Mavs Sunday Practice Report: Barea Buys The Dirk To Luka Comparison
It is the finest compliment that can be issued in Mavs Land. And J.J. Barea, meeting with the DFW media via Zoom following Sunday's Dallas Mavericks practice inside the NBA Bubble in Orlando, does not shy from it.
“The thing I see is the competitiveness in both of them,” Barea said. “In anything they do. Dirk used to love competing in practice. Luka loves winning everything in practice. The talent level. They want to be the best player on the floor every single day, every single time. Those things are similar to when Dirk was young and getting into his prime.”
There are also similarities between the Dirk-Barea relationship and the Luka-Barea relationship. Once upon a time, Nowitzki - the now-retired franchise icon - engaged JJB is some famously competitive 3-point contests in practice.
And yes, that exercise continues, with Barea vs. Luka. But ...
“With Dirk, it was almost impossible to beat him in a 3-point contest,” Barea said. “With Luka, I got a chance.”
Coach Rick Carlisle echoed the general sentiment there.
"An intense desire to win,'' Carlisle said of the stars' similarities. "An intense desire to be a great teammate. A leader - but each in his own way.''
Added the coach: "I continue to see (Luka) raising the level of his game in all areas and refining his game in all areas, and just going really hard. When the best players go hard, the whole team goes hard."
Carlisle also indicated that his staff's "ramp-up'' plan is working, that there is an increased readiness for Thursday's bubble scrimmage against the Lakers, and that the day-to-day advances are measurable.
Said Rick: "We've found a new level of competitiveness in practice.''
Dallas on Sunday also continued with some mix-and-match experimentation. On this day, it included the arrival of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Dorian Finney-Smith playing some at the 5.
"We'll continue to look at all that stuff,'' Carlisle said, "and who knows: Maybe we'll get an alignment out there with all guards. We'll have to see how things go."
Obviously, however, the basis of Dallas' hoped-for success is all about Doncic, and fellow star Kristaps Porzingis, who Carlisle believes has experienced a "tremendous'' camp as a two-way player.
'The (franchise's) future,'' Barea said, "looks great. You have one of the best in the NBA at (age) 21. Luka is only getting better - and that's a crazy thing to say. And KP is young and hungry. Mark Cuban and the Mavs do a great job of putting teams together. The future is bright.''
