Supposed to find in Kyrie Irving a sidekick capable of taking him to the title, Luka Doncic instead saw the playoffs escape his side last year. At the dawn of their first full season at the Mavericks, the Slovenian took stock of their association.
After a World Cup concluded at the quarter-final stage with Slovenia, his motivation must reach a stratospheric level. Obviously pumped up and ambitious one month before the start of the NBA season, Luka Doncic was able to meet all of his teammates at the Mavericks this Wednesday for the launch of their training camp. The opportunity also for him to perfect his automatisms with a certain Kyrie Irving :
That 11 ➡️ 77 connection.#MFFL pic.twitter.com/USO78OgHoT
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) September 27, 2023
Luka Doncic expects more from his pairing with Kyrie Irving
Somewhat damaged income from the World Cup, Doncic was still able to hold his place for this first day of collective training in Dallas. Unsurprisingly, his duo with Irving was the subject of particular attention, he who had disappointed so much following his creation on the sidelines of the trade deadline last year. The Slovenian prodigy is nevertheless optimistic for the future, as reported by Tim MacMahon ofESPN :
It can only go better! He arrived in the middle of the season last year and we didn’t have much time to develop chemistry. We had to play matches directly. This kind of thing takes time, especially on the court, and we didn’t have the luxury of doing a training camp or even a pre-season together. So I think it will go much better.
An optimism shared by their coach, Jason Kidd, who seems to make this process of cohesion a priority before the restart:
We liked what we saw following the trade, but we will ensure that this relationship continues to improve. This time, they had the whole summer and will have the preseason to learn to coexist.
As dangerous as expected offensively, the pair formed by the two All-Stars had mainly weighed down their team because of their major defensive shortcomings. A mistake that Luka intends to correct by setting an example to his teammates with Kyrie:
As leaders of the team, what we both do, others will replicate. We must set the tone, but not just us. Everyone. The five players who will be on the field. Everyone is going to play, so everyone will have to help their teammates.
Despite the big disillusionment experienced last year, Luka Doncic does not lose hope about the potential of his collaboration with Kyrie Irving. It is better that way, since the success of its franchise will necessarily depend on the success of this duo!
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