Tag: Cairns Taipans

Tim Coenraad says LaMelo Ball has surpassed expectations with Illawarra Hawks

LaMelo Ball’s teammate, Tim Coenraad, spoke highly of Ball’s constantly improving play for the Illawarra Hawks this season.

LaMelo Ball has exceeded expectations in the National Basketball League in many ways. In terms of production, after a slow start, he has more than come around, culminating in his recent historic triple-double. Off the court, he has drawn an international audience and repeatedly broken attendance and viewership records.

One of the less-discussed areas of improvement for Ball has been in his mental approach to the game. After years of playing in disorganized leagues and without having to run any sort of system offensively or defensively, Ball has been forced to adapt with the Illawarra Hawks.

Following his 30-point triple-double on Monday, teammate Tim Coenraad brought up Ball’s progression in that area and how impressed he was with it.

“He hasn’t really played any structured basketball. He’s 18 years old and he’s coming into a league that’s really well-scouted. Everyone pretty much knows what everyone’s running and you have to make adjustments. I think one of the things that he’s shown that I think has surpassed all our expectations is his ability to learn on the fly.

Compare him at the start of the season compared to now, it’s 10 times the better player cereberally with his mindset. For an 18 year old kid, that’s pretty impressive.”

Ball’s ability to absorb the information about these systems and learn on the fly shows how high his basketball IQ is. It’s one of the more underrated aspects of his game and more of a sign of how successful he could be at the next level.

On a game-to-game basis, Ball has improved on both ends of the floor, which shows not only an improving understanding of what’s happening on the court but a willingness to learn as well, which is just as important. With that as well, Ball will only continue to improve as he grows more and more comfortable in the league, meaning even bigger heights could be in store for he and the Hawks.

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Matt Flinn on LaMelo Ball’s triple-double: ‘It’s exciting to be a part of’

After LaMelo Ball’s historic triple-double on Monday against Cairns, Matt Flinn reflected on Ball’s incredible performance.

No person has been a stronger public supporter of LaMelo Ball during his time in the National Basketball League than his head coach Matt Flinn. In his first year as a head coach, the Illawarra Hawks’ main man has thrown his full support behind his Next Star despite his struggles to open the year.

Ball made good on Flinn’s high praise early in the year with a historic performance on Monday, becoming the youngest player in league history to record a triple-double. Ball finished with 32 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in an overtime win over the Cairns Taipans.

After the game, Flinn talked about Ball’s historic performance in his post-game press conference.

“I think everyone saw tonight what he’s capable of. We see it pretty regularly in practice when the doors are closed. It was really nice for him to get into a flow. He just impacts the game in so many different ways. It’s exciting to be a part of. It’s also the way he brings his teammates into the game as well. There’s so many good players in this league but the really great ones make everyone around them better. I think we saw tonight he can bring other people into the game.”

Ball has continued to improve game by game in the NBL and has really hit his stride in the weeks since Aaron Brooks’ injury. He’s also helped slowly drag the Hawks back up the table.

The win over the Taipans moves them off the bottom of the table at least in the short-term and within two wins of a top-four spot. It’s still a long road but with Ball steadying improving, anything feels possible with the Hawks moving forward.

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LaMelo Ball becomes youngest player in NBL history to record triple-double

LaMelo Ball became the youngest player in NBL history to record a triple-double on Sunday, scoring 32 points in an overtime win over Cairns.

LaMelo Ball had the best game of his professional career on Sunday and made history, yet again, in the process. On a night punctuated by his overtime-forcing three-pointer at the end of regulation, LaMelo Ball became the youngest player in National Basketball League history to record a triple-double.

Ball finished his spectacular night with 32 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the field and 4-of-7 shooting from three-point territory to go along with 13 assists, 10 rebounds and just two turnovers in the win. And he did it all at just 18 years old. The Hawks would dominate the extra session with Ball leading the way both scoring and setting up teammates as Illawarra picked up its third win of the season, 114-106.

Ball notched his triple-double midway through the fourth quarter with lob at the rim to AJ Ogilvy for his 10th assist.

Ball’s overtime session saw him build off his clutch three-pointer with an emphatic finish at the rim to literally punctuate his strong game.

