USA TODAY International Edition
UCLA’s Ball makes team better
LOS ANGELES A traditional basketball court is, obviously, a flat, level surface. But there’s really only one way to describe how Lonzo Ball runs on it: downhill.
“That’s Lonzo’s biggest asset,” teammate Bryce Alford said. “When he’s going downhill at 100 miles per hour, that’s when he’s best and that’s when we’re best.”
Said coach Steve Alford: “He plays downhill, at a pace nobody else in the country can play at. He’s 6- 6, he’s long, but I swear he can dribble it while he’s in the air. He can definitely pass while he’s in the air. He has the incredible ability of, he can go end line to end line probably faster than anybody off the dribble — and he can definitely go faster via the pass, which is even a better skill as a point guard. He advances the ball either by dribble or pass faster than any point guard in the country.”
That’s probably the best place to start with Ball, because his speed helps determine the pace of any game he’s involved in — and just how many easy buckets UCLA can get in transition, an area of its game the team takes a great deal of pride in. Perhaps it’s a layup, or even a spot- up three. Or if that’s not an option, Ball knows when to slow down and find open looks for teammates in more of a traditional halfcourt offense.
“In my mind, he’s one of the great players I’ve coached against. I think he’s the best, or one of the best, players in college basketball today. … Nobody impacts the game more than Ball,” said Arizona coach Sean Miller, whose team went 1- 1 against the Bruins during conference play. “The thing about Lonzo Ball is he’s kind of that old school point guard where he doesn’t need to score to dominate the game.”
It’s no coincidence that much of that dimension comes from unselfishness — the passing, the way he finds teammates such as Alford or T. J. Leaf in places on the court they’re most comfortable shooting from. Ball likes the challenge of making his teammates look better, offensively and defensively, and actually be better, too.
“If you talk to him, he doesn’t even talk about next level or anything,” Steve Alford said. “It’s about our next game and our next practice, and that’s the thing that I’ve appreciated most about Lonzo. We’ve known from the get- go, from last June, that come early April, he’s gone.”
Yet he doesn’t play with one foot into the college basketball world and the other already in the NBA, despite all the predraft chatter that he could end up the No. 1 pick in June. Ball still plays the way he has all along, contributing in ways that show up in the box score — 14.9 points per game, 7.8 assists, 6.2 rebounds — and those that don’t. He knows exactly what he needs to do and at what speed to take UCLA to a level it hasn’t reached in nearly a decade: a Final Four. And he just might be able to do it.
“He’s as smart of a player I’ve played with,” Bryce Alford said.