From Prospect to Pro, Lonzo Ball is still as unique as ever
In the summer of 2014, before what would have been his senior year of high school, Nnamdi Okungwu tragically passed away. His death left a hole in not only the hearts of the players on the Chino Hills basketball team (that would eventually include his younger brother, the 6th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Onyeka Okungwu) but also a giant hole in their lineup. The 2014–2015 season also coincided with several players leaving the program or being ruled ineligible. What happened this season set the standard for what we have come to know about Lonzo Ball. Lonzo Ball has formed close friendships with players on every team he has played on, he has been a mature and respectful young man, he will do anything for the good of the team, and he has often made the game of basketball easier for those around him. In the 2014–2015 basketball season, Lonzo Ball and his brother LiAngelo spent a great deal of time playing center defensively. On January 15, 2015, while playing Nationally ranked Oak Hill (a team including Dwayne Bacon, Lindell Wigginton, Terrance Phillips, and five other players who played on Division 1 college programs) at the Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Champions, Lonzo Ball would burst onto the national scene while playing center defensively and point guard offensively. Although Chino Hills would lose 86–77, Lonzo Ball finished with 22 points on 8–13 shooting, 3–6 from three, and 3–5 from the free-throw line, along with 12 rebounds, 13 assists, three blocks, and three steals. In this effort, Lonzo Ball showed he would do whatever he needs to give his team a chance to win.
Lonzo Ball would then receive national honors in his senior year, including the Naismith Prep Player of the Year, Morgan Wooten National Player of the Year, USA Today Boys Basketball Player of the Year, and Mr. Basketball USA. A Chino Hills team led by Lonzo, but featuring LiAngelo Ball, 2020 first-round picks LaMelo Ball & Onyeka Okungwu, and two other college players in Andre Ball and Eli Scott, would finish 35–0, record a state title and finish as the consensus №1 team in the nation. Lonzo Ball would average a triple-double with averages of 23.9 points, 11.3 rebounds, 11.7 assists, 5.1 steals, and 1.9 blocks.
As a college freshman in 2016–17, Lonzo Ball led the nation in assists and broke the UCLA record for the most assists in a season. Ball also won the Wayman Tisdale Award as the top freshman in the country. His UCLA team would finish 31–5 and bow out in the Sweet 16 to a Kentucky team featuring six future NBA players, including De’Aaron Fox and Bam Adebayo. Ball made 55.1 percent of his field-goal attempts and 41.2 of his three-point attempts to become the first NCAA Division I player since 1992–93 to make at least 70 percent from the 2-point range and 40 percent 3-point range. He was a unanimous first-team All-American, earning honors from the Associated Press, United States Basketball Writers Association(USBWA), National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), and Sporting News. In his one and done season at UCLA, Ball would show that he would do whatever to help the team, contributing to the top 4 on every significant statistical category.
Ball’s one season at UCLA showed just how talented he was; it also showed how much he still had to improve. Some of the flaws that existed then still exist in his game today. Describing Lonzo Ball’s game in 2020 will sound very similar to describing him in 2017. However, there are two significant differences. Leading up to the 2017 NBA Draft, Lonzo Ball was considered a lousy defender, and scouts were unsure about his shot due to his shooting form. Three years later, Ball has seemingly answered the question about both of those issues. So, what is Lonzo Ball’s game? Lonzo Ball excels in transition. He has near-genius spatial awareness, great top-end speed, very unselfish, and can make outlet passes that only a few NBA players can make. These things come together to make him a dangerous option; he creates transition opportunities for himself and others. Unfortunately, in college and the pros, Lonzo Ball has struggled to create for himself and others when the game slows down. Lonzo does have two near-elite skills: his IQ and his passing ability. Some scouts believed that those abilities would offset the things that he didn’t excel at, like creating in the pick and roll. This year, Lonzo Ball ran the pick and roll on 26.4% of his possessions, with a 0.58ppp, 32% on shot attempts, a 38.5% eFG, 2.9% free throw rate, 27% turnover frequency, and 25.3% score frequency.
