Film Room: How Lonzo Ball has improved drastically in the pick and roll
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In the preseason, Lonzo Ball made it a goal to be more aggressive in the pick and roll in his second year in New Orleans. Ball was handed the keys to the offense with the trade of Jrue Holiday, and he knew an important aspect of his development was an improvement in ball screen situations, an area he struggled mightily in last season.
Early signs through the preseason indicated Ball had taken steps in the right direction, but preseason is hardly a direct predictor of the regular season. But Ball used the preseason as a launching pad into the season and has taken a gigantic step forward in the pick and roll.
Last season, pick-and-roll possessions accounted for 26.4% of Ball’s offensive possessions, and he ranked in the 11th percentile in the league in them. This season, they accounted for 22.5% of his possessions and he ranks in the 86th percentile.
Given his improvements as a shooter, some of Ball’s biggest areas of development in the pick and roll is punishing teams with his jumper.
When defenders go under the pick, Ball is shooting 50% from the field and ranks in the 83rd percentile, much more efficient numbers than last year’s shooting percentage (39%) and percentile ranking (55th).
In his 124 pick-and-roll possessions, defenders have gone under the screen in just under half of them (55). As in the clip above when the Rockets go under the screen set by Hayes, Ball’s jumper has improved to the point he can hop into his shot and knock down the 3-pointer.
The other big step forward for Ball has been his ability to knock down jumpers off the dribble in ball screen situations.
Here, Ball comes off the screen by Zion Williamson with Blake Griffin playing a higher drop coverage. With the lack of spacing the Pelicans often have, defenses are often compacted as they are here with four Nets defenders below the free throw line.
Ball recognizes the open space in the middle of the court at the free throw line, drives into that space and confidently takes the mid-range jumper over Griffin that falls.
A minute later in the same game, a similar possession takes place. Steven Adams sets a bit of a drag screen, though he acts more as a body for Ball to dance around. Eventually, Joe Harris gets caught up on Adams just enough to give Ball space for the jumper.
On the season, Ball is shooting 47.4% when dribbling off the screen and taking a pull-up jumper, ranking in the 85th percentile. Comparatively, he shot 33% on those shots last season and ranked in the 37th percentile.
Ultimately, though, Ball’s success in the pick and roll largely boils down to him being an improved finisher at the rim in these situations.
Ball has gotten both stronger physically and gained more balance and control that allows him to attack the rim and finish under control. Early in his career, he would fly at the rim out of control and off-balance, resulting in some ugly misses.
In this clip, Griffin is aware of Williamson cutting down the middle and Ball takes advantage of that, using him as a decoy as he gets all the way to the rim for an uncontested layup with his off-hand.
This play is very similar to his play in the Brooklyn game. Ball comes off the screen and sees a Bulls defense hanging around the paint. He again circles to the free throw line, but this time, takes advantage of Wendell Carter Jr. going back to Adams and attacks the rim. Instead of jumping at the rim out of control, he waits and eventually gets a layup to fall.
But Ball isn’t simply being patient in attacking the rim. As someone who has bulked up, particularly in the upper body, Ball has used that strength to get open looks.
Here, he comes off the screen and drives right into the body of Enes Kanter, using his strength and a jump stop to knock Kanter entirely out of the play and give Ball an open layup.
This is not a rare occurrence, either. Ball has used his strength in similar types of plays multiple times this season to get open looks. When attacking the basket out of pick and rolls, Ball is shooting 63.2% and ranks in the 90th percentile, albeit in a pretty small sample size (21 possessions). It’s still a vast improvement over last season when he ranked in the 14th percentile while shooting 40%.
Ball likely will never be a high-volume pick-and-roll player like a James Harden or Damian Lillard. However, if he can continue to improve in those areas, it continues to open up his offensive game and only makes him a more valuable and intriguing player moving forward.
