When many wondered whether Luka Doncic would get significant playing time less than 24 hours after a heartbreaking loss to Canada in the FIBA World Cup quarterfinals, the Slovenian star surprised everyone by logging his tournament-high 37 minutes against Lithuania.

Although it wasn’t enough for Slovenia to overcome Lithuania (84-100), head coach Aleksander Sekulic had high praise for his leader’s motivation in the game.

“The answer is very simple. It’s because Luka is very competitive,” Sekulic responded to BasketNews when asked about Luka’s motivation for this game and him playing 37 minutes.

Out of all the players who took to the court in both classification games for 5-8th places, only Latvian Andrejs Grazulis spent over 30 minutes.

Doncic had 29 points on 7-of-21 shooting and added six rebounds, two assists, three steals, and four turnovers against Lithuania.

“I don’t know where he found energy, but he said he feels great and wanted to play. He’s our best man regarding energy. He was trying to motivate everybody and put everybody on another level. I think we were not on the level we wanted to be, but he tried hard in the game, timeouts, and locker room. He tried all the time to push them to their limits. But that’s why he played because he felt good,” Sekulic added.

“This shows his character and that he loves basketball. That also shows a lot of how serious he is when he plays for his country and that he plays with his heart,” Sekulic concluded.

“I didn’t expect him to play so many minutes in such a game. We guessed he might even sit out this one because it had no meaning. He looked a little tired, but for us, it was even better,” Lithuanian point guard Rokas Jokubaitis recalled following the win, 100-84.

His teammate Margiris Normantas, who spent a lot of time guarding Doncic, also had a different opinion.

“As much as we could, we defended against Doncic, but he still caused problems. It was evident that he didn’t seem very eager to play; he seemed lethargic. I don’t know. It was apparent from his body language. He performed well offensively but was lackluster on defense,” Normantas said.

Sekulic used an opportunity to thank Filipino fans for their support in Manila.

“He has an amazing support in Manila. Fans were cheering for us all the time, and I’m sure it’s because of him,” he smiled. “I would like to use this opportunity to thank Filipino fans for the amazing support we’re getting here. It’s incredible to play a classification game in front of a full gym and everybody cheering for us. It’s just sad we couldn’t win the game to show them gratitude.”

In Lithuania’s match, Luka Doncic made his 82nd free throw attempt in this World Cup.

According to Opta Stats, only one player has had more attempts in a single tournament over the last 30 years: Dirk Nowitzki in 2002 (89). However, it’s worth noting that Nowitzki achieved this feat in 9 games, whereas Doncic has managed it in 7 games.

When Sekulic was questioned about this interesting fact and whether he observed any differences in how referees were calling fouls compared to the game against Canada, he appeared surprised that such a question came up.

“I don’t know, everybody is so worried about his free throws. Somebody said, ‘Do you want him to shoot 30 free throws?’ Yes, if there are 15 shooting fouls on him, let him shoot 30 free throws,” Sekulic said.

“Everybody is talking about how many free throws he’s going to shoot. If it’s a foul, it’s a foul. That’s a fact. I don’t know why we have to cover our eyes and say he shoots too many free throws.”

“It’s basketball, we have rules, and we have guys who whistle. I just don’t want to go there talking about his free throws,” he added.

Luka Doncic attempted 16 free throws against Lithuania (11/16), marking his second-highest number of free throw attempts in this tournament.

“If you ask me – not enough,” Sekulic responded when he was clarified about the number of calls he got against Lithuania.

“I know it’s not easy to officiate against Luka. Because of his greatness, body, and skills, maybe he’ll be a reason for some changes. I don’t know, I hope. Because sometimes it’s frustrating for him. We just want to play basketball, that’s it. We just don’t want to think about getting calls. We just want to compete and have a fair fight. Nothing special,” Sekulic added.

“We don’t want special treatment. Luka doesn’t want a special treatment, and I don’t think he has a special treatment, even if I heard some complaints. Ask him if he thinks he has special treatment,” Sekulic concluded.

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