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Photo: AFP – Scanpix, Fotodiena.lt/BasketNews.lt illustration
AFP photo – Scanpix, Fotodiena.lt/BasketNews.lt illustration
LaMelo Ballas has been well known to Lithuanians since 2018, when he represented the then team Prienai-Birštonas Vytautas.
A proud and cheeky 16 year old who came to deceive me. This young man probably remembers this and other similar epithets in Lithuania. He is now one of the most promising talents in the NBA and the third rookie retirement. So how is Prienai LaMelo, 16, different from the current one in Charlotte?
The main and probably essential difference is that LaMelo has been dreaming of the NBA since he was a kid, when Lithuania was probably last on the teen list. This was also demonstrated by body language, nightly communication with friends in the USA, and in the end, conflicts with coach Virginijus Šeškus were not avoided either.
However, there was no shortage of episodes in which Ballas demonstrated his potential.
One of the most memorable is the LKL’s duel with champion Kaunas “Žalgiris”, when he scored four intermittent 3s in the one-minute stretch and thus played the best match of the local championships.
The fans gathered at the Prienai Stadium were also forced to go through LaMelo transfers and the forays into the basket were completed successfully. So what is the current situation in the Hornets club?
One of the most unexpected things about the similarities between LaMelo’s versions of Prienai and Charlotte is the almost identical throw of the basketball player. Yet the grid of such adventures is dissected: Ballo’s 3-point hit in the NBA is 33 percent. It could be better, but it is not a tragic goal.
Selecting some pitches also occasionally causes a scratch on the head. While there aren’t many such pitches, Ballas doesn’t hesitate to scrub the 3s through his hands, despite having 10 seconds or more left until the end of the 24-second timer.
In some cases, however, these pitches dissect the grid like nothing else.
Looking back on Prienai’s times, little has changed on the penalty line. In Lithuania, 71% of LaMelo fines were carried out. accuracy (30 of 42), in Australia 72%. (34 of 47) and 69 percent in the NBA. (20 of 29)
The most polished aspect of the 19th anniversary game seems to be the development of the game. Ballas, often pushing under the basket, often creates situations that could end alone, but chooses to drop the ball to a close teammate and is left with points under the basket.
LaMelo has also shown moments where he uses a potential pass as bait to lure in a defender only to make an even better pass to his teammates. The 203cm height of the Ballo is also useful – the long arms generally help avoid the claws of rival defenders.
And of course most of the episodes on the prettiest lists include Ballo’s passes all over the field, allowing the attack to begin and at the same time finish it in just a few seconds.
“It’s not easy to play him because you don’t know what to expect,” teammate PJ Washington said of LaMelo. – It can be transmitted through the head, through the back or simply directly to the hands. With him on the field he must always be active and ready to receive the ball. It’s always fun to play with guys like that. “
The ability to create a ball game is also supported by statistics. Despite the game starting from the bench and playing an average of 24 minutes, LaMelo picks up after 5.9 assists and, according to this indicator, is behind the main player of the team Devonte Graham in the ranks of the Hornets.
This is the best score among all reserve basketball players, and in the entire NBA, LaMelo ranks in the top 20 in terms of number of assists delivered.
Basketball players on rival camps have no regrets about Ball.
“He’s a tall player who makes great passes and fights for the balls,” Atlanta Hawks leader Trae Young said. “With each game, everything will get easier for him.”
The number of errors should not be missed. So far, Ballo has a 2.3 average in this category and is first on the Hornets.
Most likely interweave LaMelo’s work on defense, where the potential, as well as the room for improvement, is wide.
The ball often gets stuck in the barriers, allowing opponents to make free throws, and it is more difficult to deal with more agile defenders, who often leave the 19-year-old behind in the first step.
However, good physical data has its own advantages. Ballas, who reads the game quite well, takes an average of 1.5 balls per game (third result for the Hornets club) and therefore often leads the team to quick attacks.
It is true that Ballas in such situations does not prevent abuses and there are cases when he tries to cut the pass in practically impossible situations, which costs a lost position in defense and greatly facilitates the work of opponents in attack.
There are also some flaws in self defense. Although the aforementioned lack of speed puts his foot on the ground, Ballas has shown episodes in which he successfully blocks opponents to the penalty area and thus forces them to throw the ball to other players. So it all depends on desire and effort, but LaMelo also has potential on his side of the field.
However, on the NBA fields you can see the same 16-year-old LaMelo de Prienai, who did not shy away from playing on the field. One of those episodes is a duel with the Pelicans, when at the end of the game, Ballas passed the ball to Bismack Biyombo, who had to throw an extremely awkward pitch, 24 hours before the end of time.
So what is Ballu missing the most? Stability.
In LaMelo’s debut game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, he missed all five pitches and ran out of points, becoming the first rookie from such a high-calling roster to score.
However, already in the tenth game of his career, LaMelo scored 22 points (6/8 doubles, 3/5 trit., 1/2 penalty), 12 rebounds and 11 assists, making him the triple basketball player. -youngest double in NBA history.
“The 19-year-old rookie shouldn’t look like that,” the Hornets boss said. coach James Borrego. “What we see is a very rare case.”
Such oscillations can be explained by a lack of elementary experience. In Lithuania, LaMelo played a total of 17 matches (including the BBB tournament), followed by a stint in the JBA league at the training level and finally moved on to the Australian Championship, where Ballas appeared on the floor in twelve matches.
So the reality is that LaMelo is still a pretty green basketball player, and his situation can be compared to Golden State Warriors rookie James Wiseman. This 19-year-old came to the NBA after playing just three games in the NCAA League.
Already on Thursday, the forward scored 20 points, but this was followed by performances of 4, 6 or 8 points, which were not without errors.
His teammate Gordon Hayward gave an extremely accurate description of Ball.
“I told him I’d forget the game,” Hayward said after Ballo’s first game. – Some days it will look like diamonds, others, stones, but I completely trust LaMelo. I think he will be a great player in this league for many years to come. “
At least for now, Ballas is still that uncut diamond that will one day look like a gravel stone, but the essential difference is that he demonstrates great elements of the game even in the strongest league in the world.
Expecting LaMelo to be the best basketball player of his generation would probably be too high, but the start of the NBA season justifies the buzz around him and the claim that he is the most promising of the three Brothers Balls.
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