Slovenia plays against German overall basketball. German media commented on Dong 77: Too lazy, too fat, too comfortable

(The original text was published on September 9, and the author is Von Lutz Wöckener, a reporter of Le Monde, and the content of the article does not represent the translator's views)

The German men's basketball team remains unbeaten in the opening European Championships with its high-quality performance of its deep lineup. The Slovenian men's basketball team can only rely on its unique superstars to perform crazy. In the next quarterfinals, this showdown with a huge gap in overall strength is about to take place.

Essentially, the success of professional sports is based on three pillars: talent, training and will/discipline. In the top fields, the main gathering are athletes who perform particularly well on these three prerequisites. A few are satisfied with combining talent with high-intensity training volumes, while others can reach the highest level with just talent and strong willpower. And what is usually most popular among fans are those who succeed through a lot of training and steely willpower to win their career achievements. In short, at least two of these three must be included. Unless, you are Luca Doncic.

In today's era, there may not be any sports star who can go so far in his career but develop so little of his innate abilities. The Slovenian star was regarded as a basketball prodigy at the age of 12, and to this day, people can still see his extraordinary ability and light-weight talent outside the game, especially when he seems bored to throw the ball from a ridiculous distance into the basket. Sometimes with one hand, sometimes with both hands, or with high arcs to the bottom of the roof of the training hall, or into the net in a straight and hollow manner. Doncic's talent is unique, which makes him a superstar, but as often seen by geniuses, madness has never been far away.

At present, Doncic is stationed in Riga in Riga to participate in the European Championships. However, this seemingly inconsistency is actually quite bold. In fact, the national team was fighting with Doncic. Soon, Doncic will play against the German men's basketball team in the quarter-finals. As we all know, basketball is a team sport, so the superstar who plays for the Lakers will once again be equipped with four supporting roles as teammates in the next seventh tournament. This statement sounds exaggerated? Let's look at the recent data on Doncic's dominance performance.

In the quarter-finals against the Italian men's basketball team, the Slovenian men's basketball team led 29-11 at the end of the first quarter. Doncic, the 26-year-old soloist, scored 22 points in a single quarter, not only twice the score of the opponent's team, but even exceeded the total score of all other players on the court (including both the Slovenian men's basketball team and the Italian men's basketball team).

At the end of the half (50-40), Doncic scored 30 points in his personal score and scored 42 points at the end of the game, which ultimately contributed half of the victory of 84-77. Not surprisingly, Doncic is the most dazzling superstar in this European Championship. In the six games so far, Doncic has scored a total of 204 points, and the gap between him and second in the scoring table of this event is very telling: Finnish men's basketball team Markkanin only scored 156 points.

The German men's basketball team has a variety of weapons, while the Slovenian men's basketball team only has one game. The game of the Slovenian men's basketball team is a one-man show, so it forms a completely opposite situation to the German men's basketball team. The German men's basketball team, which has remained unbeaten so far, not only has two NBA players, Wagner Jr. (Magic) and Schroder (Kings), as outstanding core, but also has great knowledge of the depth and quality of their lineup. Doncic averages 33.4 minutes per game (40 minutes), while Schroeder has 27.3 minutes, and Wagner Jr. even gets more rest, averaging 23.5 minutes per game.

"To defeat the German men's basketball team, we need to play the perfect game," Doncic said before the quarterfinals, probably mainly referring to himself. Then, Doncic added slightly enviously, and his eyes turned to his opponent's lineup: "They played very well. Wagner Jr. is the protagonist and the engine, but at the same time they also have so many weapons."

German men's basketball head coach Alex Merbru (who shares the head coach with assistant coach Alan Ibrahimajic due to his illness) can mobilize the lineup in depth according to the game situation and opponents, and can use replacement players with similar strengths almost without running-in.

This was fully reflected in the quarterfinals against the Portuguese men's basketball team. When Wagner Jr., Schroeder, Obst and other German pitchers were unable to throw the ball into the basket, the German coaching staff activated Maodo Ronaldo, who smoothly decided on the game after he came on as a substitute and led the team to a victory that matched his identity. The German men's basketball team has an excellent team, while the Slovenian men's basketball team has a unique superstar.

