Ball Don't Lie: The LaMelo Ball Thread

Post #1361 » by **yosemiteben** » Wed Feb 10, 2021 9:32 pm

I'll admit I outright wanted us to avoid drafting Melo because I was concerned about his game and the drama he'd bring and perceptions of him being entrenched in bad habits. He's proven all of that wrong, and I'm completely on board with him as a prospect and think he has a very bright future and am thrilled with having him.

With that said, I think it's just objectively a red flag for a 19 year old rookie to show up at training camp with a wonky shot saying "I'm not changing anything about it, so don't even ask."

Post #1362 » by **BigSlam** » Wed Feb 10, 2021 9:53 pm

SWedd523 wrote:
LofJ wrote:Have we not learned anything from the MKG experiment?

Have we not learned anything from the Kemba experiment?

Look at how much the development of a dangerous outside shot opened up the rest of his game?

A 40+% shooter from range completely changes Melo's trajectory. Why would you not want that?

Check and mate. The Walker example is is a very, very good point.

SWedd523 · Post #1363 » by **SWedd523** » Wed Feb 10, 2021 10:13 pm

LofJ wrote:
SWedd523 wrote:
LofJ wrote:Have we not learned anything from the MKG experiment?

Have we not learned anything from the Kemba experiment?

Look at how much the development of a dangerous outside shot opened up the rest of his game?

A 40+% shooter from range completely changes Melo's trajectory. Why would you not want that?

Of course I want that. Let's remember that Kemba was 21 when he entered the league and it still took him a few seasons of poor efficiency to realize he needed to change his shot. LaMelo isn't going to become his fully realized self in one season where he didn't even have an offseason with our coaching staff.

Lol then why are we arguing my man? We want the same thing.

Again I'll reiterate a few points

1. Melo is surprisingly dangerous from deep
2. It may or may not be fools gold, as evidenced by prior shooting splits
3. Melo absolutely does need work on his shot, him saying otherwise is at least a little troubling
4. He does NOT need to completely rebuild the shot

All I personally would like to see, is him smooth out the inconsistency in it. It's hard to improve a shot when you don't really have a single, repeatable shot

vorbis · Post #1364 » by **vorbis** » Wed Feb 10, 2021 10:17 pm

LaMelo can improve his shot without "changing" it. he can do all the funky stuff he does from the waist up, as long as his feet are consistent. and as long as he puts the endless repetitions he's going to get in practices, shootarounds, and games to use productively, that's just going to come. I don't know about you all, but I've seen some improvement in consistency in his jumpshot (I mean his set shot. it's not like he's doing a lot of jumping on that one, and his C&S form is actually relatively consistent) already this season. it's not exactly night and day, but it's there.

it seems like maybe this argument got a bit too fixated on (reasonable imo) absolutes and now the things that are being argued and defended aren't necessarily applicable to LaMelo the actual basketball player.

clearly LaMelo, if he wants to be a serious pro, will want to work on all aspects of his game every offseason to get better. if he doesn't do that, then he'll fall behind really quickly, consistent jump shot or no. that's how the NBA works, from the superstars to the 2-way contract guys.

I think we've seen enough at this point to understand that LaMelo does in fact want to be a serious pro. not only that, he lives to hoop. no reason to think he won't pursue improvements across the board as he develops early in his career.

penquin11 · Post #1365 » by **penquin11** » Thu Feb 11, 2021 12:24 pm

I've seen alot of posts above me talking about Kemba altering his shot and the need for LaMelo to do so. So far our head office has indicated that they are content with LaMelo's shot. It's fast, efficient, and allows him to see the basket when he shoots the ball. Yall are talking about Kemba changing his shot as if he had to switch up his entire form. All's Kemba did was shift his shot a couple inches to the right so that less of the ball would be in his face when he shot. If fixing LaMelo's form is as simple as a couple of inches I say let's do it, if not let it be.

HornetJail · Post #1366 » by **HornetJail** » Thu Feb 11, 2021 2:00 pm

I think cleaning up the lower body part of his jumper is something that can wait till they have a full offseason to do so. I actually like his the arc he gets on his shot, and his release is fairly quick. So I wouldn't even touch the upper body of his shooting motion until we tackled the lower body.

Snidely FC · Post #1367 » by **Snidely FC** » Fri Feb 12, 2021 10:16 pm

for those of you who don't have ESPN+ highlights from a column by Kevin Pelton and Mike Schmitz addressing Lamelo's superstar potential:

Kevin Pelton: Even though both of us had Ball as our No. 1 prospect in the draft, as did our colleague Jonathan Givony, I think that was more about long-term potential for the 19-year-old point guard than what he could contribute right away.

Yet as we stand, Ball is having one of the most impressive rookie seasons on record for a player his age. In fact, at his current pace, it would be the most wins above replacement player (WARP) by my metric for a rookie who played his entire first season at age 19 or younger, eclipsing LeBron James' and Dwight Howard' marks

Mike Schmitz: Even the most optimistic Ball stans expected there to be a considerable learning curve given his untraditional path to the NBA and the fact that he hadn't played a competitive game in over a year. But I've been really impressed with how quickly he has responded to any internal criticism or shortened leash from the coaching staff.

