While trading Jrue Holiday would weaken nearly every team, the addition of Eric Bledsoe as part of the return created an interesting backcourt pairing alongside incumbent Lonzo Ball. Bledsoe’s defensive credentials are on-par with Holiday and his speed adds a dynamic to the team that was not present last year.
Unfortunately, Ball and Bledsoe have struggled to spend time on the court together. Early in the preseason, a sore throat limited Ball’s availability in practice. Once he returned to the court, Bledsoe missed time due to an excused absence that took him away from the team that eventually led to him missing the first game.
Since Monday’s game, though, the two players have had time on the practice court together as they look to build chemistry heading into next week’s regular season opener.
“It’s going to take time,” Ball said. “Two different players coming together is going to need that practice and then, obviously, need some game time. We’re just happy to have him back and (we’ll) try to get things going as fast as possible.”
Van Gundy noted the two played well together in practice on Thursday, but also noted that it was a long process of not only the two players creating a bond but Bledsoe getting comfortable with the team.
“The challenge for Bledsoe is he missed so much and now he’s learning two positions so when he got taken out, we really didn’t have a lot of stuff in terms of offense and stuff and we’ve added a lot,” Van Gundy said. “It’s more just getting him caught up and, again, if it was at one position but at two positions, it’s a little bit harder but he’ll get there. I’m not worried about it. They play well together. Bledsoe gives us speed and quickness, really helps us on the defensive end of the floor and can really attack the basket so he brings a lot to the table.”
Friday will serve as the first in-game test of Bledsoe and Ball’s budding chemistry as the team takes on Milwaukee in its final preseason game.