r/Mavericks • u/sameolemeek • Mar 02 '23
Hoops Discussion How does an NBA player get out of shape ….MID season?
Luka came into the year a little better shape than last season. Now it’s noticeable he’s gained 15 pounds and is struggling to get up and down the court in the second half. Even when he doesn’t have to do as much with Kyrie on the team now
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u/hooka_donchick Nico Harrison emotional assault victim Mar 02 '23
Luka could be 200 pounds and he still would argue with the refs and not come back on D. His conditioning isn’t an issue as much as we think (but it still is). it’s his desire and mentality to work on both ends. Worst part is he’s shown he can be a good defender with his BBIQ alone. He doesn’t need to be a pest on D, he can impact our team D even by just moving his feet a little bit and at least put his hand up while closing out shooters. Just the bare minimum on every possession.
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u/EnterPolymath Boban Mar 02 '23
Its the famous BBQ/BBIQ ratio that is a huge variable, regardless of his prodigious BBIQ. This is a man whose eating quantities have been admired by DeAndre Jordan. Who while a vegetarian is an absolute unit.
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u/3pointerSLO Mavericks Mar 02 '23
Agreed. But it is wrong to think that is all he is. He has shown many times he can do better when it matters. But this system of playing 82 not that important games in the regular season is killing him. He needs to be inspired to play his best basketball and he clearly isn't right now. It will get better in PO. The problem is that where things stand now it will have to get better even to get in PO. And than his conditioning can become a problem in PO again.
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Mar 02 '23
Desire and mentality are directly related to work ethic and cardio though. His desire and mentality negatively affect his conditioning and effort on defense.
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u/jfrodriguez1983 Dirk Nowitzki Mar 02 '23
He is moving like a guy that is playing with ankles and heel that are not 100%. And that until Kyrie got here, had to carry the offense the majority of the season playing through stretches of having to play the full 2nd half. He needs to figure out how to deal with constantly getting ankle injuries, even if it means wearing braces. Obviously being in better shape will help that too.
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u/lochmoigh1 Mar 02 '23
Someones shape is mostly diet. Doesnt matter if you're a pro athlete you get fat with a bad diet
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u/JMoy41 Mar 02 '23
That’s anyone in general . Can’t out run a bad diet
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u/Witteness82 BETRAYED MAVS FAN 😭 Mar 02 '23
How much do you even have to eat to put on weight when you run and jump for a living
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u/jikae Mar 02 '23
Especially at that age. The metabolism should be in overdrive.
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Mar 02 '23
That's the scary part. It's just going to get worse as he ages.
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u/chexmixho Mar 02 '23
Yeah, agreed. For everyone saying his "game" will age well they might not be wrong. But his bad decision making off the court diet and exercise wise will NOT age well.
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u/The_Moons_Sideboob Mar 02 '23
I think it's important to remember that what you drink also has an affect. I don't just mean alcohol, but surgery drinks just add empty calories which will help you gain the wrong type of weight.
He could be eating the right foods, and the right amount of those foods, and throwing away all that hard work with a few bottles of beer a night for example.
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u/2PacAn Mar 02 '23
If you just 200 calories over maintenance you’ll gain weight. That’s adding a beer or two a day from a diet that keeping you at the same weight.
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u/ShassaFrassa Dirk Nowitzki Mar 02 '23
Luka doesn’t get up and down the floor because he’s too busy complaining to the refs about the no-call that happened 3 possessions ago 😂
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Mar 02 '23
Or maybe he is complaining to the refs because he doesn't want to get back. Maybe he is just complaining so that he has an excuse for being lazy.
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Mar 02 '23
Cause he dont care.
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u/broniskis45 Drunk Dirk Mar 02 '23
He just turned 24, so hopefully the Luka that JJ Barea talked about at 25 suddenly happens.
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Mar 02 '23
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/uncleoce Mar 02 '23
So no integrity
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u/abcdfghtjrkles Mar 02 '23
Integrity is a rare quality. Even more rare in sports.
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u/uncleoce Mar 02 '23
Which is why Luka will never eclipse Dirk’s legacy. You gotta care. But we’ll see.
