Lonzo Ball

[WalterBenjamin]

Play offball? People are saging of him with the ball. Let alone offball. He is playing now like an offball player except in the transition game. You need to shoot to play offball. When a player can't shoot you hide him on the ball. Not off it. But he doesn't have any skill related to scoring because of his shooting form. In an ideal world you would shut him down and start now with the change of the mechanics. As it is not an ideal situation he needs the ball in his hands to develope in any way.Playing him offball would realy marginalize his developement.

[atlantabbq99]

If Lonzo has a 10yr NBA career but never makes an all star game, will he be considered a 'bust'?

[UcanUwill]

If Lonzo has a 10yr NBA career but never makes an all star game, will he be considered a 'bust'?

Depends on what non all star he becomes. If he turns into Mike Conley caliber player, i would not call him a bust. A disappointment in some way, but not a bust.

Anyway, people write off players way too quick, its just emberassing. I remember people were writing off sophmore James Harden as well...

[PLO]

If Lonzo has a 10yr NBA career but never makes an all star game, will he be considered a 'bust'?

Its really relative to the players picked in his draft and how their careers compare to Ball's. This was a really good draft for guards so if Fox, DSJ, Fultz, Mitchell, Frank N etc outshine him then you can say he's a disappointment. Ball (and Fultz) will also always be compared to guys like Tatum, Isaac and Markannen. If a few of those become superstars over Ball many Lakers fans will be thinking "what if" with that second selection.

[CptCrunch]

Anyone losing hope in Lonzo?

I had him as the #1 prospect. His inability to hit shot is limiting his passing game. His shooting form was garbage in college, but was workable. It seems that his offensive thus far is dumpster fire level. How was I/we so wrong about his offense?

[Duke4life831]

Anyone losing hope in Lonzo?

I had him as the #1 prospect. His inability to hit shot is limiting his passing game. His shooting form was garbage in college, but was workable. It seems that his offensive thus far is dumpster fire level. How was I/we so wrong about his offense?

He was horrible tonight and has been pretty horrible offensively for most of the year. Defensively hes been pretty solid, he can rebound and he is still a tremendous facilitator. Right now I think he is just playing with 0 confidence and thats really affecting his game. Im still not close to writing him off though because he is still just a rookie and very young. If he ever gets that 3 point shot back, he is going to look like a pretty complete player. Plus basically all of the guards have struggled pretty badly so far offensively, its going to take them time to adjust.

[jonjames]

Anyone losing hope in Lonzo?

I had him as the #1 prospect. His inability to hit shot is limiting his passing game. His shooting form was garbage in college, but was workable. It seems that his offensive thus far is dumpster fire level. How was I/we so wrong about his offense?

Did you have him as your #1 overall prospect before the massive media/lavar ball hype machine on him? If he fails i think this puts the nail on coffin on pure passing pgs. The game is constantly changing and pgs who can score are needed in todays game.

[Marcus]

Anyone losing hope in Lonzo?

I had him as the #1 prospect. His inability to hit shot is limiting his passing game. His shooting form was garbage in college, but was workable. It seems that his offensive thus far is dumpster fire level. How was I/we so wrong about his offense?

I'm not, but my main concern is that he's losing hope in himself. He's only a consistent jumper away from what I expected him to be. He's done everything else including improve his defensive intensity. Obviously needs work all the way around but as a rookie that's expected. Somehow reviving his confidence will be the first thing though. Don't think he's ever had to play this rattled for this long. Usually he figures it out and he's going to need to do that now.

[XTraderXL]

Its not only a confidence thing with Lonzo, he is just not that good. Its a much higher level of competition in the NBA than NCAA and that affects him more that you guys are willing to admit. I can go to my local court and shoot 3s at 65%, put me on NBA court and I will be happy to shoot 20% even though distance is the same. Lonzos misses are more than lack of confidence, the whole shot is off. People who thought he will be good fell for the hype, I didnt watch him all that much but after the first NCAA game I saw I knew he will not be anything special in the NBA. It was as clear as day to me.

He will improve with time of course, he cant keep playing that bad. The issue is that he was anointed by Johnson as the next great PG and he will never be even close to that. Its not Lonzos fault, this is all on Earvin and his lack of basketball knowledge which is apparent to everyone who knows a little about the game. He is just too simple and is more fit to be a mascot than run a franchise.

