Luka Doncic can still improve and learn from Stephen Curry / News - Basketnews.com

Luka Doncic faced major struggles in the final stretch of the regular season, including his lack of intensity and concentration, a tendency to save his energy with irrational defensive decisions, and fatigue or injury issues late in the season.

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The Dallas Mavericks went all-in trading for Kyrie Irving at the start of February, giving up on Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2027 second-round pick, a 2029 first-round pick (unprotected), and a 2029 second round-pick.

Kyrie Irving

Team:Dallas MavericksPosition:PG, SGAge:31Height:191 cmWeight:87 kgBirth place:Melbourne, AustraliaProfileNewsStatistics

What happened after the blockbuster trade could be called a disaster -- Dallas won only eight times in 26 games, finishing only 11th, with Luka Doncic expressing his frustration in one of the post-game interviews.

"It's really frustrating. I think you can see it with me on the court," Doncic said. "Sometimes I don't feel it's me. I'm just being out there. I used to have really fun smiling on the court, but it's just been so frustrating for a lot of reasons, not just basketball."

In the end, Doncic hinted at some possible personal issues off the court.

"I do not talk about my private life. It's just a lot going on."

But on the hardwood, Mavs' biggest problem was clearly the defense, which ranked as the 4th worst since the 9th of February. The Kyrie trade did not improve their already great offense as much as it weakened their defense, which got worse by 4.3 points per 100 possessions.

Their best defender -- Dorian Finney Smith -- left for Brooklyn, and replacing a lengthy on-ball defender in a switching system with an offense-oriented guard would never give a positive boost on the defensive end.

But it also had a domino effect, as Doncic's lack of effort, tiredness, and bad defense were brought under the brighter lights.

Lack of intensity/concentration

The Slovenian's defensive stance usually isn't good enough to be ready when the opponents attack him.

One more detail: Luka uses finger-pointing too often, which has also been an issue with the Mavs switching system. Doncic relaxes way too early if he sees a pick nearby, even when they are actually not set.

Kyrie Irving

MIN:37.33PTS:27.05 (56.98%)REB:5.07As:5.5ST:1.12BL:0.75TO:2.13GM:60ProfileNBA2022/2023

The same goes with almost any off-ball action, where Luka loses his opponent and gives him a wide-open shot.

When playing against the Mavericks, teams constantly navigate their offense in a way where the man guarded by Luka is setting the screen, preferably early in transition. In such situations, Doncic is helpless.

Credit USA Today Sports - Scanpix

If Luka could stay in front just a moment longer, that would already change the whole picture by a lot. But right now, it's easy drives most of the time. Moreover, it's also the main reason why a high-level rim protector should be a No. 1 priority over the summer for Dallas.

Luka has other weaknesses, too. For example, he jumps on shot fakes way too much. He is quite good at contesting stepbacks from guards due to his height, but sometimes he looks too relaxed.

Fatigue

Late in the season, it was evident that Luka was either fatigued or played through an injury.

He could be seen visibly limping in various games, and it is not sure if participating in the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 right before the NBA season played a part. Still, his stamina and physical condition could be questioned.

If he wants to win and be the greatest, he should follow the rigorous Steph Curry conditioning routine.

They both have incredibly high usage rates on offense, with Curry running an insane amount of kilometers without the ball, while defensively, they are the No. 1 targets for all the other 29 coaches in the league.

Credit USA Today Sports-Scanpix

The situation in Dallas is frustrating -- this season was a complete waste of Luka's talents.

Many roster question marks are looming, and with a complete rebuild not possible, it is up mainly for Doncic to improve this off-season. Maybe taking an example from Curry could help.

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