Zion's debut tonight vs the Spurs

erikthredd

I watched the first three quarters where he looked slow & passive during his brief four minute stretches then decided to shut the game off with about a minute left in the third...and missed this.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eV0pugYo8bs

erikthredd

His statline in 18mins:
22pts on 8/11 shooting,4/4 from 3
7rebs
3ass
5to's

Coinstartled

Glad that he is back on the court. Duke nearly finished him off before he ever played a pro game.

doubledragon

He was raining down those three pointers. He can catch fire pretty fast. That was impressive.

galaxy27

not to be a hater, but i want to see what he can do from behind the arc when there is a defender within 3 feet of him

erikthredd

@galaxy27 said:
not to be a hater, but i want to see what he can do from behind the arc when there is a defender within 3 feet of him

Once he's got his legs under him he'll probably blow right by the defender if they come out to defend him.
This isn't directed at you but there was plenty of talk here all last summer telling us he can't hit NBA threes,so much for that theory.
Here's his quote about last night's shooting after the game: "There was a part of my rehab in the early stages where I was unable to do athletic movements so all I could do was spot-up jumpers so I just practiced that all day- I guess that was a result of that."

galaxy27

@erikthredd said:

Here's his quote about last night's shooting after the game: "There was a part of my rehab in the early stages where I was unable to do athletic movements so all I could do was spot-up jumpers so I just practiced that all day- I guess that was a result of that."

makes sense. and i'm not saying he won't be a highly competent perimeter shooter, because he may very well turn out to be. i'm just interpreting what i saw in the highlights.

clearly he has a sick skill set. cat-like quickness @ 285 -- didja see him miss that bunny, then speedy gonzalez his way to the other side of the basket for the putback? and idk what his vertical & wingspan are, but he looked like elongated man when he corralled that defensive rebound without going over the back.

i just hope those knees can hold up for at least 15 years at that weight.........because they are going to be asked to do a lot

erikthredd

I think once he's in actual game shape his bread & butter will mostly come from points in the paint,putbacks & getting out on the fast break with the occasional three if they leave him open like last night. He shot .338% from three in college and if he can shoot that in the NBA he'll be just fine. For comparison Luka,Giannis & Beal are all 33% or less from the same distance this season.

I did see all of his highlights after the fact last night but I had the Celtics-Grizzlies game on tv and the Zion game on my phone so I was jumping back & forth between games. I honestly thought he looked slow & heavy in that first half almost like he was just going through the motions and until he loses some major weight he's always going to have that knee/weight stigma attached to his name. Getting hurt right out of the gate to start the season didn't help any either.

On an unrelated sidenote,I was really looking forward to seeing Ja Morant play the C's and last night was a huge letdown after seeing all of his highlights this season. Just 2pts & 5assists in 24mins. He reminds of a slightly shorter Penny Hardaway and pretty much has the ROY locked up unless Zion happens to go nuts over the next few months.

craig44

It was great to see him catch fire in the fourth. Unfortunately, if he doesn't get the weight under control, he will have a short career. Knees are not designed for that kind of repeated impact. They list him at 285, but he played at well over 300 last night. With all that talent I really hope he does not eat his way out of the league. The scary thing is that he is having such a difficult time with weight at 19. That issue will not get easier for him as he ages.

erikthredd

His bodytype reminds me of a young Charles Barkley who in his early 20's was listed as 6-6 285lbs but was also probably closer to 300lbs as well and he fought with his weight for most of his career. I think that is probably the best comparison for Zion's weight issue.

came across this article from 1984 where Barkley gets interviewed about his weight during the Olympic team trials.
https://oklahoman.com/article/2065684/incredible-bulk-auburns-charles-barkley-throws-his-weight-around-at-olympic-trials

Coinstartled

It will be a short career. Enjoy it.

SanctionII

Sports fans and general society always are intrigued with new talent that shows up with aspects to him or her that are outside of the norm (i.e. height, weight, speed, etc.) who show promise of being able to perform at levels previously unseen and unheard of.

It is almost as if persons want to witness the morphing of the human species into something new, which is not bound by limits to human endurance set by gravity, wind resistance, terminal velocity, heat, cold, air density, and the laws of physics.

