August 5, 2023 • 12 mins
The show shifts to focus on more current events, with in-depth coverage of Luka Dončić and his return to the Slovenian national team team amid the numerous challenges that the team already faces. Kyrie Irving has been in the news all week as well, so we discuss some of Kyrie's most recent comments and how they might impact the Mavericks.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Thanks so much everyone for sticking withus here on ninety seven one the freak
profuse thanks to Dirk Navitsky making timefor us when really zillions of people want
to interview him as he's about totake his rightful place in Springfield. Lots
of candor on numerous topics for thesoon to be Hall of famer As you
(00:26):
can tell, yet another edition ofthe Saturday Steinline with tons to talk about,
not enough time to get into itall. I did want to make
sure though, that amid all thisNavitsky nostalgia, wanted to make sure that
we cover current events with the Mavericksas well, because yes, there has
been a lot going on with theteam this week. For starters, Luka
(00:49):
Dontchich back on a basketball court Wednesdayin actual game conditions, making his return
to the Slovenian national team, butfor the first time as the captain,
and so I wanted to get afirsthand take. So I dialed up my
good buddy Isztalk, Franco Dallas's secondfavorite Slovenian as my former ESPN teammate Tim
(01:11):
McMahon has been known to refer tohim istok. You guys all know him
expert on all things Mavericks, Sloveniannational team, very loud and informative voice
on MAVs Twitter, a frequent contributorto D magazine, so I asked him
to assemble a brief audio dispatch directfrom Lubiliana so we could work in Istok's
(01:38):
impressions from you know, a firsthandperspective of how Luca looked, and I
am going to run his thoughts.But Slovenia had another game Friday night,
again against Greece, this time onthe road, and there was a bit
of a scare when donchich Bang kneeswith a Greek opponent in the second quarter.
He already at eighteen points at thatpoint, but he hobbled off the
(02:00):
floor. Naturally, everyone fears theworst. I hope you guys saw my
report via Twitter Friday afternoon while thegame was still going on. No,
Luca did not sustain a knee injuryof note in that sequence. Sources with
knowledge of the Slovenian team's plans toldme Luca was always scheduled to play only
(02:23):
the first When Luca got back onthe floor for the first time, and
I counted it up one hundred andnineteen days between games for Luca don Che.
Luca looked great physically. He's ingreat shape, looks very lean,
showing birst on his drives, blowingby bigger and bullying smaller Greek defenders.
(02:45):
Especially in the first half. Helooked like he didn't miss a beat,
dominating and controlling the game with scoring, rebounding, and especially passing like he
usually does in Americ's uniform. Butas one would expect, there was also
plenty of rust, a reasonable thingafter probably the longest break in his career.
Don't She struggled with his shot,faced some of his old demons at
(03:07):
the free throw line, going onlynine or seventh team from the line and
to avoid from beyond the ark.At one point in the game, he
missed six consecutive ribbies, waving hisarms at the basketball gods at the top
of the arena after he finally madeone on his seventh try late in the
third quarter. But what might bemore interesting for fans in Dallas is that
(03:30):
the Slovenian team, facing similar challengesas the Merricks do so mostly playing undersized
with the lack of a true bigto anchor their defense, try to play
a bit faster, don't Chich foundhis teammates for several easy, fast break
layups and dunks on cross court kickahead passes with surgical precision. Whether this
(03:51):
trend continues remains to be seen,but there is no doubt that Jason Kidd
and his staff probably liked what theysaw from Luca his first game back and
would love to see more of thisstyle of play when he returns to Dallas.
The good news coming out of thesetwo games, both for the Slovenian
national team and the Mavericks, it'sthat Luca is fine, not hurt.
(04:14):
Quickly chipping away the rust with someof the dimes he uncorked in the Wednesday
game again eighteen quick points before heexited the second game. But I honestly
don't think Luca is thinking about anyof that right now. There is just
way too much going on for Sloveniaand Slovenians everywhere on and off the floor.
