Post#814 » by chefo » Tue May 30, 2017 10:05 pm
I've watched a couple of games and looked at most of his scouting videos.
Both positives and negatives in spades.
The negatives:
* The game can be very easy for a fast, big guard that plays with well-shooting, hard-running bigs like UCLA's. I don't know what percentage of his assists came from a big running or a big pooping for an 18ft shot, but such teammates can mask a lot of warts. The game feels so much easier for the guard when a big can both shoot credibly and roll hard for a dunk. I haven't looked at the Lakers lately, but if they are playing stiffs who don't run hard and are not excellent shooters, them bricking open shots will be deemed Ball's failure. His problem may be that his college teammates may be setting unrealistic expectations, especially before he can get used to the NBA as many of these assists looked to be system/personnel assists.
* He looked real slow against Kentucky (maybe because he was injured). If he gets much stronger, it may not end up being a problem, but usually you need either quickness or strength (like Kidd) to create space. As of right now, he is skinny with poor lateral quickness, which is a bad combo until rectified.
* He is currently very predictable as many here have mentioned and easy to game plan against. He shoots going left and drives right. It can be a natural tendency (I know because I had it too when I played) that you have to consciously develop counters for or else anybody who knows you can adjust.
The positives:
* He looks really tall for a PG. He may not be a true 6'6, but neither are the guys meant to guard him really 6'3. He sees the court well with space and is unselfish and if Walton makes him push the pace, he'll likely excel.
* He's pretty young and inexperienced, but has good tools. He needs to work out a way to use his physical tools to his maximum advantage. If his playing style remains what it is today, he will probably be considered a mild bust unless he plays at a breakneck pace. Since the pace slows down when games matter (at least it used to), he needs to develop a style close to how Magic played back in the day (obviously Magic was much bigger).
For him I can see a complete bust and a fairly successful career as both equally likely, depending on if he really has a high bball IQ or not, which there is no way for us casual fans to know. If I were a GM, I would be really scared picking him 2nd if he doesn't, even though he is the consensus number 2.
