well if hes one of the better it was only james/ingram who did better but the others didnt do much either so not really a positive for ball, dude got out produced by a career journeyman in augustine....most nights its pretty much 4 on 5 with ball, he doesnt attack the d., doesn't shoot enough for d to even bother guarding him
I side with both camps (LOL!), i.e., (i) Zo is hot garbage; (ii) Zo is playing well... don't look at the stat sheet. I see things that he does to affect the game in such positive ways it makes him worthy of the 2nd pick. He is also only 21. On the other hand, his offensive game is frustrating to watch and he essentially brings nothing to the table there. Last night against Orlando, Zo decides he all of a sudden has a mid-range game. One shot he pulled up from about 12 feet for a miss when he could've gone right to the rim. I said aloud: "Why?" Zo is both exhilarating and exhausting to watch because he is so up and down.
that's the frustration of having young players still learning the game, and how to stay within their own game. Like BI with his constant iso attacks.... yikes
Our expectations for Lonzo and BI might just be too high. It's warranted though. We have a ticking clock for a championship window, that happened when we signed Lebron for 4 years. We need Lonzo and BI to accelerate their development so that we can compete against GSW. We need the talent on rookie scaled contracts to do that. Yes it's unfair to Lonzo and BI but thats what we signed up for when we only brought in Lebron this offseason. If we had brought in say Paul George (gag) then we wouldn't be so disappointed in those two. They would have been able to continue their development at a steady pace with PG picking up some of the slack for Lebron resting.
Let’s not use Jason Kidd’s career stats because when he was at Dallas and NY, he wasn’t a star, he was the 5th best player on the team. In his second season Kidd was averaging 17/10/7. During his post season finals run he was averaging 20/9/8. Lonzo ain’t anywhere near that. Also I think Kidd is a little overrated. He took a very defensive team in the Nets to the finals twice right after a bunch of stars retired in the east - then he got smoked in the finals. The issue with lonzo is he is a good player but not a great one, for a 2nd pick that’s hard to swallow.
“Ball... shoots an airball!” It is a mysteryto me how he manages to shoot at least one airball a game. I understand not being a good shooter and missing some shots, but how do you miss everything? That does not compute.
I’m very concerned for probably the first time for Zo. It’s one thing to do all the things that don’t necessarily show up in the stat sheet, but it’s another to be largely invisible for most of a game aside from some nice assists and solid defense. You can’t be a PG in this league and NEVER attack the basket or be airballing shots from 12-15 feet out.
Also, I’ve watched both games. He has looked pretty bad and a handful of hustle plays doesn’t make up for it.
He's a bit lost without being the guy running the team his way. Even though he is somewhat effective, many had concerns about the fit. I don't see him gaining the confidence he needs to grow in the areas we pick on if he doesn't have the opportunity to run the show and play through errors. It's frustrating to watch. We should have had Rondo last year and brought him off the bench. It feels all bass ackwards now.
Ball is the definition of regressing. But.... didn't we all know this with the addition of Bron??. Bron takes the ball out of his hands. Others benefit. Pass first PGs don't. Ball and Rondo will have some games of big numbers, but overall, their numbers will be down. Ball, being young and inexperienced, doesn't know how to operate and make his impact on the game like Rondo. Gonna take time.
I'm conflicted about him at this point. I mean, I understand he was injured in the offseason, and tweaks were made to adjust his shot, but for how long can I give him a pass...?