Around the league 2017-2018

[the_process]

I disagree with this statement. But give the kid credit for sticking with it.

I don't mean to say that he's the best player on either team.

I'm just saying that, of the players that hit the court last night, Lonzo had the strongest performance, as reflected by his game high plus/minus.

Yeah, plus minus alone isn’t enough to say he had the strongest performance. If Fultz had that exact same game you’d all be ripping him a new one. But again, give the kid credit for sticking with it and figuring out how to be a positive with his limited skills. He’s smart enough that he might find his way onto an All-Star team or two, which is better than I thought he would do.

[Simmons25]

The kid is nearly averaging a triple double as a 20 year old and was the best player on the court in a hyped marquee match-up against a playoff team with 3 max contract players on their roster.

I will promise you that Lonzo Ball will be one of the players in this draft that makes all-star teams.

Quite possible one of the worst "almost triple doubles" in the history of the NBA.

His assist numbers are flaky at best (Those Lakers scorers seem to think any pass Lonzo made 5 seconds before a score is an automatic assist).

The only category he hits double figures in is points... and that is the most horrid part of his game and its only because of 1 game inflating them. Any player in the league jacking up 14-15 field goal attempts every game is going to be able to average over 10 points a game (lonzo barely averages 11.5 ppg ) Hell Markelle would average around 15ppg based on that usage and that's without taking a single 3 and with a bung shoulder and broken shot

What is worse though is if you take out that abomination of a basketball game against Phoenix where they basically didn't even turn up so they could get their coach sacked.... Ball's numbers look even more horrific in the other 3 games.

FGA - 6 from 30 - 20%
3PA - 1 from 13 - 7%
PPG - 5.6 ppg

That's the stuff nightmares are made of. Anthony Bennett would have been embarrassed by that and Lonzo has no excuse because he has literally been given the keys to run the team and do whatever he wants.

[postaboy84]

Lonzo is a winner by moving the ball and make the right plays whereas Simmons is a loser by holding the ball too long and not taking that open jump shot. Simmons is the reason why we loss yesterday. Simmons should take note.


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[ivysixer2000]

Always amusing to see the outlandish statements made here sometimes.

People who play ball know Ball has been terrible (even people who don't really), yet some here try to dig for some stat to justify their position. Tatum's 12/2/3, wow that dude is the next Jordan.

Fultz shot about the same percentage as Ball with one arm. I do like the energy and life he has brought to the lakers, kinda like what Arsenio Hall said about Bird though.....people would give him credit for stuff and Bird wasn't even on the court (its contiguous lmao).

We are 1-4, got alot to learn about winning basketball, from our tank coach on down. But indirectly putting down our players time and time again does get really old.

[LongLiveHinkie]

One of the dumbest, most illogical, most cliched, yet probably very commonly believed notion is that plays at the end of the game count more than plays in the beginning or middle of the game. No, they don't. Every point counts equally. Change 5 of your team's random 3 pointers from makes to misses and rebounds to the opposing team, and that's taking 15 points cumulatively off your scoreboard.

Having a key assist in the last 40 seconds of the game leads to two points which count no more than a two point assist and bucket done 5 minutes prior.

So yeah, the "winning plays at the end of games" thing is garbage. Just a cliche being regurgitated in the same sports echochamber.

[spikeslovechild]

Lonzo is a winner by moving the ball and make the right plays whereas Simmons is a loser by holding the ball too long and not taking that open jump shot. Simmons is the reason why we loss yesterday. Simmons should take note.


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Ha!

Simmons was a big part of the reason why we lost but A) Simmons only takes shots he can make which is why his FG% is .478. He can also drive to the rim which forces defenses to react and draws defenders which creates wide open looks for his teammates B) Ball is forced to try to pass open his teammates.

From what I've seen so far they are in a totally different class of a prospect. Simmons is basically a mini lebron. Ball a mini ricky rubio. Also don't bring Rondo into this he didn't have a jump shot but he could penetrate and get to the rim. The dribble drive is what has kept him in this league. Aint noone respect Balls ability to get to the rim. Hell he can't even drive left due to his weird shooting motion and having to switch hands.

