Lonzo Ball

[steve B]

It's probably true that people expect too much too early. But he or his dad went with the hype angle, so they set that expectation.
Checking a few guys who had pretty big expectations,

Points Through 8 games

Ball 9.1
Bird 18.875
Jordan 25.125
Shaq 25.625
Lebron 17
Magic 19.375 - didn't play 3 games, so that's through his first 8
Bryant 3.75 - didn't play game 1 of the season and was a bench player with under 10 min/game. 3.75 is for his first 8 games he played. Extending to a normal number of minutes puts him probably in the upper teens for points.

I only did points, because the stats weren't there on basketball reference for assists and rebounds.
And I did these manually, so I stopped with just a few stars. If I knew how to search for stats through 8 games I'd have done more.


Considering the hype, I don't think he's living up to it. He may eventually, and if he does, good for him.
Now how much of that slow performance has been that he's being treated as an overhyped kid and not as a more typical rookie? I can't even guess.

On a side note, Shaq was billed by some as the next Jordan, and I didn't figure him as being that good, good but not Jordan. I was surprised to see his first 8 games were slightly better.

Steve B

[samosa4u]

Originally Posted by steve B

It's probably true that people expect too much too early. But he or his dad went with the hype angle, so they set that expectation.

Exactly. They marketed the hell out of him and the kid can't even shoot.

Snapolit1, this is not just about the fans but the Lakers as well. This is an organization that wants to turn things around quickly and are not going to spend years waiting around for Lonzo. Look what they did to D'Angelo Russell.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by samosa4u

Exactly. They marketed the hell out of him and the kid can't even shoot.

Snapolit1, this is not just about the fans but the Lakers as well. This is an organization that wants to turn things around quickly and are not going to spend years waiting around for Lonzo. Look what they did to D'Angelo Russell.

Hope this kid doesn't someday go the route of Todd Marinovich. Hard living in the shadow of such an overbearing crazy father. Must be a lot of non stop pressure.

[Touch'EmAll]

The 27th pick, Kyle Kuzma, is exceeding expectations. I think Julius Randle is solid, nice young player. Not sure why he is not a starter. Ouch with the injury to Nance Jr., but he looks promising. Loans Ball, well, I am kinda holding my breath right now. Go Lakers!

[ALR-bishop]

It would be somewhat ironic if LiAngelo was lifting Ball shoes in China.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

It would be somewhat ironic if LiAngelo was lifting Ball shoes in China.

It would be even better if it turned out they were knock-offs.

[rjackson44]

as a big time laker fan for 40 yrs this team is awful...