SPORTS
After Luka trade, in Flagg I trust
Sports are only as important to even the most hardcore fans as the investment we have in them.
The Dallas Mavericks tested that theory back in early February when they traded franchise linchpin and Slovenian wonder boy Luka Doncic.
Doncic was only 25 years old and had yet to enter his athletic prime, most considered to be athletes late 20s. Despite that, he had led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals the previous season and even though the team lost, it was more a failure of losing to a better team overall in the Boston Celtics.
Individually, Doncic had already become consistently one of the five best players in the whole league. He was named to five straight all-star teams and was first team all-NBA five straight times. He also had been in the running for the league’s most valuable player award during all those seasons as well.
Doncic came to the Mavericks in 2018 during a time when the franchise was missing the playoffs the previous two seasons and longtime centerpiece Dirk Nowitzki was entering his final season after playing for more than 20 years.
Luka was the most accomplished European draft prospect ever, having helped his former club win the league title and being named league MVP despite being just 19 years old.
He instantly became the most important player on the team and the franchise started to build around him and his strengths. It was also a passing of the torch moment that season. Nowitzki, playing his last season, was the most accomplished European player in league history and now the franchise would be in the hands of the new European wonder kid who was finding his footing way faster than anyone could have hoped.
During his first six and half seasons with the team, the Mavericks made the playoffs four times, advanced to the conference finals once and the NBA finals just the previous season. On top of that, Luka was one of the most popular players in the league, almost purely for his on court wizardry.
Not being your typical short point guard, Luka represented the big, forward sized playmaker every team would love to have. Teams with Doncic running the offense was almost guaranteed to be good with him running the show even if his teammates could do little more than make open shots and little else.
Unfortunately, with him playing on the biggest stage in recent years, some of his warts started to bug some fans. He would get very fiery and winey when referees would not call fouls for him. His lack of elite athleticism, his biggest weakness, prevented him from ever being as great on defense as he was on offense.
With his big role as the offense playmaker, his effort was up and down on that end of the court. Also, while he had great size for his position, his body type was a bit more doughy than the prototypical NBA star and fans heard stories he did not take his conditioning seriously.
Despite all of that, fans and league pundits figured those flaws were not enough to get in the way of Doncic eventually leading a team to the NBA title one day as their centerpiece.
A lot of times in league history, teams and players have to go through heart break before breaking through to be champions. After failing the previous season, the team retooled with a few new signings and it looked like the Mavericks had a good chance to compete for the title again if health was good.
While the that was up and down the first two months, Dallas was trending in the right direction with a 19-11 record when it played on Christmas day. Doncic went down with a calf strain. Little did anyone know that would be the last time anyone would see him play for the Mavericks.
Late at night on Feb. 1, it was reported Dallas had traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers. Most fans thought the reporter had gotten hacked. No one in the league had even known the Mavericks were thinking about trading him.
No star NBA player in league history had ever been traded so out of nowhere before. Usually, it was triggered by the player themselves, asking/demanding to be traded to somewhere else.
Also, when a big star is traded, the process can usually take several months or even a whole season so the franchise can try to get the best return among the 29 other teams.
This time, it was a secret meeting between two teams meeting for about a month. The big name in the return for Luka was Anthony Davis, a star player who had helped the Lakers win the title in 2020 playing second fiddle to Lebron James, but was widely considered not on Doncic’s level.
On top of that, Davis was 31 years old and had a long history of getting hurt. While the team was mostly built around older players, with Luka still being in his mid 20s, it was thought the team could still build around him in the future even when this current roster aged out in two to three years. Now, when this roster would eventually age out, the future looked bleak because Dallas also got traded back only one draft pick when lesser players had gotten three to four future picks in other deals.
General manager Nico Harrison tried to justify the trade, saying Davis was more of a defensive player he wanted the team to be built around. Stories came out how the Mavericks were not happy with Luka’s conditioning entering the season. His injury on Christmas was thought by Harrison to be just the first in a long physical downfall in the second half of Doncic’s career since Harrison felt he did not have good habits taking care of his body.
Maverick fans were apoplectic. Here is a player we had fallen in love with, watched grown up from a teenager to a young man, go through ups and downs and lead the team to the NBA finals. Despite all of the success, the best was still to come we thought. Luka was so good, it was thought it was a matter when and not if he would win a title.
It didn’t help Davis immediately got hurt in his first game with the team, even though he played great. More key players went down, including the team’s second best player Kyrie Irving, who had to step up his role filling Doncic’s shoes as the team’s lead playmaker with him gone.
The story from games were more about the fans reaction than what was happening on the court. Fans would chant, “Fire Nico” at impromptu times during games, with signs T-Shirts made that got fans kicked out.
A shrine of sorts was made at the foot of Nowitzki’s statue in front of the arena, exemplified by someone bringing a coffin, since many thought a Luka statue would eventually be erected one day as well.
It culminated with Luka with the Lakers coming back in April. Doncic was adamant from his point of view he wanted to stay in Dallas and was surprised by the trade. He visibly cried from the fans reaction during his intro which also included a touching tribute video. He then went on to torch the Mavericks for 45 points all while Dallas fans cheered him at every turn despite him now playing for another team. The night was punctuated by more “Fire Nico” chants and many fans felt like it was the end of their fandom for the Mavericks.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
A solid day was had by Montague county high school tracksters at the State Track and Field Meet May 16 in Austin.
Bellevue’s Mattie Broussard had a pair of second place finishes in both the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.41 and the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:31.33. Broussard also was 4th in the 1,600-meters with a time of 5:22.18.
