Lonzo Ball's Shooting Form

[Dynamix]

I've been watching more of him lately and I see a lot of positives, his defensive instincts are particularly impressive. But real talk, do people actually expect him to be a reliable shooter with the way his current form looks? Everything he makes seems to be a combination of pure chance and willing the ball to go in. And don't get me started on his free throws. He'll need to work his butt off during the next few years, but that's to be expected of a rookie.

[WalterBenjamin]

The problems are still there. One can imagine how ineffective player he is in a playoff seting when teams zoom in on him. Not a starter by a long mile in the NBA in a playoff seting.

[KingFox]

Shooting better than Fultz, Jackson, Fox, Isaac, Frank N, DSJ, Monk.

Less than 2% worse than Mitchell and Markannen.

Worst shooter ever though

His real problem right now is his complete lack of ability to finish at the rim.

worst shooter ever? maybe not but he aintgood either

[Revived]

Lonzo plays a lot like Ricky Rubio. Anyone else agree?

Good defender, great facilitator but limited shooting ability.

Rubio was never able to improve his jumper, hopefully Lonzo is actually able to improve his.

[j-ragg]

Lonzo plays a lot like Ricky Rubio. Anyone else agree?

Good defender, great facilitator but limited shooting ability.

Rubio was never able to improve his jumper, hopefully Lonzo is actually able to improve his.

Feels like Lakers fans scoff at this but I don’t think it’s that far off. Rubio is a high iq player, just born into the wrong era. At least he is money on the free throw line.

[SpreeChokeJob]

I think I’d be worried about the shot but I’d be more worried about him learning how to finish at the rim.

I think fixing his shot will allow him to finish at the rim. Right now no one respects his shot so they sag off him or don't even guard him at all. Combine this with he doesn't have breakaway speed, this gives the defense a huge advantage of defending the rim. If he can't shoot, he can't penetrate. If he can't penetrate, he can't draw defenders for the easy assist. He's a guard that's essentially useless as a guard. He can't even shoot free throws. That's one thing you can't have in a pg because the defense can be more aggressive late in games trying to strip the ball knowing you can't hit your foul shots.

[Gus McCrae]

Everyone laughed when I drafted him in the 6th round. Look who's laughing now

I drafted him in the 3rd (14 team league) and he’s returning 1st round value post ASB. I’ll be keeping him next year. Nobody fills the stat sheet like Zo.

I picked him up in the waivers but will be dropping him soon...singe handedly ruining my FG% all by himself and he doesn’t offer enough of other cats to keep him around (idc about assists).

Really? He’s a 66 on the season and 27 on the month. His percentages are bad but he’s very above average in 3s, boards and blocks and pretty much elite in assists and steals.

[NY 567]

I think the bigger issue than his percentages, which are 36 FG% and 32 3P% is the fact that he's shooting those numbers with no one even guarding him most of the time. I can't even imagine what he'd be shooting if anyone actually cared to defend him.

[Alfred]

It's hard to have a lead guard that is a poor shooter. When the defending guard can go under the screen, it kind of ruins the pick and roll for the offensive team -- players no longer have to help off of shooters to help stop the penetration, so you no longer get open shots.

[spikeslovechild]

Highlights from yesterdays game:

Watch on YouTube

[Revived]

I drafted him in the 3rd (14 team league) and he’s returning 1st round value post ASB. I’ll be keeping him next year. Nobody fills the stat sheet like Zo.

I picked him up in the waivers but will be dropping him soon...singe handedly ruining my FG% all by himself and he doesn’t offer enough of other cats to keep him around (idc about assists).

Really? He’s a 66 on the season and 27 on the month. His percentages are bad but he’s very above average in 3s, boards and blocks and pretty much elite in assists and steals.

66 for what?

I dont need assists. His steals aren’t worth killing my fg% and ft%.

Lonzo’s FT% is something that often goes under looked.

[whatisacenter]

Highlights from yesterdays game:

Watch on YouTube

I caught Lonzo live for the first time last night against the Warriors and I understand that he has been shooting the ball better lately but that shot is BROKE! During warmups his shot was going left, right, short and long. He never got into a rhythm. In the games I have seen him play on TV, his D looked above average but as the video shows, he was losing his man off the ball and not moving his feet and reaching in when his man had the ball. His overall poor play might have been due to the fact that he is a young player on a back to back but his career success is going to depend on him changing that shot. Too bad he didn't have a coach early in his life to break that thing down and rebuild it.

[Gus McCrae]

I picked him up in the waivers but will be dropping him soon...singe handedly ruining my FG% all by himself and he doesn’t offer enough of other cats to keep him around (idc about assists).

