LaMelephant: The LaMelo Ball Thread (#2)

Post #321 » by **Diop** » Sun Feb 4, 2024 11:35 pm

MugzZo wrote:Wrong thread. My fault.

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MugzZo · Post #322 » by **MugzZo** » Mon Feb 5, 2024 1:26 am

I love Melo when healthy but that never happens. I would not be angry if we did trade him this offseason. We won't. I'm not mad at the idea. Miller is the guy now. I'd love to see him and Melo together, but its not gonna happen.

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KingCat · Post #323 » by **KingCat** » Mon Feb 5, 2024 1:29 am

Melo is either gonna be our steph or porzingis. Next year is gonna be make or break. My dream for 2024-2025 isn't even to make the playin. It's to see Mark and Lamelo play 62 games together.

KembaWalker · Post #324 » by **KembaWalker** » Mon Feb 5, 2024 3:42 am

I'm far from giving up on LaMelo despite some jokes. Rather, I'm excited about the prospect of having 2 potential perennial all star level players that are on the same timeline.

wilson115 · Post #325 » by **wilson115** » Mon Feb 5, 2024 3:53 am

He's got things he needs to work on but players like LaMelo don't grow on trees. Get him healthy and a coach he'll listen to and work on building the roster around him.

HornetJail · Post #326 » by **HornetJail** » Mon Feb 5, 2024 5:19 am

KembaWalker wrote:I'm far from giving up on LaMelo despite some jokes. Rather, I'm excited about the prospect of having 2 potential perennial all star level players that are on the same timeline.

Hang on, you can't be coming in here with all those rational takes and ****

Trey24 · Post #327 » by **Trey24** » Mon Feb 5, 2024 5:28 am

People giving up on 22 year old Lamelo Ball acting like he will never be healthy is stupid and pointless. We have definite legitimate building blocks here who compliment each other there is no reason to even discuss trading Lamelo right now. He is someone that is not replaceable and even if you got a haul of draft picks over 5 years for him theres like a 1% chance any of that amounts to what he brings you. Lamelo will help take us to where we are trying to go! Keep the faith.

Post #328 » by **fatlever** » Mon Feb 5, 2024 5:43 am

you can't trade melo right now. you just have to hope he gets healthy. you also have to hope that he is doing 100% of everything possible to help prevent future injuries.

but people are wishful thinking to keep hopeing this situation will just magically change next year. it's on melo and his body to prove to us he can play 75% of a season again. i'll believe it when i see it.

JMAC3 · Post #329 » by **JMAC3** » Mon Feb 5, 2024 2:58 pm

I get the Melo health thing, but part of it is putting other good players around him so that when he does play we are successful. There is no reason to slam Melo out there on back to backs right now so we can win 16 games this year.

Post #330 » by **yosemiteben** » Mon Feb 5, 2024 3:25 pm

JMAC3 wrote:There is no reason to slam Melo out there on back to backs right now so we can win 16 games this year.

I would prefer he get as much court time as possible so that maybe he can focus on learning basic defensive principles. I really don't understand this idea that he's better off artificially decreasing his on court time.

SWedd523 · Post #331 » by **SWedd523** » Mon Feb 5, 2024 4:46 pm

He's already missed 100 games only 3.5 years into his career.

If we're at the minutes management stage with him then we need to consider some things from a team building perspective

Post #332 » by **fatlever** » Mon Feb 5, 2024 6:32 pm

What's the exact story with the screws in his foot? Are those expected to be removed some point during this season? Is all of this just them waiting for time to remove the screws out of his foot and get that to heal properly? I thought I remember seeing something about how the screws were irritating his foot and that was one of the problems.

I can't tell if he's physically right, but you know he's not mentally right when every three-pointer he takes is a one-footed 3-pointer where he lands on his non injured foot. We don't need this completely changing how he shoots and how he runs and how he jumps and his entire mental approach to the game.

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Bassman · Post #333 » by **Bassman** » Mon Feb 5, 2024 6:38 pm

fatlever wrote:you can't trade melo right now. you just have to hope he gets healthy. you also have to hope that he is doing 100% of everything possible to help prevent future injuries.

but people are wishful thinking to keep hopeing this situation will just magically change next year. it's on melo and his body to prove to us he can play 75% of a season again. i'll believe it when i see it.

I agree with Fat’s take here. I am encouraged that Melo was bringing a better focus to the court before his injuries. He also was putting more energy into defending, which still needs work, but it was a good sign. Would love to know how much time he puts into the weight room, and with trainers, to get stronger.

Post #334 » by **JDR720** » Mon Feb 5, 2024 10:50 pm

Read on Twitter

LaMelo has "a lot of pain".

So I'm going to assume he has another fracture or something.

HornetJail · Post #335 » by **HornetJail** » Mon Feb 5, 2024 11:21 pm

fatlever wrote:What's the exact story with the screws in his foot? Are those expected to be removed some point during this season? Is all of this just them waiting for time to remove the screws out of his foot and get that to heal properly? I thought I remember seeing something about how the screws were irritating his foot and that was one of the problems.

I can't tell if he's physically right, but you know he's not mentally right when every three-pointer he takes is a one-footed 3-pointer where he lands on his non injured foot. We don't need this completely changing how he shoots and how he runs and how he jumps and his entire mental approach to the game.

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my understanding (which in full disclosure has only to do with what i've heard in news of other players, and maybe a couple friends) is that the hardware from the surgery only ever comes out if it gives them problems after it's healed, like it's pressing against something or another. Usually people will just have metal in there forever.

My (again totally uneducated) guess is that is what's happening, and whatever metal's in his ankle/foot needs to come out. Which may not be the worst news in the world long-term, if the theory is that the hardware is what's making it super uncomfortable for him to wear ankle braces.

Bassman · Post #336 » by **Bassman** » Fri Feb 23, 2024 10:18 pm

Our British friend of RealGM, who has his own website with the best coverage of Hornets basketball by far, posted a story about Melo still being out post All-Star break. Very interesting info, including James interview with an NBA medical expert. Gives details, and if there should be concern for fans:

https://www.si.com/nba/hornets/news/lamelo-ball-remains-out-with-right-ankle-injury-after-all-star-break

Post #337 » by **fatlever** » Fri Feb 23, 2024 11:01 pm

i thought it was good discussion about how getting stronger in the lower body could help.

SWedd523 · Post #338 » by **SWedd523** » Fri Feb 23, 2024 11:52 pm

fatlever wrote:i thought it was good discussion about how getting stronger in the lower body could help.

Does anyone think Melo has any real commitment to his physical development?

amcoolio · Post #339 » by **amcoolio** » Fri Feb 23, 2024 11:56 pm

SWedd523 wrote:
fatlever wrote:i thought it was good discussion about how getting stronger in the lower body could help.

Does anyone think Melo has any real commitment to his physical development?

He's still young. I think he'll get it/take it seriously eventually

EmpireFalls · Post #340 » by **EmpireFalls** » Sun Feb 25, 2024 5:34 pm

Im getting pessimistic that he won’t play again this year.