[SeattleSuperChronicsParticipant]

 Triple B’s with the Triple D. Leading rebounder and leader with assists. Now let’s compare that to the black hole who is Markelle Fultz. Lonzo is the best player in this draft because of the many ways he can impact the game. Expect many more triple doubles in the future.

[Miko4rm206Participant]

You are on Crack. He was able to Mustard up a Tripple-dub but don’t think his Shooting percentage went unnoticed. Many ways he can impact the Game but he still Loss tho??? Way more impressed in Tatum Performance. Cut it..

[SeattleSuperChronicsParticipant]

Gotta love all the Lonzo & Laker haters on this site. Ball changing the culture in LA. Not worried about the shooting percentage. Had a couple of balls half way down and rim out. Also got caught with the shot lock winding down on several occasions. Ball dictates the pace like no other player in the draft and you can see that passing the contagious. 

[Miko4rm206Participant]

Lmaoo Ball is changing the culture??? When in reality. The Lakers are still Losing.. Just making a extra Pass or 2! LoL… Dude is shooting 7-28 the pass 2 games. He better stick 2 passing.

 

 

 

[ConsiderableUpsideParticipant]

 Your absolutely right, there is some kind of conspiracy going on here at NBAdraft.net. We are all in on it.  All 400 of your negs are from a bunch of haters who are jealous of Lonzo Ball status as the GOAT. One day when he replaces Jerry West as the NBA logo, the Ball family will have the last laugh.  Not only will he change the culture of Los Angeles as we know it, the history of the planet Earth will most likely be divided into separate historical ages:  BB and AB, which of course stand for Before Ball, and After Ball.  Realistically it is only a matter of time before the summer league dominance of Lonzo Ball translates to multiple NBA championships, and Adam Silver passes the torch to Lavar Ball, and the league is renamed the Big Baller Association.

All the Big Baller’s stand up and unite!!!!  If you ain’t on board you ain’t no Big Baller quit Hatin!!!! 1 for 13 is the new triple double f what ya heard!!

 

 

[raybeasParticipant]

and this child ain’t him.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 There are retired numbers.

There should be retired nicknames, too.

Zo is taken.

Umm, maybe, ‘zo?

ZO TIME?

AIR Ball?

… back to Lonzo: looked better.  shot is still warped.  Although he stepped out out bounds on that 3 he hit late.  Add that to his totals with 14-11-11 and that is a good line.  Needs to attack the middle.  Get that post game going… then floaters and runners.  You can get to 10 points just on post ups and runners… Get a few layups in there, too.  Just keep ’em honest with the long jumper.  I still think he can get that 18-20 foot jumper basically any time he wants.  If he can shoot 40% on that he doesn’t have to hit more than one-third of his 3 pointers…  Just him being out there creates so much space on the court, that he can really pick his spots.  

You would think that Tatum would be the front runner for ROY, then you remember that the Celtics also have Gordon Hayward.  Then you remember that the Sixers have Ben Simmons coming back.  Lots of ROY front runners.  Also have to give Fultz and Fox and Jackson a shot.  

Wouldn’t be shocked though if Lonzo broke the rookie record for triple doubles.  Or, Ben Simmons for that matter.  

The Rising Stars game this year should be awesome!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SubZeroParticipant]

He still didn’t do anything people didn’t already know he can do. He’s a great passer and that showed, but the hype with him is still unreal. He had some nice assists but lot of them were basic passes to wide open guys who made shots or just passing it over halfcourt forward to guys at the 3 point line who made a layup through contact

I don’t think he’s gonna bust like a lot of people, especially if he gets surrounded by a lot of talent where he doesn’t ever have to try to score, but I don’t think he’s gonna be a hall of famer or anything like that that some people are saying

[2quick4uParticipant]

 lonzo has very unique skills that make him a special player but in order to fully express those traits, there are some conditions or requirements that need to be met if not, he risks to become sterile and the lakers remain a desert…

lonzo has the ability to totally control the tempo of the game and make others better but for that to happen, he absolutely needs to have the ball in his hands; he’s a player in the mold of ricky rubio or jason kidd and like these 2, he needs to be surrounded by efficient shooters and scorers that do not demant the ball if not, he is nullified and his game becomes useless.

so the lakers, in order to maxify lonzo’s talent and become a competitive team, they’ll have to take a very specific way and surround ball with some specific players if not, the lakers experiment won’t work; next year will be a transition year for ball and the lakers but in 2018 they’ll have to really shape the team.

brook lopez obviously will be out and that money will have to be thrown to PG as he perfecly fits with ball’s style; and their next target for 2019 has to be klay thompson; lebron james obviously doesn’t fit at all with lonzo..

