Guarding Luka Doncic presents one among basketball’s most troublesome challenges.
Luka Doncic has been dominating in EuroBasket 2025 alone. He leads the scoring with 34 factors per recreation, ranks second in assists with 7.2 per recreation, and is probably the most environment friendly participant with a ranking of 36.7.
Doncic has single-handedly carried Slovenia to the quarterfinals, the place they may face Germany.
His newest dominant efficiency got here towards Italy, the place he scored 42 factors in a masterful show.
Cleveland Cavaliers latest choose Saliou Niang skilled firsthand the issue of containing Doncic’s offensive arsenal.
The 21-year-old Italian ahead admitted that regardless of their workforce’s finest efforts, stopping the Slovenian star proved unimaginable.
“It’s an honor to play towards Luka. I simply tried to do my finest. The boldness I had in defending Doncic can assist me quite a bit sooner or later,” Niang defined.
“We put lots of vitality on the courtroom and performed good protection, however Doncic was Luka Doncic. It was robust; we tried to cease him within the second half. We did our greatest.”
Italy’s defensive changes within the second half couldn’t include Doncic’s scoring explosion.
Niang’s evaluation displays the truth that, even when executed properly, defensive schemes typically fail towards elite expertise like Doncic.
Regardless of the loss and defensive struggles, Niang maintained perspective about his general EuroBasket expertise.
The ahead averaged strong numbers with 10.2 factors and 4.6 rebounds per recreation all through the match.
“The way in which we began put us in hassle. It wasn’t simple to return again, however we did it. We have been somewhat drained on the finish. We gave it our all. However I go away this EuroBasket stronger than earlier than, that’s for positive,” Niang added.
The sport supplied Niang with perception into NBA-level competitors, the place he’ll face the world’s finest gamers recurrently.
Nevertheless, Niang will proceed his growth with Italian workforce Virtus Bologna subsequent season whereas the Cavaliers monitor his progress.
Cleveland doesn’t presently have roster area for him, making the European expertise worthwhile for his continued development.
