LOS ANGELES_Among those attending Monday night's game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers was UCLA men's basketball coach Steve Alford.
Alford has heard the criticism his former point guard Lonzo Ball has received early in his first NBA season, especially about his jump shot. Alford doesn't think it's fair.
"The thing ... I am very impressed with him is that I think defensively, he's really working at it," Alford said. "And defensively he's growing in that area. For a rookie, I think that's the hardest thing coming into the NBA, is to learn what you have to do defensively. And I was very impressed with that.
"I just think he's gotta get the ball. When he's got the ball, he makes people around him better, and I think the more trust there can be in Lonzo being the guy that facilitates the offense, because right now what's being critiqued is his jump shooting. That's not who he is. He's not a shooting guard."
Alford said Ball's shooting will improve the better he's able to facilitate for others.
"In my 27 years of coaching, I've never seen anybody at the collegiate level ... move the ball north-south any faster and more efficiently by the dribble and by the pass than Lonzo," Alford said. "And when that trust happens, and he's allowed to do those things, I think you'll see teammates' game go up, you'll see passing, the joy of passing will go up in that organization. And when that happens he's going to get easier shots, and he'll make those shots."