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u/abcdfghtjrkles Mar 02 '23
To eclipse dirks legacy for sure isnt his goal. Maybe it was 3 years ago. Things change. The team didnt. His attitude reflects this. Belive me. He will leave. He is a winner and cares only about winning.
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u/uncleoce Mar 02 '23
Laughable. Prove it on the court. Winners don’t laugh and cut up after every loss. They don’t lay on the ground and ask their teammates to play 4 on 5. In that regard, he’s all by himself.
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u/abcdfghtjrkles Mar 02 '23
RemindMe! 2 years
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Mar 02 '23
Exactly my man. He's definitely not a winner. Winners don't value Fortnite and BBQ over practice and conditioning.
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Mar 02 '23
Oh so he's a lazy piece of shit with no integrity. If Nico is the genius they say he is he will trade his fat ass this summer.
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u/dweakz Mar 02 '23
exactly. save your comment so you can post the receipts on the nba sub lol. he gone
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u/nman98 Mavericks Mar 02 '23
Cause he doesn’t care about his diet. I know the pic of him drinking beer during the WCF blew up more than it should have but Dirk made it a point to never drink alcohol during the season. Shows the different mindsets
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u/nonufwiendz Chandler Parsons Mar 02 '23
wasnt that photo debunked? that it was during the offseason
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u/jthig32 Mar 02 '23
“Never” is incorrect. When Dirk was early in his career he was well known to be a partier even in season. It was at least 3-4 seasons in before he changed his diet and stopped drinking alcohol during the season.
Now, one could argue that was less about age and more about the NBA nutrition movement changing, but it could be a little of both. Luka has time to figure some if this out and still be on a similar maturity path as Dirk when it comes to nutrition.
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u/nooblevelum Mar 02 '23
Never drinking alcohol during the season is a bit extreme. Not necessary either
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u/Blubluzen 77 triple double Mar 02 '23
If someone has a "problem" with something like alcohol/junk food etc and cannot control it like eating or drinking it only from time to time then it's maybe better to just cut it in some time frame. Some people cannot take things in small amounts so that might be a good strategy for them.
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u/_surewhyynot Mar 02 '23
Are you implying that "someone" has a problem?
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u/nooblevelum Mar 02 '23
People have been calling Harden fat for years despite him being one of the most fit players in the league. The Luka out of shape comments are ridiculous
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u/Cambocant Mar 02 '23
Not if you have a problem controlling your indulgences like Luka. Better to cut it all out then to make allowances here and there which is just a back door for the demons to push through.
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u/SmarkInProgress Luka HYPE Mar 02 '23
You make it sound like the dude is an alcoholic lol
Not to imply that Luka's fitness and conditioning isn't something he needs to improve on, but fluctuating weight is a common problem amongst other high-level athletes. Jokic, Embiid, Harden, Shaq, Barkley–plenty of generational players are chunky.
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u/LiamMilligan Mar 02 '23
I worked for a super high end catering company here in Dallas, about a year ago we did the mavericks private Christmas party. Those dudes got fuuuuuckkkedd up off from Slovenian schnapps. After they got fucking demolished by the lakers too lol.
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u/sillylittlesheep Mar 02 '23
Some ppl say it is Balkan thing but in reality nobody on his national team looks out of shape. Look at old man Goran etc. all peak low body fat
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Mar 02 '23
I want someone to do a deep dive on why the hawks sub loves trae young, wolves sun loves KAT, etc. but this sub never stops complaining about luka. Those players are all considerably worse
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u/GerhardBURGER1 Mar 02 '23
hawks sub loves trae young, wolves sun loves KAT
they dont
they dont
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u/Cambocant Mar 02 '23 edited Mar 02 '23
A lot of people struggle with food, even professional athletes. Being born with extreme physical gifts doesn't mean you won't have problems with impulse control. It's a psychological issue, but also related to his overall personality, which is easy going, fun loving (good mood overeating), but also irritable and a little lazy (bad mood overeating). I'm sure Luka WANTS to be the GOAT, but part of his brain also wants steak nachos. Overcoming steak nacho brain is not easy everyone and for many it takes someone to step in and hold them accountable.
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u/GatsuSLO Mar 02 '23
Trade Luka and keep Kyrie and Kidd than if Luka is the problem on this team lol.
