The Work Horse That is Brandon Ingram

[iamworthy]

BRANDON INGRAM MIXES LOVE FOR BASKETBALL WITH OLD-SCHOOL WORK ETHIC

Julius Randle, 22, is unafraid of being ahead of the game. He's done everything in life young—with a fiancee and baby already—and believes age does not prevent him from being a man in a man's game.

D'Angelo Russell, 20, has the alpha-male, eff-it mentality and often thinks he knows it all. He has a confidence that is unshakable.

But Ingram, 19, has something else: a single-mindedness.

If Bryant taught this organization anything, it's that if you truly pour your energy into something, it has a chance to grow into more.

Ingram believes passionately in that mindset, one bolstered by Mike Krzyzewski's teachings at Duke. Whatever his current limitations, Ingram is a lock to improve on them because he is committed fully to self-improvement, not self-promotion.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2693241-with-almost-maniacal-focus-on-his-craft-brandon-ingram-finding-his-inner-kobe

[Michael Lucky]

I'm happy to see him having the work ethic. Again we've been told all year that he has it.

Either way, it has been a pretty depressing couple of weeks for Lakers basketball. None of our lottery picks are playing any better right now than they did at the start of the year which is a little alarming. I just hope it doesn't end up with losing our pick. Hopefully if that happens next years draft class is good since we're really in no position to make ourselves all that much better in free agency this year.

[Landsberger]

The work ethic is not taught nor a function of maturity. It's there or it's not. Does that mean he's a future All Star? No, not at all but it does mean that he will be the best he can be or die trying which is a good type of player to have.

The comments about the other two young guys indicate something different which is more concerning than Ingram's struggles this year.

[dontforget]

Randle is doing more now than he did his first couple years and there's tangible evidence for that. I think his passing and court vision is much more improved. His main issue is consistency and learning to be a pro. That can be learned with more seasoning and experience, so while I do have questions, I think he'll figure it out.

Russell on the other hand, I'm very concerned. Confidence that he has is great, however, you'd would think after the rocky rookie year he had, he would be humbled and come into this year with a new approach. Unfortunately, I think he feels last year was on Byron Scott and is embolden that his process is the right one, and he knows best. Which is why he's essentially the same player he was last year. I have less faith in Russell "figuring it out" but then again he's 20 and probably has the highest ceiling. So barring swapping him for an all star, I'm willing to have some more patience for him.

Ingram I'm not worried about at all. I've always felt his rookie year would be a "red-shirt" year as he developed his body. His approach, attitude, and willingness to accept multiple roles in his rookie year has been excellent. Obviously, the production isn't there but I think its more of a product of his size. Now come next training camp and his body isn't significantly different, then I'll start getting concerned.

[DNP-Old]

The work ethic is not taught nor a function of maturity. It's there or it's not. Does that mean he's a future All Star? No, not at all but it does mean that he will be the best he can be or die trying which is a good type of player to have.

The comments about the other two young guys indicate something different which is more concerning than Ingram's struggles this year.

You contend that babies come out of the womb either with work ethic or not???

[Landsberger]

The work ethic is not taught nor a function of maturity. It's there or it's not. Does that mean he's a future All Star? No, not at all but it does mean that he will be the best he can be or die trying which is a good type of player to have.

The comments about the other two young guys indicate something different which is more concerning than Ingram's struggles this year.

You contend that babies come out of the womb either with work ethic or not???

No... but 20 year olds aren't babies. When discussing NBA players I guess I wasn't thinking that anyone was going to confuse them with infants. There is the theory of brain plasticity but things like work ethic are wired in early in life.

[DNP-Old]

The work ethic is not taught nor a function of maturity. It's there or it's not. Does that mean he's a future All Star? No, not at all but it does mean that he will be the best he can be or die trying which is a good type of player to have.

The comments about the other two young guys indicate something different which is more concerning than Ingram's struggles this year.

You contend that babies come out of the womb either with work ethic or not???

