Lonzo Ball

[PLO]

Part of me feels like his funky release is going to be an issue in the NBA. It's super quick, but I don't know. I could see it getting blocked a lot with longer defenders on him.

There's a reason his threes are from so deep; I so hope the Sixers don't reach on him if we have a pick that high. I recognise his talent at the college level but I think people are getting carried away with how it will translate to the NBA. I'd take Fultz or DSJ over Ball in a heartbeat; hopefully if the Celtics get number one they fall in love with him like their fans have.

Lonzo is a legit 6'6. That means hes 9 inches taller than Isaiah Thomas. Hes 5-6 inches taller than guys like Ty Lawson, Lowry, CP3, JJ Barca. None of those guys really have struggled to get their shot off in the NBA, all of those guys release points is probably lower by a couple inches than Ball's release point. Kevin Martin the same height as Ball and has the same if not lower release point was one of the better 3pt shooters in the league in his prime. And its not like Ball's shot is super slow either.

I still think its just a funky release that people aren't used to see so it throws a lot of people off. Lonzo shoots from really deep because hes always been able to shoot from really deep. Its not out of necessity, its the same for Curry, Curry bombs really deep threes not because thats the only shot he can get, he does it because the distance doesn't affect his shot and if no one is going to cover him out there hes going to take an open 3.

It's going to be an issue because Ball has shown very little of the trickery of a Thomas et al; hence the reason he has basically no mid-range game and seems to be pass first. The reason an IT can get his shot off is because he's superb with the ball in hand and because of the speed of his shot. Ball has neither the dribbling skills or a speedy shot; he has a slow shot as he brings the ball across his body. Those are the reasons he takes those deep threes because he realises if he was closer he would be blocked even by college defenders. The mechanics of his shot is probably the reason he has no mid range game. This isn't going to be a situation that well end in the NBA with the major step up in athleticism he will face. I'm not saying he's going to be a bust, but I think he's going to have to go to particular situation to be successful.

[suckfish]

It's funky as hell, but his set point is eyebrow/forehead level which is perfect. He has a strange twisty motion as he brings it up on the left side of his body and up the left side of his face/head, but he releases above his head and has nice extension and follow through on the shot.

It's needs ironing out, but I think with his size and athleticism he will be an effective shooter.

It looks awful up until he releases, then it looks all good. Most importantly it looks a really comfortable shot for him, easily repeatable.

There's been many great shooters with strange looking shots. It's all overblown to a degree.

Comfort, repeatability, balance, extension, and follow through are the main keys I look for in form.

[PLO]

It's funky as hell, but his set point is eyebrow/forehead level which is perfect. He has a strange twisty motion as he brings it up on the left side of his body and up the left side of his face/head, but he releases above his head and has nice extension and follow through on the shot.

It's needs ironing out, but I think with his size and athleticism he will be an effective shooter.

It looks awful up until he releases, then it looks all good. Most importantly it looks a really comfortable shot for him, easily repeatable.

There's been many great shooters with strange looking shots. It's all overblown to a degree.

Comfort, repeatability, balance, extension, and follow through are the main keys I look for in form.

I should have been more clear: the issue isn't really that his shot has "comfort, repeatability, balance, extension, and follow through" its more that he won't be able to get his shot off repeatedly in the NBA, especially from mid-range, though also likely from beyond the arc given the much better defenders he will face at the next level. A comparison between him and Fultz or DSJ is like night and day; Ball just has almost none of the moves that allow them to get to a spot to shoot, and when he does shoot his shot is molasses slow in comparison. Fultz/DSJ navigate through traffic superbly (overall), can stop on a dime and rise up in a flash and the ball is out of their hands before defenders can do anything about it. Like I said, I suspect the reason Ball largely has no mid-range game is because he knows that his shot is too easy to defend in that part of the court; and this is at the college level. Its immaterial whether his shot is going to go into the basket most of the time if its just going to be blocked easily a great deal of the time.

Having said all this, I will repeat what I said: I think he can be a very good player in the NBA but needs to be in the right situation. For the Sixers I'd have Fultz/DSJ and probably Monk over him (the latter especially if it means getting a Josh Jackson first) - other teams might already have good shooters/PG-SGs and decide Ball is the better choice out of all of them given some of his other outstanding attributes. I do see other Sixers fans stating that they would love Ball because he's another outstanding passer to add to Simmons et al, but at the end of the day passing the ball isn't scoring points, and that's one of the things we need to address out of this draft.