Over his last five games, Ball is now averaging 21.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 7.8 assists while shooting 14-of-37 (37.8 percent) from beyond the arc.

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WATCH: LaMelo Ball forces overtime with clutch three-pointer

In a historic 30-point triple-double on Sunday, LaMelo Ball’s biggest moment came on a clutch three-pointer to force overtime.

LaMelo Ball continues to find his groove in the National Basketball League and continues to one-up his performances in the process. In Sunday’s contest against the Cairns Taipans, LaMelo Ball had a historic night, becoming the youngest player in league history to record a triple-double.

But that wasn’t his only highlight of the night. Despite leading for much of the contest, the Hawks found themselves down late. After a late steal and pass that led to a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to three points, Ball hit the biggest bucket of his season.

The Next Star took a feed from Sunday Dech in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter and splashed home a three-pointer with 5.0 seconds left, eventually forcing overtime.

The basket was the 28th points of Ball’s historic night and none were bigger on the night. After his slow start to the season, Ball has found his groove and is showing out, strengthening his case to be the top pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Matt Flinn on LaMelo Ball’s breakout game: ‘Everyone saw tonight what we see in practice.’

LaMelo Ball had his best game of the season on Saturday and head coach Matt Flinn was highly complimentary of his guard afterward.

After weeks turning into even months of struggling in the National Basketball League, LaMelo Ball pieced together a full 40 minutes last week, leading to a star-like stat line of 24 points, eight assists and six rebounds in 32 minutes of play in the Hawks win over Cairns.

While Ball showed his ability in flashes during the season, he had been unable to piece together a full contest. On Saturday, that finally changed as the young guard showed all of his skills in the win.

Illawarra head coach Matt Flinn continued his tradition of complimenting Ball after wins in his post-game press conference.

“Everyone saw tonight what we see in practice. He’s very talented and he gets talked about in the draft circles for a reason because he can do things and get to spaces on the floor that some others can’t. He’s been challenged a lot in this league with his handles and a lot of people have tried to get after him and he keeps ticking those boxes. I was more pleased tonight, we know what we can do offensively, but I was more pleased tonight the way he locked into the defensive scout and showed he can play legitimate minutes and guard some quality players.”

Flinn has talked repeatedly about Ball’s skills and the flashes he showed in practice. Ball finally was able to make good on those high praises on the big stage. The key for Ball moving forward will be building off this performance. Matters will only get tougher for Illawarra as they meet the Sydney Kings who sit top of the table in the NBL.

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Matt Flinn shoots down rumors of early NBL exit for LaMelo Ball

With questions circulating about LaMelo Ball’s future with the club, Matt Flinn addressed the matters on Saturday following the Hawks’ win.

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Last week, questions began circulating about LaMelo Ball’s future with the Illawarra Hawks. Starting with a fairly innocuous statement made during a TV show, the reports swirled about whether Ball would stay with a struggling Illawarra side even through Christmas.

While the reports never had any true legs, Hawks head coach Matt Flinn was forced to address the matter in his post-game press conference after Saturday’s win over Cairns.

“As far as I’m concerned, he’s contracted for the season. He’s buying in like every other player we’ve got. I hear speculation but we just treat it day by day. You saw a guy tonight who’s really invested in his team. If you go down and sit in the locker room, you’ll see a kid who is really invested in his teammates. I can’t really comment on that.”

The belief is that, with the Hawks struggling mightily this season and Ball’s draft status set in stone, the risk of an injury could outweigh the benefits of hanging around in Australia for the rest of a lost season. Ball has drawn plenty of praise from DraftExpress in his short time in the National Basketball League.

The counter-argument would be that Ball is still growing as a player and, while his draft status may be more certain, he’s still a player learning while on the court. Ball started slow this regular season but has come on in recent contests, highlighted by his best outing of the season against the Taipans.

Even more, the perception of Ball would take another big hit if he bailed on the first true professional league he’s played in and the first true team environment he’s been apart of. While all the reports of Ball have been glowing, like in the quote above, having him leave halfway through the season would certainly be a public relations hit.

In the end, it’d be surprising if Ball left Illawarra prior to the end of the season. While the season has been a rough one for the team, Ball has been nothing but committed to the Hawsk the season from the outside looking in.

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