LaMelephant: The LaMelo Ball Thread (#2)

[KembaWalker]

Oh, browser refresh ate half my post

Meant to say Melo put them on skates and hit with the ice in veins. And how can anyone watch the Wagner twins all season and get offended over Melo rubbing his forearm for 2 seconds

If taunting indicates a lack of seriousness then the Magic are in big trouble

[Liver_Pooty]

Oh, browser refresh ate half my post

Meant to say Melo put them on skates and hit with the ice in veins. And how can anyone watch the Wagner twins all season and get offended over Melo rubbing his forearm for 2 seconds

If taunting indicates a lack of seriousness then the Magic are in big trouble

Telling you. He just needs a shimmy and a night night.

[EmpireFalls]

The most over-hated and under-rated player in the entire NBA. I’m never going to countersignal this guy again. I’m in awe of his level as a shot creator right now, this is approaching levels I never thought I’d see in a Charlotte uniform.

Jeff Peterson has to absolutely nail these next two years. I don’t know if he has it in him.

[KembaWalker]

It’s crazy to me how he’s gone from a guy that didn’t want any piece of the paint to seemingly hunting isos on the leagues most elite defenders just to easily blow past them. Nobody in the world can stay in front of him. At least, surely not anyone that simultaneously has the length to bother his step back. He’s unguardable

[Bassman]

It’s crazy to me how he’s gone from a guy that didn’t want any piece of the paint to seemingly hunting isos on the leagues most elite defenders just to easily blow past them. Nobody in the world can stay in front of him. At least, surely not anyone that simultaneously has the length to bother his step back. He’s unguardable

THIS development, along with his increased efforts at times defensively, have proven to me Melo is WORKING to become great. I questioned his commitment. He is still a different cat…not a Jordan alpha male dominator type, nor a Kobe “student of the game, I’ll out work and out think you” player. He will forever be a “kid” at heart, a “Melo just wants to have fun” guy who takes his bball to seriously extreme heights. He takes shots that are insane looking….to me. But guarantee you he practices that stuff for hours. When he is on he is a hard bulb to turn off.

[KembaWalker]

It’s crazy to me how he’s gone from a guy that didn’t want any piece of the paint to seemingly hunting isos on the leagues most elite defenders just to easily blow past them. Nobody in the world can stay in front of him. At least, surely not anyone that simultaneously has the length to bother his step back. He’s unguardable

THIS development, along with his increased efforts at times defensively, have proven to me Melo is WORKING to become great. I questioned his commitment. He is still a different cat…not a Jordan alpha male dominator type, nor a Kobe “student of the game, I’ll out work and out think you” player. He will forever be a “kid” at heart, a “Melo just wants to have fun” guy who takes his bball to seriously extreme heights. He takes shots that are insane looking….to me. But guarantee you he practices that stuff for hours. When he is on he is a hard bulb to turn off.

idk if I've seen it posted here, the clip of DSJ on a podcast talking about Melo, but he confirmed that the dude just plays basketball all day every day and when he's not playing he's playing 2k lol. people who are afraid he might demand a trade, its a valid and realistic concern because $$ unfortunately comes above everything but i don't doubt whatsoever that Melo is having the absolute time of his life getting to explore and showcase his bag at the highest level with this degree of greenlight

[HornetJail]

It’s crazy to me how he’s gone from a guy that didn’t want any piece of the paint to seemingly hunting isos on the leagues most elite defenders just to easily blow past them. Nobody in the world can stay in front of him. At least, surely not anyone that simultaneously has the length to bother his step back. He’s unguardable

that's more impressive than the outrageous 3-point shooting to me. yesterday in particular was one of my favorite games of his because he saw the threes weren't happening early and just attacked the paint at every opportunity no matter who was guarding him. he may not have even gotten to the rim that much, but his float game was insane.

[HornetJail]

That said, I worry this is not sustainable



He's on pace for an NBA record for FGA/100 possessions (stats dating back to 1973, just after Wilt retired). Defenses will adjust. There is no way playing 40 minutes a game with this much offensive burden doesn't wear him down over time. Enjoy this while it lasts, but Melo needs help. Every game that goes by starting Green+Salaun+Diabate/Gibson is one where roughly 100% of the offensive burden falls on two players.

