Charlotte Hornets, guard of LaMelo Ball, appeared in the first half of the season, as one of the main spies and a big reason for that success is the improvements that seem to have been made every night on the court.
Playing Ball this season has led many to change their mind about his overall game. While fans would have to change course, the players themselves would have to do the same with the Golden State Warriors on the latest Draymond Green to offer Ball a compliment.
Ball, through 36 games played, gets an average of 15.6 points, 6.4 assists, six rebounds and 1.6 steals per game. He was twice named Rookie of the Month at the Eastern Conference this season and appears to be the starter for Rookie of the Year.
Hornets head coach James Borrego on Saturday spoke about his progress.
He has improved in every district since the day he came here. I think now that he’s comfortable with his players and the system, it’s all about controlling the game. I think a lot of his success early in the season and his play was built off of just instinct just the way he plays as a basketball player.
But now, he’s starting to think about the game, think about time, position, who needs a touch, who needs a call and he’s starting to become more of a game manager than just the player of the game. That has been great for us and that is probably the biggest step you will see the rest of the journey this season.
Towards the end of the first half of the season, Ball was sent to the starting line-up with the Hornets dealing multiple injuries. With the Hornets now completely healthy, the Ball team decided to keep in touch with the starters because of his strong play.
It seems that the decision to keep a Member in the starting line would be a little easier with the progress he is making on the defensive end of the floor. The team sometimes had to keep him off the floor in certain situations, but that is no longer true with the steps he showed.
“Defensively, he’s advancing every single night,” Borrego said. “We are not where we need to be. This is new to him – this is a new system, a new league, he has a new staff. Every night he has to learn and we do it on the fly. There is not much usage time.
“I won’t be drilling with him for two days just before we play a game. Literally, we go from game to game and have to learn this on the fly. He is attentive, very easy to talk to, picks things up quickly, and so grows big from day one. ”
Based on the early success of Ball, and the rest of the team, the Hornets are right in the thick of the playoff race. The team has performed well so far and will be looking forward to the move to start in the second half of the season.
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