...with a couple of honeys in tow too. Looking forward to Ball against real NBA competition. The thing is that he does it all so quietly. In a flash, Ball has filled up the stat sheet.
didn't see that. smith torched him on offense and defended him well in the half court, pushing him way out to initiate sets on a couple occasions. that said, ball played quite well and got his team going. i just think it's going way overboard to suggest he took it to smith any more than smith took it to him, individually. the real question is whether that will be the story of each's career: ball does things that lead to winning where smith does things that are impressive but don't. i'm very curious to see if ball (and the lakers) can duplicate this style of play in the regular season. if so, i'll have to increase my win projections by a good sight. no one in sl could keep them from pushing the pace. ball deserves a lot of credit for that.
The pundits point out the lack of competition in Summer League and it would be naive as big of a Lonzo fan as I am and die hard Lakers fan as well to not recognize that. However it's also fair to point out that while the competition is sure to stiffen the kid's supporting cast will also improve. As we've seen in this Summer League with Zubac's struggles he's nowhere near ready to be a starting center in this league. Brook Lopez is one of the very best who will also be a good fit with Lonzo because of his spacing and ability to catch and finish. Excellent hands. Look at a guy like Caldwell Pope. Outstanding defender, but also improving offensive player who is a good playmaker and can take some pressure off Lonzo in that regard. An improved shooter who will be more of a floor spacer then what we've had in the past at the SG position and also a heck of an athlete in transition. Larry Nance Jr. has likely hit his ceiling as a player, but that's okay because he's a solid NBA player already. Athletic as can be, high basketball IQ, good teammate, and can actually set some screens. Imagine the lobs between him and Lonzo. Julius Randle might be in for a breakout year. In much better shape. Just playing with Lonzo alone should make him better. Even if he isn't he's already a 13/10 player basically. Another secondary playmaker to go along side Lonzo and KCP. I think playing with Lonzo will encourage him to rim run more as well as set better screens.
I also figure the rule is really meant as a deterrent towards lashing out in frustration, not passing the ball.
Lonzo hit two threes early in Smith's face and racked up 12/4/6 or something like that in the first quarter. I'd say that's about as well anyone can play against anyone. Smith answered back with 12 points of his own, but didn't have nearly the impact that Ball had. Our team was up 25 points I believe before the first half. Smith may have made some nice jumpers, but Lonzo defended them well and our team was blowing out Dallas, so I'll stick by my description. I'm assuming some of the TD passes will go away in the regular season, but what you'll see more of is the pass aheads to the wing which actually could be more fun for us even if they limit Ball's numbers. The wings fill the lane, get the ball, and we've got the ball across the half-court line within 2-3 seconds that's part of what makes Golden State so dangerous. I don't think the tempo will slow down significantly, but obviously Lonzo is going to have a much tougher time with his own personal stats against NBA talent just like Ingram isn't going to score 27 points easily against NBA competition.
I disagree with this a bit. If he can develop his outside shot and hit 3s at a decent clip, he can turn a huge corner and also keep himself healthier by not doing his crazy stuff at the rim as often.
Maybe, but my point is Nance Jr. is already a fine NBA player which is a big upgrade over some of the trash Lonzo has been playing with aside from Kuzma, Ingram, Zubac, etc.
among the two of us, i can claim more objectivity on this particular one, and i definitely didn't see it that way. if we're going to call those threes "in his face", then we need to discuss smith making ball look like a statue on a couple drives, no screen involved. the lakers were up huge because they hit 80% from three on a high volume for 2-plus quarters. i'm sure dennis smith fans would argue that he created a bunch of open three looks, but they weren't being converted at nearly the same rate. ball played well, no need to hyperbolize, though. lakers2015 was right about it helping to have better running mates, too. my concerns at draft time were that a) nba defenses wouldn't allow the "easy pass" that ball is so famous for and b) being surrounded by poor shooters would really put a damper on ball's game. in summer league, neither of those things has been an issue. since zubac, blue, caruso, etc. aren't any better than the guys he'll suit up next to in october, perhaps b) isn't really an issue. jury's still out on a), though i admit i expected more TOs than we've seen.
