Kobe should mentor Ingram

[RingsDontLie]

Kobe could do a lot for Ingram right now as far as giving the guy some confidence out there. That to me is what Ingram lacks right now...a mentor that can take his game to the next level.

[dAdo dA dEvil]

This is good ... if Kobe has a time for it. Should study Kobe's post moves and fade aways. Plus inherit that killer instinct as well.

[LAKESHOW]

Kobe just escapes from Coach Byrons prison. Why would he come back?

[Kilroy]

If it was Byron's prison, Kobe was the Warden.

Kobe will probably mentor some of the current players off season but getting him into the schedule of the team probably would be more of a distraction than a help right now.

[crazyeights]

I don't want to make an entire thread for this, but I do wonder...will Ingram need to change his shot? When I'm watching it live, the side of the head release seems to be really slow. Especially when he goes to pull-up. It seems unnatural and not in-rhythm. Plus he seems to miss long very often.

Am I way off here?

TBH I'm not super concerned, because I think a lot of it seems like confidence, but man has he missed a lot of make-able shots.

(Side request: can anyone find his shot charts? Or any 2016-2017 shot charts for that matter? I can't find a thing.)

And as for Kobe, that would be great. Look at what he did to Kawhi Leonard. One thing I'd like to see Ingram learn is to be purposeful with the ball. If you watch, he takes it up, picks up his dribble inexplicably, and tries to force it in to whoever is on the wing (by this point with a defender right on his shoulder)...he proceeds to telegraph the pass and then almost get it stolen....Or, he'll get the ball at the top of the key, make a couple dribbles that are going absolutely except maybe away from the basket, and then he'll dump it off to whoever is running toward the ball, usually about 32 feet away from the basket. He wastes a lot of time doing a lot of nothing. Again, totally get that he's a rookie, but I hope someone is working on this with him.

[Kilroy]

I don't want to make an entire thread for this, but I do wonder...will Ingram need to change his shot? When I'm watching it live, the side of the head release seems to be really slow. Especially when he goes to pull-up. It seems unnatural and not in-rhythm. Plus he seems to miss long very often.

Am I way off here?

TBH I'm not super concerned, because I think a lot of it seems like confidence, but man has he missed a lot of make-able shots.

(Side request: can anyone find his shot charts? Or any 2016-2017 shot charts for that matter? I can't find a thing.)

And as for Kobe, that would be great. Look at what he did to Kawhi Leonard. One thing I'd like to see Ingram learn is to be purposeful with the ball. If you watch, he takes it up, picks up his dribble inexplicably, and tries to force it in to whoever is on the wing (by this point with a defender right on his shoulder)...he proceeds to telegraph the pass and then almost get it stolen....Or, he'll get the ball at the top of the key, make a couple dribbles that are going absolutely except maybe away from the basket, and then he'll dump it off to whoever is running toward the ball, usually about 32 feet away from the basket. He wastes a lot of time doing a lot of nothing. Again, totally get that he's a rookie, but I hope someone is working on this with him.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/i/ingrabr01/shooting/2017

[The Prodigy]

I don't want to make an entire thread for this, but I do wonder...will Ingram need to change his shot? When I'm watching it live, the side of the head release seems to be really slow. Especially when he goes to pull-up. It seems unnatural and not in-rhythm. Plus he seems to miss long very often.

Am I way off here?

TBH I'm not super concerned, because I think a lot of it seems like confidence, but man has he missed a lot of make-able shots.

(Side request: can anyone find his shot charts? Or any 2016-2017 shot charts for that matter? I can't find a thing.)

And as for Kobe, that would be great. Look at what he did to Kawhi Leonard. One thing I'd like to see Ingram learn is to be purposeful with the ball. If you watch, he takes it up, picks up his dribble inexplicably, and tries to force it in to whoever is on the wing (by this point with a defender right on his shoulder)...he proceeds to telegraph the pass and then almost get it stolen....Or, he'll get the ball at the top of the key, make a couple dribbles that are going absolutely except maybe away from the basket, and then he'll dump it off to whoever is running toward the ball, usually about 32 feet away from the basket. He wastes a lot of time doing a lot of nothing. Again, totally get that he's a rookie, but I hope someone is working on this with him.

I'm far from a shot expert but I agree with you on the release thing. It does seem unnaturally low, negating a lot of his size/wingspan advantage. It should be a relatively easy fix though. His motion seems pretty fluid to me.