In college and the NBA, Lonzo Ball has not been very good in the pick and roll, and he’s been mostly downright horrible (For what it’s worth, Lonzo’s pick and roll numbers are better when he plays with a big man who pops). What can be seen is Lonzo’s main issue is his lack of ball handling skills. Lonzo is reticent to drive which causes him to often make a pass too early even if he gets it back. As previously mentioned, though, Lonzo Ball could be seen as one of the most efficient perimeter players in NCAA history. Lonzo Ball shot 41.2% from three at UCLA, while 73.8% of his three-point attempts were assisted. Lonzo Ball shot 78.9% at the rim at UCLA, an eye-popping number for a post player, let alone a guard. However, Ball was assisted at the rim 51.5% of the time. Both of these numbers are outliers for guards. Ball’s numbers at the rim denote how smart of a cutter he is without the Ball. It also shows his ability to jump off two feet and how great a finisher is in transition. These numbers also speak to Ball’s weaknesses. Guards are usually tasked with dribbling into the paint where they have to score over taller players. Ball was reticent to drive into the paint by himself to score, which still happens often in the NBA. In college, Ball was pretty good in the mid-range, but he didn’t take many attempts. In the NBA, Lonzo Ball has been an awful mid-range jumper shooter. Between his lack of mid-range game and his unwillingness and incapability to push the defense with his dribbling, Lonzo has been at best a one level scorer.
With Lonzo Ball still being such a polarizing player, specific segments of the Pelicans twitter community question his position and worth. Is Lonzo Ball a point guard or a shooting guard? My response is, Lonzo Ball is a basketball player. In today’s era of position-less basketball, a player with Lonzo Ball’s unique skillset should not fit into a simple positional designation, but let’s look at those positions and see how Lonzo Ball fits.
A point guard is typically a team’s best ball handler and passer. The point guard is the player that usually shoulders most of the responsibility for running the offense. They often lead the team in assists and create shots for themselves and their teammates. The point guard is traditionally an extension of the coach. They should be able to view the weaknesses of the other team on the floor. Being a point guard has nothing to do with being ball-dominant; it’s about figuring out the best option to score at the best time. In the modern NBA, the team’s best perimeter player (not just the point guard) has been tasked with running the spread pick and roll and running it often. Being able to drive and kick the ball out to the perimeter does not make you a point guard. Having that ability helps as a player tries to decipher the game and figure out what the best option to score and what is the easiest part of the other team’s game plan to exploit, but having the ability to run the pick and roll solely does not make you a point guard.
A shooting guard (off-guard) is often referred to as a wing because of their positioning on the court. As the name suggests, most shooting guards are good at shooting (I know, it’s elementary). Having the ability to move without the ball is critical and be at least a two-level scorer is needed. It is just as essential to be able to create looks for yourself off of the dribble. Shooting guards are also often taller than point guards.
Let’s make a tally here to see how Lonzo fits between these positions.
1. Lonzo is not the best ball-handler on the Pelicans, but he is the best passer.
2. Lonzo Ball leads the Pelicans in assists and creates shots for others.
3. This year, we did see Lonzo Ball start to be more vocal; this is something that JJ Redick spoke about this year.
4. Lonzo Ball has not done well in the pick and roll.
5. Lonzo can move off of the Ball.
6. Lonzo Ball can make three-point attempts.
Hey, maybe Lonzo Ball can play both of these positions! Perhaps Lonzo Ball is a combo guard; I do not know. If drives to the basket were the only thing that made a player a point guard, Stephen Curry and Chris Paul would be disqualified. While both drive more than Ball, Stephen Curry’s highest drives per game average for a season is 9.2, he has consistently hovered around 8 per game. Chris Paul has approached approximately 12 drives per game over the last seven years.
