing contacts, an evening where the Mavs also had conceded 19 points in transition according to the figures of mavs.com.
“Defense in transition is one of the areas where we need to make progress. If we call for the whistle while it’s playing, that penalizes us. Some things have to be more important. I think we will understand better and better when to talk to the referees. The whole team, not just Luka. “
Luka Doncic’s response? “J. Kidd is right, I have to stop doing this. ” Probably easier said than done, especially for a player of his stature who inevitably takes hits. Luka talks a lot, sometimes too much, sometimes precisely and sometimes not. But today, the Slovenian star and the Mavericks must not fall into this game if they want to get out of this bad patch. It will be necessary to find more productive means to evacuate this ambient frustration, because Dallas will have to deal with some big customers at the end of the year 2021: the Nets, the Bucks, the Jazz, not to mention teams like the Hornets, the Grizzlies or again the Lakers.
Unlike former Mavs coach Rick Carlisle, who publicly denounced the mistreatment of Luka Doncic by the defenses while he was still in place, Jason Kidd preferred to put his phenomenon in front of his responsibilities. To see if it will change his behavior …
Text source: ESPN
Jason Kidd acknowledged that Luka Doncic’s frequent complaining to officials can hurt the Mavs. He cited poor transition defense due to discussions with refs in particular. Kidd’s quote: pic.twitter.com/xfQjJre2VX
– Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) December 4, 2021
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Jason Kidd would like Luka Doncic to complain less to the referees: indeed, it’s not great to play 4 against 5 in defense