Lamelo Ball has been going absolutely STUPID this season

[FarBeyondDriven]

when will people learn that it's extremely easy to put up numbers in today's soft league? If your organization doesn't care about defense, winning, turnovers, leadership, etc and are happy to have you shoot as much as you want despite all of that, you can put up ridiculous numbers. If we started Monk and let him run the offense, stat pad, and shoot at will, he'd be among the league leaders too. LaMelo is not a winning player

[stormi]

He's the truth.

6'7 - elite handle, elite playmaker/vision (ambtious at time / leads to TO), elite scorer and the reach/finesse to score over bigs at the rim

Been held back a lot due to not having any help whatsoever around him, no spacing, no defenders, no lob threats which have cornered him into playing a lot of hero ball

In terms of raw ability his upside is #3 at his position right behind Luka and SGA, and I could see him being a natural rival to SGA due to their similar-ish personas.

I like what they're building though in Charlotte after a long drought. Brandon Miller as a running mate will be a breath of fresh air and he finally looks to be the sniper Lamelo has been crying out for. Lets get Mark Williams healthy. Salaun has also impressed me early in the season, jumbo wing with shooting touch and elite measurables.

It's going to be tough for the Hornets to keep pace with the Spurs/Rockets/Thunder just due to the lack of asset surplus like those other young teams, but they're on the right path and brighter days are ahead.

[Apz]

He's the truth.

6'7 - elite handle, elite playmaker/vision (ambtious at time / leads to TO), elite scorer and the reach/finesse to score over bigs at the rim

Been held back a lot due to not having any help whatsoever around him, no spacing, no defenders, no lob threats which have cornered him into playing a lot of hero ball

In terms of raw ability his upside is #3 at his position right behind Luka and SGA, and I could see him being a natural rival to SGA due to their similar-ish personas.

I like what they're building though in Charlotte after a long drought. Brandon Miller as a running mate will be a breath of fresh air and he finally looks to be the sniper Lamelo has been crying out for. Lets get Mark Williams healthy. Salaun has also impressed me early in the season, jumbo wing with shooting touch and elite measurables.

It's going to be tough for the Hornets to keep pace with the Spurs/Rockets/Thunder just due to the lack of asset surplus like those other young teams, but they're on the right path and brighter days are ahead.

Dont get it. How is it elite playmaking/vision if you have more turnovers then assists?

[stormi]

He's the truth.

6'7 - elite handle, elite playmaker/vision (ambtious at time / leads to TO), elite scorer and the reach/finesse to score over bigs at the rim

Been held back a lot due to not having any help whatsoever around him, no spacing, no defenders, no lob threats which have cornered him into playing a lot of hero ball

In terms of raw ability his upside is #3 at his position right behind Luka and SGA, and I could see him being a natural rival to SGA due to their similar-ish personas.

I like what they're building though in Charlotte after a long drought. Brandon Miller as a running mate will be a breath of fresh air and he finally looks to be the sniper Lamelo has been crying out for. Lets get Mark Williams healthy. Salaun has also impressed me early in the season, jumbo wing with shooting touch and elite measurables.

It's going to be tough for the Hornets to keep pace with the Spurs/Rockets/Thunder just due to the lack of asset surplus like those other young teams, but they're on the right path and brighter days are ahead.

Dont get it. How is it elite playmaking/vision if you have more turnovers then assists?

Erm

Per his career he's at like 2.5 ast to tov, slightly better than Luka Doncic

He can make every pass in the book but he has a tendency to try for the home run play constantly

that comes down to decision making, an area where he has a ways to go. The mega ambitious passers will always frustrate you at times and I think less of that will come with maturation

[HornetJail]

He's the truth.

6'7 - elite handle, elite playmaker/vision (ambtious at time / leads to TO), elite scorer and the reach/finesse to score over bigs at the rim

Been held back a lot due to not having any help whatsoever around him, no spacing, no defenders, no lob threats which have cornered him into playing a lot of hero ball

In terms of raw ability his upside is #3 at his position right behind Luka and SGA, and I could see him being a natural rival to SGA due to their similar-ish personas.

