Ball Don't Lie: The LaMelo Ball Thread

316Hornets · Post #221 » by **316Hornets** » Sat Oct 24, 2020 10:51 pm

In my opinion, discipline is one of the easiest qualities to fix. It's easy to call an 18 year old kid undisciplined. A harder quality to fix is responsibility. For as big a figure as LaMelo is, he comes across as very mature.

DY_nasty · Post #222 » by **DY_nasty** » Sun Oct 25, 2020 5:26 pm

is he undisciplined for taking bad shots and refusing to play defense consistently? or does he take no responsibility for throwing away possessions with bad shots or losing his man every other time down the court?

this is fun with semantics. easy answer is he needs to own his flaws and fix them

geraldwallace · Post #223 » by **geraldwallace** » Mon Oct 26, 2020 2:35 am

MasterIchiro wrote:Mitch Kupchak has had a long career as a GM. Where is a single example of him taking a home run swing?

Bynum was on most mock drafts a late first and Mitch took him 10th.

JMAC3 · Post #224 » by **JMAC3** » Tue Oct 27, 2020 1:36 pm

I’m really starting to come around on Ball.

Think defensively he can be a lot better than people are giving him credit for. Not sure he will ever be a lockdown defender, but his size and length will bother smaller guards. He actually moves his feet pretty well and he plays passing lanes effectively.

For the people who are claiming he is a risk taker and hasn’t played defense at a high level- neither did Lonzo and now he is one of the best defensive pgs in league.

Shooting is an issue for me still but he has such good touch on his floaters and is a high level free throw shooter that I think the tools are there. More so think his percentages are skewed by bad shot selection and deep threes.

wilson115 · Post #225 » by **wilson115** » Wed Oct 28, 2020 12:11 pm

Would Lamelo's talent outweigh his trade value if he's there at #3? What's a realistic haul?

Liver_Pooty · Post #226 » by **Liver_Pooty** » Wed Oct 28, 2020 2:47 pm

JMAC3 wrote:I’m really starting to come around on Ball.

Think defensively he can be a lot better than people are giving him credit for. Not sure he will ever be a lockdown defender, but his size and length will bother smaller guards. He actually moves his feet pretty well and he plays passing lanes effectively.

For the people who are claiming he is a risk taker and hasn’t played defense at a high level- neither did Lonzo and now he is one of the best defensive pgs in league.

Shooting is an issue for me still but he has such good touch on his floaters and is a high level free throw shooter that I think the tools are there. More so think his percentages are skewed by bad shot selection and deep threes.

His shot selection can also be skewed by playing in a lower tier league. Hell, Monk and Bacon go to the D league and fire up 40 shots with maybe a fourth of them being "good shots", and we don't bat an eye.

Rays Pompadour · Post #227 » by **Rays Pompadour** » Wed Oct 28, 2020 11:12 pm

wilson115 wrote:Would Lamelo's talent outweigh his trade value if he's there at #3? What's a realistic haul?

That's an outstanding question. I love the value Charlotte has at #3, which is essentially a #1 overall pick for three evenly flawed players. Ball has the highest value of all the other lottery prospects, in my opinion.

I ask for #1 compensation, which in this draft may mean a lottery pick, a second first rounder and a lottery protected 2021 first rounder. I don't need a player in return, per se. If I let #3 go, I'm banking on the future.

DY_nasty · Post #228 » by **DY_nasty** » Thu Oct 29, 2020 5:12 pm

Liver_Pooty wrote:
JMAC3 wrote:I’m really starting to come around on Ball.

Think defensively he can be a lot better than people are giving him credit for. Not sure he will ever be a lockdown defender, but his size and length will bother smaller guards. He actually moves his feet pretty well and he plays passing lanes effectively.

For the people who are claiming he is a risk taker and hasn’t played defense at a high level- neither did Lonzo and now he is one of the best defensive pgs in league.

Shooting is an issue for me still but he has such good touch on his floaters and is a high level free throw shooter that I think the tools are there. More so think his percentages are skewed by bad shot selection and deep threes.

His shot selection can also be skewed by playing in a lower tier league. Hell, Monk and Bacon go to the D league and fire up 40 shots with maybe a fourth of them being "good shots", and we don't bat an eye.

we also don't hype it either lol

amcoolio · Post #229 » by **amcoolio** » Thu Oct 29, 2020 6:38 pm

Read on Twitter

amcoolio · Post #230 » by **amcoolio** » Thu Oct 29, 2020 6:41 pm

I watched a few of the later episodes of "Ball in the Family" or whatever...

