Even though Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton insists that he is happy with rookie Lonzo Ball’s performance despite his dismal shooting numbers, questions continue to come with each game in which he turns in another poor shooting night.
The latest came against the Washington Wizards as Ball shot just 3-12, which overshadowed his near triple-double in the Lakers 111-95 loss. Ball has now shot less than 30 percent in each of the last five games and has reached that mark only three times all season.
Many have called for Lonzo to make changes to his shot, and Ball revealed that he is working on some minor adjustments. According to Bill Oram of the OC Register, it is more focused on improving his balance than anything else:
Ball, however, said the Lakers are working with him on subtle adjustments to his shooting motion focused on his balance.
“That is what Luke and Magic (Johnson) been telling me,” Ball said. “Most of the problem right now is balance.”
Ball has said that he believes the problems are mental, but has continually maintained that he will figure things out. If the coaches have identified a balance issue that needs fixing than that could certainly help Ball overall. He is definitely willing to put in the work and any improvement would be welcome.
If the problems persist than perhaps Ball will need to overhaul his entire motion, but doing so during the season is basically impossible. There simply isn’t enough time in between games to do so now so any major changes will have to come in the offseason.
Nonetheless identifying things that could be contributing to his struggles is a sign that the coaching staff is working hard to alleviate the problems, and Ball will do whatever is asked of him. Whether it’s balance, mental, or something else, the Lakers and Ball will exhaust all options to improve his shooting.
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