[clownclownclown]

Its not only a confidence thing with Lonzo, he is just not that good. Its a much higher level of competition in the NBA than NCAA and that affects him more that you guys are willing to admit. I can go to my local court and shoot 3s at 65%, put me on NBA court and I will be happy to shoot 20% even though distance is the same. Lonzos misses are more than lack of confidence, the whole shot is off. People who thought he will be good fell for the hype, I didnt watch him all that much but after the first NCAA game I saw I knew he will not be anything special in the NBA. It was as clear as day to me.

He will improve with time of course, he cant keep playing that bad. The issue is that he was anointed by Johnson as the next great PG and he will never be even close to that. Its not Lonzos fault, this is all on Earvin and his lack of basketball knowledge which is apparent to everyone who knows a little about the game. He is just too simple and is more fit to be a mascot than run a franchise.

Thats exactly what Lonzo is atm. Well said.

[916fan]

Its not only a confidence thing with Lonzo, he is just not that good. Its a much higher level of competition in the NBA than NCAA and that affects him more that you guys are willing to admit.I didnt watch him all that much but after the first NCAA game I saw I knew he will not be anything special in the NBA. It was as clear as day to me.

He is just too simple and is more fit to be a mascot than run a franchise.

I disagree. My post isn't directed towards you, but towards the thread in general. A lot of the rookies this year simply haven't been good. Lonzo just gets singled out because of the hype that surrounded him as you said. Look at all the lotto picks this year:

Lonzo[32.9mins]: 8.7pts 7.1asts 7.3rebs 1.4stls 2.6tos on 30.9/24.5/42.9
Jackson[21.7mins]: 9.2pts 1.1asts 3.8rebs 1.3stls 2tos on 38.7/25/51.7
Fox[26.4mins]: 10.5pts 4.5asts 3.2rebs 0.9stls 2.2tos on 40.3/30.8/71
Isaac[19.9mins]: 6.1pts 0.8asts 4.4rebs 1.3blks 1tos on 45.9/29.4/85.7
Lauri[30mins]: 14.4pts 1.4asts 8.2rebs 0.6blks on 40.1/34.9/80.4
Ntilikina[19mins]: 4.7pts 3.3asts 1.8rebs 1.4stls 2tos on 34.3/25/64.3
SmithJr[28.5mins]:14.6pts 4.4asts 3.9rebs 0.9stls 3.2tos on 39.1/30/65.8
Collins [DNPs]
Monk[17.5mins]: 7.5pts 1.7asts 1.5rebs 0.3stls 0.9tos on 34.6/32.5/76.9
Luke[15.4mins]: 5.7pts 0.9asts 1.8rebs 0.6stls 1tos on 41.6/36.4/57.1
Mitchell[28mins]: 14.8pts 3.2asts 3.3rebs 1.4stls 2.3tos on 38.2/34.2/80
Bam[10 games only]

It's dumb to write off Lonzo this early. The only lotto pick that has actually played good is Jayson Tatum with 13.7pts 5.4rebs 1.5asts on 49/47.8/84.5. Everyone else has been mediocre, or terrible. Without Ben Simmons being considered a "rookie", this entire class would be exposed for being bad right now...

[anthony00]

Its not only a confidence thing with Lonzo, he is just not that good. Its a much higher level of competition in the NBA than NCAA and that affects him more that you guys are willing to admit.I didnt watch him all that much but after the first NCAA game I saw I knew he will not be anything special in the NBA. It was as clear as day to me.

He is just too simple and is more fit to be a mascot than run a franchise.

