UCLA Chinagate scandal

[iLLmatiC]

He's certainly struggling but he's going to be good IMO. He's averaging 6.6 rebounds and 7 apg as a rookie. There's a nice story on him on Yahoo today
https://sports.yahoo.com/questions-lonzo-ball-inconsistent-play-shouldnt-one-060240498.html

Nobody is saying he's the best ever except for his dad, but he's starting to shoot a little better(had 10 in the 3rd quarter last night), he's shooting just under 40% in the month of December 5 games so far.

His defense is hit or miss, he struggled with Nkitlina last night in the 4th quarter for example, yet he continues to make plays on defense, blocks shots gets steals and deflections, he's clearly improving on that end of the floor.

He's got to get stronger and work on going to his right but he's playing better. Even DeAaron Fox is struggling. Smith Jr is getting lots of PT and lots of hype for his dunks and his athleticism but even he is shooting under 40% and has 4/3 A/TO ratio and is getting absolutely brutalized on defense, when they played the Warriors they had to literally take him off the court because the Warriors were just running play after play to get Curry or Livingston on him and scoring at will. It's not easy to play PG in the NBA as a rookie.

I'm not willing to concede he'll be good yet, I need to see a lot more from him to even think that's a possibility. Full disclosure, I'm a fan of the Lakers, meaning, I'm a fan of hating the Lakers.

 

[Russ Smith]

I'm not willing to concede he'll be good yet, I need to see a lot more from him to even think that's a possibility. Full disclosure, I'm a fan of the Lakers, meaning, I'm a fan of hating the Lakers.

I actually don't like the Lakers either I'm only watching them because I'm a UCLA fan and watching Lonzo, I'm a Warriors fan.

Fox is the best defender of the 3, but he can't shoot beyond about 15 feet which is a huge issue for him now. Smith is a phenom athlete but he's really an undersized scoring guard he doesn't pass enough and he doesn't make his teammates better.

Lonzo is by far the best playmaker of the group but right now his shooting and his lack of confidence is holding him back.

He's a unique player, he's got some obvious holes he needs to fix, but IMO he's such a good passer and does so many things that impact games he's going to eventually figure it out. He's not a polished player he played in such an unusual system in HS and AAU ball he's behind the curve in playing an NBA style game, but he's getting there.

 

[iLLmatiC]

I think when it's all said and done Fox will be the better player out of the mix with Smith at 2 and Lonzo at 3. I'm not really enamored with Lonzo Ball and a lot of NBA scouts actually had him going a lot later in the draft than where the Lakers took him at. There's no killer inside Lonzo ball which is needed in the NBA, especially in today's NBA at the point guard level. His jump shot is beyond broken, there's no fixing that short of rebuilding it completely. The only great thing I've seen him do is throw outlet passes on men leaking and rebounding. He's a poor man's Rajon Rondo.

 

[Russ Smith]

I think when it's all said and done Fox will be the better player out of the mix with Smith at 2 and Lonzo at 3. I'm not really enamored with Lonzo Ball and a lot of NBA scouts actually had him going a lot later in the draft than where the Lakers took him at. There's no killer inside Lonzo ball which is needed in the NBA, especially in today's NBA at the point guard level. His jump shot is beyond broken, there's no fixing that short of rebuilding it completely. The only great thing I've seen him do is throw outlet passes on men leaking and rebounding. He's a poor man's Rajon Rondo.

I really like Fox I think he's going to be terrific but the issue he has right now is that his shot is so bad it's impacting his whole game. I live in Sacramento now so the Kings are on pretty regularly and the announcers talk about it all the time, as quick as he is, it's hard to beat a defender who's playing 5 feet off you daring you to shoot a jumper. Like Lonzo he's off to a much better start in December but the concern the Kings announcers have is his assist numbers are way down because everyone dares him to shoot. He's going to be really good because of his defense.

He got off to a really good start, then hit a wall when teams scouted him, and of late he's adjusted because he's shooting better, he's figured out with teams backing off he can get uncontested 15 footers anytime he wants and he's making them at a high enough rate it's helping. But again 2.2 APG in December in 26 MPG, that's just not good enough for a PG it's a reason he's not playing more.

But it certainly wouldn't surprise me if he winds up the best of the 3, Smith just doesn't play hard on defense he should be much better he's so athletic.

 

[iLLmatiC]

His jumper will be fine, at this point it's confidence that he's lacking and adjusting to the speed of the pro game. He has all the tools necessary to be a good player in this league, I wish the Suns would've taken him to be honest.

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[iLLmatiC]

^ He has good form and something that can be built off of. I'm no shooting coach, but minor corrections may be made without completely tearing it down.

 

[Russ Smith]

Gelo says that he only thanked Trump when UCLA told him right before the presser that he had to. Said had he known he'd wind up leaving UCLA he would have never thanked Trump

 

[Ronin]

CBS Sports NBA
@CBSSportsNBA

LiAngelo, LaMelo Ball offered roster spot by Harlem Globetrotters players: 'Forget Lithuania' (link: https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/liangelo-lamelo-ball-offered-roster-spot-by-globetrotters-players-forget-lithuania/) cbssports.com/nba/news/liang…

 

[Ronin]

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[Russ Smith]

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I think it's likely what would happen to a non athlete student in the same situation so I'm fine with it. Sucks for the team, Riley would have been a very key guy off the bench and maybe eventually the starting PF this year, but you gotta be held accountable for your actions.

Hopefully he and Hill stick it out, learn from their mistakes and learn from this.

 

[Ronin]

Thinking about starting a new thread in the smack shack labeled “Melo and Gelo “ something along those lines

https://mobile.twitter.com/GoodmanESPN

Jeff Goodman
@GoodmanESPN

Lithuanian coach who will welcome LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball in a few days told ESPN the brothers will "play a lot." -- (link: http://es.pn/2q9Ei2N) es.pn/2q9Ei2N

 

[Russ Smith]

Not that it matters but UCLA AD Dan Guerrero did an interview wtih the LA Times where he was asked directly if there was any clarity into what role Trump actually played in getting the players home. his answer was no there is no clarity. This is consistent with what's been rumored among UCLA fans since it happened, that there is absolutely no evidence the players got home quicker because of Trump, the claim seems to be they fully believed the decision had already been made and the process had already begun by releasing them from jail to the hotel, before Trump even knew about the story.

I am disappointed to hear Guerrero essentially using this as an excuse for the season though, we don't have the team we thought we'd have. That's true but only 1 of the 3 suspended was expected to play much at all, the problem on this team is lack of guards and that has nothing to do with Chinagate.