julius randle (JR) doesn’t fit with lonzo, they should get rid of him before his contract expires; JR works with an scoring point guard not with a player like ball…

regarding lonzo’s shot, i don’t think that his shot will be a problem, he’ll adjust to that; his biggest problems are his attitude when he’s not playing his game as he tends to disappear, his defense and his weak body.. his legs are pretty weak and has no lateral quickness at all, so he can’t stay in front of players and has trouble breaking his defender down, but that’s not a big problem and nothing that can’t be solved with a pick&roll, but his defense can become a problem..

another thing that the lakers absolutely need to do to maxify ball’s talent is to highly increase the pace of their game..in the near future, if they want to be competitive they’ll need to become a top 5 team in the league in PACE, if not, they won’t have a chance of winning anything..

a future core composed by lonzo, klay, ingram, PG + a rim protector would be pretty competitive and fun to watch team..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bankroll PJParticipant]

 Jason Kidd and Rubio are terrible examples of "guys that "need the ball" and "can’t play with other guys that demand the ball." Like Lonzo, both those PGs are known for not holding onto the ball much at all.  They make quick decisions with the ball and are rarely seen overdribbling, because they aren’t really looking to score.  Lonzo needs the ball even less at this point in his career, because he’s not that effective in the pick and roll.  Jason Kidd went to the finals twice with Vince Carter, a guy that "demanded the ball" at that point in his career. Due to their unselfishness and willingness to serve everyone else on the team, guys like Lonzo Ball and Jason Kidd can play with any type of player. That’s what makes them special/unique talents. 

[2quick4uParticipant]

 first of all, when you make an statement you need to study first if not, you risk your reasoning drowns..

jason kidd didn’t make the nba finals playing with carter; the nets made the finals in 2002 and 2003 with a core of kidd, kenyon martin, kittles and jefferson..vince carter arrived in 2005 and since then the nets didn’t even reached the CF…

carter seemed like a perfect addition as he was athletic and dynamic and could score fast&easy buckets in fast-breaks, transitions, alley-hoops, in the post and as catch and shoot, so he seemed perfect for an up tempo style. but the problem was that carter was not a good defender and even though he didn’t need the ball in his hands as much as other stars from that time like kobe, mcgrady or iverson he still made the nets to slow down their pace..

when the nets made the finals 2 years in a row, they were the best defensive team in the league and played at a high pace being top10 in the league..since carter arrived their defense started to get worse and their pace went down, and as a result they couldn’t even get to the CF..in just 2 years from 2003, the last year they made the finals to 2005, the year carter arrived, the nets passed from being the nº1 team on defense and nº 10 in pace to nº7 on defense and 21st in pace while ranking 26th on offense, so with those type of numbers you can’t do magic, even if you have jason kidd…

second, i don’t think you’ve understood what i mean when i say that those type of PG’s like rubio, kidd or lonzo need the ball in their hands; these players need the ball in their hands not to score but to set the tempo of the game which is what they are great at.. these type of players, which are rare species, have a very high IQ and are unique at making the best decision in the less amount of time so they need players around who execute not players that generate..whether they have the ball 3sec. or 15 sec. in their hand they are setting the tempo of the game with their 1st pass..

if these type of PG’s play next to a player that once he gets the ball wants to start to generate, dribbling too much, calling for a pick&roll or taking to much time to score slowing the pace down, they become useless and the team does not maxify their talent..

that’s what happened to ricky rubio playing next to lavine; these 2 couldn’t play together as lavine had the ball too much in his hands and rubio could not set the tempo of the game..once lavine got injured ricky was free and exploded playing his best basketball since arriving to the league..

so no, these type of players can’t play with any player or with any style, they need to be surrounded with specific players that execute rather than generate, and players that shoot/score with medium-high efficiency; they also need the ball in their hands to set the tempo of the game and they really need to run and play at a high pace if not, you won’t get the best from them…

 

 

 

 

 

[tuck243Participant]

The only issue I have with it is Rubio’s ineffectiveness is also rooted in his inability to spread the court in the half court.  Jason Kidd had this issue as well which hindered them when they went up against teams that will slow the pace down (until he was older).   It will be essential to Zo to have his 41% from 3 in college transfer over to the NBA.   If not, he’ll have issues just like Rubio.

With that said, a lot of people focus on scoring or PnR guards.   Not realizing outside of the Cavs with Kyrie (one season and a desperation 3), there haven’t been a winning PnR PG since IT of the Pistons (maybe throw in TP that championship).   Even then I have to check to see how often they ran the PnR.   The Warriors were dead last in PnR offense last season.  Spurs ran it the middle of the pack and most of that is because of TP need for help now.   Outside of that, they rarely get into the PnR/Iso ball.   