The guy had a double-double at the half and we were up 25 points at one point. You can claim objectivity towards Ball, but you're also Dennis Smith Jr.'s biggest fan on the site as well, so I can claim objectivity in the other direction. A lot of this comes back to the chicken and the egg: does Lonzo make his teammates shoot better by instilling confidence in them or are they just better? I'd say the former because when Lonzo came out, they all looked like turkeys on the floor and Dennis Smith Jr. almost brought the Mavs back to win. Dennis Smith Jr. drove to the line nicely, but his style of play was not conducive to winning. Ball lead the Lakers in fantastic fashion. I think even Dallas and Dennis Smith Jr. fans can appreciate that. We can agree to disagree on what is hyperbole and whether "eviscerate" is a term you'd use, but I'm still comfortable with it when one guy has 14/10/4 at the half up 20 points. He's had a couple of games where he was overpassing and ended up with 5 turnovers or something, but since the coaching staff got on him about being more aggressive getting his own looks, Lonzo adjusted fairly well. Obviously last night 10 assists with 0 turnovers is exceptional, but the Cleveland game he had 7 turnovers and the Philly game he had 6 turnovers. I think those things will come with a rookie, but I'm glad to see he adjusts well from game-to-game and in-game for that matter.
I bet his signed BBB shoes will sky rocket in value if he does sign with a major brand and he's as good in the pro's as he is now in the SL, one off with his signature too, dam if only I had $ lol
I think it's to prevent anyone from getting injured. Imagine if Zo had someone in front of him and he accidentally got him in the face.
***Wanted to drop by to talk about item a) above - nba defenses wouldn't allow the easy pass. These long passes, imo, are not easy. Numerous times in each game, Ball gets the rebound and flicks (rather effortlessly) a full court pass to a streaking wing. In most cases, the defender is there, and leaps, and the ball is just-out-of-reach. Not easy. Makes it look easy. It's a gift. NBA defenses take that away, and press the wings, and he can go coast to coast. I'm oversimplifying. But the kid just gets it. In a playoff situation, half court set, executing a designed play, this is a different matter. Enter Brandon Ingram. I'm wondering if it's possible if Ball turns Randle into an allstar. I may have missed the point of your post. It occurs to me. Happy Monday. Back to work.
the point was that nba defenders cover more ground and are more aware on defense than your typical summer leaguer/ncaa player. thus, outlets over the top and quick hitting early post entries might not be possible with much frequency once the real games start. that said, they've been more possible in the step from college to summer league than i anticipated, so perhaps it won't make any difference. i do think we saw him get caught in the air more here than in college, and i think it was only because the inferior competition that some of those weren't taken the other way for dunks.
I think the full court passes are plenty possible. Lebron did it all the time. It's all about timing, and it has to occur when Zo grabs the board because he already knows someone has already leaked out and he has the ability to get the pass on point and the defenses are still in transition. Any other situation, I think it's too late.
Possible, but less common I think is part of @abeer3 's point. It's unlikely you're going to catch NBA talent sleeping for a fullcourt pass 4 times a game. I think we'll see it sometimes, but we'll also see NBA defenses adjust to it and make sure someone is back to stop that pass. These Summer League guys are already doing it a bit. The good news is, that means one less person to fight for an offensive rebound meaning it limits extra possessions for the opposition. It keeps teams on their toes, makes them think twice, and that's a valuable asset. I do think the natural progression of Ball early on will be more wing passes to say Brandon Ingram or Caldwell-Pope who streak into the front court with Ball trailing to the three, Randle flashing through the middle to the weak side, someone setting up a lob, and finally Lopez trailing for a semi-transition dunk or three pointer. The point is, it sets up the offense within 2 seconds instead of 8 seconds and gives us that much more opportunity to attack.
true: the price of vigilance for opposing defenses is a lack of aggression on the offensive boards, which will cramp some teams' style, for sure. i'm interested to see how luke draws up the half court offense this year once the break is stopped: will he move lonzo off the point and have ingram initiating?