(04:35):
In terms of basketball. Vlatko Chancharof the Denver Nuggets. He's expected
to be Slovenia's second best player givenhis presence in the NBA with the newly
crowned champs from Denver. But chanChar he did sustain a knee injury Friday
away in Greece, and that verymuch did not look good. And this
(04:56):
Slovenian team does not appear to haveas much firepower around Luca as it has
had in the past, compared tothe group that was good enough to get
to the bronze medal game in Tokyo. In the best case scenario this summer,
Luca was going to have to doa lot more to get this team
into metal contention, because, inaddition to the United States, France and
Australia will be strong. Canada lookslike it might finally be ready to fulfill
(05:21):
some measure of its considerable potential asa basketball nation. Spain and Greece still
here even though it is it's reallyhard to picture Jannis into d Kumpo playing
for the Greeks this summer after arecent surgery on his left knee. The
Greeks have not officially ruled Jannis out, but it would be hard to imagine
(05:43):
Janni's being ready to play games herein a couple of weeks. But when
you take the whole picture, Slovenia, which has a huge, huge fan
base in Dallas because of Luca's presence. There's no more gore on Drag on
this team. Drag now thirty sevennot gonna be to lead the second unit
or run the offense when Luca goesto the bench. No edomodis due to
(06:06):
injury, chan char Now out indefinitelyend. To this point, they have
not yet had Mike Toby, theAmerican, the naturalized American playing for Slovenia.
Toby is due to join the nationalteam this coming week, I'm told,
But it was really noticeable in thesefirst two games that Luca didn't have
his favorite pick and roll, pickand pop partner. It's just a really
(06:29):
limited team outside of Luca. Andlet's be honest, everything I just said,
all of it completely secondary, noteven secondary, further down the list
than secondary. Because the devastating floodingtorrential rains that hit Slovenia on Friday,
(06:50):
the country's prime minister has termed thesituation catastrophic. The basketball team, as
I understand it, was forced tostay in Greece after the game. It's
a national crisis and I think that'sreally what Slovenians all over the globe are
focused on right now. Our warmestwish's best wishes to everyone. They're dealing
(07:10):
with such a scary situation. Idon't even really know how to continue a
basketball discussion when you look at thefootage of how severe the flooding is.
Slovenia, such a small country,only an independent nation since nineteen ninety one.
This is just a terribly difficult crisisfor that whole country to be dealing
(07:36):
with. There's no elegant or cleanway to go back to basketball. I'm
going to try, at least brieflyto talk a little more hoops, because
I know there was great interest thisweek in the various posts on Instagram from
the Mavericks new number eleven Kyrie Irvingon more than one occasion praising hyping up
(07:58):
Luca's national team displays with Slovenia.Even before that, Kyrie took great exception
to a social media post. Hespotted a tweet that pointed out his very
limited success since the twenty sixteen NBAFinals, since he was side by side
(08:18):
with Lebron James and Kyrie fired back, quote, pin this tweet and see
what happens in the next few years. Irving wrote, Now, on one
hand, these are just words.It's just talk that Kyrie We'll have to
back up, because it has beenseven years since Kyrie played that huge role
(08:43):
in Cleveland's historic rally from three onedown in the NBA Finals against the seventy
three win Warriors. Seven years witha lot of turmoil and only flashes of
the greatness that he's capable of.Since all that said, this is August
(09:03):
training camp is almost two full monthsaway. The fact that Kyrie is thinking
about this stuff and being so publiclysupportive of his co star while there's really
nothing that can be done right nowto back any of it up, nothing
he says at this stage of thissummer is especially binding. These are encouraging
signs because like it or not,it has been availability and reliability and the
(09:28):
notion of wanting to lead in fostergood chemistry. There frankly, has been
precious little of those things in recentseasons witnessed in Brooklyn, and that's why
people are second guessing the Maverick's decisionto commit three years and one hundred and
(09:50):
twenty plus million to Kyrie Irving afterthe three and a half seasons of chaos
that we just saw with the net, someone out there is still going to
I have to explain to me whythe third year of the Mavericks new deal
with Kyrie is a player option.For me, it one zillion percent should
have been a team option, atwo plus one in which the team,
(10:13):
rather than the player, has controlentering the twenty five twenty sixth season,
just like Fred van Vleet's new contractin Houston. That would have made a
lot more sense. Kyrie ultimately canonly live up to the new contract on
the floor for starters by being onthe floor much more than he's been lately.
