The basketball world expects a lot of LaMelo Ball, the minute it was announced he was signed as an Illawarra Hawk as a part of Australia’s next-stars program… we all thought he would set the world on fire.
There has been much talk of the first four games of his career and how he has at times, looked a little disorientated and selfish with ball in hand. There has been suggestion he has been playing more so for promotion than what he actually deserves.
He has played major minutes thus far, averaging 32.3 minutes per game… which would be a lot for any player, let alone a first-year. He has started on all four occasions.
To this point in his four games he averages 4.5 field goals made, 2.25 free throws made, 0.50 three points made and has made a total of 21 steals, seven assists and 47 points overall. For any other eighteen year old this would be considered a solid start to their career, but for LaMelo Ball it is deemed ‘mediocre’.
It is stunning the amount of heat he is getting, one poor possession and the basketball world is on his case. It may be because of the future he is bound to have, but any athlete struggles to get to their peak until the age of at least 25, bearing in mind there are always exceptions to the rule. He is a young man and still has so much learning to do, he is not going to be elite just yet.
Forget the fact one day he will more than likely be a top three draft pick, forget the fact he will soon be in the NBA, forget one day he could be on the same level of some of the NBA’s greatest talents… he is an eighteen year old kid who is still learning his craft, Rome was not invented in a day.
It is a fair statement if a player’s on-court performance is not there, they should be benched. But it needs to be taken into account what is at stake for LaMelo Ball. Every possession he makes, he will have NBA affiliates analysing him, criticising him, judging his every move.
The mental pressure that would put on anyone is crazy to fathom, let alone someone who is only just of legal age (in Australia).
With ball-in-hand, LaMelo is very clean and crisp. He rarely wastes a possession and his impact on the game is rarely ineffective. For the most part he has been impressive, the hype has been immense and it’s been remarkable how calm he has been through it all.
He does at times seem a little ‘hero-like’ in his possession, taking low percentage attempts and does tend to ball watch a fair bit, but what eighteen year old doesn’t?
Not just Illawarra fans, but basketball fans in general need to be careful not to put too much pressure on him. We all expect the world of him and forgetting he is a normal human who is bound to make mistakes both on and off the court, we need to be patient.
As great as it would be to see LaMelo Ball stay in the NBL, it is almost certain he will not be in Australia for any longer than the 2019/20 season and will soon be entering the greatest league in the world.
There will be even more pressure on him to perform, is that such a good thing for him? The NBL media attention is minuscule compared to that of the NBA, keep that in mind.
Time will tell, but we’ll enjoy him while we still have him.
All the best LaMelo!