Charlotte Hornets: Grading LaMelo Ball’s First Career Preseason

 Shooting/Scoring

In his four preseason games, both his shooting and his scoring have been sporadic. In his first preseason game, he scored 0 points. He seemed to have gotten more comfortable in his second and third games scoring 12 points and 18 points respectively.

In his second game against the Raptors, Ball went 30% from the field, 66.7% from the free-throw line, hitting 4 of 6. He also hit 33.3% of his three-pointers, going 2 for 6. In his third preseason game, first, against the Orlando Magic, LaMelo was 7 of 17 (41.2 FG%), he had zero free throw attempts, and he was over 44% from behind the arc, hitting 4 of 9 from behind the three-point line.

The fourth game wasn’t so great for LaMelo. He only scored 4 points, going 1 of 10 from the field and going 0 for 4 on three-pointers. On a positive note, he did go 2 for 2 on free throws.

His shooting style is unconventional and it leaves a lot more to be desired for. When he is open and has the hot-hand, he can drill shots, but when the defense is coming down on him, it’s a little bit harder for LaMelo to get his shot off.

One of the best parts of his scoring game is his ability to drive the lane. We’ve already established that he is a big presence, especially for a point guard. His size, along with his ball-handling, and his ability to get to the rim, makes him lethal when he gets into the lane.

In his four preseason games, LaMelo Ball averaged 8.5 points per game and had an average field goal percentage of 26.2%. His three-point percentage was 27.3% and an impressive 75% from the free-throw line.

Letter Grade: C-