The Lonzo Ball thread.

Simmons is a freak though, Lonzo doesn't have any of the athleticism, height, IQ, finishing ability of Simmons

 

I don't understand how NBA scouts thought this kid was going to be special? What exactly did they see in him? I don't see anything besides him being a bigger size PG at 6'6 but he plays small.

 

Watching the game tonight I felt terrible for the kid. He just wants to play the game he loves, but every time he steps into a shot the whispers in his head; 'next Magic,' 'better than Steph,' and so on.

Dude is collapsing under the pressure.

 

Definitely seems to be a bust but he is still just 20. Can't rule out dramatic improvement and being a solid starter one day.

 

People here seriously need to watch his NCAA games instead of saying he's never had talent or should've never been drafted in the top 5 or 10.

He's incredibly talented and has a ball-iq and passing ability you'll see once in a few years, the current issues are more about confidence and his whole game tanking under that pressure.

His dad's behaviour seriously f***ed the kid's short-term success, he's under way too much pressure to perform and media are making a headline out of everything.

 

Double post

 

He has to rebuild that shot in the off season, that is an absolute must.

If he can become a decent perimeter shooter it will work wonders for his game. Not being able to shoot puts an insane amount of pressure on the rest of your game this day and age. Combined with the pressure that his oaf of a father put on him, it's gonna be a long year for him.

I kind of feel bad for him, I don't recall him doing anything wrong. But his father is such an obnoxious figure, you can't help but dislike him by proxy.

 

he should've been drafted by the suns or detroit where no one will care about him nor his annoying dad. that way he can work on his form in peace.

 

Lonzo Ball is on pace to be the only player in NBA history to shoot under 28% on more than 5 three point attempts per game in a 20+ game season.

The poor guy needs to back off the attempts and put the ball on the floor until he learns to shoot. That's a liability in today's NBA, but less of a liability than firing up that many bad shots.

 

Showtime’s back!

Lol

 

He's incredibly talented? I guess it depends on how you measure talent. There are tons of players that appeared to be "incredibly talented" in college who couldn't cut it in the NBA. Hell, how many lottery picks actually pan out? Sure, some of his underperformance is likely due to pressure, but he wasn't the first ultra hyped athlete coming out of college. It's obvious that there are huge holes in his game, and he may or may not ever overcome those barriers.

But if it is true that a large part of his struggles right now is due to pressure, then he has no one to blame but his loud mouthed father.

 

I don't think I've ever cringed at a player taking a shot other than Lonzo. Id rather watch Shawn Marion shoot over Lonzo's broke ass shot all day.

 

Was way better and happier playing in college than in the NBA. The pressure of it all (NBA, #2, Lakers, Magic, Dad, etc...) along with some key technical flaws (shot and better athletes) are causing him major issues.

 

Most busts that had been hyped were players who had freakish physical abilities. Those guys became busts because they never developed real basketball skills to put their physical attributes in good use.

Many people still give Lonzo the benefit of the doubt because he is not particularly athletic. Ironically that in some way puts him in the disadvantage. But it also indicates that what he accomplished in college was not athleticism but skills, IQ, and court vision. Those things are usually more reliable than athleticism.

He does need to learn to shoot. It might have something to do with his mechanic. It might also have to do with confidence, or some combination of both. And shooting is one of the few skills that can be improved even after having entered the pro level. We have seen players done that--see Kidd, Lowry. (We also have seen players who have never improved--see Rondo, Rubio.) What can't be improved significantly are handle, court vision, and rebounding instinct. Those he does not lack.

 

I didn't watch any UCLA games so I don't know how he played last year but this year his "elite" passing skill includes mostly just passing off the ball off near the half court and then disappears in the corner at the 3 point line. He literally does that most of the game and when he does get assists, it's just him doing a simple pass to his teammate and they jack up a shot and it goes in. He didn't do any play making. Every now and then I see a nice look ahead transition pass but it's very rare. I have watched like 70% Lakers game because I'm intrigued on how he plays and he's such a ghost in 80% of the game.

 

Lonzo falls into the second group, pretty skilled, outside of shooting, with meh physical abilities, guys who fall into this group include: Mike Dunleavey, Adam Morrison, Andrea Bargnani etc

 

Dudes eyebrow game is out of hand

Adam morrison had some shooting ability

 

I ment to say that Lonzo is a more skill reliant player, but without the shooting ability. I compared him to those guys as skilled players without much in the athletic department, not as guys who can't shoot.