In the recently concluded media day for the Dallas Mavericks, seond year guard Dennis Smith shared his thoughts on their new rookie Luka Doncic. A snippet from an article from SportsDay details a couple plays during scrimmages that caught Smith off guard.
“His vision is crazy,” he said. “So now that allows me to cut more off the ball and things like that.”
Smith described one particular fast break in which Doncic had the ball and Smith was streaking toward the basket.
“I'm looking like, ‘Throw the bounce pass, throw the bounce pass,' ” Smith said. “He didn't throw it. I'm like, ‘Bro, throw the bounce pass.' It never comes.”
Instead, Doncic lobbed an alley-oop that Smith caught with two hands and slammed.
“I've never had anybody on my team that made those kinds of plays before,” Smith said.
Smith was mainly responsible for the Mavericks' ball-handling duties last year which also happened to be his rookie year. Having a high-level playmaker like Doncic will surely help him be relieved from being the facilitator and focus more on channeling his superior athleticism for his scoring.
Not only will Smith be the benificiary of Doncic's passing but also the slew of Mavericks shooters led by guys like future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki, Harrison Barnes and the returning Wesley Matthews.
Doncic, on the other hand, will also benefit from Smith playmaking abilities as he will surely get a lot of open shots off of his penetrations. He has been getting rave reviews for his playmaking abilities since he started practicing with the Mavs. Head coach Rick Carlisle was quoted in saying:
“Anybody who doesn't jump on season tickets now is going to sorely regret it later, that's all I'll say”
Even in a rebuilding year, the Mavericks are sure to be one of the teams to watch this season.
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