[Rich4114]

It’s crazy to me how he’s gone from a guy that didn’t want any piece of the paint to seemingly hunting isos on the leagues most elite defenders just to easily blow past them. Nobody in the world can stay in front of him. At least, surely not anyone that simultaneously has the length to bother his step back. He’s unguardable

It's because if you back off of him he can hit the step back 3 at near 40% and if you move up into his space he can get around you and to the rim or create for one of our fumblers/brick layers.

[KembaWalker]

It’s crazy to me how he’s gone from a guy that didn’t want any piece of the paint to seemingly hunting isos on the leagues most elite defenders just to easily blow past them. Nobody in the world can stay in front of him. At least, surely not anyone that simultaneously has the length to bother his step back. He’s unguardable

It's because if you back off of him he can hit the step back 3 at near 40% and if you move up into his space he can get around you and to the rim or create for one of our fumblers/brick layers.

Taj crumpling to the floor after a perfect pass on his roll or man helping off is the meat and potatoes of our front court offense. One day those will be easy lobs to Mark

[Rich4114]

That said, I worry this is not sustainable



He's on pace for an NBA record for FGA/100 possessions (stats dating back to 1973, just after Wilt retired). Defenses will adjust. There is no way playing 40 minutes a game with this much offensive burden doesn't wear him down over time. Enjoy this while it lasts, but Melo needs help. Every game that goes by starting Green+Salaun+Diabate/Gibson is one where roughly 100% of the offensive burden falls on two players.

It's absolutely not sustainable and agreed - he will need help. I think if Mark actually comes back, having a rim finisher who can catch his passes in the paint will go a long way. But we still lack outside shooting and spacing to get more efficient. We're also still too slow on pace. All of this makes what LaMelo is doing even more impressive though.

[Rich4114]

It’s crazy to me how he’s gone from a guy that didn’t want any piece of the paint to seemingly hunting isos on the leagues most elite defenders just to easily blow past them. Nobody in the world can stay in front of him. At least, surely not anyone that simultaneously has the length to bother his step back. He’s unguardable

It's because if you back off of him he can hit the step back 3 at near 40% and if you move up into his space he can get around you and to the rim or create for one of our fumblers/brick layers.

Taj crumpling to the floor after a perfect pass on his roll or man helping off is the meat and potatoes of our front court offense. One day those will be easy lobs to Mark

That was his most beautiful pass of the past 10 games and Taj couldn't convert. It's not Taj's fault though, bro was never a finisher and is like 80 in NBA years. Front office failing our star all over again and all I can think of is how we wasted Kemba years here.

[HornetJail]

It's because if you back off of him he can hit the step back 3 at near 40% and if you move up into his space he can get around you and to the rim or create for one of our fumblers/brick layers.

Taj crumpling to the floor after a perfect pass on his roll or man helping off is the meat and potatoes of our front court offense. One day those will be easy lobs to Mark

That was his most beautiful pass of the past 10 games and Taj couldn't convert. It's not Taj's fault though, bro was never a finisher and is like 80 in NBA years. Front office failing our star all over again and all I can think of is how we wasted Kemba years here.

this is part of the reason I'm sick of tanking and want to see us make moves towards respectability now.

Melo is undoubtedly ready, assuming his ankles can make it through a season. BMill is probably already somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd option and has improved nonstop, Bridges would make a terrific #4 option when healthy. I'd love to find a quality 2nd-3rd option under age 30, upgrade C behind Mark, and try to see if this team can start to compete.

This isn't the Kemba era where he had mostly fulfilled his own potential by year 5, and there was no real upside in the expensive supporting cast of 4th option veterans team around him. I'm not worried about this team getting trapped in a treadmill as long as our players can stay on the floor. If they can't... well we don't have much of a team anyway.

[yosemiteben]

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/42625865/nba-trends-lamelo-fouls-philly-magic-number-more

After missing the vast majority of the Charlotte Hornets' past two seasons, LaMelo Ball's offensive numbers, which include a 50-point performance against the Milwaukee Bucks this past week and a 44-point showing Monday in a loss to Orlando, are essentially jumping off the page.

The 23-year-old is averaging a career-best 31.0 points, second in the league to Giannis Antetokounmpo, albeit on an NBA-high 24.4 shot attempts per game. His 38.9% usage rate is not only a league high this season, it's on pace to be the third highest ever.

Still, one eye-popping metric arguably stands out even more. And it's one the Hornets desperately need Ball to fix. A little more than one month into the 2024-25 campaign, he leads the league in personal fouls and has fouled out in nearly a quarter of his games.

