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OT- Zion Williamson duke

People always jump to conclusions after one game. The ACC is a gauntlet this year, and freshman on the road in hostile gyms vs. a really good team they can easily lose.
 
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Screamin A Smith was talking about Duke going undefeated because of one game. They'll be great, but undefeated in the ACC? Nah.
 
This team is better than the one with Tyus and company. They aren't anywhere near as good as they will be come tournament time and that's scary. Undefeated wouldn't surprise me one single bit.

As for a comparison, Corliss Williamson from Arkansas comes to mind frame wise. He was 30 pounds lighter though. Any which way you slice it, he is a freak of nature. He would be insane on the football field as well.
 
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I dont think Ive personally ever seen a player of his athletic ability at that size. He just shouldnt be able to move like that at 280 pounds and his body shouldnt be able to glide through the air effortlessly. This Duke team is crazy scary but most of the talent is freshmen so there is a good chance there will be some consistency issues especially as we get in to the grind of ACC play.
 
AUcane said:
Commentators love making all sorts of physical comps (and frankly, there are none), but I'm surprised LJ hasn't been mentioned more as far as physical comps. He's the closest I can think of in the category of super strong athletic freaks who are that size.
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I’m not a big comparison guy, but the LJ this kid reminds me of is actually Larry Johnson, who played for UNLV.
 
Cane47 said:
I’m not a big comparison guy, but the LJ this kid reminds me of is actually Larry Johnson, who played for UNLV.
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That's who I meant when I was discussing it earlier. If someone's comparing Zion to Lebron...I'm not with that.
 
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Now I can completely stop paying attention to the NCAAT. Not only does 1 and done hurt CBB, it's not even all that successful of a strategy to win championships.
 
tcgrad1014 said:
Now I can completely stop paying attention to the NCAAT. Not only does 1 and done hurt CBB, it's not even all that successful of a strategy to win championships.
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After these Elite 8 games, you can say that? I loved it when Duke went out. And Kentucky, and UNC. Too bad about Okeke or I think Auburn would've taken it all.
 
BWCD said:
That's who I meant when I was discussing it earlier. If someone's comparing Zion to Lebron...I'm not with that.
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I think he's already better, as a college frosh, than Larry Johnson was after a year or two at a JuCo and then two full seasons at UNLV.
 
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hotshot said:
I think he's already better, as a college frosh, than Larry Johnson was after a year or two at a JuCo and then two full seasons at UNLV.
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I can agree with that. I think he's got more raw talent than Larry Johnson does, but people forget - Gran-Mama was a FORCE in college and in the NBA at times. Zion is going to have to go to the league and prove it just like everyone else does.

I think Zion is much more like Johnson and Barkley than he is LBJ. Just different types of players.
 
BWCD said:
I can agree with that. I think he's got more raw talent than Larry Johnson does, but people forget - Gran-Mama was a FORCE in college and in the NBA at times. Zion is going to have to go to the league and prove it just like everyone else does.

I think Zion is much more like Johnson and Barkley than he is LBJ. Just different types of players.
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id like to see Zion w some spacing on his team. insane that duke couldn't find a single dependable three point shooter on that entire roster
 
hoops156 said:
id like to see Zion w some spacing on his team. insane that duke couldn't find a single dependable three point shooter on that entire roster
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True - if he gets on a team that has outside shooting to open things up inside, he'll be able to use his athleticism more easily. The bad news is, if the Suns have the #1 pick, they are dead last in the league this year in 3Pt %. Cavs are 10th overall, Bulls are 13th, Hawks are 15th, Grizzlies/Knicks are near the bottom like the Suns are.

Given that Zion is likely to be the #1 pick, and most of the teams w/a shot at the #1 pick in the lottery are turrible 3pt shooting teams, might be a while before we see Zion with floor spacing to work with.
 
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Just on pure strength, I think Zion's "floor" is still a pretty darn good NBA forward. It's his "ceiling" that may not be as high as many think. A very safe draft pick (he's def not gonna be a failure) but ... questionable whether his game rates the overall #1 in the draft pick.
 
hotshot said:
Just on pure strength, I think Zion's "floor" is still a pretty darn good NBA forward. It's his "ceiling" that may not be as high as many think. A very safe draft pick (he's def not gonna be a failure) but ... questionable whether his game rates the overall #1 in the draft pick.
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What can’t he do? Plays great defense, skilled offensive scorer and finisher. I didnt Know he had a 3 point shot like that either. It don’t matter if he’s going against tall fowards either, he’s going to outjump them
 
Zion dominates with his physicality much like LJ did. LJ was super unpolished coming out of UNLV but nobody could match his strength. That translated well to the pros as he developed more of an offensive game.
 
brock said:
What can’t he do? Plays great defense, skilled offensive scorer and finisher. I didnt Know he had a 3 point shot like that either. It don’t matter if he’s going against tall fowards either, he’s going to outjump them
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If I wanted to nitpick:

MSU game aside, Zion is a good but hardly great 3 point shooter; that likely means he's an average 3 point shooter at best from the NBA three point line. Also, a pretty average Free Throw shooter (he's gonna get fouled a lot, so improving on his numbers at Duke should be a priority for the young man).

Then, there's the matter of facing NBA defenders who are bigger and stronger than his college opponents. Personally, I think he'll more than hold his own but ... we won't know how much of a factor this is until the coming NBA season. Same with his height (he'll be one of the shorter Forwards in the league) but ... as you say, he can get up!
 
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