Simmons can finish with either hand. He was careless on a bunch of plays yesterday and you could see it. He wasn't as mentally sharp.

The other thing about Simmons is his rebounds are legit he competes in traffic for boards. He has even been averaging over two OREB a game.

[PLO]

Lonzo is a winner by moving the ball and make the right plays whereas Simmons is a loser by holding the ball too long and not taking that open jump shot. Simmons is the reason why we loss yesterday. Simmons should take note.


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Lonzo was a real winner earlier this year when De'Aaron Fox dropped 39 on him and punted UCLA out of the Sweet Sixteen.

[LordCovington33]

I do like the energy and life he has brought to the lakers, kinda like what Arsenio Hall said about Bird though.....people would give him credit for stuff and Bird wasn't even on the court (its contiguous lmao).

Soon Lavar will be getting credit for what's going on out there.

[CoreyGallagher]

Lonzo is a winner by moving the ball and make the right plays whereas Simmons is a loser by holding the ball too long and not taking that open jump shot. Simmons is the reason why we loss yesterday. Simmons should take note.

Eric Gordon makes a contested game winning 3 and Ben’s a loser. Bradley Beal misses a wide-open game winning 3 and Lonzo’s a winner... Fans are fickle.

If we’re going game by game then Lonzo was instrumental in yesterday’s win, but he also seemed to be the reason that they lost the previous game against the Pelicans. Meanwhile, if we’re going to blame Ben for yesterday’s loss, then give him credit for being instrumental in the win against the Pistons.

[CoreyGallagher]

For the season: Lakers with Lonzo -9.9. Lakers without Lonzo +7.0

I do hear that whatever Lonzo has is contagious, so that could explain the Lakers being better without him to this point.

Spoiler:

I don’t even dislike Lonzo, he’s doing some
impressive things for a rookie, but he doesn’t deserve so much credit (or blame). This discussion as a microcosm of the mania demonstrates why so many want him to fail, tho - it’s annoying.

[LordCovington33]

For the season: Lakers with Lonzo -9.9. Lakers without Lonzo +7.0

I do hear that whatever Lonzo has is contagious, so that could explain the Lakers being better without him to this point.

Spoiler:

I don’t even dislike Lonzo, he’s doing some
impressive things for a rookie, but he doesn’t deserve so much credit (or blame). This discussion as a microcosm of the mania demonstrates why so many want him to fail, tho - it’s annoying.

Unfortunately, some members are pushing a specific agenda over the last few months that makes me wonder whether they actually want our team to succeed. It makes visits here far from pleasant. Each to their own, I guess.

[CoreyGallagher]

Surprising, DSJ is shooting 8-19 from the charity stripe. That’s a worse percentage than Fultz was shooting, 6-12...

[Unbreakable99]

Always amusing to see the outlandish statements made here sometimes.

People who play ball know Ball has been terrible (even people who don't really), yet some here try to dig for some stat to justify their position. Tatum's 12/2/3, wow that dude is the next Jordan.

Fultz shot about the same percentage as Ball with one arm. I do like the energy and life he has brought to the lakers, kinda like what Arsenio Hall said about Bird though.....people would give him credit for stuff and Bird wasn't even on the court (its contiguous lmao).

We are 1-4, got alot to learn about winning basketball, from our tank coach on down. But indirectly putting down our players time and time again does get really old.

I watched Tatum last night. He was very impressive and efficient. He only had 12 points because he only shot the ball 6 times. He shot 50% from the field. He was perfect from the foul line. He is a very good free throw shooter and makes opponents pay for fouling him unlike Ben and Markelle.

And Ball hasn’t been terrible so far he’s been one of the 5 best rookies.

[Unbreakable99]

Lonzo is a winner by moving the ball and make the right plays whereas Simmons is a loser by holding the ball too long and not taking that open jump shot. Simmons is the reason why we loss yesterday. Simmons should take note.


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Lonzo was a real winner earlier this year when De'Aaron Fox dropped 39 on him and punted UCLA out of the Sweet Sixteen.

Lonzo helped his team win over 35 games so yes he is a winner. Look at UCLA before Ball and after Ball got there.

