Real Madrid coach Pablo Laso believes that Luka Doncic’s ejection in Tuesday’s EuroLeague win over Valencia should teach the Slovenian a lesson on how to control his emotions and remain focused on the task at hand.
Doncic, currently leading the team with an average of 19.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists a game showed a different side to the usually cool, calm yet deadly self which has seen him attract attention from NBA scouts leading many to believe that he might be a number one pick in next year’s NBA Draft.
The 18-year-old was ejected in Tuesday’s win over Valencia, despite the 2015 EuroLeague champions coming out 91-72 victors.
“Luka had an unsportsmanlike and then a technical. So he’s out,” Real Madrid coach Pablo Laso commented during the post-game presser. “He has to be smart. He needs to learn and he needs to stay in the match. Keep playing. Whether it’s (the decision) fair or not.”
According to the rules of the referee in European basketball, they cannot change their decision regarding a foul after watching the instant replay.But they did after Doncic’s elbow hit on Valencia’s Tibor Pleiss.
“I’m going to say what I saw in the video,” said Laso.
“The refs had an unsportsmanlike on Pleiss. After they saw the blood, they reasserted their decision and gave an unsportsmanlike on Luka. You cannot reassess that in basketball. You cannot change your decision. They looked at the video and gave it to Luka. It wasn’t an unsportsmanlike because he tried to protect himself. According to the regulation, you can’t do that.”