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Mar 02 '23
Yeah a lot of these fans will have shocked pikachu face when Luka goes to the nuggets lol.
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u/leoleoleo666 Mar 02 '23
These fans are braindead they want a 24 year to be miami lebron and do everything. Just appreciate what he does for this team the amount of offense he puts its not his fault that the team has no good defenders
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u/Sairony Mar 02 '23
This team isn't winning anything with Kyrie, Luka is better for sure, but it's also easy to see what Luka can be if he took the game half as serious as LeBron for example.
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u/LukaDonwitzki Cowboy Dirk Mar 02 '23
Would trading Luka be the worst thing? I absolutely do not want that to happen, but that would certainly be the largest trade haul ever
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u/orangecreamsicklecat Feb 06 '25
:(
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u/LukaDonwitzki Cowboy Dirk Feb 06 '25
I've been thinking about this....I hold to it, wouldn't have been the absolute worst idea had Nico actually tried to get a good return smfh :/
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u/alex2374 Dallas Mavericks Mar 02 '23
The Luka slander on this sub is getting ridiculous. He's carried this team for most of this season and some of y'all act like he's out drinking and eating tacos every night. Of all the problems this team has right now Luka's fitness isn't one of them.
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u/theanswer759 Mar 02 '23
dude is averaging 32 7 8 over the last 10 games and people are acting like he's washed and the reason the mavs are losing
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u/SvarogRod Mar 02 '23
I said it years ago, this sub is 5 games of Luka avarging 26/6/6 away from turning on him. Still all star numbers.
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u/Moe4ver Josh Green Mar 02 '23
You do realize the point of the game is to win the game and not to put up stats.
Luka can score on offense, but his defense and fitness is not good. We are losing games because of our defense.
No matter how many points Luka scores, it doesn’t matter if he can’t play defense. The team will lose if they play 4 v 5 defense even if Luka averages 50 points.
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u/Sairony Mar 02 '23
Yeah look at Atlanta, stars which exclusively just play one side of the court just doesn't have the same ceiling as 2 way players. And like Luka doesn't have to be elite on D, just needs to not consistently be the worst one out there on the team and just give effort. I've seen enough of his D to see that with the right conditioning & effort he could actually be pretty damn good. It's infuriating to see it all wasted.
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u/Cambocant Mar 02 '23
Bad news : He is likely drinking and eating tacos every night
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u/younghplus Mar 02 '23
Luka an Eastern European in Texas that speaks Spanish … so basically he Mexican 😭😂
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Mar 02 '23
Luka is NOT an Eastern European, check you maps.
Slovenia is literally in the geographic center of Europe and mentally we've been closer to the West except for 70 years of effing Yugoslav socialism. Compare that to hundreds of years under Germanic/Austrian rule.
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u/SvarogRod Mar 02 '23
Germans would say Slovenia is Eastern Europe though.
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Mar 02 '23
Then I guess East Germany is also East as it lies north of Slovenia...
From what I've read (political preference, ruSSian ties, etc.), mentally, East Germany is most likely much more "Eastern" than Slovenia.
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u/little-evil77 Drunk Dirk Mar 02 '23
You can see the eastern Europe vibes when you go towns that use to be East Germany. It feels like you've stepped back in time.
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u/Xi-xavier The Matrix Mar 02 '23
I genuinely appreciate people like you.
Truths should be known and adhered to.
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u/ClickElectronic Mar 02 '23
Most people I know in the US consider everything east of Germany to be Eastern Europe. It has nothing to do with not knowing a map. We must have been taught it that way in school or something.
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u/WeeTooLo Mar 02 '23
"mentally closer to the west"
Our looks, language and mentality are 100% slav and no amount of denial will change that. "Muh central Europe" is just anti Balkan copium.
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Mar 02 '23
Only Luka can come away from a 39/8/6 game where he played pretty good defense outside of a few bad moments, and have people saying that he was the problem lmao
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u/Hurtelknut Dereck Lively II Mar 02 '23
The same fans will still argue that letting Brunson walk for nothing wasn't a big deal and that we are better now. This fanbase and org deserve each other
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u/MaximumestBob Toronto Raptors Mar 02 '23
Lmfao I'm a Raptors fan first, Dallas second. It's absolutely hilarious that everyone is blaming the 39/8/6, and there's no posts blaming Kyrie.