[Unbreakable99]

One of the dumbest, most illogical, most cliched, yet probably very commonly believed notion is that plays at the end of the game count more than plays in the beginning or middle of the game. No, they don't. Every point counts equally. Change 5 of your team's random 3 pointers from makes to misses and rebounds to the opposing team, and that's taking 15 points cumulatively off your scoreboard.

Having a key assist in the last 40 seconds of the game leads to two points which count no more than a two point assist and bucket done 5 minutes prior.

So yeah, the "winning plays at the end of games" thing is garbage. Just a cliche being regurgitated in the same sports echochamber.

Defenses tighten up at the end of games. The intensity isn’t the same. Pressure goes up. So making 2 free throws when the score 22-19 in the first quarter is not the same as when the score is 106-104 and down 2 with 22 seconds left. Feeding the ball to Embiid in the post is that much tougher in a tie game with 2 minutes left. 4th quarter intensity is much greater than the 1st quarter.

[Baller1234a]

Always amusing to see the outlandish statements made here sometimes.

People who play ball know Ball has been terrible (even people who don't really), yet some here try to dig for some stat to justify their position. Tatum's 12/2/3, wow that dude is the next Jordan.

Fultz shot about the same percentage as Ball with one arm. I do like the energy and life he has brought to the lakers, kinda like what Arsenio Hall said about Bird though.....people would give him credit for stuff and Bird wasn't even on the court (its contiguous lmao).

We are 1-4, got alot to learn about winning basketball, from our tank coach on down. But indirectly putting down our players time and time again does get really old.

I watched Tatum last night. He was very impressive and efficient. He only had 12 points because he only shot the ball 6 times. He shot 50% from the field. He was perfect from the foul line. He is a very good free throw shooter and makes opponents pay for fouling him unlike Ben and Markelle.

And Ball hasn’t been terrible so far he’s been one of the 5 best rookies.

He also only played 28 mins because he got shook up after Snell crashed into him on a 3 point shot he was tentative after that with more pump fakes

[Negrodamus]

Quietly, De'Aaron Fox has actually be the best rookie not named Ben Simmons. He's shooting 91% from FT and 50% from 3. Granted they aren't on large volumes (2.4 FTA; 1.2 3PA per game) but he's scoring 15 ppg, 5 apg, and 4 rpg. All this coming off the bench on a pretty bad, but young, team.

I can't wait till they fully hand the keys over to him.

[Unbreakable99]

Quietly, De'Aaron Fox has actually be the best rookie not named Ben Simmons. He's shooting 91% from FT and 50% from 3. Granted they aren't on large volumes (2.4 FTA; 1.2 3PA per game) but he's scoring 15 ppg, 5 apg, and 4 rpg. All this coming off the bench on a pretty bad, but young, team.

I can't wait till they fully hand the keys over to him.

They need to start Fox. If Fox plays starters minutes he probably leads all rookies in points. He could average 18 points 8 assists and 6 rebounds if he plays 35 minutes. Very impressive player. His shot looks good. If he keeps it up and his shot is real he will be the best player in this class.

[Negrodamus]

Quietly, De'Aaron Fox has actually be the best rookie not named Ben Simmons. He's shooting 91% from FT and 50% from 3. Granted they aren't on large volumes (2.4 FTA; 1.2 3PA per game) but he's scoring 15 ppg, 5 apg, and 4 rpg. All this coming off the bench on a pretty bad, but young, team.

I can't wait till they fully hand the keys over to him.

They need to start Fox. If Fox plays starters minutes he probably leads all rookies in points. He could average 18 points 8 assists and 6 rebounds if he plays 35 minutes. Very impressive player. His shot looks good. If he keeps it up and his shot is real he will be the best player in this class.

It's a shame they drafted Justin Jackson. If they wanted a difference maker by trading back, they should have taken OG Anunoby and use him at SF. Commit to defense and let Skal, Fox, and Hield be your offensive corner stones moving forward. Picks like Jackson is what keeps them in this purgatory.

[Negrodamus]

A rookie that has surprised me is Markkanen. He still doesn't provide much on defense other than rebounding, but he's clearly making a difference in this early season.

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