[Translation]It doesn’t matter if you don’t renew your contract. It’s not a dream for fourth grader Lonzo Ball to hit MIP! | NBA | DONGTW

In the new season, Lonzo Ball stated that he will keep up with his teammates and hit the “Best Progress Award”, and has shown his determination to win.

Even with a poor performance after the rematch, the New Orleans Pelicans still saw the tremendous improvement shown by Lonzo Ball.

This should be something to be happy about, because Ball looks like a fighter who can carry all the criticism alone and turn the voice of criticism into an inspiration to move forward.

With the departure of Jrue Holiday, Ball will have more control over the ball in the new season. Therefore, he will seize every opportunity to prove his previous poor performance, but it was an accident.

However, if Ball wants to win the Best Progress Award in the new season, what else does he need to do better?

1.​​​Win

Even though last season, teammate Brandon Ingram, who was also with the failed team of the New Orleans Pelicans, eventually won the MIP, but more often, this award is considered to be awarded to a member of a successful team.

If the Pelicans want to defend the MIP, they must make the playoffs. The judges responsible for voting for the awards will not be generous enough to give honor to a team that has failed to meet expectations for two consecutive years.

Of course, many off-court factors including the suspension caused by the epidemic last season also affected the final review results. For example, Ingram, whose personal data is unprecedentedly dazzling, has not been prejudiced by judges because of playing for a team that performs poorly overall.

If you want Ball to stand out from the big contenders, you need the joint efforts of the Pelicans. Of course, Ball also needs to do his best to learn to play around the team’s overall tactical arrangements. Regardless of whether this means performing relatively more off-the-ball tactics, taking on more difficult defensive and match-up tasks, or making himself the league’s top wing player with ball control and 3D characteristics, he needs to do well These tasks.

If Lonzo Ball really intends to attack MIP, he needs to forget the gains and losses of personal data and focus on becoming a puzzle that helps the team’s overall success.

2. Termination ability

As a very talented ball handler, Ball often allows himself to go deep into the opponent’s basket. But the problem is that his breakthrough with the ball can’t be exchanged for a shot.

Poor finishing ability makes Ball more inclined to pass the ball instead of completing the finishing on his own. This weakness allows opponents to boldly vent him when defending Ball’s breakthrough, focusing on blocking his possible passing lanes.

He needs to change his way of playing. Once you get to the basket, the first reaction should be to seek shots rather than points. Too much hesitation often makes him miss a lot of easy shots.

In the basket, Lonzo Ball only delivered a 57.9% shooting percentage. For comparison, LeBron James’s shooting percentage in this area is 67.9%, and Luka Doncic with more shots can even go to 69%.

To make matters worse, Ball’s mid-range shooting percentage is only 14.7%, which is a big failure for an NBA guard.

Ball not only needs to build up the confidence to shoot boldly and become more daring to shoot, but also needs to improve his shooting percentage to make his shooting strength worthy of his ambition. Compared to showing off his passing technique, he should become more aggressive in his shooting willingness and shooting level.

If Ball can grasp more simple cell phone meetings in the idle state, his scoring average will definitely be more eye-catching than ever, which obviously helps to capture the eyes of the judges.

Three, free throw

Perhaps part of the reason Ball is afraid to take a shot near the box is that he doesn’t want to be fouled on defense. Why do you say that? Because his free throws are even worse than shooting.

Last season, Ball averaged 1.2 times to the free throw line per game, and his 56.6% shooting percentage was just over half. As a large-scale point guard, only 1.2 free throw opportunities per game, this is obviously unreasonable.

For comparison, Doncic, whose free throws are also not stable enough, averaged 9.2 free throws per game last season. In terms of fouling, Ball needs to learn too much. If he averages close to 5 free throws per game, the Pelicans’ overall operation will benefit.

Of course, he also has to ensure his free throw percentage.

It is difficult to explain that a player who can shoot 38% from the three-point line has a shooting percentage of only 56.6% at the free throw line, which is closer to the basket and unguarded.

Ball’s free throw problem also exacerbated his lack of shooting ability. Because of the fear of standing on the free throw line, Ball always dare not seek to complete the shot under physical confrontation. A player with the same size as Ball should give full play to his physical advantage over a defender at the same position, and bravely and actively seek physical confrontation.

If Ball wants to prove himself with a MIP trophy, he needs to help the Pelicans achieve results that meet public expectations, while becoming more aggressive and more accurate near the rim. Of course, he still needs to hit those “damn free throws.” If the Pelicans can successfully end the 2020-21 season, he does have a great chance of winning a MIP trophy.

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