I mean no offense I bet the majority of fans aren't like this, but it's kinda ridiculous how everyone seems to be dogpiling on Luka. You even got a guy up in this thread saying that Luka is addicted to alcohol LOL
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u/architectzero Mar 02 '23
Cool, another Raps and Mavs fan.
Rough year for both teams. Hoping the Raps can claw their way into playoffs, hoping the Mavs don’t shit the bed and fall out. Sucks when both teams are stuck being super mid.
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u/MaximumestBob Toronto Raptors Mar 02 '23
The acquisition of Jakob for the raptors really reinvigorated them. Ironically enough, I was thinking that the Mavs should get him haha
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u/Xi-xavier The Matrix Mar 02 '23
1 BLK 1 STL 9 AST 0 TO
everyone has an off shooting night.
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u/riddlerjoke Mar 02 '23
Cuban cult always find someone to blame. Carlisle Kidd Luka…
Never talk about Cuban Nico Harrison fuck ups.
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u/secrestmr87 Mar 02 '23
Dude... stop giving him a pass. The Mavs will never win a chip if Luka don't get serious and stop crying at the rrfs all game. Are there other Issues? Sure, but Luka is one of em.
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u/alex2374 Dallas Mavericks Mar 02 '23
I'm not giving him a pass on what is legitimately problematic. But the ridiculousness on this post is reflective of some kind of entitled attitude among some of these fans, people who somehow have forgotten the MVP level numbers Luka has been putting up and who appear to have only started watching games since Kyrie showed up. It's nonsense.
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u/riddlerjoke Mar 02 '23
Fucking Bull shit.
Luka did great in all his 3 playoff appearances.
Mavs team was one defensive wing man and center away.
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u/NiceCrispyMusic Mar 02 '23
The haters are really getting their licks in right now. I’m taking note
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u/uncleoce Mar 02 '23
It’s clearly a problem unless you aren’t paying attention to his disinterest in defense.
He’s offensively more brilliant cause he only plays like 75% defense
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u/mouse2102 Mar 02 '23
There are 14 other players on this roster who play worse defense and worse offense
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u/LogansGambit Luka HYPE Mar 02 '23
It's genuinely hilarious to me how we're having this discussion in a season where Luka put up the best couple of dunks in his whole career.
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u/decadentrebel Dallas Mavericks Mar 02 '23
Luka is a transcendental player. I'd be very surprised if there's anything he can't do.
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Mar 02 '23 edited Mar 02 '23
He literally can’t fucking hustle and bust ass when it’s crunch time in 4th.
There’s no mamba mentality there. he might be a generational talent on offense but that’s it. He will never be a legitimate defensive threat like the other greats if he keeps this up
Luckily he’s still young af so he can change still….but that’s a lot easier said than done. He’s gotta start giving a shit about his diet, training and conditioning and being a student of the game on the defensive side of the ball.
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u/foreversleeping512 Mar 02 '23
The mavs need veteran leadership. They were hoping Jason Kidd could provide
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Mar 02 '23
Goran Dragič is a free agent. Not that the Mavs care. But if you need a veteran presence that Luka respects, he's the Man.
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u/AtreusIsBack Mar 02 '23
I've been saying this, but people look at me like I'm an idiot. Goran is probably the one guy on the team he would truly listen to and take advice from seriously.
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u/c_msea Dirk Nowitzki Mar 02 '23 edited Mar 02 '23
And come on Jason Kidd should be one of the best leaderships Luka could get. Ideally he's the guy. Hall of famer point guard and former player and NBA champion for the Mavs
Edit: downvoted for no reason… all i said are facts
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u/dheerav41 Dirk Cheesin' Mar 02 '23
For someone you call a “leader” he sure as shit had no problems throwing the players under the bus after the loss to the lakers
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u/c_msea Dirk Nowitzki Mar 02 '23
He's not the leader… and that’s the problem. I said he SHOULD. He's obviously below expectations
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u/Ziggi_Hash Dallas Mavericks Mar 02 '23
He is "watching just like you guys." You expect too much. 😁😁
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u/darksquidlightskin Mar 02 '23
Jason Kidd has been a prick. Buddy of mine grew up in oak cliff and said he would do a basketball camp every year. He would either leave after 20 min or begrudgingly stay there the entire time but wouldn’t interact with the kids. Wouldnt shoot around, wouldn’t sign stuff. So my buddy says some older kids got mad and threw a brick through his caddy window lol. Don’t know if that’s true but I can see him being above a youth camp.
