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One of the major talking points about LaMelo Ball coming into the draft, much like his older brother Lonzo, was his unorthodox jumper. Though not as wild as Lonzo’s shot was coming out of UCLA, LaMelo’s shot was a talking point.
After keeping his jumper the same through his first two seasons with varied success, Lonzo changed his form in New Orleans and saw terrific results. Last season, Lonzo shot 37.5% from three after being just a 31.5% three-point shooter in the two years prior.
Hornets head coach James Borrego was asked about Ball’s jumper after Charlotte selected Ball with the No. 3 pick in Wednesday’s draft. Ball’s new head coach was impressed by Ball’s confidence in his shot.
“What I saw in his workout, obviously I’ve studied the film, he’s a confident kid,” Borrego said. “Number one, shooting is about confidence. There’s things that you can change about his shot and we’ll talk about that as we go but number one is confidence and the kid shoots with extreme confidence. Shot selection is something that I think I can help him with and we’re going to help him with.
“I have no worries that we can’t get him where we need to (be) shot-wise,” he added. “He’s a confident kid and he wants to work at his craft. This is a guy that’s committed to his craft. If you do that in our program, you’re going to get better.”
Ball certainly struggled shooting the ball in Australia. Over 12 games, he shot just 25.0% from three on 6.7 attempts per game. From the field as a whole, Ball shot just 37.7% on 16.2 attempts per contest. At times during his season with Illawarra, Ball made subtle changes to his shot, at times shooting more of a set shot in hopes of breaking out of his slump.
But Borrego is not only confident in Ball and his shot but also in his staff to bring make the subtle changes needed to his jumper.
“After watching him last week, I feel very comfortable with him as a shooter,” Borrego said. “That’s only going to improve in our program. Just like all of our guys, he’s got a development program that we’re going to be committed to. He’s going to grow, his body’s going to change. He’s got to get stronger, more physical and he’s going to do that. He’s committed to his craft.”
With NBA-level coaching around him, LaMelo could very well see similar improvements made to his jumper that Lonzo saw as well which could greatly unlock his game. What won’t be up for debate is whether LaMelo will work hard enough to fix his jumper.
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