Advertisement

Newsletter: Lakers! Luke Walton sees no problem with Lonzo Ball’s shooting form

Coach Luke Walton says he has no concerns about Lonzo Ball's shooting motion.
(Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
Share

Hi, I’m Tania Ganguli, Lakers beat writer for the L.A. Times, here with your weekly newsletter.

Since I started covering this team, I’ve been very impressed by how engaged Laker fans are at their games even when the team is struggling. Heading into Wednesday’s game against the Washington Wizards, the Lakers were 0-2 at home and seemed headed for another loss for most of the second, third and fourth quarters.

The biggest cheer of the night during that span came when the Dodgers’ Enrique Hernandez tied Game 2 of the World Series and fans at Staples Center caught wind of it. The place erupted as if something happened in the arena, confusing the heck out of the Laker girls, who were performing at the time.

Advertisement

Sign up for the Lakers! newsletter »

The Dodgers lost in extra innings, but once that game ended, the Lakers started to make their own game interesting. They joined the extra frames party, and Staples Center started to buzz again, this time for the team that was actually playing in it. The Lakers won in overtime, 102-99, and set off the purple and gold streamers at the arena for the first time this season.

As this is only our second newsletter (and first since the regular season began) we’ll introduce some weekly features. But first…

A note on Lonzo Ball’s shooting form

It worked in college.

In the spring, I asked UCLA coach Steve Alford if he ever had any concerns about Lonzo Ball’s shooting motion. He rattled off Ball’s statistics in his one season at UCLA – 55% from the field, 41% from three. He made a reference to Jim Furyk’s ugly golf swing, which gets the job done. He added: “I knew I was only gonna have [Ball] for eight months; I wasn’t going to tinker with any of that stuff. … When Lonzo goes to release the ball, he has it at the exact spot you need to have it. It’s perfect.”

With Ball shooting 35% heading into Wednesday’s game, I asked Lakers coach Luke Walton if he had any concerns about Ball’s shooting motion. He quickly said no. I asked him to explain that for people who think Ball’s unorthodox form is a problem.

Advertisement

“I’d tell them to go study Reggie Miller’s career,” Walton said. “It doesn’t look great. It can be an issue, yes. But if the ball goes in the net, which he shot over 40% from three in college, he has a track record of being a really good shooter. So for us to try to mess with it would be silly. I’m obviously not calling him Reggie Miller, but his shot probably could have been fixed by a thousand people who wanted to fix it and he is one of the greatest shooters our league has ever seen.”

That, by the way, was the second time this week that Walton compared Ball to an NBA great and preceded it with the qualifier “I’m not calling him ____.” The other player? Kobe Bryant.

Since last we talked

Julius Randle has not been starting, but his reaction to that has taken a journey: He looked disconnected in the Lakers’ first two games, and Walton noticed that too. Randle expressed frustration at his lack of minutes. Against the Pelicans, he played better. He was part of the unit that helped bring the Lakers back from a 20-plus point deficit. Against the Wizards, Randle might have been the reason the Lakers won. In fact, Walton said as much.

John Wall joined the list of people declaring confidence in the Lakers’ ability to add talented free agents soon: He told me that he doesn’t see this rebuild lasting very long for the Lakers, in part because of Ball.

Opposing point guards won’t make it easy for Ball: We also asked Wall what he thought about what Clippers point guard Patrick Beverley did to Ball in the season opener. Beverley was physical and verbal during the game, bodying up Ball constantly and shoving him once.

Advertisement

“I told him after the game, man, due to all the riff-raff his dad brings, that he’s going to get a lot of people coming at him,” Beverley said, according to our Clippers reporter Brad Turner. “He has to be ready for that, and I let him know that after the game.”

Wall’s reaction to all of that?

“That’s how Pat is,” Wall said. “Pat does the same thing to me and I’m eight years in. Pat doesn’t care who you are.”

Magic Johnson has been pulling double duty: As a minority owner of the Dodgers and the Lakers’ president of basketball operations, Johnson has tried to stay present with both teams. I chronicled his night during the Lakers’ opener, when he chose Ball’s debut over watching the Dodgers clinch a World Series berth.

Coming up

Later this week, Ball will have a back-to-back against point guards Kyle Lowry and Ricky Rubio, with Damian Lillard just around the corner.

The Lakers have said over and over again they believe Ball can handle the pressure his father puts on him by doing things like guaranteeing a win against the Wizards.

What no one’s talked much about is the domino effect that leads to a circling the wagons phenomenon with the Lakers themselves. LaVar Ball says something that annoys an opponent. That opponent claps back. The Lakers see it and get angry on Ball’s behalf. It happened Wednesday night.

Advertisement

Player to watch

Keep an eye on Josh Hart this week.

The rookie missed the season opener because of Achilles bursitis (it involves inflammation around the Achilles tendon), missed a lot of the preseason because of a hamstring injury and missed most of Summer League because of an ankle injury. He didn’t play much in the Lakers’ win in Phoenix, but became a critical part of the lineup against the Pelicans. He also made some nice defensive plays against the Wizards, notching five defensive rebounds and a steal. The Lakers drafted him for his defense, and he’s helping.

In case you missed it

Five takeaways from the 102-99 victory over Washington.

Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball continues to learn on the job.

Luke Walton wants everyone to get some time with Ball.

Advertisement

Up next

All times Pacific

Friday vs. Toronto, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday at Utah, 6 p.m.

Tuesday vs. Detroit, 7:30 p.m. NBA TV

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for future newsletters. Subscribe here, and I’ll come right to your inbox. Something else you’d like to see here? Email me. Or follow me on Twitter @taniaganguli

Advertisement