No... but 20 year olds aren't babies. When discussing NBA players I guess I wasn't thinking that anyone was going to confuse them with infants. There is the theory of brain plasticity but things like work ethic are wired in early in life.

I didn't confuse them with infants. If one is not born with work ethic, it is taught, a function of maturation and/or both.

[Landsberger]

You contend that babies come out of the womb either with work ethic or not???

No... but 20 year olds aren't babies. When discussing NBA players I guess I wasn't thinking that anyone was going to confuse them with infants. There is the theory of brain plasticity but things like work ethic are wired in early in life.

I didn't confuse them with infants. If one is not born with work ethic, it is taught, a function of maturation and/or both.

As I said... that's wired well before your 20th birthday. There is a genetic marker as well for many personality traits.

[DNP-Old]

The work ethic is not taught nor a function of maturity. It's there or it's not. Does that mean he's a future All Star? No, not at all but it does mean that he will be the best he can be or die trying which is a good type of player to have.

The comments about the other two young guys indicate something different which is more concerning than Ingram's struggles this year.

You contend that babies come out of the womb either with work ethic or not???

No... but 20 year olds aren't babies. When discussing NBA players I guess I wasn't thinking that anyone was going to confuse them with infants. There is the theory of brain plasticity but things like work ethic are wired in early in life.

No... but 20 year olds aren't babies. When discussing NBA players I guess I wasn't thinking that anyone was going to confuse them with infants. There is the theory of brain plasticity but things like work ethic are wired in early in life.

I didn't confuse them with infants. If one is not born with work ethic, it is taught, a function of maturation and/or both.

As I said... that's wired well before your 20th birthday. There is a genetic marker as well for many personality traits.

You did not say that in you original post, which is the one I was responding to.

[Landsberger]

You contend that babies come out of the womb either with work ethic or not???

No... but 20 year olds aren't babies. When discussing NBA players I guess I wasn't thinking that anyone was going to confuse them with infants. There is the theory of brain plasticity but things like work ethic are wired in early in life.

I didn't confuse them with infants. If one is not born with work ethic, it is taught, a function of maturation and/or both.

As I said... that's wired well before your 20th birthday. There is a genetic marker as well for many personality traits.

You did not say that in you original post, which is the one I was responding to.

Got it! Didn't think I needed to.

This is why I think his issues at times will be ironed out over time. I'm not sure he's a leading scorer or even a consistent one but he's a guy who will be very good at all aspects of the game. To me, that's more valuable and rarer than stat stuffers. I think he's a keeper at least for a year until we see what we have and he has time to apply that work ethic.

Zubac seems to be in that camp as well. The rest of the young guys I'm ambivalent on at best. Not sure there is a top player on a very good team in there.

[lake_show]

Good Read.

Interesting to get a little more insight into Ingram. Who is usually such a shy quite guy. I do agree that the coaching staff has focused more on Lou and Nick within the offense. I think some of Ingrams struggles have more to do with him not being aggressive enough though.

It can be hard. Especially at his age and with his shy demeanor. I feel like his reserved approach holds him back a bit. I do think he'll be fine as he gets more comfortable though. Just by reading that article you can tell the kid loves basketball. And, he's already shown that he's got talent enough to play in this league. He just needs to get to a point where he sees this as his team, and he sees himself as one of the leaders of this team.

[Princeinrevolt]

D'angelo Russell is a 6'5 unathletic point guard... if he didn't have a good work ethic, he wouldn't have made it this far... This guy is extremely skillfull, but struggles with his consistency (mostly because he is 20)... There is no reason to think he is not a hard worker, if you give a specific example of what makes him a lazy person, then maybe I will change my mind... But there are none so yeah...

[markjay]

The work ethic is not taught nor a function of maturity. It's there or it's not. Does that mean he's a future All Star? No, not at all but it does mean that he will be the best he can be or die trying which is a good type of player to have.

The comments about the other two young guys indicate something different which is more concerning than Ingram's struggles this year.

You contend that babies come out of the womb either with work ethic or not???

Actually, yes, research suggests that degree of conscientiousness is about 50% determined by genetic factors.

