LaMelo Ball

[JHTruth]

He doesn’t have anything like Luka’s skills.


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Luka is a poor shooter from range, an inefficient volume usage shooter. 76% FT. I'm not sure why people think Luka is some great shooter.

[BlazersBroncos]

Luka is a poor shooter from range, an inefficient volume usage shooter. 76% FT. I'm not sure why people think Luka is some great shooter.

He has the form to improve, and alot of his 3PT shots are to keep the defense honest. He shoots 43% of his shots from 4 and 50% of them within 10 feet. Its absolutley necessary that he bombs from 3 to keep defenses from sagging off. He hits 60% within those 10 feet (75% at the rim, which is a generational rate).

LaMelo isnt in the same stratosphere when it comes to getting to the basket. Its literally not even comparable. So he is jacking up 3's at low efficiency not to open his driving up but just because he has poor shot selection IMO.

[mattao313]

The guy has a nice handle and seems pretty quick with a good first step which is great for a PG especially a big one. But he is just so bad at scoring the ball with any kind of efficiency and doesnt live at the ft line to make up for it. He needs a good coach to help him develop his game, if some team lets him run wild out there he gonna be a bust.

[MemphisX]

Luka is a poor shooter from range, an inefficient volume usage shooter. 76% FT. I'm not sure why people think Luka is some great shooter.

He has the form to improve, and alot of his 3PT shots are to keep the defense honest. He shoots 43% of his shots from 4 and 50% of them within 10 feet. Its absolutley necessary that he bombs from 3 to keep defenses from sagging off. He hits 60% within those 10 feet (75% at the rim, which is a generational rate).

LaMelo isnt in the same stratosphere when it comes to getting to the basket. Its literally not even comparable. So he is jacking up 3's at low efficiency not to open his driving up but just because he has poor shot selection IMO.

I think the difference here is physical development. I think that is the outlier skill for Melo...strength. If he is able to get strong enough at 6'7ish and good with the ball, it changes who he is as a prospect. That is what makes Luka so different. He is a bull at such a young age and uses that strength as a functional part of his game on both ends.

[JHTruth]

Luka is a poor shooter from range, an inefficient volume usage shooter. 76% FT. I'm not sure why people think Luka is some great shooter.

He has the form to improve, and alot of his 3PT shots are to keep the defense honest. He shoots 43% of his shots from 4 and 50% of them within 10 feet. Its absolutley necessary that he bombs from 3 to keep defenses from sagging off. He hits 60% within those 10 feet (75% at the rim, which is a generational rate).

LaMelo isnt in the same stratosphere when it comes to getting to the basket. Its literally not even comparable. So he is jacking up 3's at low efficiency not to open his driving up but just because he has poor shot selection IMO.

I think the difference here is physical development. I think that is the outlier skill for Melo...strength. If he is able to get strong enough at 6'7ish and good with the ball, it changes who he is as a prospect. That is what makes Luka so different. He is a bull at such a young age and uses that strength as a functional part of his game on both ends.

Yeah I mean LaMelo is still very young. Will be interesting to see how his frame fills out. Zo filled out nicely, he just doesn't have the aggressiveness and shot to keep Ds honest. LaMelo is pretty quick, I can see him being a nightmare getting into the lane if he gets stronger..

[kobyz]

a taller D'Angelo Russell?

[PerkinsFor3]

A Michael Carter Williams with no filter.

[NO-KG-AI]

He doesn’t have anything like Luka’s skills.


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Luka is a poor shooter from range, an inefficient volume usage shooter. 76% FT. I'm not sure why people think Luka is some great shooter.

You don’t have to be a great shooter to be substantially better at it than Lamelo Ball.

Besides, Luka has been a prodigy as a scorer in men’s leagues since he was a child. Lamelo has struggled scoring everywhere except when his dad runs a team that lets him cherrypick and take 62 shots in a game.

[Dat2U]

I'm reading alot of personal opinions and very little scouting. This thread makes it clear alot of yall hate the kid for no damn reason.

[BlazersBroncos]

I'm reading alot of personal opinions and very little scouting. This thread makes it clear alot of yall hate the kid for no damn reason.

