Luka Doncic Receives Harsh Grade for EuroBasket Performance

Luka Doncic and Slovenia experienced an early exit from EuroBasket 2022. How does it translate to his overall grade for the event?

Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic was among the NBA superstars to participate in EuroBasket 2022. He represented his native country, Slovenia, while playing alongside Goran Dragic once again. 

Doncic previously helped to lead Slovenia to a EuroBasket title back in 2017 before his NBA career began. They proved unable to repeat as champions after falling short 90-87 against Poland in the Quarter-Finals. 

Against Poland, Doncic finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists but shot 5-15 from the floor and shot 1-4 on free throws with two of those misses coming in clutch time. It didn't help that he fouled out with 2:37 remaining in regulation.

"Congratulations to Poland. They played an amazing game - it's a big achievement for them." said Doncic after the game. "We didn't come to the game how we wanted or with the energy we needed. Today, I played terrible and let my team down and that's on me."

HoopsHype's Alberto De Roa graded the performance of each NBA player that participated in EuroBasket 2022. Doncic received a "B" for his play with his underwhelming performance in a stunning loss to Poland being highlighted.

"Many basketball fans discovered Luka Doncic back in 2017 during Slovenia’s magic run to the Eurobasket gold. Defending the title was not an easy task, though, De Roa wrote. "Dealing with some wrist issues, the Mavericks star was inconsistent during the tournament, and a stunning loss against Poland sent the current champions home."

Doncic was left off from the EuroBasket All-Tournament Team despite scoring at least 35 points in three consecutive performances. It cannot go without mention that his 47-point performance against France was the second-highest scoring display in EuroBasket history and was the highest since 1957.

The way Doncic's performance is judged seems to be a classic case of how one evaluates a single shortcoming compared to a larger sample of impressive play. Is the gravity of Slovenia's disappointing loss to Poland so great that it overlooks otherwise incredible production? That's up to the eye of the beholder. 

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You can follow Grant Afseth on Twitter at @GrantAfseth.

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