Zion train is coming our way

HomeRunBaker

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Yup. Going to have to suck it up and try to win a title with only 2 top 4 picks now...
Duke was exposed without Zion last night. Horrific perimeter defense, horrific interior defense when Bolden is on the bench, and few shot creators. Still obviously very good but that team minus Zion isn't winning a National Championship.....they may not make the Final 4.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Nike stock -1.50% early today. They are going to need to ramp up Kaepernick's new apparel marketing to boost sales again.
 

Jimbodandy

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According to the team it’s a mild knee sprain and the knee is “stable.”
Not surprised. If this were game 10 of the year, he'd be fine with 1-2 games off and a little extra compression on that knee for a month or so.

Zion should be looking at this as a karmic shot across the bow. Shut it down. Take a few weeks off. Go buy a draft night suit.
 

chilidawg

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Duke was exposed without Zion last night. Horrific perimeter defense, horrific interior defense when Bolden is on the bench, and few shot creators. Still obviously very good but that team minus Zion isn't winning a National Championship.....they may not make the Final 4.
So you're saying that Duke isn't as good without the guy who is obviously the best player in the country? Probably not going to get many people to argue with you there.
 

benhogan

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Probably for the best. Wouldn’t want him to get run over out there with a blown tire.
The game was set up to be a celebration with the on-campus attendance record. What a downer with Zion out and the awful Boeheim accident.

File this under spooky: after the Louisville post-game press conf I was thinking Jimmy must be at the pinnacle of his career with his team/son playing so well. Boeheim is pretty sensitive/thin-skinned, I'm not sure how he's going to handle this situation. (I've been a hard-core Cuse hoops fan since 1979 - Louis and Bouie Show)
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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The game was set up to be a celebration with the on-campus attendance record. What a downer with Zion out and the awful Boeheim accident.

File this under spooky: after the Louisville post-game press conf I was thinking Jimmy must be at the pinnacle of his career with his team/son playing so well. Boeheim is pretty sensitive/thin-skinned, I'm not sure how he's going to handle this situation. (I've been a hard-core Cuse hoops fan since 1979 - Louis and Bouie Show)
This isn't even spurred by me being a Georgetown grad, but I could frankly give two shits about poor Jimmy. I still have no idea how he didn't get the same treatment Paterno did.
 

benhogan

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This isn't even spurred by me being a Georgetown grad, but I could frankly give two shits about poor Jimmy. I still have no idea how he didn't get the same treatment Paterno did.
I understand your bitterness, Cuse pulled the plug on your program.

Must suck watching GTown hoops slowly fade into mid-major obscurity.

NAIA beckons...:redwine:
 

benhogan

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Yeah, that's it. Nothing at all to do with enabling sexual abuse. I'm mad cause they left for the ACC. Got it.
Fine was never charged. Comparing that to the Sandusky Case is asinine.

Nothing there except a gay man, bad reporting by ESPN and extortion..now you got it
 
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benhogan

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I always wondered what it would have been like if LeBron played one year in college. Zion is it.
Exactly what I was thinking... 4 weeks off: 13/13, 14 rebounds, 5 steals

UNC will give him a much better test, but that's insane, especially with Cuse packing 5 guys below the 3pt line daring Tre Jones to shoot the 3.
 

DannyDarwinism

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His energy level is awesome. It lifts that whole team up. He’s always active, always attentive. He’s going to be an absolute force as he learns the finer points of the game, and if that jumper develops, it’s game over, man. I’d love to see what Brad could help him turn into.
 

lovegtm

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What are everyone’s favorite possible Zion landing spots? I’d really love to see him in Atlanta or Dallas—those would be insanely entertaining young cores.
 

BigSoxFan

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What are everyone’s favorite possible Zion landing spots? I’d really love to see him in Atlanta or Dallas—those would be insanely entertaining young cores.
Dallas. Doncic/Zinger/Zion would be insanely entertaining.
 

uk_sox_fan

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I’m pulling for Boston (Atlanta decides it really needs another wing guard and takes Barrett at 1 and Sacramento ‘wins’ the #2 pick which conveys to the Cs)

The question was what I’d like to happen, right?
 

ElcaballitoMVP

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Phoenix would be another fun match, putting him with Booker and Ayton.

