The Big Ball Theory

We'll see. If Steve Alford thinks Melo makes his team better he'll deal with a lot of bullshit. The Balls may think they can do this on their own, which seems silly.

 

Have you watched a Laker game in the last month? Not only can the oldest ball not shoot, he is soft. His body language is terrible. He lets guys punk him on the court. Some no-name Denver Nugget punked him at the end of a game on Saturday night. And he doesn't fight back. Despite what hey Abbott says, the NBA is a kill-or-be-killed league. Ball looks like a baby water buffalo on the Serengeti plain with alpha predator lions nearby.

 

Oh, please. UCLA does not want him any more. Note this line from that ESPN piece:

"LaMelo verbally committed to attend UCLA in two years. However, a source at UCLA told ESPN's Arash Markazi that this is probably the end for the Ball family at the school."

And I doubt Lavar will want him there either given all this. And, on top of that, there's the strong possibility that he won't even be eligible to play college basketball due to exceedingly blatant violations of its amateurism rules.

Give it up, Lamelo ain't gonna be a Bruin.

 

Lonzo's shot is butt-ugly. He's also 8th in the league in assists and damn near leading his team in rebounds. He's barely a month into his rookie year. Let's not write the career obit just yet.

LaMelo has a Lamborghini. Not sure how that's a sign that the Grand Experiment is blowing up.

Gelo... yeah, prospects aren't great there.

 

He's also not playing basketball at all this year. And what got him the Lamborghini probably precludes him from being able to play college basketball.

Was the point of the experiment merely to get a 16 year old a Lamborghini, or does it have anything to do with actually playing basketball?

 

Remember when markelle fultz started the season with a bum shoulder and was shooting terribly until they finally shut him down? Lonzo's shooting numbers are worse than markelle's.

 

He's not playing high school basketball, which in the grand scheme of things doesn't mean shit.

And again -- if the NCAA wants to make an issue of LaMelo and the Balls fight it, the NCAA will lose. I don't think the NCAA will do a damn thing. Doesn't mean LaMelo will play college ball, but it won't be because of his dad's business.

And if the Balls' approach means they can afford a Lambo for a 16 year old, I don't think it's quite a disaster. They seem to be doing OK.

 

Do you work for LaVar?

 

Lonzo's numbers: 31% from the field, 25% from three point range. But, the one that really sticks out to me: 50% from the free throw line, but more importantly 32 attempts in 23 games. That tells me, 1) he can't shoot, but more importantly 2) he is soft and doesn't challenge the defense to the hole. For an NBA point guard to have less than 1.5 FT attempts per game is pretty damn near impossible.

Maybe I'll be proved wrong. Maybe he is Jason Kidd, based on the stat compares I've hear thrown out. But I'll stand by he's going to be a major, major bust. Quote this for posterity.

 

I mean, what am I saying that isn't obvious?

I think LaVar is a blowhard and he makes a lot of dumb decisions. I also find him entertaining.

Do you think being able to afford a Ferrari for Gelo and a Lambo for Melo is a sign that the business is failing? Because it implies to me that they are doing OK. Those cars are kind of expensive.

And again: do you think the NCAA is really going to claim that Melo is ineligible because his dad has a shoe business? I do not. I think the NCAA would rather pick a fight it has a chance of winning.

 

Yeah athletes who get multi-million dollar contracts and spend like the money will never run out always end up fine.