Lonzo Ball discussion thread

Post #121 » by **Ice Man** » Thu Nov 25, 2021 1:52 pm

bearadonisdna wrote:If you don’t think he is a capable of hitting a midrange elbow jumper your probably wrong .

He can't during his 5th NBA season.

He is a good shooter so that midrange stuff will become give me’s.

And Jimmy Butler is an 85% free throw shooter who works incessantly on his game and yet he still can't make 3s. No matter how much they practice, most NBA players have gaps in the their games. Odds are Lonzo will never become a good midrange shooter.

sco · Post #122 » by **sco** » Thu Nov 25, 2021 2:45 pm

IMO, Lonzo needs to be coached to keep himself out of the paint with the intent to drive/shoot. It is a natural thing to do when open, but until he can reliable shoot there, it's a bad place for him to go.

That said, he really has been great.

MrSparkle · Post #123 » by **MrSparkle** » Thu Nov 25, 2021 5:40 pm

A modified hook or scoop shot out of the post on small mismatches is IMO a tangible goal. Obviously it'd get stuffed on a double team or help defense, but the very fact that it may draw a defender for him to work his passing magic would be a boon.

GoBlue72391 · Post #124 » by **GoBlue72391** » Fri Nov 26, 2021 6:21 pm

sco wrote:IMO, Lonzo needs to be coached to keep himself out of the paint with the intent to drive/shoot. It is a natural thing to do when open, but until he can reliable shoot there, it's a bad place for him to go.

That said, he really has been great.

You can't just tell him to stay out of the paint. Even if he's a poor finisher, he's still creating offensive rebound opportunities for his teammates and creating drive and kick situations when he does drive. You don't want to take an already limited player and make him even more limited.

His halfcourt playmaking is already negated to a large extent because the defense knows he's not a scoring threat, so making the paint off-limits to him would just compound that. He's a truly terrible finisher, even on lightly contested layups, but I'd still rather have some dribble penetration from him than none at all. We'll just have to deal with all the point-blank misses and hope they start dropping,

bearadonisdna · Post #125 » by **bearadonisdna** » Tue Nov 30, 2021 1:44 pm

Lonzo is approaching 3 point contest worthiness .
He has the highest % in the whole league of anyone attempting 6.9 attempts or more per game .
44%.

He is currently an elite 3 point shooter .
Basically elite defensively.
Practically an elite passer .

Pretty darn good template /archetype and we all think he has room to improve .

ATRAIN53 · Post #126 » by **ATRAIN53** » Tue Nov 30, 2021 2:58 pm

This guy is starting in the backcourt for one of these All Star squads.
Team Giannas or Team Curry.

We're gonna be busy stuffing a lot of ballots to send a crew to CLE....

Jcool0 · Post #127 » by **Jcool0** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 3:52 am

Stepping up with guys out

Read on Twitter

CaPiTanAK · Post #128 » by **CaPiTanAK** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 3:56 am

It’s game over once Lonzo turns in an elite midrange to post up game. Easy max cat for his next contract.

Jcool0 · Post #129 » by **Jcool0** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 3:59 am

Read on Twitter

erlim · Post #130 » by **erlim** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 12:49 pm

Watching him swat four shots was nuts. It’s not like Dwayne Wade where it was just crazy length and jump out of the stadium athleticism. Ball just seems to have some extra sensory Spider-sense mode going on.

sco · Post #131 » by **sco** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 2:10 pm

Watching him on the alley-oop last night made me question why he doesn't dunk more on his fast breaks. Honestly, I didn't think the could get up. I'm not sure what to make of his midrange. He's a worker, so I think he'll find a spot or two that will work for him, but it's so broke right now. Teams know that and, IMO, trap him into taking those shots...he needs to recognize that and find a way to just dribble back out and take the 3.

ATRAIN53 · Post #132 » by **ATRAIN53** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 3:03 pm

Starting PG for Team Giannas or Team Curry right here.......

I just remember thinking how lucky the Lakers were getting a hometown kid groomed to play basketball.
I envisioned his jersey hanging in the rafters after 20 years with the Lakers.

I also recall the argument on his shot mechanics pre drfat.
They all said it was broken, were gonna change it.
But I remember looking at his one year ast UCLA he shot over.400 from 3 and thinking he ain't that broken.....

His quiet demeanor is probably my favorite thing about him.
Old #2 Norm Van Lier would have LOVED this kid.

Bulls2021 · Post #133 » by **Bulls2021** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 3:06 pm

ATRAIN53 wrote:Starting PG for Team Giannas or Team Curry right here.......

I just remember thinking how lucky the Lakers were getting a hometown kid groomed to play basketball.
I envisioned his jersey hanging in the rafters after 20 years with the Lakers.

I also recall the argument on his shot mechanics pre drfat.
They all said it was broken, were gonna change it.
But I remember looking at his one year ast UCLA he shot over.400 from 3 and thinking he ain't that broken.....

His quiet demeanor is probably my favorite thing about him.
Old #2 Norm Van Lier would have LOVED this kid.

Lol look at videos of his old 3 pt form. It's UGLY.

