Lonzo Ball's Biggest Shooting Breakthrough Has Nothing to Do With Threes
By Chris Pyo
Lonzo Ball's jump shot form has always been a huge topic of discussion for NBA fans, analysts, and GM's alike.
Now that he's seemingly resolved his awkward shot, the league's seeing him reap the benefits thus far in preseason. Last night, against the Utah Jazz, Ball went 5-5 from the free throw line.
Lonzo Ball was 5-of-5 from the line tonight.
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) October 12, 2019
The last time he did that in a competitive game? He was playing at Chino Hills as a senior.
He hasn't done that since high school. Yes, high school. At Chino Hills.
Ball's shot has notably been atrocious from the field, as he's shot 44.9% from two and 31.5% from three so far in his career. However, his free throw percentages are just as horrendous, if not worse when comparing them to the league average.
Over two years, Ball's shot 43.7% from the free throw line. In the meantime, the league average has been 76.7% in that timeframe. Yikes.
Lonzo Ball shooting 45% from the line and averaging one free throw attempt per game seems like a thing that isn't getting enough attention considering everything Ball/Lakers/etc gets so much attention.
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) January 3, 2019
Maybe with a new team and a revamped shot, Ball will be able to improve his shooting across the board, but his free throw percentage definitely needs to be upped if he wants to see any playing time for the Pelicans during crunch time.