The Los Angeles Lakers finished up their final day of training camp on Friday before their preseason opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Honda Center on Saturday. Lonzo Ball going 6-0 in scrimmages over the past two days was all the talk.
On Thursday night, Ball’s team consisted of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Brandon Ingram, Larry Nance Jr., and Julius Randle.
Walton said he couldn’t even remember if Ball took a single shot in that scrimmage but he made all of his teammates better. Check out all of our quotes, notes and videos from the final day of camp below.
Quotes:
Ingram on his chemistry with Lonzo: “It was really good, it’s different because we have a lot of dialogue we talk throughout the games tell each other where we want to score at, where we want the ball at, so it’s a lot of dialogue between not just me, but all of the guys on the floor.”
Ingram on how Randle and Nance Looked in the scrimmages: “They looked really good actually, they complemented each other really well. They dominated the game, Julius dominated the game, attacking the rim, Larry, of course, played above the rim, knocking shots from 15 feet out, they looked really good last night.”
Walton on Ingram: “I’m under the belief that he is going to be over time one of the better perimeter players in our league, but I’ve told him don’t put too much pressure on yourself. It honestly doesn’t need to happen right now, just keep working. Keep getting better on the things you need improvement on and your natural game, the way you see it, the way you play it, you’ll become one of the best players in this league. I want him to make sure that he’s still out here having fun and enjoying playing basketball instead of just worrying about the pressure or the stress of making a huge jump as soon as the season starts.”
Walton on Lonzo: “He’s naturally a leader, just by the way he plays, even though he’s young and not the most vocal player, the way he plays makes his teammates better…he instantly builds chemistry with whatever team he’s playing on.”
Caldwell-Pope on Ingram: “Kid can shoot.”
Notes:
– Brook Lopez (back spasms) and Josh Hart have both been cleared for half-court contact, but will not play in Saturday’s game
– Larry Nance Jr. is leading the winner’s board
– Andrew Bogut (work visa issues) will not play on Saturday, but is expected to re-join the team
– Walton says to expect a lot of players to play and a deep rotation in preseason
– Walton wants to see how Lonzo does defensively in the opener and will be looking at how Ingram is running lanes and putting pressure on the rim
– Lakers got in zero half-court offense during training camp, so expect a very basic offense
