Los Angeles Lakers: How Lonzo Ball can take the next step in his development

Taking a close look at how Los Angeles Lakers budding star Lonzo Ball can take the next step in his development

Lonzo Ball, a once highly touted UCLA product, was struggling.

There weren’t many times you’d see Ball miss both of his shot attempts for a final line of zero points with three rebounds and four assists as he did on November 2nd. Up until this year, he hadn’t faced adversity.

Pac-12 Freshman Player of the Year. First Team All-American. Naismith Boy High School Player of the Year.

Stephen A. Smith was one of many critics, at one point calling his shot “ugly” and pointing to his “absence of aggressive and assertiveness”. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the whole story in regards to Lonzo’s struggles as Lakers head coach Luke Walton used him off the ball.

In Walton’s offense, Lonzo, a point guard, dribbled the basketball up to the 3-point line and passed the ball to a teammate standing at the top of the key. After the teammate received the basketball, he gave the ball to a second teammate standing on the wing. The second teammate called for a screen to be set to begin the process of the pick-and-roll.

Once the pick was established, the second teammate paid attention to his defender to determine the course of action. If the defender stayed under the screen, he either shot the ball immediately or went over the screen to shoot a mid-range jumper. If the defender fought over the screen, he would go over it as well and drive towards the basket to score or pass the basketball. The offensive system effectively forced Lonzo to be off the ball, nullifying his passing ability.

According to NBA.com Lonzo had a usage rate of 17.2 during his rookie season. Basketball-Reference states that usage rate is an estimated “percentage of team plays used by a player while he was on the floor”. Ball used 18.9 percent less of team plays than the league leader James Harden.

More from Sir Charles In Charge

More importantly, there were instances where the Los Angeles Lakers decided to run some post-ups. The post-ups meant that Ball had spent more time without the basketball, minimizing his impact on games.

Here, Lonzo would dribble the basketball up to the 3-point line and pass the ball to a teammate who was posting up in the mid to low block. Once the teammate received the ball, he would try to back the defender with one of his shoulders to get within a comfortable range to shoot a jump hook, turn around jumper, layup or dunk. T

here were also times where, after the teammate received the basketball, Lonzo would pass the ball to a second teammate standing on the wing. The second teammate would then dump the ball into the mid to low block to restart the process of shooting a jump hook, turn around jumper, layup or dunk.

The offense forced Ball into the role that Ricky Rubio has been in for his entire career, a 3-point shooter. According to Basketball-Reference, Ball took 5.7 3’s per game which ended up being 50 percent of his shots. He also only made 1.7 out of the 5.7 3’s he took every game which is 30.5 percent.

He played a similar role at UCLA, but the main difference was the distance of the 3-point line. The college 3-point line is 20.9 feet while the NBA 3-point line is 23.9 feet at the top and 22 feet in the corners. The shorter distance allowed him to make 2.2 out of the 5.4 3’s he took every game which is 41.2 percent.

The only thing that currently stands between Ball and big-time success is the offensive system he is playing in. According to Draft Express, Ball:

"“showed he has the vision, timing, accuracy, and overall foundation to eventually make every read necessary at the NBA level.”"

An offensive system where he initiates the pick-and-roll would accentuate his strength, passing. Starting the pick-and-roll sequence would allow Ball to study the opposing defense to determine what is the right play on a specific possession.

In that offensive system, Ball can bring the ball up to the 3-point line and call for a screen. Once the pick is set, Lonzo can pay attention to his defender to determine the course of action. If the defender stays under the screen, he can either shoot the ball immediately or go over the screen to shoot a mid-range jumper. If the defender fights over the screen, he can go over it as well and drive towards the basket to score or pass the basketball depending on whether a double team comes.

In the few games, he had the chance to initiate the pick-and-roll this year you saw the potential for Ball in this level of play. Against the New Orleans Pelicans earlier this year, Brook Lopez set a rare screen for him midway through the fourth quarter. Once it was established, he saw Jrue Holiday fight over the screen which is a direct signal to attack the basket.

As he started to attack the basket, Lonzo realized that DeMarcus Cousins decided to stay back and defend him instead of following Brook to about the free throw. Therefore, he decided to pass the ball to Lopez who was left open. Brook made the shot to cut the deficit down to 16 points, but the team ended up losing the game by seven points.

The pick-and-roll is the key. It was the primary catalyst behind Steve Nash winning both of his NBA MVP’s with the Phoenix Suns from 2005 to 2006.

Must Read: NBA Free Agency: Ranking the top 35 free agents of the 2018 offseason

It was what helped James Harden become the leading candidate to win the award this season. Imagine what could be for Ball.