Brandon Ingram played a mixed rookie season at the Los Angeles Lakers. After a summer full of work, the Sophomore surprises many people and shows itself to be completely improved. Also the comparisons with Kevin Durant get new food again.
There’s always something going on at the Lakers. Especially the hype around Lonzo Ball overshadowed everything around the glamour franchise since the big baller was being drafted. His performance and especially his litter are daily food for the gazettes all over the country.
In addition, another rookie, Kyle Kuzma, who had only a few on his list before the season, is surprising. In the meantime, his name is also being thrown into the pot when it comes to the Rookie of the Year award – on the weekend he received the Rookie of the Month award in November. One of them almost dies, who received a similar treatment to Ball last year: Brandon Ingram.
He was also the second pick last year and was initially unable to meet the high expectations. The forward came along too slender, the NBA seemed to be too big for the ex-ducie – and above all too heavy. Quite a few people have already described him as a bust, however silly it may seem to be for a 20-year-old boy.
But Ingram has grown in the shadow of the new rookies. In an improved Lakers team, he’s relying on coach Luke Walton in Crunchtime. In October Ingram forced an extra time against the Washington Wizards with a courageous drive and then a Tip-In with the siren and also against the Golden State Warriors Ingram recently got the last throw, even if he could not finish against Draymond Green in this case.
“He is not afraid of the big moments,”said Walton, explaining his confidence in Ingram in tight situations,”He has a good feeling for the game,” and the coach also described his protégé as a “winner” and “lockdown defender,” with the potential to become a formidable two-way player. To do this, the lollipop that he still is has to work on his body, which he does.
“He’s become stronger over the summer,”Walton said.”He’s always in the gym. He now understands how body-inspired the league is and knows how to take advantage of his size.”
This is also reflected in the figures. Ingram improved his average score from 9.4 to 16.0 points, now scoring 46.3 percent of his throws (previous year: 40.2). In addition, it has also improved significantly in all other categories. For example, it is almost twice as often at the free-throw line as last season (5.2 vs. 2.7).
A good start, but also not yet the level at which Ingram sees itself in the future:”I still have a lot of room to move on,”says the forward,”I’m never satisfied. Games such as those against the Warriors (32 points) or the Philadelphia 76ers (26) were good indicators of where Ingram could be heading.
Kevin Durant also noticed this, with whom Ingram was compared more often before the draft of 2016 – including the current final MVP himself,”He is more self-confident. Coach Walton trusts him and lets him make plays,”KD says,”I’m happy for him. You can see how he’s getting better.”
Ingram’s entry appears to be much more explosive, which gives him a clear advantage over most of the Association’s small forwards with his long, space-consuming steps. However, his lack of muscle mass is still a problem, as a result of which he loses his balance more often when he wants to finish. 61.4 percent of the litter rate in the restricted area does not have to be his limit by far.
Another construction site is still the jump shot. If the defender can hold Ingram in front of him, he usually takes the jumper because he still lacks alternative moves. If Ingram finishes more than three meters from the basket, his quota rushes into the basement to a meager 33.3 percent.
Ingram proved that there was still room for improvement under coach K when he scored 41 percent from a distance. However, the conversion to the NBA-Dreier has not yet been completed in the second year. Interestingly, he hits the long ball from the bulb with a success rate of more than 40 percent, while from the corners he sinks only ice-cold 15 percent.
Ingram also has to improve on the free-throw line. Only four forwards hit the Charity Stripe worse than the Laker if they take at least three tries per game (68.3 percent).
But Ingram is not only a scorer. Even as a playmaker he drew attention to himself, even if this happens irregularly. His ball handling is more than respectable for his size, which allows him to run pick’ n’ rolls. In addition, Walton runs a few moves in which Ingram gets the spalding on the elbow to distribute the ball or choose the drive.
Even more important, however, is his progress in defence. While he was one of the league’s worst defenders in his rookie season, today he also has a hand in the fact that the Lakers are among the top ten defensive teams in the NBA (Defensive Rating: 102.9). Ingram uses his enormously long arms better, just off the ball. This allows him to virtually eliminate two opponents because he can shoot into the pass paths in a flash.
Potential passports on the Weakside, where there are sub-numbers for the Lakers, can be prevented in this way. His help defense has also improved considerably. With his nimble feet, his close-outs also make it harder for the opponent to hit the seemingly open throws.
Those who have read carefully will notice that many attributes remind us of the current final MVP, especially in defence. This also looked similar to Durant, who had already suspected in the summer that Ingram would go into his sophomore season in an improved way,
“I can live with comparisons if they’re right,”Durant said in Bill Simmons podcast,”Someone like Brandon Ingram looks like he could play like me. We also have similar physical conditions,” he said, however, rowing back a little at the time and urging caution,”You shouldn’t compare young players with stars. Expectations could crush the boys.”
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich commented on this problem in almost the same way:”It’s almost unfair to compare someone with Kevin Durant. We’ll see what time brings with it for Brandon Ingram.”
After all, it can be said that the evil word “bust” was discovered much too early. Ingram doesn’t have to be the next Durant to become a valuable NBA player.