By Oliver Trust
BERLIN, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Feelings can be different when it comes to meeting Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic.
Despite a significant number of NBA professionals with different national teams, there is no doubt for fans who is the man to see at the 2022 FIBA EuroBasket, while the 23-year-old Slovenian's opponents might see things differently most of the time.
Rarely do they experience happy moments like the Bosnian team, who delivered a surprise in the preliminary round in Cologne by beating the defending European champions and their genius 97-93.
But after that, the man called "Magic Luka" led his side to an 88-80 victory over Germany, providing 36 points aside from 10 rebounds.
After the match, many players from the host nation took a secret look back on the court as if they couldn't believe what they just experienced.
Things didn't change in Wednesday's duel against France (88-82) as an on-fire Doncic played another great game and led his team to top spot in the group stage.
His 47 points against France made him the second-best scorer in the Euro's history, and he took time to praise the European teams as the best at defending as a team.
The NBA has the best defenders, in his opinion, but European teams do the best job when it comes to the entire team's efforts.
After beating Germany, Doncic spoke of an impressive and challenging experience to face European teams and their robust approach.
Fans in Berlin are already preparing for more Doncic festivals to come.
His Mavericks teammate Maxi Kleber spoke about his never-expiring joy to play basketball "as he is always wearing a smile on his face while on the court".
The German added that his teammate has unique skills and never "plays in an egotistical way but always has an eye for his teammates when in a better position".
Former Dallas star and German icon Dirk Nowitzki also praised the Slovenian as "unbelievable", and that considering his rapid development, Doncic is "a project already at its peak." ■
