“Oh my God, the refs are bad.”
No player complains about and to the officials more than Luka Doncic. It’s almost constant. It’s become too much for Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, who was frustrated Doncic didn’t get back on defense on a few plays so he could argue with a referee. Kidd called out Doncic after the Mavericks were upset by the Pelicans Friday night, via Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News.“I would lean towards playing five on five a little bit more [than complaining],” Kidd said. “You’re not going to get any calls. Officials, they tend not to stop the game to change calls. So you’d have to understand . . that there’s a point in time in games, dead ball, to be able to talk to the officials.
“But while the game is going on, transition defense is one of the things that we’ve talked about, that we have to get better. If we’re lobbying for calls during live play, it puts us in harm’s way.”
Doncic agreed.
“It’s a lot of things, you know,” Doncic said. “I think J-Kidd, he’s got a point and I’ve got to stop doing that.”
Doncic complaining to the officials was not why Dallas lost to New Orleans, 107-91. The Mavericks didn’t shoot the ball well, led by Doncic who was 7-of-20 overall and 0-of-6 from beyond the arc. Dallas also couldn’t keep Willy Hernangómez off the glass, he had six offensive rebounds, keeping plays alive.
Doncic has complained to officials since his first game in the league, it’s not going to change overnight. But admitting it’s a problem is the first step.
