LaMelo Ball gets compared to Pistol Pete, but is Hornets’ star beyond compare?
.JPG "Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball, right, defends against Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)")
Spewing hyperbole isn’t something Detroit coach Dwane Casey dabbles in.
He’s typically measured and understated, a trait he’s shown dating to his days as the main man on the bench in Toronto before landing with the Pistons. So when Casey evoked the name of one of the slickest and smoothest point guards ever to lace up a pair of sneaks in the NBA while describing the guy who’s making waves at an early age for the Charlotte Hornets, it should be noted. LaMelo Ball is that dude.
“It starts with Ball and he’s one of the best passers in our game,” Casey said Wednesday. “I said that in the draft. I’m old enough to remember Pistol Pete and he has all the skill sets that he had. And he sees the floor, makes plays. You can never fall asleep in transition because he’ll zing it by your head.”
Casey bringing up “Pistol” Pete Maravich’s name unprovoked is yet another indicator of what the Hornets have on their hands in their 20-year-old blossoming star. Ball is drawing more comparisons to some of the best by the day. Even though he’s essentially just completed a full season by NBA standards, wrapping up his 84th career game in the Hornets’ 140-111 pasting of the Pistons in front of a crowd of 14,427 at Spectrum Center, Ball is climbing into the upper crust at his position rapidly.
But he’s still not quite ready to accept the glowing analogies yet.
“Definitely respect, but I don’t compare myself to anybody but myself,” Ball said. “And then from there, just trying to get better.”
Ball is different, unlike anything this franchise — and league for that matter — have witnessed in a while. There are occasions when he’s not shooting the ball overly well, as was the case against the Pistons when he canned just 4 of 11 attempts, and but manages to leave his fingerprints on things in other ways. Like fueling the Hornets with his slick passes or knack for crashing the glass with the big boys.
In posting 12 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds to record his 14th double-double of the season and 20th of his career, Ball engineered a Hornets’ offense that stockpiled a season-best 39 assists and also tied a season-high with 48 made field goals. They were efficient in dismantling Detroit and improved to 3-0 this season when they’ve connected on at least 50 percent of their shots overall and 50 percent beyond the 3-point arc.
Six of Ball’s assists were doled out in the third quarter alone. That’s when the Hornets (20-19) seized control and put the Pistons away.
“I think he sets the tone for us,” coach James Borrego said. “He sets the tone for our ball movement early in games. When he’s moving the ball and the ball is spraying in that first quarter it tends to continue throughout the game. He has the ability to create offense for us through the pass and he can generate it at will. Any possession, he’s able to generate ball movement and create an advantage for us more than most players in this league.
“And it’s special that he can do that. Now he’s just got to own it and do it consistently for us, especially in the first quarters. That sets the tone for us. When he sets the tone aggressively trying to get other guys involved that’s major for us as we try to get better as a team.”
Ball and the rest of the starters were so good against the Pistons, it allowed them to rest on the bench for the entire fourth quarter. The only one on the floor for a bit was Terry Rozier and they all took a back seat to Kelly Oubre Jr., who was a walking flamethrower in the final quarter with a 24-point outburst that tied Kemba Walker for the most in a quarter in franchise history.
Oubre joined Michael Redd as one of only two players in NBA history to connect on eight 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, coming within one of tying Golden State’s Klay Thompson, who holds the record for most made 3-pointers in a quarter overall with nine. He’s now in rare company with Thompson, Joe Johnson, Kevin Love and Redd as the lone players with eight 3-pointers in a quarter.
Confidently, Oubre kept cutting them loose, letting the shots fly off his wrist from deep without even thinking about it. Kind of like Ball, who works on his jumper with assistant coach Marlon Garnett before every game, often ending it with a made shot from the halfcourt logo.
“He can do it all, man,” Oubre said. “He impacts the game on each and every column as he’s been doing all year long. He didn’t shoot the ball well, but at the end of the day, that’s something that we’ll fix in the gym tomorrow putting up reps and get back his mechanics. But man, he’s an All-Star caliber player and each and every given night he can go out there and impact the game in every column. So that is a testament to who he is as a player. He’s tough.”
Ball’s improved second season could be good enough to land him a spot on the Eastern Conference All-Star team. Atlanta’s Trae Young is likely his main competition and Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday should be in the mix as well. Ball has at least one person who believes he’s worthy of becoming the franchise’s first representative since Kemba Walker in 2019, the year the game was held in Charlotte.
“For sure, I’m voting for him and all my guys,” Oubre said. “But obviously, that’s not up to me. But he has my vote, though, for sure as he should have a lot of other NBA players’ votes.”
This story was originally published January 5, 2022 at 11:37 PM.
