IT was a display that captured global attention, but Hawks coach Matt Flinn learned all he needed to about LaMelo Ball before the NBA draft aspirant dropped a single point against Perth last week.
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Ball's 19 points, 13 points and seven assists in an overtime win over Perth were enough for him to shoot up the ranks of ESPN's mock draft, an early indication of the amount of eyes that will be on the Hawks this season.
Ball was off limits to local media at the Hawks final session before their final preseason hit-out against Sydney on Sunday, but Flinn said the the 18-year-old showed his impressive attributes before dropping a single point against the Cats.
"I'm learning pretty quickly that LaMelo doesn't have an ego," Flinn said.
"We actually started the first four minutes of that Perth game really poorly. Most of the time when you start games like that you point the finger at the guy who's running the show and that's the point-guard.
"That was him in that instance and we made a quick adjustment in the game. We dragged him [off the floor] and to his credit he didn't pout.
"We had a couple of things to say about adjustments and told him to stay ready. The pleasing thing was, when he came off the floor, he was really supportive of his teammates.
"He was really vocal even thought we didn't have the start we would've liked, then he came out and almost had a triple-double. For me that was a massive sign of his character and where he's at."
Ball wasn't alone in passing that test with Flinn saying he learned plenty about his side after a first-up pasting at the hands of Melbourne United - more specifically the two wins that followed.
"We got absolutely thumped in our first game against Melbourne but the positive was, on such a short turnaround, how we made adjustments and got that buy-in," Flinn said.
"Game two could've gone either way against South Melbourne but we just worried about the process. We had a video session the next day where we didn't hold back.
"You can take a lot of positives out of a loss and it was pleasing to see we got the spike that we wanted and were able to continue that on into the Perth game."
With the picture a little clearer little more than a week out from their season-opener, Flinn said he'll have his entire roster on deck for Sunday's Kings clash.
"We're all good and ready to go," Flinn said.
"You want to replicate exactly what you do in a season and we achieved that. While there's less pressure because we're not counting a ladder at the moment, you need to set those values and those work ethic standards early and we've done that.
"It's hard to establish a pecking order right now but I think through performances we naturally did that in some of the games. People are starting to establish roles and they're sorting those out themselves to some degree.
"There's going to be a role for everyone and they're going to get significant opportunity at some time or another over the next five months."