So when do we get an apology from Stephen A. for being a blithering idiot? Oh yeah . . . never. Instead he'll twist it to "See this is what he should have been doing all year, being aggressive offensively." This will be the spin if he ever even talks about it. The fact remains, Lonzo's been playing well all year with a few rookie lapses as one can expect. I'm thrilled that his three point shooting has come around so we don't have to keep hearing about it. Fantastic finish last night. Great leadership down the stretch and one of those games that will help his growth as an NBA player for the long run. He's a keeper.
On his shots, Ball had room to set his feet and let it fly... The defender wasn't respecting him enough plus he had confidence on his release. Ball had a good rhythm building prior to the injury so he's starting over again and regaining it. I'd like to see him drive more and make those floaters/flip shots in the lane. Ball establishes that, he'd be doubly effective.
I absolutely agree GCC. He needs to go to the hole more because if he's open he'll get a high percentage look or he can kick it out. He did so much more of that in college. Granted, we don't have the shooters that he had there. But we need more of it.
Ball has a nice two man game going with Thomas. Either could create off the dribble, draw the defense, then find the other open on the perimeter. It is what Walton has envisioned after the trade and is coming along. We all thought this should have been the experiment with Russell. Thomas has the confidence to shoot while Ball defers more to his teammates. I'm starting to lean on retaining Thomas for a year (or two) at a reasonable price whatever that is. He is that shooter that Ball could find off picks or out on the open floor.
I was thinking the same thing. Plus the old man knew how good he was at his best already. And poor Melo now with his skinny 16 year old frame and braces and dat "hair" against men in the frozen tundra of Lithuania. Melo I worry about. Who needs that as a kid?
Side note: Lithuania is not in tundra, nor is it overly cold. I’d imagine it has the same weather as Toronto. May be a bit colder.
Figure of speech Zen .... and that long piece from the reporter in the LaVar Ball Says thread .... who was there in Jan maybe a little of Feb too .... it was cold as hell, snow everywhere and just dreary. "The sky is black. It’s nighttime. Sixteen degrees. Knuckles burn, toes freeze. As I walk outside the Prienai Arena, I can’t feel my nose. The cars in the three-row parking lot look like igloos. January in Lithuania is a far cry from the mild 50-degree winter Melo grew accustomed to in California. There is no moon. There are no streetlights. Even the white lines dividing the two-lane country road to the arena have disappeared as cars drive through the falling snow. Wooden crosses in a nearby cemetery bend, and tall, windswept pines hover over the road. Few people speak English. Oftentimes, meals at the Vytautas Mineral SPA hotel, where the family is staying, consist of pork, cabbage and potatoes. Again and again. The mini chocolate chip croissants are stale. There are no movie theaters, no malls, no taco trucks like the ones in Los Angeles, where I live. And certainly no Lamborghinis like the black one Melo received when he celebrated his 16th birthday in Chino. It takes me 10 minutes to scrape off all the ice on my Toyota Corolla rental. I laugh, imagining if Melo had to do the same for his Lambo. We’re not in Cali anymore."
At this point I think Zo is just happy he's not in Lithuania Just reading that excerpt made me cold lol
Another of my astute Game Day observations last night that no one gave a crap about is how fast Zo moves laterally on defense. Really impressive and with those long legs doing that he's hard to get by unless picked. I bet he's quicker even than Josh with his fundamentals.
Most of us live in LA. If the temperature drops below 40 degrees, it's the tundra to us. 20 degrees is like Neptune. (Fahrenheit obviously cause 'Merica)
i gotta be honest... seriously, though, there's a couple schools of thought on situations like this: 1. better to remain silent and have people speculate that you're a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt or 2. the way in which we learn and improve is by honestly recognizing our limitations and gaps in knowledge. i tend to live in accordance with 2. when i don't know something, i just say so, sometimes whilst apologizing when it's something that i should know. if you let people assume you know things, it can eventually catch up with you. in a case like this, for example: what if he winged it and just guessed at the word's meaning, or provided the classic athlete response when they don't understand the question: answer a different one or deflect: do you feel vindicated? it's not about that. it's about winning games and growing as a team. each day i just do my best. reporter: ....thanks...