Since head coach James Borrego benched Ball in the third quarter against the Chicago Bulls on Jan. 23, the rookie has been outstanding, averaging 19.0 points, 6.3 assists, 4.9 rebounds, 2.7 turnovers and 1.4 steals in 30.2 minutes on 54% shooting from 2 and 39% from 3. From talking to people around the organization, Ball's buy-in, adaptability, coachability and infectious personality have all stood out. He has made the Hornets an NBA League Pass favorite and quickly earned the respect of his teammates and coaches. Given all of his pre-draft questions, that matters just as much as his stunning passing or surprising shooting.

Schmitz: To me, Ball has been much better fitting in alongside other accomplished perimeter players -- such as Devonte' Graham, Terry Rozier and Gordon Hayward -- than I expected. I loved the fit in Charlotte because of the small market, future cap space to build around Ball, development-focused coaching staff and young pieces in P.J. Washington and Miles Bridges to help accentuate Ball's playmaking. I also thought Graham, Rozier and Hayward would help take pressure off Ball from having to create all the offense. But I didn't anticipate that he'd fit in alongside them so seamlessly, so quickly. Lineups featuring Ball, Graham and Hayward are a plus-49 in 116 total minutes.

Pelton: I mean, is there a ceiling? Looking at the production of 19-year-old rookies and Ball's similarity scores in my SCHOENE projection system (he scores as most similar within six months of the same age to Luka Doncic's rookie season), I'm not sure you can give him one.

Schmitz: Among players who average at least 25 minutes per game, Ball is one of only 10 with a steal rate over 2.5 and a block rate over 1.0, joining elite defenders such as Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Jrue Holiday and Marcus Smart. He has incredible anticipation in the passing lanes and is a brilliant positional rebounder who reads the ball off the rim as well as any guard I can remember.

You could argue Ball has as much long-term upside as any young point guard in the league. His unshakable confidence combined with his superpowers as a passer, ball handler and all-around basketball player are impossible to teach.

geraldwallace · Post #1368 » by **geraldwallace** » Sat Feb 13, 2021 5:32 am

Read on Twitter

?s=20

Bassman · Post #1369 » by **Bassman** » Sat Feb 13, 2021 1:46 pm

LaMelo is quite simply...awesome. He is so gifted, yet with so much more potential to grow. We FINALLY got a star in the draft.

Lwcasu · Post #1370 » by **Lwcasu** » Sat Feb 13, 2021 6:00 pm

Bassman wrote:LaMelo is quite simply...awesome. He is so gifted, yet with so much more potential to grow. We FINALLY got a star in the draft.

Yeah, his top upside is so high. If he can shoot 40% from three, he’s easily putting up 25+ a game with 10 dimes and would still have good defensive ability. On paper (from a statistical standpoint) he’d be a more efficient Westbrook in his prime, but in actuality he’d be something all together much more special.

Rich4114 · Post #1371 » by **Rich4114** » Sat Feb 13, 2021 10:20 pm

geraldwallace wrote:

Read on Twitter
?s=20

Amazing

Snidely FC · Post #1372 » by **Snidely FC** » Thu Feb 18, 2021 5:00 pm

Read on Twitter

SWedd523 · Post #1373 » by **SWedd523** » Thu Feb 18, 2021 5:49 pm

Melo
Steph
MJ
Durant
Hakeem

Post #1374 » by **BigSlam** » Thu Feb 18, 2021 7:02 pm

He's got to be a lock to be wearing #1 next season - right?

The number will either be vacated or he'll purchase it off Monk (seriously though, he's so important to our future Monk should just gift it to him IMO).

Post #1375 » by **BigSlam** » Thu Feb 18, 2021 7:06 pm

LaMelo
Ray Allen
MJ
Garnett
Hakeem

Braggins · Post #1376 » by **Braggins** » Thu Feb 18, 2021 8:30 pm

BigSlam wrote:He's got to be a lock to be wearing #1 next season - right?

The number will either be vacated or he'll purchase it off Monk (seriously though, he's so important to our future Monk should just gift it to him IMO).

I thought this was going to happen when Batum left and Monk's #5 from Kentucky opened up.

Post #1377 » by **BigSlam** » Thu Feb 18, 2021 10:03 pm

Braggins wrote:
BigSlam wrote:He's got to be a lock to be wearing #1 next season - right?

The number will either be vacated or he'll purchase it off Monk (seriously though, he's so important to our future Monk should just gift it to him IMO).

I thought this was going to happen when Batum left and Monk's #5 from Kentucky opened up.

I might be wrong, but I think the league has a deadline for when players/teams have to submit number changes by and I think the deadline had passed by the time the #5 was made available.

Post #1378 » by **Diop** » Fri Feb 19, 2021 1:10 am

Read on Twitter

how crazy is this?

James Gatz · Post #1379 » by **James Gatz** » Fri Feb 19, 2021 4:02 pm

Diop wrote:

Read on Twitter

how crazy is this?

Devonte is underrated, LaMelo is a lil overrated, and Rozier is definitely overrated.

Also, small sample size still. The 5s they were playing with certainly had an impact here that's worth considering.

Post #1380 » by **BigSlam** » Fri Feb 19, 2021 4:10 pm

James Gatz wrote:
Diop wrote:

Read on Twitter

how crazy is this?

The 5s they were playing with certainly had an impact here that's worth considering.

I take little notice of these types of stats for that reason.

There are 3 other guys on the court with them. Who were they and what impact did they have on those numbers?

Why single out pairings when it’s 5 people that make it click.

Just like +/-