4pointkiller wrote:LaMelo plays like a man among boys and he'll continue doing it in the NBA.
A man that can't score. He plays in a bad league and can't score anywhere close to efficiently. That seems like a major red flag.
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4pointkiller wrote:LaMelo plays like a man among boys and he'll continue doing it in the NBA.
yosemiteben wrote:4pointkiller wrote:LaMelo plays like a man among boys and he'll continue doing it in the NBA.
A man that can't score. He plays in a bad league and can't score anywhere close to efficiently. That seems like a major red flag.
4pointkiller wrote:DY_nasty wrote:People saying Ball has *elite* court vision when he's been essentially playing high level scrimmages for the past two years bruhhhhhhhh
Zion played at some no name high school in South Carolina. If you have the talent, it doesn't matter where you play before the NBA. LaMelo plays like a man among boys and he'll continue doing it in the NBA. In case you haven't figured it out, NBA has become really soft with not allowing contact and that will make it easy for LaMelo to dissect defenses and get his shot or find the open man. His court vision is elite and you can find countless examples of him throwing full court passes to an open man.
yosemiteben wrote:4pointkiller wrote:LaMelo plays like a man among boys and he'll continue doing it in the NBA.
A man that can't score. He plays in a bad league and can't score anywhere close to efficiently. That seems like a major red flag.
DY_nasty wrote:yosemiteben wrote:4pointkiller wrote:LaMelo plays like a man among boys and he'll continue doing it in the NBA.
A man that can't score. He plays in a bad league and can't score anywhere close to efficiently. That seems like a major red flag.
hold on now
he scored 17 a game on a team that won 5 games in australia. he was even taking minutes from THE aaron brooks
i'm gonna need you to get that enthusiasm up
4pointkiller wrote:How exactly are you discounting LaMelo playing against grown men, some with NBA experience, as compared to a college player playing against cupcake opponents? How many teams in the NCAA feature actual NBA players?
4pointkiller wrote:DY_nasty wrote:yosemiteben wrote:A man that can't score. He plays in a bad league and can't score anywhere close to efficiently. That seems like a major red flag.
hold on now
he scored 17 a game on a team that won 5 games in australia. he was even taking minutes from THE aaron brooks
i'm gonna need you to get that enthusiasm up
He only played in 12 games, 3 wins.
His final 4 games - 2-2:
48% efg
32% 3 on 34 shots
24.25 points/game
9.25 assists/game
9 rebounds/game
It’s difficult to do a perfect comparison between the brothers because LaMelo has just 13 games in a league that isn’t quite the same as NCAA, but they share a similarly weird mold. But I would say that Lonzo has the meatier profile with outlier good efficiency, defense, and proven performance vs known competition whereas Melo’s slight physical and ball handling advantages aren’t as clear or significant.
There’s a sliver of star potential for Melo, but more likely is he going to be similar to or worse than Lonzo since there’s no clear proof that he either has the remedy for Lonzo’s weaknesses or matches his strengths. And if the statistically superior Ball already disappointed us once, why buy the hype on a slightly different and likely worse version?
It’s easy to see what a better ball handling version of Lonzo would be worth a #1 overall pick, but the bust risk is far too significant to be worth chasing that sliver of upside in the top 3, even in a weak draft.
SWedd523 wrote:Lamelo screams 20 points on 20 shots a night while getting absolutely abused on the defense.
316Hornets wrote:SWedd523 wrote:Lamelo screams 20 points on 20 shots a night while getting absolutely abused on the defense.
LaMelo actually has the tools to be a very capable defender. He averaged ~10 rebounds per 36 minutes in the NBL.
I think a lot of you might be getting hung up on the drama the media surrounds him with. Ignore that and focus on him as a player and maybe you'll see the gem.
Ball's jump shot is broken and needs to be demolished and rebuilt from the ground up. Right now it's a pushed, two-handed release that was likely developed from him trying to shoot from too far from the hoop when he was too young to have the strength to shoot correctly. That form has persisted and his crooked jump shot was lucky to climb up to 24% in the NBL after he started in the single digits for the first weeks of the season.
In terms of athleticism, Ball would be below average by NBA standards and doesn't have an explosive first step. Right now he relies heavily on his ball-handling abilities to get penetration and while he is tremendous with the dribble he may struggle against NBA players who are more disruptive with their hands than anyone Ball has previously faced.
At times Ball's effort on the defensive end is legitimately laughable. When he wants to show up on that side of the floor he has the length to get stops and has the IQ to diagnose actions and make proper rotations but sadly those plays are few and far between. If he is a top tier offensive player he might be able to overshadow the defensive concerns but if he isn't scoring at a star level he'll need to show the ability to compete on the defensive end.
Smooth but not an incredibly explosive athlete. Doesn’t get much pop off two feet or in half court situations, especially compared to other guards in his class … Set point on shot is a bit low and he tends to fade a bit at times. Shot selection can improve, he’s a threat to score from anywhere but sometimes pulls up for deep and contested shots that aren’t necessary … Thrives in a fast-paced game, with that can come loose play and high turnovers … Skinny, lacks strength in both the upper and lower body … Can get more action off the ball, tends to drift at times. Roams defensively at times as well, gambling and looking for runout opportunities …
Ball is just an average athlete and lacks top level explosiveness and speed. He doesn’t elevate well and his lack of strength and leaping ability make it harder for him to score in traffic and score over length. It remains to be seen if he can put on enough weight and add enough strength to hold his own at the highest levels of play (although he’s got a much improved frame since last year).
Defensively Ball doesn’t bring the same effort and energy that he brings to the offensive end. He lacks the strength to guard bigger guards and his average quickness can lead to blow-by’s. He doesn’t always hustle back on defense and seems more concerned with the offensive end of the court.
His lack of defense will be highlighted when he gets to the NBA level.
The yeah, but with Ball will often focus on his defense. This is not entirely unfair: Ball can be inattentive and lazy on the defensive end, occasionally appearing to take possessions off while losing track of his man by ball watching. The learning curve defensively is going to be sky-high for Ball when he enters the NBA. Teams will attack him early in his career. But if you look closer, there’s a good chance Ball can be an impact defender down the line.
JMAC3 wrote:Horrible defender, low effort. Never played for a coach who cares if he played defense. HS he just cherry picked all game, wish he had played a year for a great college coach. RJ Hampton destroyed him.
driveandkick wrote:I think we are coming to a conclusion such as "LaMelo can't shoot" off an absurdly small sample size of 12 games in Australia. I agree his form is shaky which is obviously concerning, but how many compilations and videos have you seen of him just bombing threes all game when he was at Chino Hills and playing on AAU circuits? He's grown like a foot over the past few years, perhaps he just needs to adjust his shot some after growing so rapidly over the past couple of years. It can be difficult to catch up on these sorts of things. I think LaMelo's ceiling is a Ben Simmons type who can make spot up three pointers, that would be a damn good player to get out of this draft. Unfortunately, I'm not sure it matters because I think he's getting drafted by Minnesota.
driveandkick wrote: I think LaMelo's ceiling is a Ben Simmons type who can make spot up three pointers, that would be a damn good player to get out of this draft.