[jrob23]

It's funky as hell, but his set point is eyebrow/forehead level which is perfect. He has a strange twisty motion as he brings it up on the left side of his body and up the left side of his face/head, but he releases above his head and has nice extension and follow through on the shot.

It's needs ironing out, but I think with his size and athleticism he will be an effective shooter.

It looks awful up until he releases, then it looks all good. Most importantly it looks a really comfortable shot for him, easily repeatable.

There's been many great shooters with strange looking shots. It's all overblown to a degree.

Comfort, repeatability, balance, extension, and follow through are the main keys I look for in form.

I should have been more clear: the issue isn't really that his shot has "comfort, repeatability, balance, extension, and follow through" its more that he won't be able to get his shot off repeatedly in the NBA, especially from mid-range, though also likely from beyond the arc given the much better defenders he will face at the next level. A comparison between him and Fultz or DSJ is like night and day; Ball just has almost none of the moves that allow them to get to a spot to shoot, and when he does shoot his shot is molasses slow in comparison. Fultz/DSJ navigate through traffic superbly (overall), can stop on a dime and rise up in a flash and the ball is out of their hands before defenders can do anything about it. Like I said, I suspect the reason Ball largely has no mid-range game is because he knows that his shot is too easy to defend in that part of the court; and this is at the college level. Its immaterial whether his shot is going to go into the basket most of the time if its just going to be blocked easily a great deal of the time.

Having said all this, I will repeat what I said: I think he can be a very good player in the NBA but needs to be in the right situation. For the Sixers I'd have Fultz/DSJ and probably Monk over him (the latter especially if it means getting a Josh Jackson first) - other teams might already have good shooters/PG-SGs and decide Ball is the better choice out of all of them given some of his other outstanding attributes. I do see other Sixers fans stating that they would love Ball because he's another outstanding passer to add to Simmons et al, but at the end of the day passing the ball isn't scoring points, and that's one of the things we need to address out of this draft.

you're 100% wrong. He's never had issue getting shots off, has begun showing he can drive to the basket which will further give him room from deep. He's an amazing player that should go #1

[PLO]

It's funky as hell, but his set point is eyebrow/forehead level which is perfect. He has a strange twisty motion as he brings it up on the left side of his body and up the left side of his face/head, but he releases above his head and has nice extension and follow through on the shot.

It's needs ironing out, but I think with his size and athleticism he will be an effective shooter.

It looks awful up until he releases, then it looks all good. Most importantly it looks a really comfortable shot for him, easily repeatable.

There's been many great shooters with strange looking shots. It's all overblown to a degree.

Comfort, repeatability, balance, extension, and follow through are the main keys I look for in form.

I should have been more clear: the issue isn't really that his shot has "comfort, repeatability, balance, extension, and follow through" its more that he won't be able to get his shot off repeatedly in the NBA, especially from mid-range, though also likely from beyond the arc given the much better defenders he will face at the next level. A comparison between him and Fultz or DSJ is like night and day; Ball just has almost none of the moves that allow them to get to a spot to shoot, and when he does shoot his shot is molasses slow in comparison. Fultz/DSJ navigate through traffic superbly (overall), can stop on a dime and rise up in a flash and the ball is out of their hands before defenders can do anything about it. Like I said, I suspect the reason Ball largely has no mid-range game is because he knows that his shot is too easy to defend in that part of the court; and this is at the college level. Its immaterial whether his shot is going to go into the basket most of the time if its just going to be blocked easily a great deal of the time.

Having said all this, I will repeat what I said: I think he can be a very good player in the NBA but needs to be in the right situation. For the Sixers I'd have Fultz/DSJ and probably Monk over him (the latter especially if it means getting a Josh Jackson first) - other teams might already have good shooters/PG-SGs and decide Ball is the better choice out of all of them given some of his other outstanding attributes. I do see other Sixers fans stating that they would love Ball because he's another outstanding passer to add to Simmons et al, but at the end of the day passing the ball isn't scoring points, and that's one of the things we need to address out of this draft.

you're 100% wrong. He's never had issue getting shots off, has begun showing he can drive to the basket which will further give him room from deep. He's an amazing player that should go #1

