Ball Don't Lie: The LaMelo Ball Thread

Robot Rock · Post #1121 » by **Robot Rock** » Wed Jan 20, 2021 7:08 am

JMAC3 wrote:I don’t think he has very much maturity. Watching his interview with Schmitz he didn’t seem to have a high understanding of the game, plays almost all on feel. Seemed like he was confused by simple questions and doesn’t have a history of winning without Lonzo.

Two can play this game. :wink:

JMAC3 · Post #1122 » by **JMAC3** » Wed Jan 20, 2021 1:42 pm

Robot Rock wrote:
JMAC3 wrote:I don’t think he has very much maturity. Watching his interview with Schmitz he didn’t seem to have a high understanding of the game, plays almost all on feel. Seemed like he was confused by simple questions and doesn’t have a history of winning without Lonzo.

Two can play this game.

Yeah I remember this post, but I was on the LaMelo bandwagon for the final month before draft. This was a bit earlier before I watched him and other prospects in more detail.

He still really sucks at interviewing though haha

Robot Rock · Post #1123 » by **Robot Rock** » Thu Jan 21, 2021 12:07 am

JMAC3 wrote:
Robot Rock wrote:
JMAC3 wrote:I don’t think he has very much maturity. Watching his interview with Schmitz he didn’t seem to have a high understanding of the game, plays almost all on feel. Seemed like he was confused by simple questions and doesn’t have a history of winning without Lonzo.

Two can play this game.

Yeah I remember this post, but I was on the LaMelo bandwagon for the final month before draft. This was a bit earlier before I watched him and other prospects in more detail.

He still really sucks at interviewing though haha

Yeah, but I’m not gonna hold that against him. He’s been coached to play it close to the vest so as to avoid controversy.

Hornet Mania · Post #1124 » by **Hornet Mania** » Thu Jan 21, 2021 2:04 pm

It seems like he's just trying to get through his interviews with quick answers and no elaboration whatsoever. I just assume he's either guarded due to growing up famous or just doesn't care about reporters and thinks the process is dumb and since he's 19 he can't hide his impatience.

At first his interview worried me because I thought his relationship with teammates and coaches could be similar. Now that I've seen how he interacts with the rest of the team, and how dramatically different it is from how he treats reporters, I don't really care if he gives dismissive answers.

Snidely FC · Post #1125 » by **Snidely FC** » Thu Jan 21, 2021 2:23 pm

The Ringer on Lamelo Rising
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/1/21/22241742/lamelo-ball-rise-charlotte-hornets-rookie

James Gatz · Post #1126 » by **James Gatz** » Thu Jan 21, 2021 4:18 pm

Snidely FC wrote:The Ringer on Lamelo Rising
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/1/21/22241742/lamelo-ball-rise-charlotte-hornets-rookie

So how tall is LaMelo? They say 6'6 here and he's listed that on nba.com but on hornets site it's 6'8. ESPN has him at 6'7.

Hornet Mania · Post #1127 » by **Hornet Mania** » Thu Jan 21, 2021 4:47 pm

James Gatz wrote:
Snidely FC wrote:The Ringer on Lamelo Rising
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/1/21/22241742/lamelo-ball-rise-charlotte-hornets-rookie

So how tall is LaMelo? They say 6'6 here and he's listed that on nba.com but on hornets site it's 6'8. ESPN has him at 6'7.

Some quick Google sleuthing tells me that he's supposedly 6'6 (or 6'5 3/4) barefoot so the 6'7 and 6'8 claims are with shoes.

Fwiw he's clearly at least a bit taller than Lonzo who is officially listed at 6'6. Personally I think the claims of 6'8 are pushing it a bit, but probably not a huge exaggeration.

Chapelchilla · Post #1128 » by **Chapelchilla** » Thu Jan 21, 2021 5:19 pm

Snidely FC wrote:The Ringer on Lamelo Rising
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/1/21/22241742/lamelo-ball-rise-charlotte-hornets-rookie

Thanks, good read. Everyone seems to love his attitude which is the one thing that gave me reservations coming in. So glad he is not the selfish brat some of the talking heads painted him out to be. He has turned the franchise around in a quarter of a season with no summer league. Crazy. We still have a ways to go and some missing pieces to fill in but you can see a clear pathway to future successes.

JMAC3 · Post #1129 » by **JMAC3** » Thu Jan 21, 2021 5:19 pm

The one bad thing about drafting players too good for the combine. You never know their official height and wingspan.

SWedd523 · Post #1130 » by **SWedd523** » Thu Jan 21, 2021 8:31 pm

JMAC3 wrote:The one bad thing about drafting players too good for the combine. You never know their official height and wingspan.

I thought teams were required by the league to list accurate heights without shoes

JMAC3 · Post #1131 » by **JMAC3** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 3:22 pm

I think the best part of watching LaMelo play is he is so quick with his decisions. He is not afraid to give the ball up early in a possession and get it back, which sometimes is an issue for ball dominant players. I love the balanced attack we have right now with Hayward, LaMelo and Terry all in the 23-25% usg range, instead of playing a predictable brand of basketball where one guy dominates the ball all the time.