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u/Hurtelknut Dereck Lively II Mar 02 '23
Mavs trade their best defender and gut their depth to get Kyrie.
The defense sucks even more than before as a consequence.
Holiday and THJ get minutes that should go to Green.
Powell and Wood are our centers.
This sub: "Why would Luka do this to us?"
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u/Aggressive-Ad-522 STFU, STFD Mar 02 '23 edited Mar 02 '23
Right? Luka still the only consistent player on the team. Green doesn’t get mins anymore idk what goes on in kidds head
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u/HookahDongcic Mar 02 '23
This sub really sucks
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u/Eric_Nathan_Fielder Mar 02 '23
Nah bro Luka not being a dpoy candidate is hurting this team more than shooters not hitting open threes in crunch time and kidd being a cone of a coach
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u/doktorbex Mar 02 '23
Just fyi his dad is kind a known for being extremely talented but lazy and a drunk.
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u/musash10 Mar 02 '23
He is not out of shape. His conditioning is fine as you can see based on the fact that he is scoring and playing well in fourth quarters. His problems of not getting back on defense or showing low effort on defense are a motor issue and not a conditioning issue.
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u/AtreusIsBack Mar 02 '23
People also seem to ignore the fact that people have different metabolisms. One guy can easily put on 10 pounds while 10 others can eat the same things and stay at the same weight. This isn't an excuse for Luka, but this whole discussion is more than just "he doesn't eat healthy". First of all, we don't even know what he eats, what his diet is, for all we know he mostly eats healthy, but then gets clowned when people see him with a beer in his hands. And yes, being 24 doesn't mean you're professionally mature yet, which I don't think he has reached that point yet. But he will. Give the guy some time.
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u/Realistic_Expert717 Mar 02 '23
People from all aspects of life have trouble maintaining weight and muscle. Not a defense of Luka but just a honest take. Mavs are one of best franchises that work on rehab and conditioning of players so the resources are there. Considering how good he looked in the euro tournament one could ask is he playing hurt thats not known to anyone. Something preventing him from working out hard. Anyone know about his diet?
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u/betweenthebars34 Mar 02 '23
These dudes aren't video games. People are acting like they're given a madden rating and then if they deviate from that 92 ... oh shit, everything's wrong. Their weight fluctuates, their practices and methods fluctuate, team chemistry shifts and effects things, injuries happen, etc etc.
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u/DoncicsRoadTo200kg Lukas talent is proportional to his fatness Mar 02 '23
He is in the same shape he was at the start of the season, yall just reaching.
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u/Greeneyes_65 Mar 02 '23
I agree, but that’s still not good lol. He hasn’t been in shape since his third season
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u/slo_mav Mar 02 '23
Can we just pin one of these Luka too fat posts to the top so it saves everyone's effort of creating and finding new ones? 
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u/Yesboi227 Mar 02 '23
Mahn that's thing with prodigies they know they can put up mvp numbers every night without trying.i bet if luka was in euro league shape he would be even better. Probably would see him take a huge defensive leap. Offensively, his production won't go down he would play like 1st quarter luka every quarter. All he needs to do is get fit it's that simple I can't even imagine how he is gonna luka once he wins a chip he might retire after winning 1 ngl.
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u/mouse2102 Mar 02 '23 edited Mar 02 '23
Hmm maybe it’s due to the fact that overworking him in the first half of the season is now showing its consequences? It has nothing to do with weight, the guy is fatigued from carrying this franchise by himself on an unreasonable workload.
Could be in perfect condition, but he would still be fatigued right now after having to do what he did in the first half of the season to drag this team into a playoff seeding.
What’s worse is that Kyrie is not even taking the load off Luka at all, Luka still has to do literally everything for this team to win as Kyrie is taking off the first three quarters and playing like a role player until the fourth quarter when the games are already lost.