Ball hasn't shown he can drive to the basket, if anything its the opposite, he looks rigid and non-intuitive around the basket. Anytime he's got to the basket its because of a wide open lane because of the talent Ball is surrounded by, or he's got behind a ball-watching defense for an easy alley oop. The comparison between him and Fultz is stark in this area; Fultz has it all from all three levels in terms of scoring, Ball cannot score if there's even a semblance of traffic around him. These are facts, so you can say I'm 100% wrong in terms of Ball being a better prospect than Fultz (which I disagree with, especially as a point guard) because that's a subjective statement, but you can't legitimately argue that Ball is the better mid-range or close to the basket scorer because basically Ball doesn't even have those in his arsenal. Fultz can dribble and finish in traffic, Ball can't, I don't think that's really all that arguable as a statement.

[madmaxmedia]

Obviously he's not the scorer Fultz is. But I've seen him drive to the basket in the half-court and finish a few times, he did on 2 critical possessions late against Oregon the other day. He looks a bit mechanical doing so, but is able to use his long arms to get a good shot and finish.

What he hasn't done at all is drive into the paint and then pull up for a floater. But if a help defender is there to stop his drive, he'll typically find the open man instead.

[Marcus]

Obviously he's not the scorer Fultz is. But I've seen him drive to the basket in the half-court and finish a few times, he did on 2 critical possessions late against Oregon the other day. He looks a bit mechanical doing so, but is able to use his long arms to get a good shot and finish.

What he hasn't done at all is drive into the paint and then pull up for a floater. But if a help defender is there to stop his drive, he'll typically find the open man instead.

Floater is there. It's extremely low in volume but he's broken it out a few times this year. Literally a few like 2 or 3 lol but it shows he has the ability to use and convert with it.

[madmaxmedia]

Obviously he's not the scorer Fultz is. But I've seen him drive to the basket in the half-court and finish a few times, he did on 2 critical possessions late against Oregon the other day. He looks a bit mechanical doing so, but is able to use his long arms to get a good shot and finish.

What he hasn't done at all is drive into the paint and then pull up for a floater. But if a help defender is there to stop his drive, he'll typically find the open man instead.

Floater is there. It's extremely low in volume but he's broken it out a few times this year. Literally a few like 2 or 3 lol but it shows he has the ability to use and convert with it.

Ah I see, I should have said " What I haven't seen at all is..."

[Duke4life831]

Feel bad for Lonzo, his dad was on TMZ today, yes he went on TMZ and said that Lonzo is going to be better than Steph Curry. You know for a fact if Lonzo doesn't get 30+ minutes a game day 1 his dad is going to complain and not afraid to do it to anyone who is willing to listen. Lonzo has always seemed like a humbled cool mature guy, too bad you can't say the same about his dad. I honestly won't be surprised if some point in Lonzo's career we here that his dad has been banned from the arena or something like that. The dude is a legit distraction.

[Marcus]

Feel bad for Lonzo, his dad was on TMZ today, yes he went on TMZ and said that Lonzo is going to be better than Steph Curry. You know for a fact if Lonzo doesn't get 30+ minutes a game day 1 his dad is going to complain and not afraid to do it to anyone who is willing to listen. Lonzo has always seemed like a humbled cool mature guy, too bad you can't say the same about his dad. I honestly won't be surprised if some point in Lonzo's career we here that his dad has been banned from the arena or something like that. The dude is a legit distraction.

I don't see how its possible but I hope Lonzo can steer clear of the BS that will come from his pops involvement in his career.

[Duke4life831]

Feel bad for Lonzo, his dad was on TMZ today, yes he went on TMZ and said that Lonzo is going to be better than Steph Curry. You know for a fact if Lonzo doesn't get 30+ minutes a game day 1 his dad is going to complain and not afraid to do it to anyone who is willing to listen. Lonzo has always seemed like a humbled cool mature guy, too bad you can't say the same about his dad. I honestly won't be surprised if some point in Lonzo's career we here that his dad has been banned from the arena or something like that. The dude is a legit distraction.

I don't see how its possible but I hope Lonzo can steer clear of the BS that will come from his pops involvement in his career.

