What do you mean, what does he mean? How many free throws would you have needed for them to have shot? Forty? Sixteen free throw attempts is slightly less than double Doncic's season average, so I don't know how you're drawing the conclusion that they didn't think to try to foul him?
What he means is, they tried fouling him, that didn't work, so they tried something else, that didn't work, either. So they tried something else, that didn't work, either. So they tried...