Her teammate Brylie Hager was 9th in the 110-meter hurdles in 19.93.
Forestburg’s Brenna Briles was 4th in the triple jump with a 35’9 1’2” leap. Her teammate Jocelyn Rich was 4th in the pole vault with a 9’ leap.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
Bowie had a pair of top four finishes at the State Track and Field Meet May 14.
Sophomore Brayden Willett made it onto the medal stand, finishing 3rd in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:17.89. Bowie junior Tyler Richey finished 4th in the pole vault after a 14’6” effort.
The top two finishers from Holliday, also in Bowie’s district, celebrated with him after he crossed the finish line.
“It was kind of surprising,” Willett said about Ryder and Noah Stroman embracing him in a celebratory hug. “They’re good guys, so it was kind of cool.”
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
This past week found your outdoor scribe doing some rather mundane things such as yard work, vegetable gardening and repairs around the old cabin. Oh, I also wrapped up a couple of magazine articles. I always enjoy sharing my adventures with all of you in this column but to be perfectly honest, not nearly as much as my ‘field work’ hunting and fishing which is an iatrical part of any good outdoor column. If you’re like me, you much prefer reading about an adventure that you can also partake.
I am far more comfortable telling you about an outdoor experience I had firsthand knowledge of rather than the reporting part of my job as an outdoor communicator. So, this week, I’d do a bit of ‘reporting’ and share some planned adventures I have scheduled for the next couple weeks. By the time you’re reading this, I will have already been in the woods in quest of a fat ‘eater’ hog and probably have some freshly caught blue catfish fillets in the freezer, details will follow in the next couple of weeks.
I’ll kick things off early in the week heading down to my friend Jeff Rice’s Buck and Bass Ranch located on the upper end of Lake Fork. Jeff produces our weekly TV show “A Sportsman’s Life” which airs on Carbon TV and YouTube. Our plan is to film a segment of our show on stalking wild hogs. It will be a challenge to capture the shot with all the thick grown spring vegetation. It could happen fast and require a fast shot. We will be breaking in my CVA Cascade scout rifle in 308 caliber. This short barrel little rifle is light and easy to handle in thick cover, ideal for this type of hunting. Our plan is to hit the woods during the last couple hours of daylight and ease along the trails, watching and especially listening for hogs. Wild porkers are vocal critters and it’s common to hear them before seeing them. We will play the wind and attempt to get downwind and then close the distance for a shot but you can never guess how a hog hunt will unfold. Wild pork or not, Jeff and I always have a great time together and I plan to bring a side of wild pork ribs already slow smoked and covered in brown sugar and BBQ sauce with a side of camp baked beans!
After a tasty dinner we plan to get a good night’s sleep and head out the next morning for a planned fishing trip with guide David Hanson at Lake Tawakoni. Both channel and blue catfish are on a very good bite right but it’s hard to pass up those snow white blue catfish fillets when the bite is good. David is, to my knowledge, the most veteran catfish guide on the lake and became friends close to a quarter-century ago when we first began fishing
together. The plan is to use freshy cut shad in shallow water and target eater size blues weighing between 2 and about 10 pounds but as every catfish angler knows, it’s always possible to connect with a big trophy size blue when fishing Tawakoni.
Next week, I plan to join my long-time friend J.C. McCollough on the Red River below the Texoma dam. I’ve been fishing and hunting with J.C. for many years and look forward to getting with him again. I would describe this to catching big catfish in a barrel but in this case the deep holes in the river are comprised of several acres. The water level in the river below Texoma are dictated by the water release at the dam by the Corp of Engineers. When there is a current in the river, fish move upstream to feed on baitfish coming through the dam. When the water recedes, they fish move into the deeper holes where baitfish also seek refuge from the falling water. Catching will be fast paced with the chance to connect with some big fish as well as limits of “eater” size fish. We’ll be rigging with big live gizzard shad fished weightless on a free line, using medium spinning gear. The bigger fish will often nail the frisky live shad and the fresh cut bait is a sure way to connect with lots of smaller fish. There is something very exciting about fishing big live baits on a slack line. One minute your bait will be darting around and you will occasionally feel it taking up slack and the next when a big blue catfish grabs the bait, the rod will bow and the fight will be on. There is usually no ‘setting the hook’, by the time you feel the fish, it will already be hooked and making a strong run to the nearest submerged brush. Your job will be to keep the drag set just enough to keep pressure on the fish but not so much as to cause the line to break.
J.C. uses his airboat to access these deeper holes because of the very shallow water. While it’s not impossible to portage a kayak or small boat in the river, it often requires a few miles travel to get to these deep holes, this is best accomplished by experienced kayakers with plenty of endurance. There was a time when I was game for this type fishing but I much prefer to do my river fishing these days from a boat designed to negotiate the shallow waters.
Squirrel season is underway in many of the east Texas counties and there’s some pretty good fox squirrel hunting here close to home in Kaufman county and I’ve been thinking about how tasty a big skillet of smothered squirrel with rice, gravy and biscuits would be. Bream are on the beds now and my friend Edgar Cotton invited me to come do some ‘perch jerking’ with him and his son David-it’s in the plans! Well, hopefully next week I will have a ‘sure nuff’ adventure of two to relate you you-I’m ready to get some relief from all this work around the homeplace! LC
You can contact Tawakoni/Fork catfish guide David Hanson at 902-268-7391. Contact J.C. McCollough at 580-372-0320.
Listen to Luke’s podcast, “Catfish Radio” just about everywhere podcast are found.
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