IamSam · Post #134 » by **IamSam** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 3:45 pm

CaPiTanAK wrote:It’s game over once Lonzo turns in an elite midrange to post up game. Easy max cat for his next contract.

I am not sure how long it takes for a NBA player typically to install a new component to their game, but your idea seems to me to be one that would make a lot of sense for Lonzo Ball. I'm hoping this off-season to hear more about these guys all working together to help add pieces to their games; Lonzo plays with two great mid-range players so why not share the knowledge? Maybe Zach's dad can help him to become a better finisher with some of those NFL pad drills.

CaPiTanAK · Post #135 » by **CaPiTanAK** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 3:55 pm

sco wrote:Watching him on the alley-oop last night made me question why he doesn't dunk more on his fast breaks. Honestly, I didn't think the could get up. I'm not sure what to make of his midrange. He's a worker, so I think he'll find a spot or two that will work for him, but it's so broke right now. Teams know that and, IMO, trap him into taking those shots...he needs to recognize that and find a way to just dribble back out and take the 3.

That three point shot used to be broke too. Now, he's an elite three point shooter on volume. I'm not putting a ceiling on Lonzo potential.

sco · Post #136 » by **sco** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 4:01 pm

CaPiTanAK wrote:
sco wrote:Watching him on the alley-oop last night made me question why he doesn't dunk more on his fast breaks. Honestly, I didn't think the could get up. I'm not sure what to make of his midrange. He's a worker, so I think he'll find a spot or two that will work for him, but it's so broke right now. Teams know that and, IMO, trap him into taking those shots...he needs to recognize that and find a way to just dribble back out and take the 3.

That three point shot used to be broke too. Now, he's an elite three point shooter on volume. I'm not putting a ceiling on Lonzo potential.

Yeah, not saying he can't fix it, but it will likely be an offseason thing. Also, since 3's are better than 2's for guys who can shoot them like Zo, I'd like him to be shooting more 3's, in general. He's shooting 7 3's (about 63% of his shots) a game (down from 8.3 last year). I'd like him to be back at last year's level.

TheSuzerain · Post #137 » by **TheSuzerain** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 4:38 pm

CaPiTanAK wrote:It’s game over once Lonzo turns in an elite midrange to post up game. Easy max cat for his next contract.

No thank you

GoBlue72391 · Post #138 » by **GoBlue72391** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 4:52 pm

sco wrote:Watching him on the alley-oop last night made me question why he doesn't dunk more on his fast breaks. Honestly, I didn't think the could get up. I'm not sure what to make of his midrange. He's a worker, so I think he'll find a spot or two that will work for him, but it's so broke right now. Teams know that and, IMO, trap him into taking those shots...he needs to recognize that and find a way to just dribble back out and take the 3.

My real issue with him is his finishing. Honestly, on the rare occasion when he gets to the rim it looks like he just blindly tosses the ball at the backboard and unsurprisingly he misses a ton of layups. The drive last night where he had a nice crossover and missed the layup only to be bailed out by a foul call is a great example of that. I've never seen anything like it from an NBA caliber player.

sco · Post #139 » by **sco** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 4:55 pm

GoBlue72391 wrote:
sco wrote:Watching him on the alley-oop last night made me question why he doesn't dunk more on his fast breaks. Honestly, I didn't think the could get up. I'm not sure what to make of his midrange. He's a worker, so I think he'll find a spot or two that will work for him, but it's so broke right now. Teams know that and, IMO, trap him into taking those shots...he needs to recognize that and find a way to just dribble back out and take the 3.

My real issue with him is his finishing. Honestly, on the rare occasion when he gets to the rim it looks like he just blindly tosses the ball at the backboard and unsurprisingly he misses a ton of layups. The drive last night where he had a nice crossover and missed the layup only to be bailed out by a foul call is a great example of that. I've never seen anything like it from an NBA caliber player.

Sorta reminds me of Hutch and Dunn in that way. I think some guys get distracted and don't look at the rim, and misjudge their shot.

GoBlue72391 · Post #140 » by **GoBlue72391** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 4:58 pm

ATRAIN53 wrote:Starting PG for Team Giannas or Team Curry right here.......

I just remember thinking how lucky the Lakers were getting a hometown kid groomed to play basketball.
I envisioned his jersey hanging in the rafters after 20 years with the Lakers.

I also recall the argument on his shot mechanics pre drfat.
They all said it was broken, were gonna change it.
But I remember looking at his one year ast UCLA he shot over.400 from 3 and thinking he ain't that broken.....

His quiet demeanor is probably my favorite thing about him.
Old #2 Norm Van Lier would have LOVED this kid.

He's not making the all-star team, and he sure as hell isn't starting the all-star game. Let's just squash that hope right now. DeMar and Zach are clearly ahead of him and so is Vuch, and we're not going to have 3 all-stars, let alone 4. Even if that wasn't the case, he has no merit for making the all-star team.

He's averaging less than 5 APG and can't do anything on offense besides shoot 3s and as such he's barely shooting above 40% from the floor. I've said it before, but if his three ever comes back down to earth his flaws will only become more obvious.

Having said that, his defense, outlet passing, and spot-up shooting have given a huge boost to us, so don't mistake me for saying he's a bad player. He's just not an all-star.