FIBA Film Study: How Mavs' Luka Doncic ‘Scores Against the Whole World’
OKINAWA, Japan — Luka Doncic provided Slovenia with a spectacular performance in the team's 100-85 victory over Venezuela to open its 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup schedule.
Having to withstand a historic first quarter shooting display from Venezuela, Doncic kept Slovenia steady with 37 points, seven rebounds, six assists, two steals, and one block. He was the team-leader in each of those five major categories.
"We knew it was gonna be a very difficult game," Doncic said of facing Venezuela. "We played against Venezuela two years ago, and they were a very physical team. They can shoot the ball very well. It wasn't an easy game. We had to fight until the end, and in the end, we got a win."
An in-depth breakdown of Doncic's performance against Venezuela can be viewed in the embedded video below. Subscribe to my channel for more content about Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks throughout the FIBA World Cup and the 2023-24 NBA season.
No matter the coverage that Venezuela deployed against Doncic, he found an answer to break it. The team often stayed home on shooters, but was willing to help off of Mike Tobey until he started converting from deep. Even when giving up mismatches on switches or in the base matchup, Venezuela refrained from doubling and often sent late help or relied on the low-man, aside from when deploying zone at times.
"We followed a great deal our game plan. Still, Luka Doncic scored. He basically scores against the whole world," Venezuela coach Fernando Duro said. "Mike Tobey was one hundred percent from the field, scoring 3-3 from behind the arc. We chose our options and we followed the game plan.
Duro continued: "We executed well, but in order to win these kinds of ball games, you need to execute in an excellent way, and we couldn't."
Next for Slovenia is a matchup against Georgia on Monday, Aug. 28 at Okinawa Arena. Doncic
Grant Afseth is a Dallas Mavericks reporter for DallasBasketball.com and an NBA reporter for NBA Analysis Network. He previously covered the Indiana Pacers and NBA for CNHI's Kokomo Tribune and various NBA teams for USA TODAY Sports Media Group. Follow him on Twitter (@grantafseth), Facebook (@grantgafseth), and YouTube (@grantafseth).
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