I disagree. My post isn't directed towards you, but towards the thread in general. A lot of the rookies this year simply haven't been good. Lonzo just gets singled out because of the hype that surrounded him as you said. Look at all the lotto picks this year:

Lonzo[32.9mins]: 8.7pts 7.1asts 7.3rebs 1.4stls 2.6tos on 30.9/24.5/42.9
Jackson[21.7mins]: 9.2pts 1.1asts 3.8rebs 1.3stls 2tos on 38.7/25/51.7
Fox[26.4mins]: 10.5pts 4.5asts 3.2rebs 0.9stls 2.2tos on 40.3/30.8/71
Isaac[19.9mins]: 6.1pts 0.8asts 4.4rebs 1.3blks 1tos on 45.9/29.4/85.7
Lauri[30mins]: 14.4pts 1.4asts 8.2rebs 0.6blks on 40.1/34.9/80.4
Ntilikina[19mins]: 4.7pts 3.3asts 1.8rebs 1.4stls 2tos on 34.3/25/64.3
SmithJr[28.5mins]:14.6pts 4.4asts 3.9rebs 0.9stls 3.2tos on 39.1/30/65.8
Collins [DNPs]
Monk[17.5mins]: 7.5pts 1.7asts 1.5rebs 0.3stls 0.9tos on 34.6/32.5/76.9
Luke[15.4mins]: 5.7pts 0.9asts 1.8rebs 0.6stls 1tos on 41.6/36.4/57.1
Mitchell[28mins]: 14.8pts 3.2asts 3.3rebs 1.4stls 2.3tos on 38.2/34.2/80
Bam[10 games only]

It's dumb to write off Lonzo this early. The only lotto pick that has actually played good is Jayson Tatum with 13.7pts 5.4rebs 1.5asts on 49/47.8/84.5. Everyone else has been mediocre, or terrible. Without Ben Simmons being considered a "rookie", this entire class would be exposed for being bad right now...

out of those numbers he has been the worst though he is at all time levels of bad

[76ciology]

He should be spending like 80-90% off the court with skills development. His improvement rate will be slow with Lakers’ current program on him.

[cksdayoff]

Anyone losing hope in Lonzo?

I had him as the #1 prospect. His inability to hit shot is limiting his passing game. His shooting form was garbage in college, but was workable. It seems that his offensive thus far is dumpster fire level. How was I/we so wrong about his offense?

i don't think i had lonzo rated in the top 5 prospects in the draft at the time. huge red flags in not being able to penetrate into the paint to collapse the defense because of his mediocre handles for a point guard. also mediocre handles means he can't attack the rim. the guy has no midrange game so he's gonna have to shoot long 2s or 3s. hitting nba 3's on a regular basis is much tougher than shooting a 23 footer once in a while in college (all the hype about his great range, shooting long 3's in college games)

also that 79% fg percentage at the rim was such a deceptive stat because 51% of his finishes were assisted. cutting to the basket to catch oops or layups and finishing in transition. if you can't attack the rim, you're not gonna get to the free throw line. which is going to hurt his efficiency.

these are huge red flags that only a handful of realgm posters saw. everyone else were wearing the hype goggles and couldn't see these flaws for whatever reason. and it was magnified by the fact that ucla had shooters top to bottom which created a lot of space for lonzo to maneuver, yet he still rarely attacked the paint (but at the same time the spacing helped him as a cutter tremendously)

will lonzo ball be a better player in the future? of course. i can't ever see him changing his 3 point shooting form, but he will adjust to the nba 3 point line, countless hours of reps is what he needs. i also think he'll develop a midrange game in the future. he needs to, and he really doesn't have a choice if he wants to stay in the league.

handles are the hardest thing to improve on imo. lonzo will need to improve his handles

[madmaxmedia]

Play offball? People are saging of him with the ball. Let alone offball. He is playing now like an offball player except in the transition game. You need to shoot to play offball. When a player can't shoot you hide him on the ball. Not off it. But he doesn't have any skill related to scoring because of his shooting form. In an ideal world you would shut him down and start now with the change of the mechanics. As it is not an ideal situation he needs the ball in his hands to develope in any way.Playing him offball would realy marginalize his developement.

On top of all that, there's his name too...

[Jkam31]

Anyone losing hope in Lonzo?

