LaMelo Ball Explodes For 92 Points: Flash Or Trash?

LaMelo Ball Explodes For 92 Points: Flash Or Trash?

Chino Hills sophomore guard LaMelo Ball's incredible 92 points gets mixed reviews on the internet.

Feb 8, 2017 by Jaki Goldner
LaMelo Ball Explodes For 92 Points: Flash Or Trash?
Super sophomore LaMelo Ball has shut down the internet yet again, this time with a 92-point performance and a stat sheet for the record books. Beware, the numbers below are not for the faint of heart. Ball scored a ballistic 60 points from two-point range at a 76-percent clip, while keeping things hot beyond the arc with seven 3-pointers. No. 7 Chino Hills won the game against Los Osos 146-123.

[tweet url="https://twitter.com/TomKiss64/status/829189830022144000" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]

While some hoop fans saw Ball's show as all flash, others saw it as all trash. So let's break down how the internet reacted and what's to be said about the high-scoring, nationally ranked squad out of California:

What Came First: The Flash


If you're an East Coast hoops fan, you probably woke up weary-eyed, going for your morning scroll while still half asleep and in bed. At that point, highlights were chopped, posted and making their rounds.

[instagram url="https://www.instagram.com/p/BQPa41LAe5C/?taken-by=houseofhighlights" hide_caption="0"]

Ballervisions even collected a compilation of all 37 Ball buckets (minus free throws).

[tweet url="https://twitter.com/DerrekLi/status/829401818480271360" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]

Before LaMelo woke up for school this morning, the world had heard about the game.

[tweet url="https://twitter.com/calebpressleyxo/status/829341152419647488" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]

Once hoop fans got a their chance to watch a highlight (or 20), the tone around the unheard-of performance began to shift.

What Came Next: The Trash

The film doesn't lie. Just as many times as we see LaMelo drain a shot, we see uncontested fast-break layups and lots of standing around. One way to light a fire under hoopers worldwide? Put a sophomore who doesn't look like he's working hard on blast.

"Lame"

[tweet url="https://twitter.com/nballaccess/status/829354289629949952" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]

"Cherry Picker"

[tweet url="https://twitter.com/KingmellTV/status/829223312916103169" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]

"Never went back on defense." Charles Barkley has a serious problem with that.

[tweet url="https://twitter.com/SportsCast_THN/status/829382306225721346" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]

How It Happens: "The Ball System"

At the end of the day, if a team is trying to compete with Chino Hills, it must leave its egos and prior defensive strategies behind and glue a man on LaMelo for the entire game. For every morning the world wakes up to another Ball highlight, another team has fallen victim to "The Ball System."

[tweet url="https://twitter.com/LiteSkinedJesus/status/829414769836818434" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]

What we're seeing are pieces of the basketball offense groomed to produce ridiculously high-scoring results formally known as "The System." The No. 1 rule in running the system is that the first possible shot is the best possible shot. Forget defense, the system prioritizes giving up uncontested layups rather than defending through the shot clock.

Does this cause alarmingly high-scoring games on both ends? Yes.

Does this result in significantly less defense being played? Yes.

Whether LaMelo is ruler of the court, exempt from all coaching, or head coach Stephan Gilling has used strategy to fully optimize his offense (we think it's the latter), opponents are unable to adjust their defense. The result? A 92-point game.

Flash or trash? You can decide for yourself, but we'd say LaMelo Ball is officially a bucket.

[tweet url="https://twitter.com/FloHoops/status/829337267445628928" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]