Lonzo Ball: Game 1

[TheNorthCydeRises]

 

Watching this game, a few things stood out to me.

 

1) He's going to help the Lakers with the way he can really pass the ball down court.   In that 1st half, despite not doing too much offensively, he did push that ball up the court immediately with long passes, that set up a few guys for open shots or drives to the basket.  And with the way he passes, it will encourage others to make that extra pass.  With better players out on the court with him, they're going to like how he can really get things going in transition.  

2) The 3 point misses aren't a concern.  But he can't make a living taking 28 - 30 foot threes.  You can't shoot from that distance and expect to shoot a high percentage.  Even Steph Curry doesn't shoot from that range ALL the time.  He needs to get closer to that line and stay within his range, which is about 25 feet.

3) WAY too passive.  As the PG, you have to either make the right plays, or assert your presence into the game.  I understand him wanting to get others involved first, but if they're giving you the shot, or a possibility to drive into the lane, you have to take that.    It also may have been 1st game nerves, even though he'll say that he wasn't nervous.

4) On the ball defense was ATROCIOUS.  This can be corrected, but that was by far the most troubling part of the game last night.  He looked completely lost on defense.  That's the one area in which he's going to have to be really coached up on.

 

On offense, all he needs to add, is a floater in the lane.  If he's not comfortable with taking a midrange jumper, the floater is what he needs to develop.  He'll learn very quickly that he can't live 28 feet behind the 3 point line in the NBA.  As the PG, you have to drive into that paint at some point, even if it's to pass the ball off for someone to get a better shot.

I hope Magic holds Ingram out today, and see if Lonzo will be more assertive out on the court without Brandon in the game ( who looked damn good last night ).  Lonzo needs to act like the floor leader, instead of a guy waiting on someone to pass him the ball for a long 3 pointer.

 

By the way, you know who else looked good yesterday?

 

Told you this dude could ball.  He looked like one of those old heads at the part, schooling all of those young kids who think they can ball.  He even guarded Ingram for a while, when he was really cooking.  Sindarius slowed him down some. showing his versatility.   He and Beverly are going to be HELL on defense for the Clippers.

LOL @ us not taking this dude, seeing that they had no intention of matching a huge Hardaway Jr offer.

[marco102]

Lonzo is a great passer and that will be his bread and butter in the NBA.

His shot mechanics will not translate well to the NBA, he's going to have to rework his mechanics to be successful. If he doesn't, he'll be another Rubio, without the defense. 

His defense was a problem in college too.

He will also need to add tons of muscle.  I'm wishing the best for him though.  I just don't see a transcendent talent.

[capstone21]

Glad he is already considered a bust after one summer league game.  He got triple double in his second .... still it's summer league ... means absolutely nothing.  

[TheNorthCydeRises]

2 hours ago, capstone21 said:

Glad he is already considered a bust after one summer league game.  He got triple double in his second .... still it's summer league ... means absolutely nothing.  

I wouldn't say that Summer League means nothing.  People get invited to NBA camps based on what they showcase in Summer League.

The one thing I've always said about Summer League, is that whatever a player does best, should definitely show up in these games.  If it doesn't, then there might be an issue on the NBA level.

With Lonzo, his passing was definitely on point last night.  The shot was still off, but like I said, he's going to learn that he can't live out in 3 point range.  He's going to have to get in the middle and either take an easier shot, or create for others.  And that's exactly what he did last night.

 

 

Without Ingram, he was much more aggressive and made a good number of correct decisions.   And since Ingram is done for the rest of the summer, it will be interesting to see if Lonzo continues to be aggressive.  Their next game will get all kinds of hype, going up against the Sacramento Kings and De'aaron Fox.

[Thomas]

Not going to deny Lonzo will have impact sooner or later for the Lakers during the season. Just want his Dad to wake up on a different planet tomorrow morning and then Lonzo would be so much easier to accept. 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

So in his 3rd game, you see Lonzo Ball in full display, much like we saw John Collins in full display today.  When that dude plays fast and aggressive in the open court, he's outstanding.   His speed with the ball in his hands is something else.  After playing the passive game in the 1st half, he really went into attack mode and started to get to the rim.

36 pts - 11 rebs - 8 asst - 5 steals - ( 6 TO ) . . . 3 - 10 from 3 ( shot better, but still horrible overall this summer league ) . . . 12 - 22 FG ( which means that he was 9 - 12 from 2 point range  . . 75% . . which lines up with what he did in college ).  

How nice would it be to have a passing PG like Lonzo on the Hawks, teamed up with Collins?  One can only dream I guess.

 

[Thomas]

Lonzo looked really good in those Nikes last game. Wonder what good old Dad thinks about that. Funny stuff.