I had him as the #1 prospect. His inability to hit shot is limiting his passing game. His shooting form was garbage in college, but was workable. It seems that his offensive thus far is dumpster fire level. How was I/we so wrong about his offense?

i don't think i had lonzo rated in the top 5 prospects in the draft at the time. huge red flags in not being able to penetrate into the paint to collapse the defense because of his mediocre handles for a point guard. also mediocre handles means he can't attack the rim. the guy has no midrange game so he's gonna have to shoot long 2s or 3s. hitting nba 3's on a regular basis is much tougher than shooting a 23 footer once in a while in college (all the hype about his great range, shooting long 3's in college games)

also that 79% fg percentage at the rim was such a deceptive stat because 51% of his finishes were assisted. cutting to the basket to catch oops or layups and finishing in transition. if you can't attack the rim, you're not gonna get to the free throw line. which is going to hurt his efficiency.

these are huge red flags that only a handful of realgm posters saw. everyone else were wearing the hype goggles and couldn't see these flaws for whatever reason. and it was magnified by the fact that ucla had shooters top to bottom which created a lot of space for lonzo to maneuver, yet he still rarely attacked the paint (but at the same time the spacing helped him as a cutter tremendously)

will lonzo ball be a better player in the future? of course. i can't ever see him changing his 3 point shooting form, but he will adjust to the nba 3 point line, countless hours of reps is what he needs. i also think he'll develop a midrange game in the future. he needs to, and he really doesn't have a choice if he wants to stay in the league.

handles are the hardest thing to improve on imo. lonzo will need to improve his handles

I remember telling my laker friends this dude can’t create or get to the rim I was laughed at. I was watching UCLA games without the hype goggles and I was flabbergasted at the Kidd talk


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[JoeZeke]

People keep harping on Ball's shot, but his ability to drive to the basket, and finish is a much bigger issue. He's not driving hard to the rim, he's jumping way too soon and avoiding contact. Ben Simmons had the same problem the beginning of the year but has gotten a lot better, he got his timing back. My other issue with Ball is handles in the half court, he has issues dribbling in traffic. I don't think he's going to be a ball dominant pg, but a second ball handler like Doug Christie.

[JoeZeke]

Anyone losing hope in Lonzo?

I had him as the #1 prospect. His inability to hit shot is limiting his passing game. His shooting form was garbage in college, but was workable. It seems that his offensive thus far is dumpster fire level. How was I/we so wrong about his offense?

i don't think i had lonzo rated in the top 5 prospects in the draft at the time. huge red flags in not being able to penetrate into the paint to collapse the defense because of his mediocre handles for a point guard. also mediocre handles means he can't attack the rim. the guy has no midrange game so he's gonna have to shoot long 2s or 3s. hitting nba 3's on a regular basis is much tougher than shooting a 23 footer once in a while in college (all the hype about his great range, shooting long 3's in college games)

also that 79% fg percentage at the rim was such a deceptive stat because 51% of his finishes were assisted. cutting to the basket to catch oops or layups and finishing in transition. if you can't attack the rim, you're not gonna get to the free throw line. which is going to hurt his efficiency.

these are huge red flags that only a handful of realgm posters saw. everyone else were wearing the hype goggles and couldn't see these flaws for whatever reason. and it was magnified by the fact that ucla had shooters top to bottom which created a lot of space for lonzo to maneuver, yet he still rarely attacked the paint (but at the same time the spacing helped him as a cutter tremendously)

will lonzo ball be a better player in the future? of course. i can't ever see him changing his 3 point shooting form, but he will adjust to the nba 3 point line, countless hours of reps is what he needs. i also think he'll develop a midrange game in the future. he needs to, and he really doesn't have a choice if he wants to stay in the league.

handles are the hardest thing to improve on imo. lonzo will need to improve his handles

I remember telling my laker friends this dude can’t create or get to the rim I was laughed at. I was watching UCLA games without the hype goggles and I was flabbergasted at the Kidd talk


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

Jason Kidd was like a freight train on the court, very strong for a pg and could fly too. He didn't have explosive athletecism, but his strength made up for it. He had really strong hands that made him hard to strip, and allowed him to get a lot of steals and tie ups. He could also back down other guards and set up his teammates with easy shots from there. I don't see the Ball and Kidd comp at all.

[J_T]

If Lonzo has a 10yr NBA career but never makes an all star game, will he be considered a 'bust'?

Absolutely.

[BillyKingGM]

This thread is hilarious. Lonzo was the most flawed top prospect in the draft. All hype bought by a bunch of idiots.

Lavar set up his lemonade stand and sold out to you.

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