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Lamelo definitely impressed today, he played in 32 minutes. Had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, as well as 5 assists, 4 steals, and a block. Perhaps most impressively he had 0 turnovers, making him the first player in NBL history to record a double-double with 0 turnovers on their debut.
He struggled from the field and more so from the perimeter, going 0-5 on three-pointers and 6/17 from the field good for 35%. But Melo did have his moments of magic that when looking at the highlight reels will make you go wow,
Early first quarter he made a nice play, attacking the paint. Finding the cutting big through 3 defenders with a no-look bounce pass before making a floater a few feet away from the basket.
One of his 4 steals came early in the second, where Melo intercepted a pass in the opposing team's court. Before throwing down a bouncy two-handed jam.
In the second he made two nice plays on the right-wing, first of which he dribbled up the court and blew by his defender to make a nice double clutch layup on the right side of the basket.
And then with less than 5 minutes to go in the fourth, he iso'd his way by his defender on the baseline. Before making space for himself for an easy finish after an electric spin move.
But the biggest play and talking point which you're gonna see all over your social media feeds, was the 'double ankle breaker' where Melo can be seen dropping his defender two times in one possession. Making a play for teammate Josh Poole who a lot of people probably didn't realize actually missed the dunk.
Now what I'm about to say isn't taking anything away from Lamelo, he's been the ankle bully for some years now. We've seen him make many a defender fall, whether that's pros on the JBA USA tour, players in high school or even borderline all NBA defenders.
But I think it's no coincidence that both times Melo's defender slipped, he happened to be on the court's advertisement stickers. Something that's been the subject of controversy in a pro ball outside of the US for years, with lots of players complaining about how slippery they are. Causing injuries and plays like this one here.
But recently an NBA scout made the Lamelo Ball, Luka Doncic comparison. Saying the way Melo plays reminds of Luka. When hearing that and seeing today's clip, I recalled a similar play from Luka during his time in the euroleague. When he also dropped his defender, not one but twice in the one possession. Upon seeing the tape today, I noticed that Luka's defender. Also so happened to fall on the advertisement stickers both time. Something that only adds validity to the various complaints about the on-court ad stickers.
Now, this doesn't necessarily make either of the plays any less impressive, i wouldn't put it past neither Luka or Melo. Deliberately pulling those moves on the ad stickers, knowing the increased likelihood of making their defenders fall. If this is the case it would further validate both players advanced IQ's for their age, with the only difference of any significance in both plays. Was Luka's teammate actually being competent enough to finish off the play, unlike Melo's who blew a wide open dunk.
But any of my overall observations from Melo's performance. Are that on the positive side he looked more active than expected on defense, he made plays for his teammates and displayed some crafty dribble moves.
And on the flip side, he was at times too a passive and his shot just wasn't in them at all.
Gullible
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