As I said earlier, Lonzo Ball is a basketball player. As Pelicans writer for The Athletic, Will Guillory, stated, “Ball’s game is somewhat akin to the traditional pocket passer that’s become a relic in today’s NFL, but when played correctly can still be as devastating as ever (just ask Tom Brady and Drew Brees).
Instead of running through a bunch of pick and rolls and isolation plays, Ball often calls the shots while standing at the top of the key like Brady when the pocket collapses. Most of the time, Ball knows exactly what kind of pass he wants to make, and he won’t let it go until he establishes the angle he’s for which he’s searching.
Having a lead guard who understands the game as well as he does was crucial during the beginning stages of establishing the new pecking order in New Orleans.”
Your positional designation for him doesn’t matter. Regardless of where he is on the floor, Lonzo Ball will help an NBA team. With Stan Van Gundy coming in as the new coach of the New Orleans Pelicans and with Lonzo Ball having his first healthy offseason since 2016, we should see the best of Lonzo Ball in his upcoming fourth NBA season.
Lonzo Ball has been training with two skills trainers, Chris Johnson and Kierre Jordan, and he has been working with athletic trainer Travelle Gains. These three trainers have trained Lebron James, Brandon Ingram, Trae Young, Draymond Green, Tyrese Maxey, Cassius Stanley, Tristan Thompson, Jordan Clarkson, and many more. For the first time in his adult life, Lonzo Ball can work on his game and get better without rehabbing an injury. Last year, Lonzo Ball changed his shot with Pelicans Assistant Coach Fred Vinson in about four months. Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball both had their best shooting seasons under Vinson. Ironically, Sacramento Kings Coach Luke Walton stated that the Lakers did not need a shooting coach while employed by the team. I am, for one looking forward to what Lonzo Ball has been able to accomplish over this four-month offseason. Do I think Lonzo Ball will be a finished product this year? No, am I looking forward to seeing the growth in his game? Most definitely.
Coach Stan Van Gundy will only highlight Lonzo Ball’s individual growth. Van Gundy has a proven track record with making the games of his guards better underneath him. While Lonzo will be playing a great deal off of the Ball, that also fits his game. At UCLA and in the NBA, Lonzo Ball has struggled to operate as the lone initiator. Still, the New Orleans Pelicans should have at least four players who can initiate a play in their starting lineup with Ball, Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Ingram, and Zion Williamson. Having those three players will mitigate the amount of time Lonzo has to operate as a lone initiator. Lonzo Ball and Zion Williamson are a match made in heaven. Zion Williamson is an elite transition weapon, and Brandon Ingram and Eric Bledsoe are good as well. Pairing their speed and ability with Ball’s vision, shooting, and awareness should be difficult for any team to defend.
For his part, Lonzo will provide the necessary space as a shooter so that everyone else has space when they are operating. In college and this last NBA season, Lonzo has shown glimpses of being able to knock down three-pointers off of the dribble and catching and shooting after running off of a screen.
I hope that Stan Van Gundy and Pelicans players are willing to utilize Lonzo’s off-ball skills as a cutter to create easy baskets for him and get him moving in space so that he may be able to operate as a secondary distributor for others. I also hope that Lonzo and the team will leverage his touchdown passing ability from beyond half court and in the half-court offense. Teams will know that they need to double team Zion in transition or on the post in the half-court, or they will have to collapse on to Lonzo Ball so that he will not be able to get a pass off. Either way, Lonzo will have a play available to him. Either a pass to Zion or someone else or an open lane to the rim for himself.
There are so many opportunities for Lonzo Ball to be a better player, and as Stan Van Gundy said, “Lonzo Ball seems like a very smart basketball player to me and smart basketball players eventually figure it out. I went through that with JJ Redick. He came in, it took him a little bit of time to figure out his career, but smart, hard-working guys figure it out as time goes on. So, I think as good as Lonzo is now, and he’s very good, I think that we can expect a good arc of improvement for him over the next few years.”
Lonzo Ball is already an exceptional basketball player, and no matter what position you think he needs to play, he will figure it out.