Ball Don't Lie: The LaMelo Ball Thread

[James Gatz]

He's sounding like Ben Simmons minus the defense. Please learn defense and become a better shooter than Simmons. That's a superstar. But even Ben Simmons minus the defense is a solid double for pick 3. The difference is we have shooters surrounding him from day 1.

Lamelo is never going to be afraid to shoot which is a big distinction from Simmons. He'll never be the defender that Ben has become though.

[Braggins]

Mitch has earned enough good will with me that I'm not going to assume this was a bad pick, even though I'm skeptical. Had it been Cho/Clifford/MJ making this pick, I would 100% assume its going to be a disaster.

[fatlever]

rozier, if not traded, also great fit next to ball. remember terry was fantastic in catch and shoot 3s next to graham.

[fatlever]

maybe we wont be bottom in pace for once

[King Ken]

I've said this before and will again. He's a lot like Trae Young for me as a prospect. Boom or bust. If they bust, it will be REALLY BAD and if they boom, they will put up some of the best numbers you will see. This was the best case for Ball to me. No offense to Graham and Rozier, but they didn't have a serious PG in Charlotte that was consistent to me at least. Give Ball the keys and good or bad, he will put up numbers and once it clicks, you will be happy af. The biggest thing for him I really want to see is how he meshes with Washington and Bridges.

[KingCat]

Haven't been this happy with a pick since Kemba. yeah I know all the hiccups in his game, but Hornets Hornets have been drafting "sure thing" picks for almost a decade and they have not done anything significant. If is a bust then oh well. Not the first time we drafted a bust and not the last. If he pans out then holy crap we got a stud

[Absinthe]

So this dude shoots like Shawn Marion (with less success), has the attitude and personality of Sprewell, and defends like James Harden. I hope it works out for them, but given their drafting history and the way Lonzo turned out I am highly doubtful. His ceiling is a defensively challenged Ben Simmons who won’t be as afraid to shoot.

Honestly, this pick should have been traded. It’s arguable he’s the third best PG on the team. I wanted Okongwu. Post players who can defend like Adebayo are the future of this league.

[BigSlam]

Looking forward to the board freaking out first time he goes 1 for 9 from 3

With 6 of those 8 misses coming from near half court with 20 or more seconds left on the shot clock....


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[yosemiteben]

Read on Twitter

He's sticking with Ball being the best player in the draft.

[JMAC3]

I am pretty sure Ball is the favorite on all sports books for Rookie of the Year.

Over under 2.5 triple doubles this year?

[HornetJail]

maybe we wont be bottom in pace for once

There really isn't any excuse for this team not to be top 10 in pace next season. There wasn't any excuse for it last year either, but it's clear we're attempting to build a versatile offensive minded team and our entire core projects to be mediocre or worse defensively, with PJ as the lone good defender. Go all out on offense and try to put up 120 points every night till we have some defensive pieces to work with.

We're probably going to allow 120 like the Wizards do. Worst case scenario is that we are fun to watch but have horrible results... which really isn't even a worst case scenario because being at the top of next year's draft is a good thing.

[DY_nasty]

We played slow to limit possessions for opposing teams and keep more games in reach late to steal wins.

We could definitely play fast.... but it'd have us looking a lot more like Atlanta or Minnesota instead of Brooklyn and Houston.

[MPM]

With Edwards and Wiseman gone, I've come to terms with us taking the last of the 'not-so-big 3,' even if I believe we've now stepped squarely into what Wyndham Lewis coined the 'moronic inferno': https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30346840/lamelo-ball-draft-night-extravaganza

[BigSlam]

Read on Twitter

He's sticking with Ball being the best player in the draft.

He’s been all in on Ball for weeks and weeks. Wouldn’t expect him to change his tune now.


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[JMAC3]

I could be wrong here, but I believe Pace can be a misleading stat when you think about it in general terms. Most people think about it as how many fastbreak points do we score, how often are we pushing the ball up the court.

When in reality I think pace measures how many offensive possessions you typically have in a game and how long your average possession lasts. Not to bring us all back to a darker time, but Clifford was a stickler for players being organized and being in the right spot on the floor all the time on the offensive end. Us having a younger team has a lot to do with it. We aren't organized right away and we spend the first 4-5 seconds of each possession setting up spacing and getting the pick and roll lined up where I think veteran teams are quicker into their sets which has a large impact on Pace.

Either way I think we will run more this year, but I am not sure that was the only reason we were so low in pace last season.

[BlackOutBuzz]

I am pretty sure Ball is the favorite on all sports books for Rookie of the Year.

Kinda surprised by this. Obi is gonna put up *numbers* when most rookies will still be adapting after a one-month offseason. Plus he'll get the Knicks-rookie bump.

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[DY_nasty]

Our offball movement is monstrously bad and only a few guys could create shots or even initiate the offense. Even with guards who could get it done, the fact that offense generally always starts at the same *place* for us makes it easy for defenses to key in. I don't think that really changes for us now.

We'd need more active wings and offball play to not be in the bottom third or dead last in pace this year without absolutely destroying our efficiency to push tempo we can't effectively manage.

[LofJ]

It's do or die time for Monk. He should thrive playing off Lamelo. If he doesn't find his shot by the deadline Mitch should trade him for whatever 2nd round pick he'll fetch.

[James Gatz]

maybe we wont be bottom in pace for once

Worst case scenario is that we are fun to watch but have horrible results... which really isn't even a worst case scenario because being at the top of next year's draft is a good thing.

This is best case scenario for me. Fun team, get a top pick in 2021, and have a clean cap sheet. That's how a smart team rebuilds.

I have no interest in competing for 8 seed next year. In 2021-2022 we should be making a push for the playoffs behind our young core.

[amcoolio]

Mitch and the Hornets didn't talk about Ball until Okongwu was drafted 6th. I have a theory that a deal was in place that if Okongwu was there at 7, Detroit would have traded 7 + 16 for Ball and we would have taken Okongwu and Maxey