(10:37):
But some unforeseen hopeful signs after athirty eight and forty four season that
so routinely extinguished hope. I understandthe optimism. I get it. The
excitement that these various postings and pronouncementshave generated totally understandable. I know where
(11:01):
you're coming from. All right,everyone, that will essentially do it for
the sixth, yes, sixth episodeof the Saturday Stein Line Season one.
Let's see now if I can makeit back to town in time for Lionel
Messi's first ever road game in anInner Milanch shirt, even if it's in
the League's Cup rather than MLS Playitself. Stay tuned. Let's be honest,
(11:24):
It's going to be an amazing spectacle, whether or not I get there
or not. And what is certain, I will be in Springfield a week
from now. I have all therequisite classifications and travel documents to make sure
that happens. Remember Tuesday, it'sthe Faces of the Franchise, Ben and
Skin at DFW with Durk Navinsky forthe official unveiling of his new restaurant,
(11:48):
Navitsky in the C Terminal. Sourcessay it is called Navitsky and our commercial
free with those guys. And thennext Saturday, this show, the Saturday
Steinline. We'll be back live fromSpringfield. Hours before dark, Navitski gives
his Hall of Fame induction speech,with Steve Nash and Maverick's coach Jason Kidd
(12:09):
on stage with him as the silentpresenters. There will be things happening in
Springfield on Friday as well. Iwill be covering it all like a blanket,
sneaking notes into my BlackBerry when nobody'slooking. I will share those behind
the scenes tales with you next weekas this unexpectedly busy August rolls on.
(12:31):
Thanks, as always, friends forjoining us here on the Saturday Steinline,
presented by Panini trading cards and collectibles
Thanks so much everyone for sticking withus here on ninety seven one the freak
profuse thanks to Dirk Navitsky making timefor us when really zillions of people want
to interview him as he's about totake his rightful place in Springfield. Lots
of candor on numerous topics for thesoon to be Hall of famer As you
(00:26):
can tell, yet another edition ofthe Saturday Steinline with tons to talk about,
not enough time to get into itall. I did want to make
sure though, that amid all thisNavitsky nostalgia, wanted to make sure that
we cover current events with the Mavericksas well, because yes, there has
been a lot going on with theteam this week. For starters, Luka
(00:49):
Dontchich back on a basketball court Wednesdayin actual game conditions, making his return
to the Slovenian national team, butfor the first time as the captain,
and so I wanted to get afirsthand take. So I dialed up my
good buddy Isztalk, Franco Dallas's secondfavorite Slovenian as my former ESPN teammate Tim
(01:11):
McMahon has been known to refer tohim istok. You guys all know him
expert on all things Mavericks, Sloveniannational team, very loud and informative voice
on MAVs Twitter, a frequent contributorto D magazine, so I asked him
to assemble a brief audio dispatch directfrom Lubiliana so we could work in Istok's
(01:38):
impressions from you know, a firsthandperspective of how Luca looked, and I
am going to run his thoughts.But Slovenia had another game Friday night,
again against Greece, this time onthe road, and there was a bit
of a scare when donchich Bang kneeswith a Greek opponent in the second quarter.
He already at eighteen points at thatpoint, but he hobbled off the
(02:00):
floor. Naturally, everyone fears theworst. I hope you guys saw my
report via Twitter Friday afternoon while thegame was still going on. No,
Luca did not sustain a knee injuryof note in that sequence. Sources with
knowledge of the Slovenian team's plans toldme Luca was always scheduled to play only
(02:23):
the first When Luca got back onthe floor for the first time, and
I counted it up one hundred andnineteen days between games for Luca don Che.
