Ball Don't Lie: The LaMelo Ball Thread

Post #801 » by **yosemiteben** » Wed Dec 16, 2020 3:15 pm

MasterIchiro wrote:The only plug and play pick in this draft was Avdija, maybe Okoro.

You hopping off the Toppin train? He was considered to be by far the most NBA ready.

Chapelchilla · Post #802 » by **Chapelchilla** » Wed Dec 16, 2020 4:11 pm

He is extremely young, thin, inexperienced and has not ever really been coached. He should suck right now. All I care about is that he is willing to work really hard this year to fix his flaws and develop his talents to their max. So far, he seems to be doing that.

MasterIchiro · Post #803 » by **MasterIchiro** » Wed Dec 16, 2020 4:52 pm

yosemiteben wrote:
MasterIchiro wrote:The only plug and play pick in this draft was Avdija, maybe Okoro.

You hopping off the Toppin train? He was considered to be by far the most NBA ready.

It's the Knicks. And Randall is in the way. And Thibs is his coach. Defense was always an issue. I'm surprised the Knicks passed on Avdija.

Post #804 » by **fatlever** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 7:52 pm

Read on Twitter

great video breakdown

Post #805 » by **BigSlam** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:22 pm

fatlever wrote:

Read on Twitter

great video breakdown

Schmiz was all over LaMelo’s sack for weeks and weeks pre-draft so I’m not surprised he’s talking him up now - it’s in his best interest to.

I’ll take everything he says with a grain of salt when it comes to Melo.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Post #806 » by **fatlever** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:39 pm

very true

MasterIchiro · Post #807 » by **MasterIchiro** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 10:40 pm

LaMelo's playmaking ability is impossible to teach. His ball handling and passing and feel are so rooted in his DNA, they will transfer at this level from day one. So no matter what he will make an impact at least at the starter level. His development will focus on rounding out his scoring, situational decision making, defense etc. I'm thrilled his core skillset gives him a solid floor. There's no way he busts. He'd have to stop working on the rest of his game right now but so far he's displayed a positive attitude towards improvement and putting in the work. Nobody else in this draft is even close to his level when it comes to playmaking. And I don't think he will rest on that base. He has a chance to be great and I think he knows it. Edwards was the number one pick and I don't know that he brings anything unique like LaMelo's highlight reel passing.

316Hornets · Post #808 » by **316Hornets** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 2:14 am

This guy can ball. No doubt about it. Able to score in multiple ways and reads the floor like a wolf.

Post #809 » by **Diop** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 2:18 am

he's definitely got something, just need to get rid of the low % pull up 3s and ugly long floaters.

Miles should be buying him dinners for the year, he's going to feed him a lot of oops

KembaWalker · Post #810 » by **KembaWalker** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 2:31 am

am I the only one who doesn't think his defense is as bad as people wanna act like it is? he's weak but he puts in a ton of effort and he actually seems to be a decent communicator on that end as far as switching and pointing out closeouts to the other guys

amcoolio · Post #811 » by **amcoolio** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 2:35 am

He's going to be pretty good a couple years from now, he seems to be very coachable. His shot looks better every game. Although it could have just been bad the first game because of first game jitters.

MasterIchiro · Post #812 » by **MasterIchiro** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 2:50 am

In addition to the three point shot (teams will learn fast you can't ignore him there), he had a couple aggressive drives to the hoop. Scrap the floater.

Hornet Mania · Post #813 » by **Hornet Mania** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 2:51 am

KembaWalker wrote:am I the only one who doesn't think his defense is as bad as people wanna act like it is? he's weak but he puts in a ton of effort and he actually seems to be a decent communicator on that end as far as switching and pointing out closeouts to the other guys

His length/reflexes, IQ and effort are helping him stay afloat on that end so far. If he can ever learn how to stay in front of his man he'll be a nice defensive player.

MasterIchiro · Post #814 » by **MasterIchiro** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 2:52 am

There was one sequence where the Magic trapped Ball and he completely reversed direction and swung it the other way leading to a hockey assist for a Miles Bridges finish at the rim. His feel is exceptional, he sensed the best path to move the ball and it very quickly went from a trap to an easy bucket within seconds. Such poise.

SWedd523 · Post #815 » by **SWedd523** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 7:31 am

KembaWalker wrote:am I the only one who doesn't think his defense is as bad as people wanna act like it is? he's weak but he puts in a ton of effort and he actually seems to be a decent communicator on that end as far as switching and pointing out closeouts to the other guys

I noticed tonight in particular that he made more than his share of bonehead defensive plays

First two games were solid though

geraldwallace · Post #816 » by **geraldwallace** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 3:01 pm

SWedd523 wrote:
KembaWalker wrote:am I the only one who doesn't think his defense is as bad as people wanna act like it is? he's weak but he puts in a ton of effort and he actually seems to be a decent communicator on that end as far as switching and pointing out closeouts to the other guys

I noticed tonight in particular that he made more than his share of bonehead defensive plays

First two games were solid though

His bad defense seems to be more of a he's never been coached on that end of the floor thing than an effort issue. I think give him 1-2 years of NBA coaching and he'll be a solid defender

Guy's 6'8 so if he ever becomes a good defender he'll be able to switch on basically all five positions easily

Hornet Mania · Post #817 » by **Hornet Mania** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 3:25 pm

The hype train is leaving the station.

The Magic broadcast was fawning over Ball all game, he's going to bring the team a ton of attention. The league is going to market the hell out of this kid. (And I suspect ESPN already has their 'Melo to LA?' graphics ready to go :lol:

)

LofJ · Post #818 » by **LofJ** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 3:30 pm

I'm most impressed with LaMelo's communication on defense. It's something I didn't expect to see. He still has a lot of room for improvement of course, but if he keeps putting in effort and communicating with coaches and teammates he's going to be good on that end.

Rich4114 · Post #819 » by **Rich4114** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 3:42 pm

I am impressed with LaMelo so far. I view this season as an evaluation / developmental year to see how things will look heading into 21-22. I assumed LaMelo would struggle a lot making this jump but he looks better in game than I would’ve thought. He looks way more confident taking shots than Lonzo too.

James Gatz · Post #820 » by **James Gatz** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 4:37 pm

Rich4114 wrote:I am impressed with LaMelo so far. I view this season as an evaluation / developmental year to see how things will look heading into 21-22. I assumed LaMelo would struggle a lot making this jump but he looks better in game than I would’ve thought. He looks way more confident taking shots than Lonzo too.

His confidence in taking shots was a big reason that I said he should have the greenlight to take any shot in the offseason. The big thing keeping guys like Simmons and other non shooters is how apprehensive they are to take open shots.

I still think he should have the greenlight to start the season, but I'd already like him to cut out those deep off the dribble 3s. Every one of those makes me wince.

Defensively he's looked solid. He's making the right rotations and communicates while he's on the floor. He's gotten blown by a few times already and has made some bad gambles though. I was never incredibly worried about his defense predraft due to his size and IQ. If it wasn't going to work out it would largely be due to effort. He's been working hard on that end. Much easier to forgive a guy for mistakes if he's trying out there. The same can't be said for Edwards 8-)

.