Yeah I can see them just feeding Moz inside and no George. And the guaranteed bad chemistry over ball handling between the "vet" DLo and "the rook" Zo. Well-meant sarcasm aside, this was a future move. Near future.
There are players that are constant scoring threats and facilitate the game by drawing attention to themselves ie Kobe, Durant. There are players that elevate their teammates by giving them easy looks with elite passing and court vision ie Lebron, Nash In either instance, we're talking about high USG% type of players, and the offense is usually centered around them. Lonzo is completely different. He's a low USG% player that inspires his teammates to make the extra pass, make simple plays, and push the tempo. Lonzo is transcendent because his style of play is contagious like an infectious disease. Everyone on his team makes their teammates better. And the timing of his arrival is impeccable. Every team is trying to replicate GSW and ball movement is paramount. I honestly believe he has the potential to end the modern trend of score-first PG's.
Didn't the Thunder almost beat GS by punishing them inside with Adams and the Turk, maybe not follow their team and use something new, start a new trend with Lonzo
I'm rewatching last night's game and Lonzo just looks so good. Where he was a little more hesitant in the first game, he's a little more relaxed in this one. He has the best passing ability of anyone we've had in a long, long time. It's honestly incredible. Not only can he see the angles, he makes the pass when others would prefer to score. His unselfishness is incredible. He's eager not only to make the pass for the assist, but to make the pass just to get other guys involved. That trait is exactly why other players are going to want to play with him. A guy like Kuzma having 30 points next to him is no surprise. He is also an underrated defender and rebounder. He's no Jason Kidd defensively, but Lonzo has very good instincts defensively and often finds himself in the right place digging on drivers, getting into passing lanes, and will get some weakside blocks this year. He's also very capable of using his size and length against smaller guards. There'll be times when quicker guards are going to take advantage of him, but those guards are going to take advantage of everyone in the NBA. I was also afraid he'd have a hard time handling pressure, but he's been okay so far. Nobody has really challenged his handle though so that'll be something to watch. All that being said, there's still some legitimate concerns about his ability to score. I'm not worried about his shooting so much, but eventually Lonzo is going to have to take on more of a scoring responsibility. Lonzo has shown a decent ability to get into the paint against Summer League guys, but he has still struggled to to turn the corner as well. Some of that is just him needing to get stronger and some of that is he's not necessarily an explosive athlete (similar to Tatum actually). Other smaller concerns are his shooting which I think will adjust with time, he needs to take the layups and dunks that are available to him, and I want to see him more effective off the ball offensively. Part of that lands on his teammates though. With a better cast around him I think Lonzo is going to really shine. Still though fans should be very excited. Those first eight minutes had Lonzo really putting his fingerprints on the game. He inspires others to be better teammates, move the ball, and really play a team game that we haven't played in long, long time.
This "Kidd" and "face of the franchise" stuff is a huge turnoff. Just let him play and see what he can do. Btw, his downside is Kendall Marshall on both sides of the court. His upside might be Kidd - on offense.
Not a turnoff for people who've actually watched the guy play. Kendall Marshall? LOL. One of the most ridiculous comparisons I've heard. Lonzo is so much better than that. It's not even close. Dude's playmaking skills is so far beyond Marshall and he actually CAN score like the latter.
He needs work with his post moves lol I felt he can take 6'1 guys down there and punish them like that one play but not his cup of tea at this point. He needs to go to Kobe
Playmaking is one area where the comparison is dead on. Will Ball hand out assists like Marshall and hit the three like that? Not scoring is a knock on Ball, and every time someone anoints him, I'll be here to ask if you're serious.
I think most Lakers fans actually are turned off by those things, by the way. We can do a poll. I'll start: yes.
so...is today's overreaction some sort of collective reaction to perceived overreaction yesterday? i'm sorry a troll got on the site, but having an equal and opposite reaction to ridiculous assertions isn't necessarily the remedy.
I think most are just optimistic about a good prospect. Some are a little more.. enthusiastic than others, but I think the vast majority are just (rightfully) impressed with a shiny new toy. The kid looks good and we shouldn't feel ashamed of being impressed. Soon his flaws will come back out and we can all discuss that ad nauseam, but for one night the kid had a triple double and looked solid. Why not let yourself enjoy it a little? For what it's worth, I've been consistent: I didn't think his first game was as bad as all that. He looked like a 19 year old kid with rookie jitters. The shot wasn't falling, but he had good looks. There were some defensive sequences when he was too quick to ice the pick and roll and opened way too much for a guy like freaking Kendall Marshall so there'll be a learning curve defensively, but I think he adjusted well his second night. He's got to work on navigating screens though. I'm hopeful that he'll improve as he gets stronger, but he was really bad at that in college as well. Still I thought he looked okay on the glass and his ball movement was still on point in both games.
I'm going to be a little critical here, but I'll preface it with saying, I like Ball and think he's going to be a force eventually in the NBA. I'm pretty concerned with Balls scoring ability. To be clear, not his 3pt shot. His 3pter is unorthodox, but he has the same motion every time, and he gets it off fast. No, what I'm concerned about is everything else. His layups and drives near the basket when he wasn't slamming the ball, didn't seem to be a repeatable move. He just kind of threw it up there as a last resort when he didn't have any other options. It didn't look like the fluid motion of a standard layup to me. Now that doesn't matter so much as long as the shot goes in, but he needs a few go to moves, shots and counters if the defense takes away his first move. This can come in time, but it concerns me because I think he should already have the bare bones scaffolding of this as a rookie and not look like he's just throwing up the ball and hoping it goes in. A controlled repeatable shot/layup vs. a hail marry.
I think he just needs to be more aggressive. He was one of the best finishers around the basketball in the college ranks last year.
Yeah I agree. How many layups did he pass up last night? It had to be a half-dozen or so. I thought he had one solid looking layup, but he had one in the first game that I can see what Barns is talking about. He alligator armed it, but I think he's going to take a little time adjusting to more NBA-ish length around the rim. More concerning to me isn't the form, but whether or not he can turn the corner against NBA defense. He struggles to separate against a guy on his hip.
He also reportedly had a very high percentage of FGA near the basket that were "uncontested" (no one within 2 feet of him). It remains to be seen how often that will happen in the NBA. But he'll likely add strength and skill at creating more space.
I've said this before, but I project him to be a 12-13 ppg scorer. A couple of 3-pointers, a couple of layups, and a couple of FT's is all he needs. Ingram and George (next year) will carry the load in half court settings. No concerns in that department.
Interesting. I wasn't aware of that stat but I'll take your word for it. How about we just chalk it up to him creating so much space that anybody was within 2 feet of him?