[giju11]

Too much props for this kid...a lot is expected of a #2 pick and especially when you play for the LA Lakers...

Can this guy even shoot? Every game throwing up bricks...


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[RingsDontLie]

Too much props for this kid...a lot is expected of a #2 pick and especially when you play for the LA Lakers...

Can this guy even shoot? Every game throwing up bricks...


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His feel offensively for the game is questionable. I remember Kobe's air balls in his rookie season. There is still hope for this kid to be a dominating player on both ends in this league once he matures.

[MrWaffles]

You clearly have no idea what you're talking about if you thought Brandon Ingram would be putting up 15PPG this year. He needs to put on another 15-20 pounds of muscle, he needs to adjust to the speed of the NBA, and he needs to be surrounded by better teammates.

It doesn't help that our offense has turned into ISO ball. I know luke has a job to do with tanking and I respect that. Our season was over after we went 10-10. We've met our goal of showing our kids can play, now let's focus on developing the players in practice and in the off-season and tank our butts out on the court.

[DNP-Old]

The work ethic is not taught nor a function of maturity. It's there or it's not. Does that mean he's a future All Star? No, not at all but it does mean that he will be the best he can be or die trying which is a good type of player to have.

The comments about the other two young guys indicate something different which is more concerning than Ingram's struggles this year.

You contend that babies come out of the womb either with work ethic or not???

Actually, yes, research suggests that degree of conscientiousness is about 50% determined by genetic factors.

While true it leaves the remaining 50%. Also, while people with a high degree of conscientiousness do tend to have a high work ethic, a high work ethic is not limited to people with a high degree of conscientiousness.

[Kilroy]

Questioning Ingram at this point is beyond silly to me... There's just zero merit to the argument right now.
He was classified as a project when we drafted him... He was clearly in need of physical development... And yet he clearly has all the skills and drive that you would want in an elite nba player...
Call me if he comes into camp out of shape or has shown no improvement by Christmas 2017... But in the meantime, go find some perspective and let it rest.

[iamworthy]

Questioning Ingram at this point is beyond silly to me... There's just zero merit to the argument right now.
He was classified as a project when we drafted him... He was clearly in need of physical development... And yet he clearly has all the skills and drive that you would want in an elite nba player...
Call me if he comes into camp out of shape or has shown no improvement by Christmas 2017... But in the meantime, go find some perspective and let it rest.

So Ingram shouldn't get criticized until Christmas of next year? Let's not act like he didn't go to one of the top programs in the country, and was a standout hence the one and done. I also don't agree with the narrative that all of his problems are due to his size. He actually likes to bump and bang, and he actually shows great balance after receiving the contact on his turn around jump shot. his size has nothing to do with him air balling free throws. I think the project narrative was, to ultimately reach the heights people think he can reach its gong to take some time. But that doesn't give him a pass on his play until he gets there. He was still the number two pick. In the brandon Ingram vs Ben Simmons debate I was team Ingram because of what I thought he could do on offense... Coming straight out of college. Ben Simmons, as most people saw couldn't shoot a lick. But as it stands now I'm not so sure that Ben Simmons wouldn't be out doing Ingram on the offense end(shooting) which is discouraging because that was the thing he was suppose to have over Ben. There's definitely things he can be criticized on as long as it's fair and in context. Randle was ripped, Russell was ripped, and Ingram should be no different.

[dontforget]

D'angelo Russell is a 6'5 unathletic point guard... if he didn't have a good work ethic, he wouldn't have made it this far... This guy is extremely skillfull, but struggles with his consistency (mostly because he is 20)... There is no reason to think he is not a hard worker, if you give a specific example of what makes him a lazy person, then maybe I will change my mind... But there are none so yeah...

The fact that he hasn't made significant strides from last year to this year is really concerning to me. Especially when we heard all off-season how different he will be this year because he has a coach that he can relate to and that will showcase him more. I'm not ready to call him a bust, but a elite prospect not taking a significant stride in year 2 tends to show a lack of commitment.