Wait for it. I'm slowly working through the list of ROYs who scored 0 points in one of their rookie games. It's not pretty company for Lonzo.
I'm not surprised by his shooting/scoring struggles. Regardless of his decent % stats in college, he was a hot and cold shooter. He needs to be tougher, both physically and mentally, though. In college he got by most of the time on natural talent but in big time games, and when he was challenged physically, he did fold at times.
Fair enough. I wonder how many of those were scoring PGs and how many were primarily facilitators. I suspect that most ROYs get the award because they are great scorers from the outset. BTW, Rubio is shooting great this season so far, 37% from 3 (5.4 attempts per game), 17 ppg. Take that for data.
Wasn't your point that Ball needs time to adjust to scoring? Maybe I'm missing that, because I don't think anyone is saying he isn't playing well at some PG things. Just that it isn't all that uncommon for a PG to do these things in their first years. ROY really has nothing to do with whether or not the PG position is a difficult transition, just pointing out that many PGs had no problem....and the list will be much bigger if we look at success of Top 5 picks by position. All you're saying about facilitators is ROY usually goes to high-scorers. That doesn't say anything about whether the facilitators have problems adjusting. Hell, I don't really even think Rubio had trouble adjusting to what he did best. He was just always bad at shooting. While Rubio is on his yearly hot streak, a plethora of internet "Rubio Has Fixed his Shot" articles incoming in ... 3 , 2 , 1 ... btw: Bev is shooting 55%. 37% in the middle of a hot streak isn't "shooting great this year." It's "he's on a hot streak."
My point was, some great PGs weren't known to be great scorers. They gradually up their scoring but were primarily facilitators throughout their careers. Few facilitating PGs were "great" at the outset. Lonzo isn't only not able to shoot. He is just not playing that well overall. Everybody knows that he can pass. But those are just flashes. He has not been consistent in being the general on the floor. That will improve through experience. I remember Jason Kidd's rookie season was viewed as somewhat of a disappointment because he was supposed to be the next big thing. He didn't do too bad and won the ROY, but still not as great as many expected.
Sorry, you can't use my ROY facts about PGs to prove your point. quit doing that... Saying some great facilitators didn't start scoring until later (when some did), doesn't mean the PG position is the second hardest position to adjust too. It is the easiest one to adjust to, imso. Often always the safest of the positions in the draft, just often not with huge upside (because of importance of height and the plethora of PGs who make it). Your seemingly absolute statements are highly debatable. It seems like you're just saying it to give Ball an excuse, like Rubio got about his scoring. But I'll tell you, in all this time of Rubio getting high accolades for facilitating with many excuses for not being an all-star like Rondo, I never once heard anyone use the excuse that PG position is the hardest to transition to, outside the Center position. It's says a lot about Father Ball, when his son is getting brand-new excuses that not even Rubio got.
I don't know if this answers your point. I counted 10 ROY PGs since 1990: Kidd: Facilitator Stoudamire: Both Iverson: Scorer Francis: Scorer Paul: Both Rose: Scorer Evans: Scorer Iring: Scorer Lillard: Scorer Carter-Williams: Facilitator Of these 10 ROY PGs, 6 of them are primarily scorers. 2 are primarily facilitators. Only Stoudamire and Paul are both good at scoring and facilitating from the beginning. My point is, there aren't many pass first PGs that are great as a rookie. Commonsense tells me that great scorers can score in any system. Facilitators need to understand the game in a more nuanced way to thrive.
You keep using Rubio as a counterexample. Even Rondo didn't get to be an all star until his 4th season. He's a better example to prove my point. A non-scoring PG takes more time to thrive.
He looks awkward af out there. He's pretty bad, and I have to say I'm excited about that. He makes Ricky Rubio look like Steph Curry.
I don't care about college and we can talk about the future in the future. But right now, this guy is ass.
Cannot believe the ESPN headlines. "Ball Facilitates Win for Lakers" My god, he was 3-15 with 7 assists and 6 points. Come on ESPN. He doesn't need to be the reason for everyone win. You are truly just trying to create a marketing attraction and brainwashing us. It's so transparent. I'm sure had Lakers actually pulled off the Portland game, he'd get a Facilitating win headline with 0 points.
I like how he thinks wins and losses are on him. He goes 6/7/5 on 3-15 shooting and he's the leader in that win? That dude thinks way too highly of himself so far. Reminds me of Lin's ego. LONZO YOU'RE 1ST IN MINUTES 8TH IN PPG. He needs to give this act a rest to make it to the next level. He's acting like Muhammed Ali but performing like Bald Bull...seems pretty badass until he charges in and you hit him in the gut. Charles Barkley railed on the guy, said he'd never be an All-Star but the media will prop him up and get a star on his chest. We know that already. They're comparing him to LeBron... gimme a ****ing break... LeBron? LeBron doesn't shoot by flicking the ball from his chest.
I haven't seen anything about him taking credit for the wins or losses. Are you blaming ESPN for writing headlines about him? Lin is also not in control what people write about him. Anywho Ball looks like a scrub right now, sort of like how we signed Brock and were forced to start him because of his contract. I can see Clarkson maybe starting over him if he doesn't improve much towards the end of the season if the Lakers are relatively close to playoffs. He can't shoot, he can't dribble, and I been watching him, his vision is overrated. He gets the ball and then just pushes it forward to another player and hope they do something with the ball. I remember his last 2 assists. He just passed the ball to Lopez in the post and he just made a nice move and got a dunk. And then his final assist was to Ingram, and he just passed it to him hoping he would do something and Ingram just drained a 3 right in front of his defender. Ball was definitely not the reason the Lakers won but they won despite him.
Brock Osweiler, sorry the Houston Texans former QB I saw him mention a loss was on him but not victories or anything else more than that, if he did then, yea you're right then.
Barkley nailed it with some of his comments. All Shaq could do was point out the Phoenix game, but someone should tell him G-League performance doesn't indicate NBA success (and Phoenix was G-League level the first 3 games). However, it's early and some rookies don't figure things out until later. I have doubts about Lonzo's upside but it's too soon to make long-term conclusions. LeBron couldn't shoot early in his career either. Lonzo's form is horrifically limiting and I'm sure he will change it eventually because there will be too much pressure on him. Will that fix the problem? It better. Unless Lonzo completely falls off a cliff and the Lakers go in the tank, no way he's removed as starter. They have too much invested in him. I've wondered why more people haven't commented on his "pass the buck" playmaking, which is no playmaking at all. Anybody can do that.