I like what they're building though in Charlotte after a long drought. Brandon Miller as a running mate will be a breath of fresh air and he finally looks to be the sniper Lamelo has been crying out for. Lets get Mark Williams healthy. Salaun has also impressed me early in the season, jumbo wing with shooting touch and elite measurables.

It's going to be tough for the Hornets to keep pace with the Spurs/Rockets/Thunder just due to the lack of asset surplus like those other young teams, but they're on the right path and brighter days are ahead.

Dont get it. How is it elite playmaking/vision if you have more turnovers then assists?

he'll be fine. he's been north of 2:1 A/TO every other year of his career. He's also played most of this season with Bridges bricking everything he usually makes, Cody Martin starting in place of BMill due to injury, and complete bums at C, so the assists aren't anywhere as high as they should (and will) be.

Turnovers have been annoying, but he's also operating at a usage rate close to that of prime Harden, so turnovers are to be expected. He's had to carry the team, it's been cool to see that he's capable of doing that, but it isn't sustainable and others have to pick it up.

[MrBigShot]

when will people learn that it's extremely easy to put up numbers in today's soft league? If your organization doesn't care about defense, winning, turnovers, leadership, etc and are happy to have you shoot as much as you want despite all of that, you can put up ridiculous numbers. If we started Monk and let him run the offense, stat pad, and shoot at will, he'd be among the league leaders too. LaMelo is not a winning player

It's easy to put up #s but it's not easy to put up 30ppg+ on above average league efficiency.

Do people expect the hornets to be better than 2-4 with their roster? Their roster isn't very good.

[Mr Peanut]

Poor man's Cade Cunningham.

They're only 34 days apart in age and Lamelo has an All Star appearance already.

Lamelo has a TS % of 62.3% this season with a usage of 35.1%. Compare that to Luka with TS % of 51.2% with a usage of 34.2%.

Cade is at 58.5% for TS and 31% usage.

Lamelo is taking on much of a bigger workload than Cade and putting up better shooting numbers than Luka. That's not a poor man's anybody.

Fair, I was being somewhat facetious/inflammatory deliberately.

But should also note that Cade is a superior rebounder, defender and averages more assists with less turnovers. They're both great young players and have bright futures though.

[Klomp]

19 points on 15 shots, a point guard with 2 assists and 5 turnovers

[garrick]

LaMelo could always fill out the scoreboard but he has never been able to stay healthy & not be a complete liability on defense.

If he can play 2/3rds of the season at least its a win for the Hornets.

[hippesthippo]

How long before he’s out with injury for several weeks (at minimum)?

The Ball brothers just aren’t meant to ever be healthy. They don’t have durable bodies. Lavar maybe put them through too much at a young age which causes their bodies to break faster now idk but it’s already proven that none of the Ball brothers will ever be healthy players and instead be injury prone players for rest of their careers imo.

Damn shame too cause their talent level is borderline elite. But at the end of the day, availability is what matters most.

I'm not his biggest fan, but blaming the father here is just ridiculous hate.

[binjumper]

How long before he’s out with injury for several weeks (at minimum)?

The Ball brothers just aren’t meant to ever be healthy. They don’t have durable bodies. Lavar maybe put them through too much at a young age which causes their bodies to break faster now idk but it’s already proven that none of the Ball brothers will ever be healthy players and instead be injury prone players for rest of their careers imo.

Damn shame too cause their talent level is borderline elite. But at the end of the day, availability is what matters most.

I'm not his biggest fan, but blaming the father here is just ridiculous hate.

Some people need to put the keyboard away. In another note I've been told by my orthopedic surgeon that good portion ligament injuries are genetics.

[Revived]

How long before he’s out with injury for several weeks (at minimum)?

