By Antonis Stroggilakis/ info@eurohoops.net
He had a colossal display with a career-high 33 points. He also grabbed 6 rebounds and dished 4 assists while finishing with merely one (!) turnover in the 36:48 (!!!!) minutes he spent on the floor. Against the best defensive team in EuroLeague.
Yet what was quite possibly the top performance in Luka Doncic‘s EuroLeague career so far didn’t arrive with a victory, for Real Madrid.
The 18-year-old phenomenon and potential #1 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft might be young, but fully grasps the importance of winning over individual performances. No matter how grand they are.
“I don’t care for my career high because we lost. I don’t feel great. I didn’t do enough, so I really don’t care if I scored 33 points and we didn’t get a win,” Doncic told Eurohoops.
Real Madrid achieved a comeback from a 13-point deficit to force an extra period in Piraeus. There are few teams that can pride on beating Olympiacos on the road and Doncic realizes this how difficult his and his teammates’ job was. “We played really good. It’s hard to play here. We fought until the end.”
The Slovenian player also commented on the number of times his opponents went to the line, in comparison with his squad.
“It’s hard to beat a team that shot 36 free throws and we had just 11. I am not complaining about the refs, we should have found a way to win. I am really proud of the way we played. We missed some crucial shot, we must learn from that and keep moving on”.
This loss came in the hands of a team captained by three-time Final Four MVP Vassilis Spanoulis. A player that Doncic considers nothing less than “an idol” and the one responsible for the number of his jersey.
“They have a great team with players like Spanoulis and Printezis. Spanoulis is my idol that’s why I wore number 7. And also playing against Kostas Papanikolaou is always a good matchup. I have many friends, it’s always a pleasure for me to come to Greece. I love to play here, I love the city. They have great fans, they support Olympiacos every moment, even when they are losing”.