Tag: Matt Flinn

Face-to-face meeting between front office, LaMelo Ball led to Illawarra signing

A recent piece on LaMelo Ball’s signing with the Illawarra Hawks revealed the details of a face-to-face meeting between Ball and the team.

LaMelo Ball’s signing with National Basketball League side Illawarra was forecasted, at least in some capacity, many weeks in advance. All signs from the Ball camp pointed to LaMelo signing with either an Australian side or a Chinese side.

While Australia was always an option, Illawarra was not. Hawks owner Simon Stratford had to be convinced of bringing in Ball. Part of the convincing process, though, involved a cross-country flight to meet with Ball face-to-face.

In a recent profile on Ball in the Daily Telegraph in Australia, the recruiting process for Ball and the Hawks was made known. Along with general manager Mat Campbell and head coach Matt Flinn, Stratford made the 17-hour flight to Las Vegas to meet with Ball. The one-hour meeting with Ball and handler and mentor Jermaine Jackson.

In the meeting, the two sides talked about their respective goals and future plans and whether the plans overlapped. Stratford detailed the Hawks’ plan and pitch to Ball in the piece.

“LaMelo’s goal was to become No. 1 in the NBA draft, so we wanted to help him but there would be no preferential treatment,” Stratford said. “I wanted him to buy in to the team mentality. He isn’t just an individual and it isn’t only about him. We haven’t employed him to go, ‘This is the LaMelo Ball show.’ You are going to be expected to work and train hard. There will be no doing your own thing and showing up late.

LaMelo was awesome and from our meeting he changed my mind. He proved to me he was someone that I wanted around the club.”

Clearly, the move has paid off for both sides. Ball has been a huge success for Illawarra on and off the court. While the Hawks sit at the bottom of the table in the league, Ball has been the bright spot and the MVP of the team this season.

Ball has further strengthened his case for being the No. 1 pick this season while buying into the team mentality that Stratford mentioned while Illawarra has become a far more mentioned name in the basketball world this season. In all, it’s been a clear win-win for both sides.

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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