Really? He’s a 66 on the season and 27 on the month. His percentages are bad but he’s very above average in 3s, boards and blocks and pretty much elite in assists and steals.

66 for what?

I dont need assists. His steals aren’t worth killing my fg% and ft%.

Lonzo’s FT% is something that often goes under looked.

Average overall rank

[Phreak50]

He is now 9-45 3pt since his little ‘streak’ of actually hitting a few.

There is no opinion to be had, it’s simply a fact that form is not ever going to be accurate.

[mtron929]

His shot is completely broken. And what is worse is that he is getting a lot of wide open looks because defenders are not respecting his shot.

[lakerz12]

He is now 9-45 3pt since his little ‘streak’ of actually hitting a few.

There is no opinion to be had, it’s simply a fact that form is not ever going to be accurate.

There are other factors that contribute to one's shooting percentage.

Please explain to us the direct correlation between Lonzo's physical shooting form and 3pt percentage.

Look at the many NBA PG's whose 3pt percentage is worse than Lonzo's. Why are you not concluding that their form is to blame???

Many guys have shot worse than Lonzo and no one blames their mechanics. Interesting.

[mtron929]

He is now 9-45 3pt since his little ‘streak’ of actually hitting a few.

There is no opinion to be had, it’s simply a fact that form is not ever going to be accurate.

There are other factors that contribute to one's shooting percentage.

Please explain to us the direct correlation between Lonzo's physical shooting form and 3pt percentage.

Look at the many NBA PG's whose 3pt percentage is worse than Lonzo's. Why are you not suggesting that they change their shooting form??

Because unlike other players, Lonzo is really really easy to figure out since he cannot shoot going to his right. When the Lakers become good, game planning for Lonzo will be extremely easy since he is limited in his options with his current shooting form. It would be best to change now before it is too late.

[lakerz12]

He is now 9-45 3pt since his little ‘streak’ of actually hitting a few.

There is no opinion to be had, it’s simply a fact that form is not ever going to be accurate.

There are other factors that contribute to one's shooting percentage.

Please explain to us the direct correlation between Lonzo's physical shooting form and 3pt percentage.

Look at the many NBA PG's whose 3pt percentage is worse than Lonzo's. Why are you not suggesting that they change their shooting form??

Because unlike other players, Lonzo is really really easy to figure out since he cannot shoot going to his right. When the Lakers become good, game planning for Lonzo will be extremely easy since he is limited in his options with his current shooting form. It would be best to change now before it is too late.

Okay, fair point. Although Lonzo is also more difficult to defend when he's going left since the shot is being released further away from the defender.

But your criticism is a fair, supported point. Unlike saying simply "that form is not ever going to be accurate". Especially when you can point to times when that form has been very accurate.

[mtron929]

There are other factors that contribute to one's shooting percentage.

Please explain to us the direct correlation between Lonzo's physical shooting form and 3pt percentage.

Look at the many NBA PG's whose 3pt percentage is worse than Lonzo's. Why are you not suggesting that they change their shooting form??

Because unlike other players, Lonzo is really really easy to figure out since he cannot shoot going to his right. When the Lakers become good, game planning for Lonzo will be extremely easy since he is limited in his options with his current shooting form. It would be best to change now before it is too late.

Okay, fair point. Although Lonzo is also more difficult to defend when he's going left since the shot is being released further away from the defender.

But your criticism is a fair, supported point. Unlike saying simply "that form is not ever going to be accurate". Especially when you can point to times when that form has been very accurate.

I would say that because of the form, he also jumps backward a lot in his 3 point shots. Basically, it adds another layer of difficulty to shooting when you have to jump backward because it is hard to get the consistent jump (angle, distance, velocity) which means he has to think about the shot every time (as opposed to jumping in place).

[Jables]

He is now 9-45 3pt since his little ‘streak’ of actually hitting a few.

There is no opinion to be had, it’s simply a fact that form is not ever going to be accurate.

So you get to decide it isn't just streaks of poor form instead, and the good shooting is the real Lonzo? That's a convenient position to take but you're not spouting facts, those are opinions. He was shooting far too well over a lot of games to be dismissed so easily. The problem is when he is low, he is very low.

Seems pretty obvious he's a very streaky confidence player when it comes to his shooting form, but that's completely acceptable for a rookie and too much drama is getting made of it. There's a very good base to work with when it comes to Lonzo, people are getting spoiled by Simmons and Mitchell right now, people were making fun of Saric's efficiency last year who was leading the ROY race and he is killing it this year and is years older, just let them find their feet.