By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
On Thursday, Luka Doncic finished the EuroLeague game of Real Madrid against Fenerbahce in Istanbul scoreless, shooting 0/4 from the field while committing 2 turnovers and dishing only one assist. It was his worst game of the season, while his team lost 78 – 77.
Few hours ago, the Slovenian guard bounced back to form by delivering what is quite possibly the best performance of his career so far, dropping 23 points and sending 11 assists to his teammates, to lead Real Madrid in a 92 – 76 victory over Fuenlabrada for the Spanish League. In case you were wondering, then yes… these are both new career-highs.
The way he responded after such a poor night in Turkey, stands pretty far from what you would expect by your usual “17-year-old”. It is the sort of reaction that arrives from someone who possesses the gene of a “basketball great”.
Then again, Doncic has shown time and again that he’s not your usual “next door hot prospect”. His maturity, on and off the court, could teach lessons to seasoned players, the potential he carries is simply gargantuan and we have all realized that he can develop his game to unimaginable heights.
Still, despite the various proofs of all the above that he has thrown on the table numerous times before, his latest exploit remains special. And record-breaking in more ways than one.
From where to start? Doncic became the youngest player in the history of Liga Endesa to register a double-double being the first that did so before blowing 18 candles on his birthday cake. He is also the youngest baller ever in Spain to finish a match with 10 dimes, or more.
Ricky Rubio got close in 2008, when he finished a match of Joventut Badalona vs Bilbao with 18 points and 9 assists. The Timberwolves play-maker was also the only player under 18 with a PIR number of 34 in a single game, but not anymore since that’s how high Doncic’s evaluation rating went against Fuenlabrada.
Then it’s the rarity in the young Slovenian’s numbers. No player had brought a combination of 23 points plus 11 assists, or more, in a single game of the championship, since Sergio Rodriguez in 2006, few months before Chacho began his first NBA stint.
Only seven other players had previously finished a Spanish League match with a “23+11” output. Apart from Sergio Rodriguez, these are Velimir Perasovic (1999), Javi Perez (1992), Mike Phillips (1989), Leon Wood (1988), Winfred King (1985) and the great Drazen Petrovic in 1985, as ACB informs.