While LaMelo Ball has had the highlights, the strong periods of play and the raw stats, what he hasn’t had is an efficient shooting night in his first two games. After going 6-for-16 against Brisbane in the opener, Ball shot 4-for-14 in the Round 2 loss to Perth.
After the latter result, Illawarra head coach Matt Flinn was asked about Ball’s shooting struggles and whether anything needed to be changed.
“He shoots a lot of reps like everyone. We get a lot of shots up. He doesn’t break out much in my opinion. Some of the shots he missed tonight we see him make a lot. We want to give him belief. I’m not going to put handcuffs on him at all. My job is to put him in spots that suit his skillset. I think we’re achieving that.”
The reality is that, for now, the sample size is simply not big enough for fans to yet worry about Ball’s shooting. While shooting 10-for-30 from the field is certainly not a good shooting percentage by any means, it’s also not a sufficient sample size.
Ball still has plenty of time to right the ship and one strong shooting performance in the coming weeks and games will completely flip any script. Ball is also still adjusting to a new league, a new team and a new country. A pair of poor shooting games does not a slump make, at least not yet.