Ya I don't know how hes going to escape it. And again it sucks because from all accounts hes actually a really good humble kid. The youngest brother Lamelo has the dads personality, brash cocky type personality. They also have a very close nit family so I don't see Lonzo like pushing his dad away either sadly. I really can see a scenario where his dad becomes a big distraction.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Thomas and Bledsoe are PGs of the bottom 2 teams, imagine how that would go.

[Chi town]

Feel bad for Lonzo, his dad was on TMZ today, yes he went on TMZ and said that Lonzo is going to be better than Steph Curry. You know for a fact if Lonzo doesn't get 30+ minutes a game day 1 his dad is going to complain and not afraid to do it to anyone who is willing to listen. Lonzo has always seemed like a humbled cool mature guy, too bad you can't say the same about his dad. I honestly won't be surprised if some point in Lonzo's career we here that his dad has been banned from the arena or something like that. The dude is a legit distraction.

I don't see how its possible but I hope Lonzo can steer clear of the BS that will come from his pops involvement in his career.

His dad is a moron. Hope he doesn't ruin him like Reggie Rose ruined DRose.

[GimmeDat]

The Ball's dad is a fool, the classic 'living vicariously through your kids' sort of guy. Lonzo actually seems very mature considering the fact. I hope to hear as little from his attention-whore dad as possible once he hits the league. Stop putting expectations on the kid (especially stupid things like 'better than Curry') and let the kid grow and play. Ditto Lonzo's siblings.

[E-Balla]

I can buy into it but my problem is he's 67% from the FT line. So even if he had a normal shot I would be skeptical that he's lights out. I said the same thing about Ingram last year and it looks like a decent call so far

his FT% isn't alarming because driving isn't a huge part of his game so he won't get to the line much. It matters not. This isn't Josh Jackson who might live on the line in the NBA. Ball might have games where he never even goes to the line. Besides, it isn't like these 19 y/o can't improve at their deficiencies.

I meant more that FT% is a predictor of shooting mechanics. Since college 3pt is a small sample the difference between Lonzo's season from 3pt and a more mediocre one can be luck so FT helps give more data

He was an 80% freethrow shooter his last 2 years in highschool, 70% on 2 pointers, and a 44% 3 point shooter. This year he's 67% on free throws, 70% on 2 pointers, and 43% on 3 pointers. Its obvious to me which of those shooting percentages are most effected by luck and its not good luck either.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Will Lonzo Ball do a Kris Dunn and not visit Boston and Phoenix?

If his dad thinks he's better than Stephen Curry he's not going to want him playing 15 minutes off the bench.

[Kolkmania]

his FT% isn't alarming because driving isn't a huge part of his game so he won't get to the line much. It matters not. This isn't Josh Jackson who might live on the line in the NBA. Ball might have games where he never even goes to the line. Besides, it isn't like these 19 y/o can't improve at their deficiencies.

I meant more that FT% is a predictor of shooting mechanics. Since college 3pt is a small sample the difference between Lonzo's season from 3pt and a more mediocre one can be luck so FT helps give more data

He was an 80% freethrow shooter his last 2 years in highschool, 70% on 2 pointers, and a 44% 3 point shooter. This year he's 67% on free throws, 70% on 2 pointers, and 43% on 3 pointers. Its obvious to me which of those shooting percentages are most effected by luck and its not good luck either.

Where did you find those numbers?

[Marcus]

I meant more that FT% is a predictor of shooting mechanics. Since college 3pt is a small sample the difference between Lonzo's season from 3pt and a more mediocre one can be luck so FT helps give more data

He was an 80% freethrow shooter his last 2 years in highschool, 70% on 2 pointers, and a 44% 3 point shooter. This year he's 67% on free throws, 70% on 2 pointers, and 43% on 3 pointers. Its obvious to me which of those shooting percentages are most effected by luck and its not good luck either.

Where did you find those numbers?

http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/lonzo-ball/Xoz-LfTvEeKZ5AAmVebBJg/gendersport/basketball-stats.htm

[madmaxmedia]

The Ball's dad is a fool, the classic 'living vicariously through your kids' sort of guy. Lonzo actually seems very mature considering the fact. I hope to hear as little from his attention-whore dad as possible once he hits the league. Stop putting expectations on the kid (especially stupid things like 'better than Curry') and let the kid grow and play. Ditto Lonzo's siblings.

I just LOL'ed at myself imagining Dad sitting half-court at an NBA game, trying to call plays for his son.

[Unbreakable99]

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