Los Angeles Lakers rookie point guard Lonzo Ball finished his first preseason game with some mixed results. Ball filled up the box score in his debut, finishing with five points, eight assists, seven rebounds, and two steals, but the Lakers fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Ball’s impact was felt throughout the entire flow of the game for the Lakers as the team constantly pushed the tempo and everyone was looking to make the right pass and play.
Everything wasn’t great for Ball as he did have three turnovers and made only two of his nine shots. After the game, head coach Luke Walton spoke about Ball’s game, saying he wants the rookie to be more aggressive moving forward via Tania Ganguli of the L.A. Times:
Luke says they want Lonzo to be a little more aggressive and take some of the shots he's passing up in an effort to be unselfish.
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) October 1, 2017
Even though he has yet to play a regular season game in the NBA, the scouting report on Lonzo is already pretty clear in that he prefers to pass first. Teams are going to play him to pass which should give him some scoring opportunities, as he has talked about in the past.
The struggle for Ball, as it is for any young guard, will be figuring out when to attack and when to set up teammates. As he becomes more comfortable, he should get a better feel for when to do that. But if Ball becomes a more dangerous offensive threat, it will open up more passing lanes for him to find his teammates.
Nonetheless, it was a solid showing for the second overall pick, and the things he can do on the court are already apparent. The Lakers are just getting started this season and Ball, along with the rest of the team, has plenty of room to grow.