Lonzo Ball’s time inside the NBA’s bubble has not been a pleasant one either personally or as a team. From a team standpoint, the Pelicans were finally done in by their overall poor play as they were eliminated from playoff contention on Sunday after just two wins in their first six games.
From an individual level, Ball’s struggles outweigh even that of New Orleans’ as a whole. Sunday against the Spurs was the worst in a string of poor shooting nights as Ball went 2-for-10 from the field and 0-of-4 from the line. After the game, Ball even took to Twitter to release some frustrations.
Gentry was asked about Ball’s struggles inside the bubble, which he attributes to the unique nature of play and the circumstances surrounding it.
“I think some of the guys have a real comfort level when you’re playing 5-on-5 and you have enough time (to prepare for games),” he said. “I’m not making excuses but we basically had two-and-a-half weeks to get ready to play and sometimes that’s not enough for some guys.
“He was playing very good basketball before this happens,” Gentry continued. “He’ll get back. He’ll come back. This is a kid that wants to be a good player. He works at being a good player, just had a pretty rough go down here. I don’t think any of us as coaches have lost confidence in him at all.”
Ultimately, Ball’s season won’t be judge on his play inside the bubble, nor should any player’s. Just as easily as his six-game sample size in the bubble paints a poor picture, the six games prior to the break saw Ball average 18.2 points, 8.5 assists and shoot 50.0% from three on 7.7 attempts per game.
Overall, Ball’s season was a strong one where he finally found a role for himself in New Orleans. But it’ll also be a season where he and the Pelicans will regret how it ended in Orlando.