Yes, Ball, with his NBA-high 70 personals, has already fouled out four times in 17 outings. No other player in the league has done it more than twice.

Leaders in fouls are almost always big men or skilled defenders tasked with stopping players who are closer to the basket. (The last time a point guard led the NBA in personal fouls? It was technically the 2015-16 season, when then-Bucks coach Jason Kidd thrust 6-foot-11 Antetokounmpo into a floor general role in hopes of developing his game. But unlike Ball, Antetokounmpo wasn't often defending point guards or players along the perimeter.)

Put it another way: The last time a true point guard led the league in fouls was Kevin Porter's 320 in the 1973-74 season.

Ball can be disruptive on defense and leads the Hornets with 47 deflections. But ball handlers have been able to maneuver around him with ease, scoring 1.37 points per direct drive against him. That is the worst in the league among players who've defended at least 90 such plays, according to Second Spectrum tracking.

Earlier this month, first-year coach Charles Lee suggested Ball's on-ball defense was a problem. "We have to continue to challenge him and we have to learn about can he guard one-on-one, or do we need to send a double-team every time, or [is he] going to foul?" Lee told reporters after Ball fouled out of three of the Hornets' first six contests.

The Hornets have answered that question pretty emphatically through the way they tilt their defense to help Ball. Charlotte is bringing over a help defender a whopping 91% of the time when opponents drive against the point guard. It has been a necessary step, particularly late in games. The Hornets are surrendering an unthinkable 1.78 points per play, per Second Spectrum, when opponents drive at Ball in fourth quarters -- the worst mark in the league for any player in any quarter with at least 15 drives defended.

Lee hasn't hesitated to hold his franchise player accountable despite being new to the job. Aside from the comments about Ball's defense, he raised eyebrows this past week when he opted to bench Ball for the final 3:47 of what turned out to be a one-point loss to the Brooklyn Nets.

Pulling Ball undoubtedly helps the defense. The Hornets give up nearly five more points per 100 possessions with Ball on the court as opposed to when he's on the bench; a gap equivalent to the difference between the 17th-ranked Denver Nuggets and the sixth-ranked Memphis Grizzlies.

But the flipside is also clear: For all his inattention or inability defensively, Ball's offense is what powers the Hornets. Charlotte notches almost 14 points more per 100 possessions with Ball than they do without him. It largely explains why the club is just 1-5 when Ball finishes with five personal fouls or more; they need his production on the court, even with his defensive flaws.

[fatlever]

It was very obvious in 4th quarter vs magic. They tried to get Melo switched on Franz almost every play, which led to a double, which led to Isaac being open in corner repeatedly, which thankfully he kept missing, until he didnt.

Sent from my SM-G973U using RealGM mobile app

[yosemiteben]

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[GoBobs]

I think LaMelo will probably score 100 in a game at some point. The 50 pt game he goes 17-38. The next game he was 17-30 and 4-11 from 3 and ended up with 44.

He has to work through some growing pains right now because teams are going to play him and prepare for him differently. He has to learn to deal with pressure and double teams better and that is probably part of why the turnovers are higher this year than previous years.

Pretty exciting player to have on your team.

[HornetJail]

if he'd curb the stupid touch fouls early in games, he'd be able to be a little more aggressive late in games. He's been playing the second half of almost every game in foul trouble, and once he picks up the 4th one, it's basically over for whatever defense he was bringing anyway. Like clockwork.

[Bassman]

I don’t think any of us ever expect Melo to become a plus defender. He just needs to become stronger on getting position and working off screens, all without cheap fouls. He is making small progress this year…I can tell he’s trying. All the more reason we need a vicious dog beside him to help out. Can Green be that defender? He’s had his moments, but consistency is needed. AND…we need that giant goalie back by the rim to swat out penetration. If we ever get Mark really playing and back to executing at his previous flashes of high potential, the rest of the D will get better.

[JustBuzzin]

They labeled me a Melo hater. I been defending this guy all over the GB since I joined this site. My issue with Melo was only about his health and maturity.

I have nothing bad to say about this kid. When you ball like he has this season you get my respect. Those interviews are just his personality so I can't even question his maturity anymore. This is MELO!

Happy to have him as the face of the franchise. You won't see anymore trade Melo talk from me unless he wants out. Future is bright in Charlotte.