The Ball brothers just aren’t meant to ever be healthy. They don’t have durable bodies. Lavar maybe put them through too much at a young age which causes their bodies to break faster now idk but it’s already proven that none of the Ball brothers will ever be healthy players and instead be injury prone players for rest of their careers imo.

Damn shame too cause their talent level is borderline elite. But at the end of the day, availability is what matters most.

I'm not his biggest fan, but blaming the father here is just ridiculous hate.

You’re right, not like their father forced them to grow up wearing awful “BBB” shoes that numerous podiatrists have said would lead to significant health problems right?

Before you harp on the word “forced”, check the ages of his sons back when BBB was active.

[stormi]

Purported 'stats / no winning player'

Not everyone is Lebron James and able to carry a roster of factory workers to 50+ wins

Without Lamelo on the court the Hornets are absolutely pathetic. With him healthy and playing at the peak of his powers they might win upwards of 32 games this season.

[og15]

when will people learn that it's extremely easy to put up numbers in today's soft league? If your organization doesn't care about defense, winning, turnovers, leadership, etc and are happy to have you shoot as much as you want despite all of that, you can put up ridiculous numbers. If we started Monk and let him run the offense, stat pad, and shoot at will, he'd be among the league leaders too. LaMelo is not a winning player

Why would that be related to today's league?

You don't remember Stackhouse putting up 30/4/5 with 4.1 turnovers in 00/01?

Michael Adams 27/4/11 in 90/91?

Remember when Francis was dropping 21/6/7 for multiple seasons?

If you go way back, Tiny Archibald's 34/11 season was on a 36 win team.

A poor team having a guy put up numbers has nothing to do with today's league.

The Hornets -18.4 pts/100 in the 107 minutes he's been off the floor is pretty awful though. The one season he actually survived more than 50 games, they were 43-39. You can't win a lot of games when you only play 30 games for the year.

[Vampirate]

He's playing like a true star player this year so far.

[tsherkin]

He's playing like a true star player this year so far.

Looks a little more mortal over the past 5 games than over the first two. 5.2 tpg versus 5.0 apg, "only" shooting a 45.4 / 33.9 / 78.9 split. 56.7% TS (under league average), with 3 games below 53% TS and one under 47%.

If we're going to do the small-sample overreaction thing, then it's worth looking at what's actually happening from game to game instead of just his raw averages.

[Vampirate]

He's playing like a true star player this year so far.

Looks a little more mortal over the past 5 games than over the first two. 5.2 tpg versus 5.0 apg, "only" shooting a 45.4 / 33.9 / 78.9 split. 56.7% TS (under league average), with 3 games below 53% TS and one under 47%.

If we're going to do the small-sample overreaction thing, then it's worth looking at what's actually happening from game to game instead of just his raw averages.

I'm just looking at his recent highlights.

We all know he can handle the ball and shoot. What most likely held him back before was taking ill advise shots. Due to his frame, I don't think he's going to ever be an 70% rim finisher but he seems to be using his gravity as a shooter to get easier shots at the rim with his handle.

I don't think he's ever going to be a decent defender but it's possible he's gotten smarter on the offensive side.

.640/.571/.400 are his shooting splits from 0-16 feet.

His assisted FG% on his 2s has actually went down which is a good thing from .159 to .378 (fyi, even the greats such as KD and Lebron have assisted FG% around .400-.500), even great players are willing to play off ball.

[ShootersShoot]

Hes a good player but a 6 game sample size is not enough to determine anything. Give it at least a quarter of the season before making threads like this.

[kcktiny]

After 6 games Lamelo Ball is averaging 5.4 TO/g, 38 TOs in 7 games, with 40 assists. That's 445 TOs in an 82 game season, with 469 assists.

How can anyone think that is playing well?

[tsherkin]

Hes a good player but a 6 game sample size is not enough to determine anything. Give it at least a quarter of the season before making threads like this.

Every year this is said, and every year people do it anyway. I suppose it's the consequence of a discussion board's members looking for something to discuss, even though we all know it's volatile nonsense which will change dramatically in short order.