The Functional Flair of LaMelo Ball (Unfinished)
Detailing how the Hornets' sophomore point guard utilizes an exhilarating skill set to create offense for teammates
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Just over 15 months ago, the Charlotte Hornets spent their third overall pick on the polarizing LaMelo Ball. Since that franchise-altering moment, LaMelo has won Rookie of the Year, established himself as arguably the game’s best passer, and just played in his first all-star game.
Despite not yet being of legal drinking age, LaMelo has found a way to lead a Hornets offense that ranks 5th in the league in efficiency per Cleaning the Glass. To this point, he’s averaged 19.0 PPG and 7.7 APG on 53.5 TS%. His 85.7 touches per game rank 8th in the NBA, but the way in which he creates offense from these touches is unconventional, yet magnificent, with much room to improve.
Pushing the Pace
In basketball, the best offense comes against unset defenses. Proactively creating transition opportunities to get early high-value chances against these defenses has always been a staple for many of the game’s greatest offenses. It’s what made Magic Johnson’s Lakers “showtime”, and why Nash’s Suns were “7 seconds or less”. In today’s game, nobody pushes the pace as LaMelo Ball does for the Hornets.
Whether it be off a turnover, rebound, outlet, or inbound, LaMelo is always looking to get the ball down the court and punish retreating defenses. As a result, Charlotte has boasted the best transition offense in the league this season, ranking first in points added through transition per possession as well as being the only offense top 4 in both transition frequency and efficiency (Cleaning the Glass).
There are players and teams who take advantage of transition opportunities they find themselves in, and then there are others who take advantage of speed, vision, and audacious passing to hunt these opportunities.
The flair immediately jumps out, but these plays delightfully display the easiest offense that can be generated in basketball.
In addition to being tall and fast, many absurdities in LaMelo Ball’s game contribute to his mastery running the ‘break. He has a constant sense of where the other nine guys on the court are as if he sees the floor from a birds-eye view. His court-mapping also leads to an uncanny understanding of where open space lies, which becomes extra lethal in spacious transition situations. He leads teammates into exploitable pockets of space with passes and creates said space with deception and movement patterns.
On this fastbreak, LaMelo decelerates a bit not only to get CJ McCollum to commit to him but also to give Miles Bridges time to get into a better scoring position. This forces Anfernee Simons to retreat from the middle of the paint to account for Bridges, breaking the paint wide-open for the floor-running PJ Washington. I’ll get more into LaMelo’s deliveries a little later, but what must immediately be noted is the fact that he gives no indication of when, if at all, he is going to make that pass, minimizing reaction time for the defense.
LaMelo uses his abilities to create a plethora of opportunities for trailing teammates in transition. He weaponizes space between the trailer and defenders by occupying it himself, becoming a barrier that gives shooters space to shoot and give drivers creases to attack.
Players without the ball get open when their defenders are fulfilling other obligations. Defenders rotating off their man to play help defense is the most blatant example of this, but lapses in focus can also be forced and punished. LaMelo thrives at commanding attention in fast-paced scenarios with the paths he takes. Defenses are already disoriented, and his speed gives little time to make decisions. Here, driving directly at a backpedaling Avery Bradley allows Gordon Hayward to slip right behind him for an open rim attempt.
Probing in transition to distract a defender from their responsibility to pick up a trailer, then delivering the ball and cutting off a potential closeout? Perfect.
Just to emphasize the frequency at which he creates offense in transition, here’s LaMelo creating 15 good transition opportunities for teammates during a singular game against the Pacers on January 26th. The impact of this aspect of his game cannot be overstated.
Succeeding Against Set Defenses
Despite Charlotte running the break more often than anybody, roughly 80% of their possessions still come in half-court settings. LaMelo isn’t quite the level of creator in the half-court as he is in transition, but he remains nothing short of elite.
Getting Downhill
The base for most top halfcourt creators is their ability to create advantages by forcing the defense into rotation. LaMelo’s has demonstrated considerable improvement as an advantage creator throughout this season, particularly by getting downhill. Over the course of his last 10 games, he ranks 9th in the NBA with 18.4 drives per game, up from 13.1 drives per game in his first 35 games (22nd in the NBA during that span).
LaMelo doesn’t quite have the despotic handle of a Shai Gilegous-Alexander, nor the castigating explosiveness of a Ja Morant. Instead, he resorts to mixing tactical off-arm usage and speed with unorthodox power generation to turn the corner on defenders. LaMelo can astonishingly generate forward momentum from bizarre shin angles, allowing him to immediately change his course of direction from east-west to north-south.
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Also note his off-arm usage, setting up of screens, and lateral speed to gain initial separation as well as his stride length once propelled forward.
Despite his proficiency, such a demanding and precise way of getting downhill leaves little margin for error. Lengthy defenders who can cover ground aren’t always left in the dust by LaMelo’s straight-line speed, even with his abrupt change-of-direction.
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Continuing to tighten and diversify his handle will allow LaMelo to create direct driving angles when he cannot simply get around defenders. It isn’t something he’s been great at to this point, but there are plenty of flashes.
LaMelo is also just a mere 180-pounds, bumps affect him a lot. He does what he can with his off-arm to try to eliminate them, but there’s only so much he can do. These deficiencies often lead to a more contact-averse approach from him and drives then fizzling out with no advantage created. A little bit more strength, stability, and physicality will go a long way for LaMelo.
The Passing
The way in which LaMelo gets the ball to his teammates is best described as sorcerous. Regardless of where he is in his dribble/gather motion or the direction he’s moving in, he crafts ways to deliver the ball rapidly and accurately to teammates with opportunity. This brilliance could be explained by his height, wingspan, vision, creativity, touch, etc., but there is little explanation for stuff like this:
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Whether it be with his eyes or a wind-up motion, LaMelo rarely gives any prior indication of a pass about to be made, let alone the ‘where?’ and the ‘how?’. This sudden and sporadic approach rids the defense of the crucial reaction and recovery time needed to diminish offensive advantages. But reaction and recovery time is not only key for a defense in rotation, LaMelo’s instant deliveries create offense for teammates by capitalizing on natural shifts, milliseconds of ball-watching, or simply the inevitable holes in a defense. Playing defense against LaMelo is dire given that the slightest misstep can be catastrophic.
The creativity fueling his deliveries is probably what LaMelo is known for. He takes his height and length and creates passing windows when they absolutely should not exist. He can make use of windows in both time and space that few have ever been able to.
I apologize…
I despise the approach I took to write this article, and I need to move on from it. This article is unfinished, but I want to get out whatever I spent my time on rather than simply discarding it. I’ll alter my approach, and get more content out soon. All feedback is appreciated!