It is this completely different team-building direction and philosophy that makes this quarter-final showdown so fascinating. Add to the bets carried by the game: a victory will be equivalent to clearly establishing its favorite position in the championship. With Serbia and France eliminated, the showdown between Germany and Slovenia seemed to be a final staged in advance. Without underestimating the Greek men's basketball team led by Antetokounmpo and the Turkish men's basketball team of Shinkin, Slovenia is also likely to be the highest obstacle remaining for this tournament for Germany.

Class: Too lazy, too fat, too comfortable

Although Doncic has only received personal honors as a five-time All-Star player in his seven NBA seasons with the Mavericks and the Lakers, the son of the former Yugoslav basketball professional has actually added team achievements to his career resume. Doncic won the Spanish League three times with Real Madrid as a teenager, twice the Cup, and won the UEFA European League title in 2018. In 2017, Doncic unexpectedly led the Slovenian men's basketball team to win the European Championship..

Although Doncic has outstanding personal abilities, he has made no greater achievements at the team level in the past few years except leading the Mavericks to the NBA Finals in 2024, which is actually not commensurate with his extraordinary potential. However, it is by no means unexpected for many observers.

Doncic's list of negligence and negligence is too long. The indictment can be summarized as: too lazy, too fat, too comfortable. Doncic irresponsibly wasted his talents, lacked discipline, and was unpunctual for a long time. His behavior set a bad example for the team. He lacks leadership skills and therefore cannot surpass the current status of this dazzling magician.

There are countless rumors and anecdotes about Doncic's vices. If you believe the remarks of his most severe critics, people may think that Doncic is actually most keen on living by slimming and playing cards while smoking and drinking canned beer. In fact, he had taken the initiative to create this kind of playboy image. Weight problems and physical inadequacy are obvious every year, and some carnival parties at the card table are also proof of image information.

From "Luka Magic" to "slimming Luka"

This unprofessional attitude led to the sudden end of his era in the Mavericks at the beginning of this year. Doncic was chosen to start an era as the successor of the Mavericks as the German basketball legend Nowitzki. However, the team management took a decisive move in February to trade him to the Lakers at a price below its value (many think) in exchange for Anthony Davis.

Even in the new owner, the old accusations quickly came to him. Although Doncic performed well, he failed to lead the team further with superstar LeBron James. He was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, and Doncic's credit has been exhausted. Coach Redick criticized Doncic's defensive performance and physical fitness abnormally and directly in his analysis.

It was Doncic's new team who took over his offseason training plan. Under the guidance of a team of nutritionists, physiotherapists and physical coaches, the casual genius had to make up for his shortcomings. He began to practice intermittent fasting, by insisting on eating eggs and chicken, consuming at least 250 grams of protein a day. Rice or noodles have become rare since then. To fight hunger, nuts became his snacks. The initial photos of

shocked the basketball world, and the "Luca Magic" turned into "Slimming Luca". People have never seen him as strong as he is, and he himself has given positive comments on his new image. Doncic said he sleeps better, performs more efficiently, and feels healthier, and laid the answer to an extremely compelling and highly discussed question for the new NBA season that began in October: Is Doncic's performance so outstanding, or loses to his unprofessional lifestyle? In other words: does he need those indulgent behaviors to inspire extraordinary performance? Or did cigarettes, beer and fast food hinder his ultimate transformation to become the greatest basketball player in history?

At this European Championship, the Lakers management who came to watch the game did not yet notice the initial signs of improvement. Especially in the first two games of the group stage defeats against Poland (95-105) and France (95-103), everything seemed to be the same: Doncic had an efficient output with amazing scores of 34 and 39 points, with impressive rebounds and shooting percentages, but in the end the physical fitness seemed to be exhausted. Everything is as usual, but he looks in better shape now.

Original text: Von Lutz Wöckener

Compiled by: Li Taibai