Leslie Forman wrote:Jvaughn wrote:Lamelo's form definitely needs to be changed. His release point and his balance are the biggest issues. I really think you're making a bigger deal out of it than it is. I'm not saying it's a guarantee that he becomes a great shooter, but I'd be highly surprised if he wasn't able to become at least passable.
Am I in bizarro world or something? Why am I the only one who seems to notice how unfathomably bad this is?
Just look at this. Look. At. This.
It isn't actually even a shooting form. He is literally passing the ball at the basket.
Lol. Kind of, actually.
But let me give you the flip side. Yes his feet are awful - all over the place, no consistency, no placement to get power from his core. Yes, he brings the ball up from way too low, and even that is inconsistent.
But he's strong enough that even with those huge issues he still has range and there doesn't seem to be a physical mobility issue in his core, shoulders, or wrists. Combine that with the fact that *that* is how he shoots, and yet he has some success with it, and that suggests an elite level of hand-eye coordination.
So even though, given his upbringing, it makes zero sense why he hasn't had a private shooting coach working with him for the last two years, you've got to believe that whatever NBA team drafts him will get him one and drill him, over and over and over, to achieve at least consistent, passable mechanics....
Now, I know that there are some folks who, no matter how much shot training you put them through, they'll slide back to what they were comfortable with as kids in the heat of a game. But that's usually a minority of folks, and more common the older you start training the player's mechanics. LaMelo is young. And he has talent. The question is how long it would take to actually get him to have proper shot-mechanic muscle memory. For a guy with his footspeed, handle and vision... it's a risk, but the upside is tremendous.