Their starting lineup would be something like Tyler Johnson/Booker/TJ Warren/Zion/Ayton with Bridges and Jackson off the bench. Maybe look to move some combo of Johnson/Jackson/Bridges/picks for a guy better suited to play with Booker off the ball (maybe for someone like Bradley Beal, salaries match).

Or hell, go for it and offer Johnson/Warren/Jackson/Bridges/picks for LeBron and see what the Lakers say (most likely: "no").
 

Jimbodandy

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God, I'd hate to see the poor guy end up in Phoenix or NY.

I'm pulling for Atlanta or Dallas. I want to watch him destroy rims off quality lobs for a few years. No offense to Luka, but Young is probably the better guy for that.

Edit: don't get me wrong. He's way more than a dunking machine. Just want to see what he could do with a few good ones per game. And hate to see him suffer in a crap franchise.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Amazingly, the Suns aren't in a bad place from a roster and cap perspective. They are set up really well.
 

nighthob

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God, I'd hate to see the poor guy end up in Phoenix or NY.
There are two lottery teams that he will never play a single second for, unless he wants to in 7-8 years. New York and LA. Because in both cases he's ending up in New Orleans, and that's what I'm rooting for, the Pelicans by way of LA.
 

Cesar Crespo

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And the thing is, it wouldn’t even be that lucky: they have 14% odds.
They have the best odds of landing the pick, tied with NY and Phoenix. They have a small chance of passing Chicago, which would lower their odds to 12.5%.
 

ifmanis5

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He's an absolute force with his athleticism and energy. I wonder if he can stay as active over an 80 game schedule and find an actual position (although that part matters less now in the current NBA). He will also be hacked to death since no one can guard him when he drives. Can he take the punishment at the next level? He's Giannis and Blake meets Shawn Kemp and Larry Johnson and it's pretty amazing.
 

tims4wins

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Zion Williamson doesn't look like an NBA starter is his future to me. Maybe he develops, but he's a 6'5" center, he appears to have zero skills, his agility is garbage, he's just strong and a good vertical leaper.

Who is his comp?
This post aged well. Zero skills and garbage agility.
 

tims4wins

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BTW Zion still has more blocks + steals (113) than missed FG (107). Not sure how to look something like that up, I see that AD eclipsed that in his freshman year since he had a ridiculous 186 blocks plus 54 steals vs. something like 127 missed FG.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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This post aged well. Zero skills and garbage agility.
Its not a great take but let's not start praising each other's pro-Zion posts just yet. As ifmanis notes - and you can plainly see it when you compare the March Madness games to the upcoming NBA playoffs - the NBA is almost a different sport.

Guys like Zion will have to finish through contact and imho, highly heralded rookies get something extra as the top veterans as well as the guys who have clawed their way into a position in the Association want to both test these guys as well as show them that stardom is earned.

I am pretty confident he will be very good. However until he starts playing against real adults who not only have more elite skills than he has ever encountered but also know all the angles of the NBA game (e.g. how to grab, shove, hack etc without getting called), his ceiling is an open question.
 

jmm57

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BTW Zion still has more blocks + steals (113) than missed FG (107). Not sure how to look something like that up, I see that AD eclipsed that in his freshman year since he had a ridiculous 186 blocks plus 54 steals vs. something like 127 missed FG.
I did some spot checking of this a couple months back...was surprised to find Gobert did it in the NBA
 

Cesar Crespo

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I did some spot checking of this a couple months back...was surprised to find Gobert did it in the NBA
DeAndre Jordan's done it a few times too. Mitchell is doing it this year. Hassan Whiteside has done it a few times too. Nate McMillan managed to do it once.

Dunno how rare it is, I just checked 9 or 10 players I thought may have done it. Gerald Wallace, AK47, Marcus Camby did not. Manute Bol did every year of his career. Mark Eaton did it a lot too.

Not many guys did it with steals, or I just can't think of any high steal, low point guys.
 

Devizier

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I'm guessing any low scoring, defense-oriented big will make that list.

Ben Wallace for sure. Birdman, Ratliff, etc. etc. I'm sure you could find dozens if you look carefully enough.

The steals guys are harder to find. McMillan is a good catch.
 

jmm57

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DeAndre Jordan's done it a few times too. Mitchell is doing it this year. Hassan Whiteside has done it a few times too. Nate McMillan managed to do it once.

Dunno how rare it is, I just checked 9 or 10 players I thought may have done it. Gerald Wallace, AK47, Marcus Camby did not. Manute Bol did every year of his career. Mark Eaton did it a lot too.