Luca looked great physically. He's ingreat shape, looks very lean,
showing birst on his drives, blowingby bigger and bullying smaller Greek defenders.
(02:45):
Especially in the first half. Helooked like he didn't miss a beat,
dominating and controlling the game with scoring, rebounding, and especially passing like he
usually does in Americ's uniform. Butas one would expect, there was also
plenty of rust, a reasonable thingafter probably the longest break in his career.
Don't She struggled with his shot,faced some of his old demons at
(03:07):
the free throw line, going onlynine or seventh team from the line and
to avoid from beyond the ark.At one point in the game, he
missed six consecutive ribbies, waving hisarms at the basketball gods at the top
of the arena after he finally madeone on his seventh try late in the
third quarter. But what might bemore interesting for fans in Dallas is that
(03:30):
the Slovenian team, facing similar challengesas the Merricks do so mostly playing undersized
with the lack of a true bigto anchor their defense, try to play
a bit faster, don't Chich foundhis teammates for several easy, fast break
layups and dunks on cross court kickahead passes with surgical precision. Whether this
(03:51):
trend continues remains to be seen,but there is no doubt that Jason Kidd
and his staff probably liked what theysaw from Luca his first game back and
would love to see more of thisstyle of play when he returns to Dallas.
The good news coming out of thesetwo games, both for the Slovenian
national team and the Mavericks, it'sthat Luca is fine, not hurt.
(04:14):
Quickly chipping away the rust with someof the dimes he uncorked in the Wednesday
game again eighteen quick points before heexited the second game. But I honestly
don't think Luca is thinking about anyof that right now. There is just
way too much going on for Sloveniaand Slovenians everywhere on and off the floor.
(04:35):
In terms of basketball. Vlatko Chancharof the Denver Nuggets. He's expected
to be Slovenia's second best player givenhis presence in the NBA with the newly
crowned champs from Denver. But chanChar he did sustain a knee injury Friday
away in Greece, and that verymuch did not look good. And this
(04:56):
Slovenian team does not appear to haveas much firepower around Luca as it has
had in the past, compared tothe group that was good enough to get
to the bronze medal game in Tokyo. In the best case scenario this summer,
Luca was going to have to doa lot more to get this team
into metal contention, because, inaddition to the United States, France and
Australia will be strong. Canada lookslike it might finally be ready to fulfill
(05:21):
some measure of its considerable potential asa basketball nation. Spain and Greece still
here even though it is it's reallyhard to picture Jannis into d Kumpo playing
for the Greeks this summer after arecent surgery on his left knee. The
Greeks have not officially ruled Jannis out, but it would be hard to imagine
(05:43):
Janni's being ready to play games herein a couple of weeks. But when
you take the whole picture, Slovenia, which has a huge, huge fan
base in Dallas because of Luca's presence. There's no more gore on Drag on
this team. Drag now thirty sevennot gonna be to lead the second unit
or run the offense when Luca goesto the bench. No edomodis due to
(06:06):
injury, chan char Now out indefinitelyend. To this point, they have
not yet had Mike Toby, theAmerican, the naturalized American playing for Slovenia.
Toby is due to join the nationalteam this coming week, I'm told,
But it was really noticeable in thesefirst two games that Luca didn't have
his favorite pick and roll, pickand pop partner. It's just a really
(06:29):
limited team outside of Luca. Andlet's be honest, everything I just said,
all of it completely secondary, noteven secondary, further down the list
than secondary. Because the devastating floodingtorrential rains that hit Slovenia on Friday,
(06:50):
the country's prime minister has termed thesituation catastrophic. The basketball team, as
I understand it, was forced tostay in Greece after the game. It's
a national crisis and I think that'sreally what Slovenians all over the globe are
focused on right now. Our warmestwish's best wishes to everyone. They're dealing
(07:10):
with such a scary situation. Idon't even really know how to continue a
basketball discussion when you look at thefootage of how severe the flooding is.