I get why Beal, Doncic, Trae, Harden, Westbrook etc all have usg percentages in the 30%+ range, but to me that is not as fun style to watch or play in. My favorite thing to do all throughout my high school and college playing career was to play the shooting guard spot, but still handle the ball a lot. I was never a fan of the point guard controlling everything and having the ball allll the time, whether it was me playing PG or someone else it just was never as fun to play in that system.

Post #1132 » by **BigSlam** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 3:30 pm

JMAC3 wrote:I think the best part of watching LaMelo play is he is so quick with his decisions. He is not afraid to give the ball up early in a possession and get it back, which sometimes is an issue for ball dominant players.

That's very true and not something that had occurred to me.

As awesome as Walker was, watching him pound the ball for what felt like an eternity was never something that appealed to me.

It really does seem like Ball is constantly thinking and planning and 2 or 3 steps ahead in his thought process when he is on the floor - which results in quick passes and decisions.

It's also why I think surrounding him with/building a roster with super high BBIQ guys should be the highest priority. Guys who know where to go, when to go, what to read and how to read it should be valued far above super duper high athletic, jump out of the gym dudes with low BBIQ.

MPM · Post #1133 » by **MPM** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 3:37 pm

BigSlam wrote:
JMAC3 wrote:I think the best part of watching LaMelo play is he is so quick with his decisions. He is not afraid to give the ball up early in a possession and get it back, which sometimes is an issue for ball dominant players.

That's very true and not something that had occurred to me.

As awesome as Walker was, watching him pound the ball for what felt like an eternity was never something that appealed to me.

It really does seem like Ball is constantly thinking and planning and 2 or 3 steps ahead in his thought process when he is on the floor - which results in quick passes and decisions.

It's also why I think surrounding him with/building a roster with super high BBIQ guys should be the highest priority. Guys who know where to go, when to go, what to read and how to read it should be valued far above super duper high athletic, jump out of the gym dudes with low BBIQ.

You beat me to this ditto. Agree - LaMelo is really pretty unique in how quickly he gives up the ball in a possession to get the offense moving. Super refreshing.

James Gatz · Post #1134 » by **James Gatz** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 9:24 pm

Read on Twitter

thread of lamelo's rebounding

HornetJail · Post #1135 » by **HornetJail** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 9:42 pm

the kid is averaging 16.8pts/9.7reb/8.8ast per 36 on the season, and a triple-double per 36 over his last 8.

Braggins · Post #1136 » by **Braggins** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 11:23 pm

James Gatz wrote:
Snidely FC wrote:The Ringer on Lamelo Rising
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/1/21/22241742/lamelo-ball-rise-charlotte-hornets-rookie

So how tall is LaMelo? They say 6'6 here and he's listed that on nba.com but on hornets site it's 6'8. ESPN has him at 6'7.

Lets all do the super homer fan thing where we all pretend that our hot new draft pick grows an inch every six months. By the end of next season we'll all insist he is 6'10".

In all serious though, my guess is hes probably around 6'6" - 6'6.5" barefoot. I hate that the NBA apparently threw out the new height/weight listing standards after one season.

Braggins · Post #1137 » by **Braggins** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 11:29 pm

SWedd523 wrote:
JMAC3 wrote:The one bad thing about drafting players too good for the combine. You never know their official height and wingspan.

I thought teams were required by the league to list accurate heights without shoes

They've apparently scrapped this. Someone in the GB made a thread where they were comparing the combine measurements of players from this draft class compared to their listed heights and it looks like we are back to just making heights up again. I think there were also examples of players from last season having their listed heights changed back to what they were before last seasons standard. Its super annoying in my opinion.

Post #1138 » by **BigSlam** » Sat Jan 23, 2021 1:37 pm

As LaMelo goes, we go?

Read on Twitter

amcoolio · Post #1139 » by **amcoolio** » Sat Jan 23, 2021 4:07 pm

His minutes have been very sporadic so I don't know if I can blame LaMelo for poor play. I would really like to see what he does with a 10 game stretch of 32-36 minutes a night with a regular rotation.

Listen I've supported Borrego but honestly I don't know what he's doing with these lineups and rotations, its like he's still experimenting in preseason

I don't care that LaMelo is a rookie, he's one of the smartest BBIQ players on the team if not the smartest, and with his size and length he needs to be playing. With our best players. No more handicapping him.

Soul Rebel · Post #1140 » by **Soul Rebel** » Sat Jan 23, 2021 5:33 pm

IDK, this year above all other years, I think the window for experimenting and dusting the offseason cobwebs off is closer to the 20 game mark.

Borrego's lineups, rotations and usage of Monk, Carey and Richards is frustrating for sure.... though the latter two rookies makes more sense since they are nowhere near ready. But still, the Biz/PJ smallball lineup seemed like a great opportunity for the youngsters to at least get some burn.