Today I will be showing one play from Lonzo Ball. I will be coming out with a Part 2 to this post, which will be on Milos Teodosic and a play similar to this one. But let’s get into Lonzo Ball and his interesting play. There is both positives and negatives to this play.
Ximo Pierto – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIeSHNaj07E
Right here we see the beginning of the play. Lonzo Ball is standing right next to the paint, in a good defensive position. You see in this play Jeff Teague looking to pass it to Shabazz Muhammad. Lonzo Ball is aware of this and puts himself in the position to defend the pass.
Ximo Pierto – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIeSHNaj07E
Notice how in this moment, Lonzo Ball is ready to come over and disrupt the pass. He is able to get around Muhammad while the ball is in the air. This right here shows potential Ball has as a defender in the NBA.
Ximo Pierto – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIeSHNaj07E
Here we see Lonzo Ball perform a great catch. After getting around the offense, he is able to use his vertical and jump up to the ball. This sums up what the defensive potential of Lonzo Ball can be.
Ximo Pierto – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIeSHNaj07E
After stealing the ball, Lonzo Ball is on the break. You can see he has a teammate right next to him. Jeff Teague has already committed to trying to steal the ball, meaning that a pass to the teammate would draw the other defender. Julius Randle, the Lakers close to the middle of the court would be open on the fast break for an easy dunk.
Ximo Pierto – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIeSHNaj07E
Here Ball needs to pass to his teammate or else the ball will be stolen. Again, if he passed the ball the Timberwolves defender currently on Randle would be guarding the Lakers player next to Ball. That would lead Randle to have an easy dunk. Instead, Lonzo trys to beat his man 1 on 1.
Ximo Pierto – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIeSHNaj07E
At this point in time, the ball has been stolen of Lonzo. As you can see his teammate was wide open standing right next to him. As I said before this would lead to Randle being open for a dunk. Instead Teague steals the ball back from Lonzo which means the Timberwolves are on a fastbreak. Instead of 2 easy points for the Lakers, it will turn into 2 points for the Timberwolves.
And yes, because of Ball’s turnover, Taj Gibson has an easy score. This shows what Lonzo Ball needs to work on. People may think he is great at passing however most of his assists were passes to Randle. Randle was then in isolation and hit a tough shot which still counts as an assist for Ball. When you look at Teodosic’s passes in his 1st game, it was a lot of lob passes and in general tough passes. Lonzo just didn’t do which is a concern considering he played 36 minutes. Then again it is just his 1st game and there is still room for improvement.
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Four Foot Nuttin 