Slovenia, such a small country,only an independent nation since nineteen ninety one.
This is just a terribly difficult crisisfor that whole country to be dealing
(07:36):
with. There's no elegant or cleanway to go back to basketball. I'm
going to try, at least brieflyto talk a little more hoops, because
I know there was great interest thisweek in the various posts on Instagram from
the Mavericks new number eleven Kyrie Irvingon more than one occasion praising hyping up
(07:58):
Luca's national team displays with Slovenia.Even before that, Kyrie took great exception
to a social media post. Hespotted a tweet that pointed out his very
limited success since the twenty sixteen NBAFinals, since he was side by side
(08:18):
with Lebron James and Kyrie fired back, quote, pin this tweet and see
what happens in the next few years. Irving wrote, Now, on one
hand, these are just words.It's just talk that Kyrie We'll have to
back up, because it has beenseven years since Kyrie played that huge role
(08:43):
in Cleveland's historic rally from three onedown in the NBA Finals against the seventy
three win Warriors. Seven years witha lot of turmoil and only flashes of
the greatness that he's capable of.Since all that said, this is August
(09:03):
training camp is almost two full monthsaway. The fact that Kyrie is thinking
about this stuff and being so publiclysupportive of his co star while there's really
nothing that can be done right nowto back any of it up, nothing
he says at this stage of thissummer is especially binding. These are encouraging
signs because like it or not,it has been availability and reliability and the
(09:28):
notion of wanting to lead in fostergood chemistry. There frankly, has been
precious little of those things in recentseasons witnessed in Brooklyn, and that's why
people are second guessing the Maverick's decisionto commit three years and one hundred and
(09:50):
twenty plus million to Kyrie Irving afterthe three and a half seasons of chaos
that we just saw with the net, someone out there is still going to
I have to explain to me whythe third year of the Mavericks new deal
with Kyrie is a player option.For me, it one zillion percent should
have been a team option, atwo plus one in which the team,
(10:13):
rather than the player, has controlentering the twenty five twenty sixth season,
just like Fred van Vleet's new contractin Houston. That would have made a
lot more sense. Kyrie ultimately canonly live up to the new contract on
the floor for starters by being onthe floor much more than he's been lately.
(10:37):
But some unforeseen hopeful signs after athirty eight and forty four season that
so routinely extinguished hope. I understandthe optimism. I get it. The
excitement that these various postings and pronouncementshave generated totally understandable. I know where
(11:01):
you're coming from. All right,everyone, that will essentially do it for
the sixth, yes, sixth episodeof the Saturday Stein Line Season one.
Let's see now if I can makeit back to town in time for Lionel
Messi's first ever road game in anInner Milanch shirt, even if it's in
the League's Cup rather than MLS Playitself. Stay tuned. Let's be honest,
(11:24):
It's going to be an amazing spectacle, whether or not I get there
or not. And what is certain, I will be in Springfield a week
from now. I have all therequisite classifications and travel documents to make sure
that happens. Remember Tuesday, it'sthe Faces of the Franchise, Ben and
Skin at DFW with Durk Navinsky forthe official unveiling of his new restaurant,
(11:48):
Navitsky in the C Terminal. Sourcessay it is called Navitsky and our commercial
free with those guys. And thennext Saturday, this show, the Saturday
Steinline. We'll be back live fromSpringfield. Hours before dark, Navitski gives
his Hall of Fame induction speech,with Steve Nash and Maverick's coach Jason Kidd
(12:09):
on stage with him as the silentpresenters. There will be things happening in
Springfield on Friday as well. Iwill be covering it all like a blanket,
sneaking notes into my BlackBerry when nobody'slooking. I will share those behind
the scenes tales with you next weekas this unexpectedly busy August rolls on.
(12:31):
Thanks, as always, friends forjoining us here on the Saturday Steinline,
presented by Panini trading cards and collectibles
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