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Los Angeles Lakers: Lonzo Ball’s defensive impact

By Davide Tovani

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 5: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist #14 of the Charlotte Hornets handles the ball against Lonzo Ball #2 of the Los Angeles Lakers on January 5, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 5: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist #14 of the Charlotte Hornets handles the ball against Lonzo Ball #2 of the Los Angeles Lakers on January 5, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Despite praise from coach Luke Walton and evidence provided by team results, Los Angeles Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball keeps being universally acknowledged as a defensive liability.

Many experts and analysts constantly affirm that Los Angeles Lakers rookie point guard Lonzo Ball cannot play defense as the most fundamental truth in basketball. I decided to venture in a travel through the Lakers‘ defensive numbers to prove the unlawfulness of these preconceived statements when eyewitness testimony does not seem to be effective.

After a convincing start of the season figuring in the top-10 of defensive rating, Luke Walton‘s troop currently ranks 12th. Though certainly not a bad result for a team finishing dead last just a year ago, it does not give credit to what the first two months of the season promised.

The Lakers allowed 109.4 points per game until December 23rd. However, from that time through January 3rd, this number skyrocketed to 124.3. It returned to 97.8 in the subsequent games.

The only anomaly in Lakerland during that holiday time frame? Ball was out with a shoulder injury. Ball missed the game against the Memphis Grizzlies on January 15th and the purple and gold surrendered 123 points to one of the worst offensive teams in the NBA.

Barely sounding like a coincidence, the point guard’s time spent on the court is worthy of taking a deeper dive through some advanced metrics.

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Lonzo is second on the team in defensive rating, behind Larry Nance Jr., and leads the team in defensive win shares with an impressive 1.7, per Basketball-Reference. Though still trailing to his teammate for second in defensive box plus/minus he has almost twice as many minutes played as Nance.

When Ball is on the court, opponents score 105.2 points per game and 112.4 when he is off. A difference of -7.2 is good for No. 1 on the team.

Playing the most critical position in basketball and being matched against the premier point guards in the league, someone could argue analytics are just the product of a good team defense, while the former Bruin gets abused by the man he is in charge of. However, it does not look like the case.

The Lakers allow 22.2 points to opposing point guards, perfectly average in NBA, ranking 15th, per Hoops Stats. Those same point guards shoot 40.9 percent from the field against L.A., good for 4th in the league.

Is Lonzo Ball going to win Defensive Player of the Year honors or make an All-Defensive Team? Of course not. Probably for his whole career. However, his contribution is undeniable and in all likelihood the main reason for Los Angeles’s productive defense.

He finds himself in good company with specialist Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and forward Larry Nance Jr. Still, it is not wrong to define him the team’s most valuable defender.

Obviously, he struggles defending the pick and roll, as any rookie would, especially in an era so talented at his position. However, he does a good job recovering and keeping the pressure on the ball handler, making it tough to pass the ball or making a shot. Plus, standing at 6’6″, he does not give up too many inches when switching.

Lonzo is long and more athletic than people give him credit. His 0.9 blocks per game average is third among point guards.

He also excels in stealing the ball from the weakside thanks to his gift to easily read the game and understand where the rock is going to go. So far, he is averaging 1.5 steals per game with a career-high of five.

For anyone still not convinced by these numbers, I have one more thing to say. At least look at the effort. The 20-year-old is committed. Night in and night out. He never gives up on defense.

He stays engaged when defending off the ball. Always present under the board to get the rebound. If he gets beaten, he keeps following his man trying to recover.

This is the kind of effort D’Angelo Russell totally lacked.

Regardless of what people say, team results testify how valuable Lonzo Ball is to his team, as the Lakers don’t have much of a chance without him both offensively and defensively.

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In the end, it is going to always be the same for him. When his offense is becoming evidently effective, better shift the attention to another aspect of his game to find some flaw to criticize. And what’s better than the most challenging and unquantifiable end of the game of basketball?

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