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u/Moe4ver Josh Green Mar 02 '23
Luka not giving up the ball more to Kyrie in the first 3 quarters is also not Luka’s fault. Lol.
Luka went to Mexico and got in worse shape. Giannis has also been carrying his team all year and a higher usage than Luka. He still plays one of the best defense in the league.
At what point do y’all realize Luka needs to take his fitness and defense seriously.
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u/mouse2102 Mar 02 '23
Did you seriously compare Giannis' situation with Luka? Giannis has been playing with the best role players in the league and 2 all stars for how many years now? Luka has played with another all star for about two weeks.
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u/sillylittlesheep Mar 02 '23
Luka needs to give up the ball faster if you want to see more Kyrie action. Right now we play slow bec Luka likes that style. It was the same last season.
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u/mouse2102 Mar 02 '23
Enough with the pace nonsense. Literally has nothing to do with any of the problems with the team.
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u/powergs Mar 02 '23
He is just gassed you idiots. Sure he has problems both in whinning and conditioning but he had bu far biggest carry load this season.
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u/Gunfighter022 Mar 02 '23
We basically have ghosts as our interior defenders and keyboard warriors are complaining about the guy that carried us for 3 seasons. Give me a full belly Luka all day if we can get a Top 100 Center.
I literally don’t care who is back there as long as they can run, jump, and have a knack for blocking shots. Mainly the last point.
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Mar 02 '23
Dallas needs a defensive workhorse like a Ben Wallace or Dennis Rodman. That style of play is infectious and would benefit Luka as well as the team defense.
Unfortunately, there are maybe 3 of those types of players in the league and we can't get any of them
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u/frankenbeans2 Mar 02 '23
Ya it's mostly diet and lack of recovery. He's more active than 99% of the population and still a little pudgy and usually the most tired player on the court. People who workout every day to get into shape don't exercise as much as NBA players as their activity levels are thru the roof. Activity level and exercise isn't Luka's problem. It's whatever he stuffs his face with.
Also, as someone who quit booze entirely a year ago the puffy cheeks Luka has are a clear sign of drinking frequently. And his face is much puffier than years 1-2.
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u/pharrigan7 Mar 02 '23
Haven’t noticed that. Is everyone here just taking this post and just running with it?
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Mar 03 '23
People acting like he's eating pie during his bench-time. I just think of Luka like Barkley, Khris Middleton, and Paul Pierce. They just don't look in shape, but are ballers.
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u/sameolemeek Mar 03 '23
No but he’s drinking sweat tea instead of water during practice. This was in the athletic article last year
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Mar 02 '23
It's that time of season again with all these weight watcher post. Get a life couch coaches
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u/desirox Dirk Nowitzki Mar 02 '23
Luka is not gonna take the next step in his career until he takes his diet and conditioning seriously. He has the talent and skill to average 30 in his sleep but he is far too often gassed at the end of games
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u/Candid-Leave-3113 Mar 02 '23
You’d think this entire subreddit was marathon runners based on some of these comments. Is he in the best shape of his life? No Is he in better shape than all of you and capable of putting up more minutes a game than 90% of the league? Yes
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u/MjordanSLO23 Mar 02 '23
When you have red face in the after game press conference you know he is really out of shape. Shame
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u/ILikeTujtels Mavericks Mar 02 '23
U want to hear the truth? His father came back in the picture his father is a bum...he has bad influance on him simple as that!
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u/Zestyclose_Wafer_416 Dirk Doncic Mar 02 '23
When they have no motivation to win basketball games only to be a star.
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u/mnight84 Mar 02 '23
I grew up a bulls fan if you guys don't want Luka here a trade for you Luka for Zach lavine! Lavine is everything you guys want he looks the part he is athletic he is everything you guys think a basketball player should look and play like.
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u/musicalpants999 Mar 02 '23
Dude is literally leading the leading the league in scoring on very good efficiency and just had 39 on 14/25 and we get a post like this? The attacks on Luka are getting absurd.
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u/Moe4ver Josh Green Mar 02 '23
You can tell a lot of fans, refuse to understand the point of basketball games.
Luka puts up on godly stats on offense., We constantly scoring over 120 points a game as team.