If Lonzo and the Lakers become productive, look to see NBA teams start to draft players that play similar to him than the scoring PG.  Since the league has went away from illegal defense and technically made "ISO ball" easier to defend, they allowed for team success to overcome a single player domination.    This is one of the reasons LeBron "need" to have the best team on the court in order to win it all.   It’s why the Warriors were able to reach the Finals 2 years in a row without KD.   Klay and Draymond can’t get their own points consistently without ball rotation.     They pass the ball around and move the defense.   This what you have to do and that’s what Zo does well.     If his 3 can make it to the NBA game then look to see him being a superstar in the Jason Kidd mode.  His biggest issues are strength and defense.    I don’t need him to score on the PnR just yet.   I’m also not looking for 15-20 points a game from him.

 

 

 

  

[LazarusMunozParticipant]

 Is half the Lakers roster on the summer league team and they haven’t won a game yet? This is gonna be another long year for Laker fans

 

 

[llperez]

 Lonzo only guy considered to be in the rotation that played tonight unless zubaca or kuzma earn roles. 

[BallerScriptParticipant]

 I know "Air Ball" has been working on developing a midrange game and working on being able to score and pull up using screens but so far he has showcased absolutely nothing like that and shown no intentions to. Incredibily disappointing so far.

[drpg913Participant]

I’m very sketptical of Lonzo but he does deserve a chance to grow. Second summer league game. He’ll learn. But I do have similar concerns. I heard Magic say that they don’t need a scoring guard. But what All-Star  guard can’t go get you a bucket at will or go on a run themselves? If his 3’s don’t fall I don’t know how effective he’ll be. The passing is cool but being able to score seems to be just as important as being a great passer. 

[BallerScriptParticipant]

I agree. If he doesn’t develop into a threat to score (which he isn’t rn) he won’t be able to flourish as a playmaker. At the moment his only way to score is long open 3s and putbacks when no one boxes out. Very very talented and skilled player but he is so limited in fundamental areas that it limits his entire game.

[whiteflashParticipant]

 As someone else pointed out the majority of his assists were just basic passes to the open man who hit the shot. He still can’t get by his man, create his own shot, finish through contact, defend…. He also shot in the tthirties from the floor and in the teens from 3, and that was his GOOD game, and his team lost. He’s going to get a chance due to the all they’ve invested in him, but if this were literally ANYONE ELSE on their simmer roster he would’ve been benched and served his walking papers. That’s not hating, that’s just reality. 

 

 

[PurpleMonkeyDishwasherParticipant]

 No player in league history has made an all-star team based on summer league play.  Competition is poor and meant more for reps and introduction to pro ball or to see if a lesser known player may be able to help a team.   Ball is just hype until he proves he can play against real competition and hasn’t proven to be able to shoot thus far against lesser players.

[drpg913Participant]

 I always say it doesn’t get any easier from here especially at his position. Lillard, Westbrook (they could hide him on roberson on D), Harden, CP3, Curry(nowhere to hide against GS), Conley, Wall, Kyrie, Lowry, I.T, even the lesser guards like George Hill and Rubio will cause him trouble. Lonzo has a lot on his plate. Not only does he have to be good he has to be better than the guards drafted after him and D’angelo Russell who liked more than Lonzo coming out of college and who can score and pass.

[llperez]

I believe in Lonzo, but by no means am I ready to start predicting all star games or where he will rank among pg’s over the next few years. The position is stacked. Yes there is pressure to be good and the lakers will look bad if deangelo becomes an all-star which he very well can. But rumors well before they drafted Lonzo was the team didn’t like Russell’s locker room/leadership qualities not so much about his playing skills. Plus getting out mozgov’s deal without taking on a bad contract in return and getting Lopez in a year where you have no reason to tank since there will be no pick next year and adding another first rounder that turned into Kyle kuzma who looks really solid all factor into the Russell trade too, not just is Lonzo better.

With all the knocks on Lonzo’ shooting so far, he has been better then most expected off the dribble getting into the lane. Lots of people on here knocked his one on one skills and said his ball handling was bad but the guy has been able to get where he wants for most part even dissecting some pick and roll plays. The other thing about so, is that you don’t have to bring him in and wonder how he might take away from the development of Ingram or Randle or will he fit next to whoever they might bring in free agency. Lonzo is not a ball stopper, he will give it to open man every time. So you’re also investing in the rest of your key players when you bring him in so even if he himself isn’t an all-star, if he helps Ingram become one or helps make role players more effective around him, that’s a positive element that can’t be overlooked.

I mean look at the triple double vs Boston. The lakers were + 7 with so on court and -12 with him off. Offense just went south in a hurry without him.

[Author]

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