Luka Doncic and Slovenia didn’t get the result they were hoping for in their maiden Olympic debut in basketball, but placing fourth is still an accomplishment.
Over the course of two weeks, Slovenia continued to shock the world by beating Argentina and Spain and ultimately coming within seconds of a bronze medal after losing in the quarterfinals against France.
What You Want to Know?
V. Cancar Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
V. Cancar performances have never ceased to astound, reiterating his unique qualities with each new contest.
Read Also:
The Dallas Mavericks would be well to draw a cue from Slovenia on what a club built around Doncic’s talents might look like.
Even though the Slovenian national team doesn’t have the same level of quality as the Mavericks, the way the Olympic squad was built took advantage of Doncic’s strengths more so than the Mavericks have so far in his three years with the team.
Put simply, all you have to do is put consistent shooters around Doncic and a couple more guys who can handle the ball and see what unfolds.
In every game Slovenia played, Doncic would repeatedly attack the basket and dish off to an open teammate in the corner or on the wing for a 3-pointer.
We’ve seen him do it countless times in Dallas, only this time it was V. Cancar standing in the corner, shooting 3s at a 48 percent rate, instead of Dorian Finney-Smith, who hit 39.4 percent from deep last season. Finney-Smith had the finest shooting season of his career last year, but his figures pale in comparison to those of V. Cancar and the rest of Slovenia’s squad.
When Slovenia took three-point shots, it seemed like they all went in. In contrast to the Mavericks of the previous season, only Maxi Kleber averaged more than 40% from beyond the arc on three or more 3-point attempts per game (41 percent).
Last year, the Mavericks were sixth in the league in 3-point attempts (38 per game), but they were 18th in 3-point %, good for last place (36.2 percent).
Read Also:
Last Words
Space the floor, put up some screens, and let Doncic do his thing; this is how Dallas utilises him, and this is how Slovenia employs him. Slovenia, however, had the necessary resources to make that strategy work at the Olympics.
Unlike the Mavericks, who had Tim Hardaway Jr. as their most reliable shooter last season but even he can be incredibly streaky, Slovenia had three surefire shooters who were going to knock down 3s at a steady enough clip.
