LaMelo Ball is one of the intriguing 2020 NBA Draft prospects in part because of his potential as a three-level scorer at 6’7. However, as gifted as a scorer as Ball has shown he can be, his shot selection is still a work in progress.
In 2016, Ball went viral because he pulled from half court during the middle of his game with Chino Hills High School and it went it. The shot clock wasn’t winding down, he didn’t have to throw up a shot from half court — he just did. Now 18 years old and a point guard for the Illawarra Hawks, that confidence hasn’t wavered, arguably to his detriment.
Through 10 games with the Hawks, Ball is averaging 14.7 points per game on 35% shooting from the field. While his lowly shooting percentage has a bit to do with the physical maturity of the player he’s going up against the NBL, his shot selection has also played a big role.
But during a film breakdown with Mike Schmitz of ESPN, Ball defended his sporadic shot selection, saying that his coach supports the shots he’s taking because he practices them.
“You know, they believe in me,” Ball told Schmitz. “Coach says, pretty much, ‘You feel like you can make it, shoot it.’ And, you know, in practice I make these and they know I practice this shot, so it’s not like I’m not practicing shooting them. That would be a different story. I understand that if I don’t practice none of that and then shoot it, that would be, like, wrong.”
Since Stephen Curry’s rise to prominence in 2014, everyone wants to shoot from the logo. In fact, we’re just now seeing the “Curry generation” of point guards enter the NBA with players like Trae Young.
The difference between Young and Ball, though, is that Young shot 36% on his 3-point attempts during his lone season at Oklahoma. Ball is shooting an abysmal 24.2%.
That’s not to say Ball shouldn’t continue to practice deep 3-balls, but it probably shouldn’t be one of his go-to shots in a competitive game — at least not right now.
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