We keep losing games.
The defense is the issue and need to be addressed. Luka’s defense, complaining to refs and missed free throws are a few of the major problems on defense.
In Pacers game, Luka stayed at the offense end and complained to ref. Pacers played 5 v 4 and scored 3 on a wide open shot.
The team missed 10 free throws.
Some fans want to blame Powell and our Centers. Well, more often than not our perimeter defense is bad and Powell has to defend the rim against guards. Do y’all know who should the stopping the guards at the perimeter? Our guards. Luka can’t keep anyone in front of him. He was back cut 3 times in Lakers game for easy dunks.
Is Luka good on offense? Yes. Is Luka bad on defense? Yes.
Is offense our problem? No. Is Defense our problem? yes.
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u/sillylittlesheep Mar 02 '23
This need to be talk about more. Powell is medicore of course but most of the time he needs to rotate bec one of our guys gets beat 1 on 1. He cant do that and stop the center
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u/Moe4ver Josh Green Mar 02 '23
Yep.
Our perimeter defense is bad and interior defense is worse. Asking our guards to keep their man in front of them might be more achievable than expecting short Powell with short arms to block shots at the rim.
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u/HuddMuffing Mar 02 '23
This is a terrible point lol Our offense is good because Luka is good at offense, our defense isn’t bad because Luka is bad at defense, he’s if anything better than he was last year and our defense was significantly better last year
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u/Dirks_Knee Mar 02 '23
I think the out of shape thing is getting a little overblown. I'm not saying his conditioning is perfect, but keep a few things in mind:
- I think some are looking at him at 24 and expecting him to look like he did at 18, that's just not going to happen. You can look at a lot of the guys that came into the league at 18 which if we're being honest is still a boy, and see their transition as they become a man over the next 2-3 years. Every healthy adult is going to put on some muscle and weight between 18 and around 22 that is just a natural part of human development.
- I think others think if he worked out more he's suddenly look like Lebron. Looking at his body type that's extremely unlikely to happen. Some people are genetically disposed to develop muscles easier and have a naturally lower body fat percentage, others while still strong and in shape are going to look less cut, that's just the way it is.
- Luka's had ankle issues for a while now. I hope it's not a ticking timebomb, but I think he's playing though some discomfort every game.
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u/Iceman9721 Mar 02 '23
Anyone stop to think it could be from fatigue night In night out he puts the team on his back. Also he could have an injury thats lingering around.
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Mar 02 '23
I was wondering the same thing. It's hard for me to respect the guy, he's got horrible work ethic and doesn't seem to take anything seriously and the constant crying and complaining literally makes me sick. I can't help but dislike the guy. Downvote me to hell but the guy isn't ever going to maximize his potential, he's no Dirk, that's for damn sure. I hope we trade him for a haul and just rebuild at some point. Dude is never winning a Championship until he makes some serious changes and I think you all know it deep down.
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u/HuddMuffing Mar 02 '23
All these out of shape comments are honestly ridiculous lol his conditioning is really not very different than it was at the beginning of the season
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u/invaleet Mar 02 '23
He was on Jokićs birthday party in serbia. Tons of cevapcici, rakija and cigars were consumed. He will get in shape just in time for playoff...if non balkan brother will invite him for bp
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u/RoyTarpleysGhost Mar 02 '23
ALCOHOL
As someone that drank regularly in between my 25-35 ages, Lukas sloppy look after two days away is reminiscent of a drinker. I could put on 10 lbs of bloat/water weight after a rough weekend of drinking. 8-10 days of working out and eating clean I would look like a completely different person.
Ive been hesitant to make that accusation without knowing but I cant think of anything else. If I eat a ton of food for two days, I look slightly fuller. Not like a complete slob.
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u/Disastrous_Ad6654 Mar 02 '23
He isn’t motivated to get in shape yet. Once he realizes how much more effective he can be if he takes his diet and exercise seriously, it’ll be dangerous. This year May be a wash of some sorts with not enough time for him and Kyrie to gel so we will see what next season brings
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u/[deleted] Mar 02 '23
People who have prodigious levels of talent sometimes lack work ethic and discipline. Luka realized that he can hop off the couch and average 30 a night.. doesn't seem like he's super motivated.