37% from the field, 25% from 3. TS 46%. 28% USG

You cant be that poor at shooting and justify 28% usage. He has abhorrent efficiency on offense, is worthless off the ball and his shot mechanics are absurd. LaMelo nearly puts his hands on the sides of the ball and pushes it towards the rim. Lonzo had a hitch and shot from his chest, but it was cleaner at the release. Fixing Lonzo's starting point from his jumper wasnt as difficult because the mechanics once he got the ball to around his head were decent if still pretty ugly. Fixing a full on release is much harder, and thats where LaMelo stands.

And his shooting isnt simply because he was forced to create and play hero ball. LaMelo was at 38% in catch-and-shoot situations.

He is a bust in waiting.

[mattg]

Like I'm not sure what people are seeing that makes them think Melo is gonna be able to shoot ever. His mechanics are unbelievably atrocious. Good luck retraining like 15 years of terrible habits and coaching there. There isn't a single thing he does well in regards to shooting. Not a single thing mechanically to hang your hat on.

I can't think of a good comparison for melo other than like a tall Brandon Jennings with way worse shooting.

[thamadkant]

A couple of years ago, I would really thought he would be a clear number 1 pick prospect... with his long range shooting highlights, good size and PG skills. I thought he was a much better player than his brother because of his shooting...

But... seeing him play in the NBL, he did well as a PG, but his shooting performance was way off from what I expected.

To be honest, he is only a slightly better shooter than his brother and similar skill set, with maybe a higher ceiling defensively because he is slightly taller and looks to have a longer wingspan.

I've seen the Jason Kidd comparison, but he's too skinny. Jason Kidd was thick and strong built, similar to Blake Griffin body wise.

I think LaMelo Ball is pretty much comparable to his brother but slightly better... at best he might be a tall Rondo, but Rondo became elite play maker because of his IQ, speed and physical traits (6'1 with 6'9 wingspan).

[BostonCouchGM]

Luka succeeds because the NBA has a vested interest making him a star and one of the faces of the league for when Lebron leaves. If they didn't allow carries push offs, and travels like they started doing a few years back, most of this offensive explosion around the league wouldn't be possible. I'm watching the game last night and the announcers are marveling at Herro's offense. Wow, he has such great start/stop, hesitation and change of pace!!! Yeah, it's because he egregiously carries the ball, which draws in the defender to try to contest a shot, then he puts the ball back on the court and drives past him. It's a carry. But even the announcers are conditioned to ignore it. On top of that, most of these screens that force switches are illegal moving screens. Again, this allows guys like Luka, and will allow Ball to as well, with severely limited quickness, to go against slow plodding big men or much smaller guys they can overpower. If you change the rules you can make anything happen. So while Ball shouldn't succeed based on his poor shooting (like Luka) and poor athleticism (like Luka), and atrocious defense (like Luka), because they changed the rules, he has a chance to be special. I still wouldn't take him in the top 10.

[shotsquatch]

0.37 FG%, 0.25 3P%, 0.72 FT%

The kid cannot shoot. That's a problem. If he can get his head screwed on right he'll be a useful facilitator on the court, but his potential is limited by that hideous jumpshot.

Dunno what Lavar did to those poor kids.

[jpatrick]

0.37 FG%, 0.25 3P%, 0.72 FT%

The kid cannot shoot. That's a problem. If he can get his head screwed on right he'll be a useful facilitator on the court, but his potential is limited by that hideous jumpshot.

Dunno what Lavar did to those poor kids.

I don’t know what people expect. Kid didn’t play serious basketball for two years because his dad pulled him out of HS, dragging him to Lithuania and then the Ball league. Instead of college, after this absence, he goes to play against grown men in the NBL, which in general is a decent step up from college ball.

He had no real preseason and then struggles to shoot for the first 5-6 games. After that, he has a 4-5 games stretch where he shoot the ball pretty well actually, put up video game stats, and had the first back-to-back triple doubles in NBL history. He then struggled his last game as he tried playing through his injury. Instead of looking at the sample giving him adjustment time, they look at overall shooting numbers, which makes no sense.