Not many guys did it with steals, or I just can't think of any high steal, low point guys.
Yea, I figured Eaton/Bol/Wallace types but I was trying to find someone who scored a fair amount as well. Gobert was at 14ppg while none of the other three were ever in double figures.

Whiteside 2015-16 was also at 14, Deandre did it a few times between 10-12ppg. I missed those guys.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Yea, I figured Eaton/Bol/Wallace types but I was trying to find someone who scored a fair amount as well. Gobert was at 14ppg while none of the other three were ever in double figures.

Whiteside 2015-16 was also at 14, Deandre did it a few times between 10-12ppg. I missed those guys.
He didn't do it, but in 1990-91 David Robinson missed 482 shots and had 463 blocks+steals while averaging 23.2 points per game. That's insane.
 

Cellar-Door

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This post aged well. Zero skills and garbage agility.
I posted in the draft thread in November that I had changed my mind on him, as he showed way more lateral agility as the seaosn progressed.
I retract all negative things I said about Zion. His lateral mobility is much better than I thought. He's a future All-Star
I will say that he has more downside than some seem to project, he's basically dunking everything, and I'm not sure he can do that at the NBA level, but he's more of an elite athlete in terms of lateral movement than he showed in HS. Makes me more confident he translates to the NBA, though his shot is a bit of a concern, since it's tough in the NBA to be an elite player without a shot, especially from the line.
 

Jimbodandy

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I posted in the draft thread in November that I had changed my mind on him, as he showed way more lateral agility as the seaosn progressed.


I will say that he has more downside than some seem to project, he's basically dunking everything, and I'm not sure he can do that at the NBA level, but he's more of an elite athlete in terms of lateral movement than he showed in HS. Makes me more confident he translates to the NBA, though his shot is a bit of a concern, since it's tough in the NBA to be an elite player without a shot, especially from the line.
So the Lebron/Grandmama comparisons aren't that great. He's more like Giannis at that age, except much more skilled at everything.
 

Cellar-Door

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So the Lebron/Grandmama comparisons aren't that great. He's more like Giannis at that age, except much more skilled at everything.
I mean he's much shorter than Giannis with less wingspan and reach and he's way heavier. I get the LeBron comps in terms of body/athleticism. He's not in young LeBron's league in terms of skill level, but the reason his ceiling is so high is that IF he develops he can be LeBron without the insane passing.
 

TripleOT

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I can see the LeBron comp much more than the Giannis one. LBJ is a hair taller, and Zion is of course a lot thicker, but both have the kind of otherworldly athleticism that seems to come around in a player with that size and ability every decade or so.

I see Zion as a can't miss NBA player. He's going to be able to rampage to the rim like Giannis, but will use his strength and jumping ability, while Giannis uses his length and jumping ability. Although he's not supposed to be a good shooter, he's already hitting 33% of his threes. He makes an insane 76% of his twos. One can't expect him to have the preternatural passing game of LeBron
 

chilidawg

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I posted in the draft thread in November that I had changed my mind on him, as he showed way more lateral agility as the seaosn progressed.


I will say that he has more downside than some seem to project, he's basically dunking everything, and I'm not sure he can do that at the NBA level, but he's more of an elite athlete in terms of lateral movement than he showed in HS. Makes me more confident he translates to the NBA, though his shot is a bit of a concern, since it's tough in the NBA to be an elite player without a shot, especially from the line.
But he's really not. He's got a great touch around the rim, finishes non dunks at a high rate, and has a decent spot up game from 3.

As a bigger picture comment, the pre season negative comments about him, of which there seemed to be many, just show how ridiculous it is to start judging these prospects before they even get to college. The draft will be even more of a crap shoot if they do away with the one and done rule.
 

Jimbodandy

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Seems like the Zion deniers fall into two categories: 1. He's too fat, or 2. He doesn't shoot the three at an appropriate percentage/volume.

Personally, I don't think that either of those things hold him back. Clearly he's dominant at a high level of basketball now. The ACC is not Montana State games. The Giannis comparison was made to point out that shooting the three is not a requirement to be a great NBA player, despite the formula. Regarding his odd build, he's a unicorn for sure. Nobody knows how he adapts there, but again, it's not slowing him down now even a little bit. I bought low on him, and I'm still buying.