I'm a big believer in this kid's skills. He's clearly struggling with the speed and physicality of the NBA, which is to be expected. But I like his handle and ability to get to the hole at this stage. Plus his defense is already really damn good. Once he makes some adjustments to his shot and grows into an NBA body, watch out!

[Kilroy]

I wonder if his release will speed up as his strength develops... He's just generally a little gawky right now.

[iamworthy]

For a guys who's scoring potential was compared to Kevin Durant in college his shooting thus far is really disappointing. But I would start him for no other reason that Deng isn't performing out of this world at the three and Ingram's defensive growth will improve markedly faster going against the first units instead of second unit players. His ball handling skills will also free up Dlo to play more of the ball.

[The Prodigy]

For a guys who's scoring potential was compared to Kevin Durant in college his shooting thus far is really disappointing. But I would start him for no other reason that Deng isn't performing out of this world at the three and Ingram's defensive growth will improve markedly faster going against the first units instead of second unit players. His ball handling skills will also free up Dlo to play more of the ball.

No one credible believed he was on the same level offensively as Kevin Durant.

Still, he can be a very good offensive player even without coming close to Durant on that end.

[iamworthy]

For a guys who's scoring potential was compared to Kevin Durant in college his shooting thus far is really disappointing. But I would start him for no other reason that Deng isn't performing out of this world at the three and Ingram's defensive growth will improve markedly faster going against the first units instead of second unit players. His ball handling skills will also free up Dlo to play more of the ball.

No one credible believed he was on the same level offensively as Kevin Durant.

Still, he can be a very good offensive player even without coming close to Durant on that end.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/vertical-comp--k-d--and-brandon-ingram-153255100.html
Catch and shoot
From a pure numbers standpoint, Ingram has the slight edge on Durant. He made more threes per 40 minutes while shooting a better percentage and produced more points per possession while taking 37 more catch-and-shoot jumpers.

In terms of mechanics and value as a catch-and-shoot player, Durant has the edge. It wasn’t difficult to see Durant evolving into one of the best shooters in basketball. He had NBA range as an 18-year-old and was a more versatile shooter than Ingram with better skill coming off screens and dribble handoffs. Ingram certainly shows a lot of promise, but he doesn’t quite display the same range, touch and shot-making ability that Durant did.



Isolation scoring
Ingram flashed a lot of potential as a one-on-one shot creator, scoring 0.94 points per possession to Durant’s 0.88 in isolation situations. Ingram’s shooting stroke sets up the drive, and he has very advanced footwork for his level of development. Neither player was particularly efficient shooting off the dribble, but Durant was more advanced, regularly using hesitation pull-ups, crossovers and step-backs to create space.

Durant was also a little bit quicker off the bounce, playing with solid burst while shifting gears seamlessly. Ingram is often criticized for not being able to turn the corner in shot-creation situations, an issue that Durant also dealt with at times because of his size. As Ingram continues to mature physically, he should be able to keep his defender on his hip and stride all the way to the rim. Durant was as prolific of a one-on-one scorer as you’ll see from an 18-year-old. Ingram certainly isn’t as advanced as Durant was, but he has a nice foundation to build on.



Pick-and-roll play
This season Durant has used more pick-and-roll possessions than any other play type and ranks in the 90th percentile in points per possession. Yet as an 18-year-old freshman, pick-and-roll ballhandling made up only 3.1 percent of his offense, yielding 0.542 points per possession.

Statistically at least, Ingram is further ahead as a pick-and-roll player. He has room to improve his pull-up game and creativity attacking the rim (he only scored 0.716 points per possession out of ball screens), but Ingram can make a three if the defense goes under the screen, get into the mid-range if the guard fights over, and stride to the rim if he finds a seam. Maybe the most impressive part of his pick-and-roll game is his potential as a passer. He plays with great pace, can see over the top of the defense and handles defensive pressure well. Ingram may not have Durant’s upside as a pick-and-roll player, but he’s slightly more versatile operating off ball screens at the same level of development.

At the end of the article it says that Ingram isn't on the same level as Durant despite similarities....

But at the end of the day they were asked to do different things for their college teams. I remember reading multiple articles that compared these two by the numbers.

[The Prodigy]

At the end of the article it says that Ingram isn't on the same level as Durant despite similarities....

But at the end of the day they were asked to do different things for their college teams. I remember reading multiple articles that compared these two by the numbers.

The author's conclusion was that Ingram was not on the same level as Durant. So basically, the article does not support your claim.

[iamworthy]

At the end of the article it says that Ingram isn't on the same level as Durant despite similarities....

