Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton says he and the coaching staff have been “shocked” by Lonzo Ball's excellent defense so far this season.

Lonzo Ball is 6-foot-6. For a point guard, that’s pretty tall. The former No. 2 overall pick is averaging 1.1 steals per game this season. Ball has really good lateral quickness instincts on the defensive end. It allows him to stay in front of all these fast point guards we have in the game today, something Walton says is really impressive considering Ball is only in his second season in the NBA.

“It was one of the things the coaching staff was really shocked about,” Walton said, via Lonzo Wire. “When you come straight to the NBA from college, defense is one of the last things you do when you are a high draft pick. We saw [that] his defensive instincts were way more advanced than we thought [they] were on that side of the floor. He’s been doing a really nice job of that lately.”

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Friday night against the Dallas Mavericks, Dallas players shot just 1-for-8 when being defended by Lonzo Ball. Opponents have shot 2-of-21 vs. Ball over the Lakers' last two games, per Lakers reporter Joey Ramirez.

On the year, Lonzo Ball is averaging 8.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game while shooting 40.1 percent from the field, 33.0 percent from beyond the arc and 56.3 percent from the free-throw line. The Lakers have won two games in a row and are 13-9 on the year.