Do we remember how badly Trae Young shot in summer league and then his first few months of his rookie season? He was adjusting. If we would have just cut him off after 12 games this board would think he was a complete non-shooter.

Ball finishes in the top 10 in steals, assists, and rebounds, and top 20-25 in points on a per game basis and significantly improved through his short sample size.

He’s certainly not a Zion level prospect but to me, he’s the clear #1 guy in this draft. He was 18 all last year and looked like he had never touched a weight. As he improves strength, especially in his core, I think he can be a difference maker in the NBA.

[Roddy B for 3]

At 17.1 he played professional PG in Europe
At 18.1 he played professional PG in Australia
At 19.1 (if not for COVID) he will be playing professional PG on his third continent (NBA)

In Australian professional basketball (a higher level than NCAA) his numbers we're:
(listed) 6'7" 181lb
31mpg 2.6fpg
17ppg/6.8apg/7.6rpg/2.3TOpg/.1bpg/1.6apg
Shooting splits of:
3.2 FTApg 72%
6.7 3FGApg 25%
10 2FGApg 45.8%

Looking at those numbers, what SHOULD stick out is:
-Incredible size for position
-Nearly generational rebounding prospect for position
-Extremely great 2point VOLUME AND efficiency
-Terrific apg/to ratio
-EXTREMELY impressive volume assist #'s
- Putrid 3point efficencey
-solid FTA #'s
-FT% projects well but not elite
-REALLY good spg #'s
-extremely questionable block #'s
-very interesting 3point FGA # (But horrible 3%/volume #'s)

Watching the highlights AFTER disecting the #'s
-it's obvious he'll be an elite passer and dribbler. If he plays heavy minutes in the NBA he will be a terrific apg guy.
-hus three point release is among the worst in recent draft memory
-His size is truly elite for the position.
-No reason to doubt his rebounding will be elite for his position
-his steals seem more Iverson than Kwahi (not a huge knock)
-he probably would be a better FTA guy if he wasn't such a wizard passer
-he is very raw defensively, but obviously has tge tools to be REALLY good there

The ONLY part of his offensive game that dosen't SCREAM #1 overall pick is his his three point shooting and pull up midrange shooting. (His defense dosent SCREAM #1 pick but he should be GOOD on that end)

If he can get to bottom 10% of wing all-stars in pull up shooting, spot up three point shooting idk why he wouldn't be a multiple time allstar.

By age 22, I see him around:
19.5ppg/8apg/7rpg/2.5topg/1.5spg/.5bpg
32% from 3 6.5FGApg
80% from FT 5.5 FTApg
39.9% 16.5FGApg
The only big jump here is 3point % from .25 to .32
If you look at his game by game #'s and factor in his age and the league he played in I think geting to .32 from three is very likely.

I think his peak will be #1 guy on a team of the caliber of this years Thunder, Jazz, Pacers, Nuggets, Elton Brands Clippers, This Bulls without Rose, etc. / a team most ESPN analysts are 50/50 on getting out of the 1st round but they could make a conference finals run if a teammate heats up the bracket breaks right.

OR #2/#3 guy on a "super team" competing for championships

[shotsquatch]

"Big Iverson" is an interesting comparison for LaMelo. Flashy, skilled, high volume.

Whether or not his style of play will contribute to team winning is another question.

[NO-KG-AI]

Dude, Iverson might have the most explosive first step of all time, and is a transcendent athlete. LaMelo is slow motion compared to iverson. There style is nothing alike, even aesthetically, but definitely not in terms of being able to create in the half court. Iverson’s shot selection could be questioned, but he could get to the rim at will.


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[Monix]

AI wouldn't have had any struggles in the ABL, lol

[BlazersBroncos]

Dude, Iverson might have the most explosive first step of all time, and is a transcendent athlete. LaMelo is slow motion compared to iverson. There style is nothing alike, even aesthetically, but definitely not in terms of being able to create in the half court. Iverson’s shot selection could be questioned, but he could get to the rim at will.

The only think LaMelo and AI have in common is questionable shot selection.

AI, for his size, was an absolute transcendent athlete. A freak of nature. He probably had the best first step in the history of this league.

LaMelo isnt even in the same universe as a prospect.