But at the end of the day they were asked to do different things for their college teams. I remember reading multiple articles that compared these two by the numbers.

The author's conclusion was that Ingram was not on the same level as Durant. So basically, the article does not support your claim.

Did you read the article?

[Julius Caesar]

I don't want to make an entire thread for this, but I do wonder...will Ingram need to change his shot? When I'm watching it live, the side of the head release seems to be really slow. Especially when he goes to pull-up. It seems unnatural and not in-rhythm. Plus he seems to miss long very often.

Am I way off here?

TBH I'm not super concerned, because I think a lot of it seems like confidence, but man has he missed a lot of make-able shots.

(Side request: can anyone find his shot charts? Or any 2016-2017 shot charts for that matter? I can't find a thing.)

And as for Kobe, that would be great. Look at what he did to Kawhi Leonard. One thing I'd like to see Ingram learn is to be purposeful with the ball. If you watch, he takes it up, picks up his dribble inexplicably, and tries to force it in to whoever is on the wing (by this point with a defender right on his shoulder)...he proceeds to telegraph the pass and then almost get it stolen....Or, he'll get the ball at the top of the key, make a couple dribbles that are going absolutely except maybe away from the basket, and then he'll dump it off to whoever is running toward the ball, usually about 32 feet away from the basket. He wastes a lot of time doing a lot of nothing. Again, totally get that he's a rookie, but I hope someone is working on this with him.

Apparently the Kawhi Leonard thing isn't true

Read on Twitter

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/kawhi-leonard-hasnt-worked-out-with-kobe-bryant-yet-but-it-looks-like-he-has/

[crazyeights]

Read on Twitter

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/kawhi-leonard-hasnt-worked-out-with-kobe-bryant-yet-but-it-looks-like-he-has/

Good to know.

If I remember the original articles would reference a Pop quote from last season, so people probably just assumed when he came out waving dudes off going one v. one that this was Mamba's influence.

[SlimShady83]

If anybody is going to learn anything from Kobe - the only thing I want the young guns to learn is his "killer instinct" and willing to win at all costs - Oh and maybe to learn to play through injuries wouldn't hurt either < but you can't really teach that.

[Ballerhogger]

Off season sure , but the second kobe seen at practice ,the media is going go crazy just because its kobe practicing with the lakers. So for now no.

[notinbtnet]

Guys - Kobe has no interest in mentoring anyone. He might have a random summer workout here and there with a player, but he's not going to go out of his way to mentor. My guess is the only time he'll show up this season is for his jersey retirement.

[The Prodigy]

At the end of the article it says that Ingram isn't on the same level as Durant despite similarities....

But at the end of the day they were asked to do different things for their college teams. I remember reading multiple articles that compared these two by the numbers.

The author's conclusion was that Ingram was not on the same level as Durant. So basically, the article does not support your claim.

Did you read the article?

Yes, this is the concluding paragraph:

All in all, Ingram isn’t the same level of prospect that Durant was despite having many similarities. With that said, Ingram has come a long way over the past 18 months, and with his physical tools and foundational skill set, he is, in our view, the top prospect in the 2016 NBA draft.

Again, does not support your claim.

[danfantastk32]

Kobe just escapes from Coach Byrons prison. Why would he come back?

There are a million things people can rag on Byron about....but his treatment of Kobe is certainly not one of them. Probably the biggest fault of Byron is that he let Kobe do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted....and if any of the "scrubs" didn't like it, they could suck eggs. Byron would never criticize Kobe for anything, and yet call out other players for doing things Kobe did all the time.

Fact is, Kobe has no reason EVER to complain about the Lakers. He was given whatever he wanted, at all times. Most of us can take our entire lineage....like all the way back to the cave-man times, and we prob couldn't pool even a fraction of the money that this one man made in 20 years. I'm not having a go at Kobe.....I'm just saying. This guy has had nothing but 20 years of complete fantasy-life as a Laker, with the best coaches, team-mates...owners. If I ever hear him say that this team in any way didn't love him enough, I'd knock him upside the head. That goes for his final year as well. Hate to say it...but it was his "farewell tour" and selfish play that takes the lion's share of blame for our bad record, and lack of youth development.....and yet Byron goes down in a hail of bullets shielding him from any responsibility. You have perhaps a handful of people that ever spoke out.....and otherwise it was smooch-city for the Mamba on his way out.

Sh**t man....I'd love to be in that prison poor Kobe endured. My god.