I know he is young and needs to mature, but wow is that someone I don't want near our players. He has no focus whatsoever. He doesn't put extra time in, only the minimum required. He doesn't seem to care about basketball, only as a means to get rich and famous. I'm perfectly fine passing on him and letting him bust/blossom somewhere else.

LofJ · Post #231 » by **LofJ** » Thu Oct 29, 2020 6:59 pm

I'm not used to seeing this team play the media game like this. In the last few days we've talked up Wiseman and threw shade at Ball. That's unusual for this team, it makes me think we want Ball to fall.

MasterIchiro · Post #232 » by **MasterIchiro** » Thu Oct 29, 2020 11:21 pm

LofJ wrote:I'm not used to seeing this team play the media game like this. In the last few days we've talked up Wiseman and threw shade at Ball. That's unusual for this team, it makes me think we want Ball to fall.

???

Bonnell's sources are other teams' speculation. He has no internal sources telling him the team likes Wiseman, that Edwards is their backup plan, that Ball is flunking interviews. Nowhere does Bonnell claim internal sources. In fact he explicitly said the Wiseman rumor is speculation from 2 of the top 10 lotto teams.

This is what beat writers do when they don't have a trusted relationship with an organization. They sell rumors for the Charlotte Observer for clicks, so they can lock down greater job security. Bonnell is locked out of Kupchak's inner circle. That's why Bonnell is hunting around the league for aftermarket speculation. Kupchak has been around a long time and he's not going to let Rick Bonnell compromise this critical selection or foil Kupchak's hand. Kupchak has a very solid hand.

Vanderbilt_Grad · Post #233 » by **Vanderbilt_Grad** » Thu Oct 29, 2020 11:41 pm

LaMelo is the one guy that I absolutely don't want out of the top prospects.

Post #234 » by **BigSlam** » Fri Oct 30, 2020 11:07 am

Vanderbilt_Grad wrote:LaMelo is the one guy that I absolutely don't want out of the top prospects.

I was so-so on him but remained hopeful that if we did draft him he’d ultimately hit this incredibly high ceiling some say he has.

But all these recent reports of poor interviewing sure does move the needle from “so-so” to “do not want”.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Rays Pompadour · Post #235 » by **Rays Pompadour** » Fri Oct 30, 2020 11:44 am

Maybe Ball is trying to tank his way to NY?

Chapelchilla · Post #236 » by **Chapelchilla** » Fri Oct 30, 2020 2:07 pm

Rays Pompadour wrote:Maybe Ball is trying to tank his way to NY?

If we draft him at 3, I hope we are trading him there for 8 and something nice

Liver_Pooty · Post #237 » by **Liver_Pooty** » Fri Oct 30, 2020 2:17 pm

Teams later in the lottery could be leaking false information to Bunnell trying to hurt his stock as well.

LofJ · Post #238 » by **LofJ** » Fri Oct 30, 2020 3:15 pm

Liver_Pooty wrote:Teams later in the lottery could be leaking false information to Bunnell trying to hurt his stock as well.

Or to lower the price, either way the Hornets organization should have pulled some strings years ago to get the Charlotte Observer to replace Bonnell.

Rod Boone needs a job, it's time for Rick to retire.

316Hornets · Post #239 » by **316Hornets** » Fri Oct 30, 2020 4:21 pm

DY_nasty wrote:is he undisciplined for taking bad shots and refusing to play defense consistently? or does he take no responsibility for throwing away possessions with bad shots or losing his man every other time down the court?

this is fun with semantics. easy answer is he needs to own his flaws and fix them

Speaking of semantics, many people here like to poke fun at the path Lamelo took to make it this far. So, are we saying he played at a highly competitive level or are we saying he played at mostly an exhibition level. Because if he has played mostly at an exhibition level, he should be granted a little more leeway in the results. I'm more focused on what he can do and not what he didn't do.

Post #240 » by **yosemiteben** » Fri Oct 30, 2020 4:25 pm

316Hornets wrote:
DY_nasty wrote:is he undisciplined for taking bad shots and refusing to play defense consistently? or does he take no responsibility for throwing away possessions with bad shots or losing his man every other time down the court?

this is fun with semantics. easy answer is he needs to own his flaws and fix them

Speaking of semantics, many people here like to poke fun at the path Lamelo took to make it this far. So, are we saying he played at a highly competitive level or are we saying he played at mostly an exhibition level. Because if he has played mostly at an exhibition level, he should be granted a little more leeway in the results. I'm more focused on what he can do and not what he didn't do.

He has not played in competitive leagues. Your theory of "people in crappy leagues should be given more leeway in their results" sure is an interesting theory in how to judge prospects.