Pick an athlete as an example, including the distance runner who recently ran a marathon in less than 2 hours, Usain Bolt, Kevin Durant, Calvin Johnson, Michael Phelps, Le Bron James, Barry Bonds, etc.

Le Bron James comes to mind as just such an athlete, for reasons which are mainly centered around his durability. He is now in his 16th or 17th NBA season and his performance level is still at a very high level. If he is fortunate enough (via genetics, hard work and/or luck) to be able to play another 5 years into his early 40's without suffering a drop off of his ability to perform I would view him as a true "Ironman" or "Superman".

As for Zion Williamson, it will be very interesting to see if he can replicate the durability shown by Le Bron James. I hope so, because if he does, he will be a "face of the league" type player for the next two decades.

erikthredd

Someone is gambling on the hype after last night's game,Panini just sold this 1/1 Zion Blockchain NBA Logoman Patch Auto for $60K.

For another $15K they'll add the rest of his last name.

maddux69

I jumped on the Zion train by picking up one of the tickets from the game. They were going for $75 pregame and then progressively rose to between $150-200 today. Might try to get it signed if I do receive it as promised.

doubledragon

I read a story in the news this morning about someone finding a Zion Williamson cracked ice rookie ticket auto card in a card shop in Ravenswood, West Virginia and the card is numbered to 25. The card is expected to be worth about 20k due to Zion's performance in his debut.

hammer1

better sell it now. I'd even hand deliver before he gets injured again.

btw what's Greg Oden's rookie card worth?

erikthredd

15pts on 7/9fg,6boards & 1 monster block in game two.
https://youtu.be/oOoo-uD6SvI

Looking forward to Boston-NO on sunday.

SanctionII

So, after sitting out of the regular season from opening night in October until 1-22-2020 (44 games), is there any chance that Zion Williamson could win the Rookie Of the Year Award?

Through his first 15 games played in the NBA his stat line is:

Minutes per game - 28.9
Points per game - 24.1
Field Goal % - 59.3
3 Point Field Goal % - 41.7
Rebounds - 6.8
Assists - 2.1
Steals - 0.7
Blocks - 0.3

Thoughts?

hammer1

I would take Zion over Morant and Barrett combined.

He's 1/4 Shaq and 3/4 Charles Barkley.

doubledragon

Lebron and Zion put on quite a show yesterday. Lebron was hitting ridiculous shots, and Zion was pretty much having his way with the Lakers most of the game.

erikthredd

I think the ROY award will come down to whoever gets his team into the playoffs. Currently Morant & the Grizzlies sit in the 8th playoff spot out West with the Pelicans three games behind them in 9th. If neither team makes it in then it's tough to say but if Zion finishes the season playing like he is now I'd give it to him.

Tabe

@SanctionII said:

Le Bron James comes to mind as just such an athlete, for reasons which are mainly centered around his durability. He is now in his 16th or 17th NBA season and his performance level is still at a very high level. If he is fortunate enough (via genetics, hard work and/or luck) to be able to play another 5 years into his early 40's without suffering a drop off of his ability to perform I would view him as a true "Ironman" or "Superman".

You don't already view him that way? He's already performed at an elite level longer than any player in NBA history.

erikthredd

Very classy move by this kid.
https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/zion-williamson-will-pay-smoothie-king-center-workers-salaries-after-nba-season-suspended/289-a72f9a0c-209f-4e1e-a700-b8c9a6101d8e

"NEW ORLEANS — Zion Williamson announced on instagram that he'll cover the salaries of all Smoothie King Center workers for the next 30 days while the NBA season is suspended and all large public gatherings have been banned by the Governor.

"The people of New Orleans have been incredibly welcoming and supportive since I was Drafted by the Pels last June, and some of the most special people I have met are those who work at smoothie King Center," Williamson wrote. "These are the folks who make our games possible, creating the perfect environment for our fans and everyone involved in the organization. Unfortunately, many of them are still recovering from long term challenges created by Katrina, and now face the economic impact of the postponement of games because of the virus."

Williamson said the donation was inspire by his mother, who always set the example to be respectful of others and grateful for what you have.

"This is a small way for me to express my support and appreciation for these wonderful people who have been so great to me and my teammates and hopefully we can all join together to relieve some of the stress and hardship caused by this national health crisis," Williamson said.