Dukies in the NBA 2019-20

[heyman25]

Zion will get better. He is not in shape yet.JJ missing 2 free throws not good. Ingram was number 1 Duke player in the game. Pelicans don't take care of the ball and have a lot of defensive lapses. Favors shaky in the paint. Okafor is out of any rotation. Grayson Allen was solid and JJ is in amazing shape for a 36 year old. Gordon Hayward is now the best free throw shooter in the Bubble. JJ was shooting well,but needs a little sharper.

[cato]

Zion will get better. He is not in shape yet.JJ missing 2 free throws not good. Ingram was number 1 Duke player in the game. Pelicans don't take care of the ball and have a lot of defensive lapses. Favors shaky in the paint. Okafor is out of any rotation. Grayson Allen was solid and JJ is in amazing shape for a 36 year old. Gordon Hayward is now the best free throw shooter in the Bubble. JJ was shooting well,but needs a little sharper.

I didn’t watch the game, but it sounds like JJ missed the free throws in the fourth quarter? Sounds like tired legs. And with JJ you know that it is not for a lack of work. The players have to get real game time to get their conditioning.

[ice-9]

Spurs lost a close one against the 76ers to keep the Pelican's playoff hopes alive. Looking at the remaining schedule, the Pelicans have the easiest -- they have the capability to win all their remaining games. Or did I just jinx them?

[sagegrouse]

Spurs lost a close one against the 76ers to keep the Pelican's playoff hopes alive. Looking at the remaining schedule, the Pelicans have the easiest -- they have the capability to win all their remaining games. Or did I just jinx them?

Nawlins has voodoo culture on its side -- jinxes don't mean anything.

[Steven43]

Zion with 11 in 10 minutes. And Grayson with 17(!) in the first half.

Man, I wish I had recorded this game. Love to hear that Grayson played well. I wish he were on Zion’s team. Maybe one day.

[Steven43]

Still looked easily winded though ... and got worked a few times on defense. Add me to the list of folks baffled by his conditioning challenges after he was reported to be in such excellent shape entering the bubble. I dont really get it. He had plenty of high 30's and 40 minute games at Duke. So is he still not in the same condition as he was then? Plenty of folks (like Melo) came to the bubble in great shape...

It is quite perplexing, isn’t it? Maybe Zion has an as-yet-undiagnosed condition of some sort that could be helped by medication or a change of diet. You never know. Hoping for the best for this fine young man.

[ice-9]

I heard from one of the podcasts that Zion basically did little to no conditioning for the 2 weeks that he was out and in quarantine. I'm not an elite athlete but there may be a ramp up required after so much downtime. Would explain the minutes restriction.

[gep]

From ESPN on the game with the Grizzles...

https://www.espn.com/nba/recap?gameId=401224728

********
The game also included another Williamson shoe incident.

Williamson drove the lane in the third quarter and landed awkwardly, losing his left shoe. However, the big man quickly put the shoe back on and remained in the game. It brought back memories of when the then-Duke freshman sensation injured his knee in February 2019 when his foot ripped through the side of his shoe as he attempted to plant his foot.
********

[duke96]

Spurs lost a close one against the 76ers to keep the Pelican's playoff hopes alive. Looking at the remaining schedule, the Pelicans have the easiest -- they have the capability to win all their remaining games. Or did I just jinx them?

They have by far the easiest schedule. Could get interesting, especially with Zion playing more minutes. Spurs Pelicans on Sunday has the potential to be a huge game.

[JasonEvans]

Each team has 5 or 6 games left, right? The fight for the final two playoff spots is absurd in the West:

[subzero02]

I heard from one of the podcasts that Zion basically did little to no conditioning for the 2 weeks that he was out and in quarantine. I'm not an elite athlete but there may be a ramp up required after so much downtime. Would explain the minutes restriction.

The reasoning behind the minutes restriction was explained during the game against the Clippers. The team doctors are worried about injuries to soft tissue that are more likely to occur once he is fatigued. Basically, if he looks too winded or has played "x" consecutive minutes, he grabs the pine.

If Memphis(0-3) doesn't play well against the Jazz today at 2:30pm, there is a realistic chance that they will only win a game or 2 during their 8 game restart. I honestly think the 8 and 9 seeds will come down to portland, the spurs and the pelicans.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

I heard from one of the podcasts that Zion basically did little to no conditioning for the 2 weeks that he was out and in quarantine. I'm not an elite athlete but there may be a ramp up required after so much downtime. Would explain the minutes restriction.

I was told several months ago by an athletic trainer/exercise physiologist that it only takes one week of inactivity for an athlete to lose a meaningful degree of conditioning.

[flyingdutchdevil]

The reasoning behind the minutes restriction was explained during the game against the Clippers. The team doctors are worried about injuries to soft tissue that are more likely to occur once he is fatigued. Basically, if he looks too winded or has played "x" consecutive minutes, he grabs the pine.

If Memphis(0-3) doesn't play well against the Jazz today at 2:30pm, there is a realistic chance that they will only win a game or 2 during their 8 game restart. I honestly think the 8 and 9 seeds will come down to portland, the spurs and the pelicans.

To me, Portland will likely get the 8th seed. They are the only team with a true superstar (Lillard). They have a great Robin to Lillard's Batman (McCollum). They have 3 competent bigs, one of which is a handful (Nurkic). And they have decent role players who actually do know their roles (Anthony, Trent Jr). They are a likable team.

But lets face it; whoever the 8th seed is, they are gonna get massacred by Cook's Lakers.

[DoubleBlue]

I was told several months ago by an athletic trainer/exercise physiologist that it only takes one week of inactivity for an athlete to lose a meaningful degree of conditioning.

I've heard as a rule of thumb that an athlete loses 10% of their conditioning per week with no activity. Obviously its highly specific to circumstances, but not a bad general rule.

[Duke79UNLV77]

Based on watching Zion so far, I think:

1. He still has not been fully in shape in the NBA, and he's farther away now than he was before. He's even a bit pudgy now. The 2 weeks of inactivity definitely hurt, but his body clearly can put on weight easily. In terms of losing fitness quickly, marathoners commonly taper very markedly for 2-3 weeks before a race to balance peak fitness and freshness. I've been surprised at how quickly Zion lost fitness, if the reports of his conditioning just before he left the bubble were accurate. I also don't recall his losing fitness that quickly when he was out with us.

2. Having said that, it's stunning how efficient he has been this year at less than 100% conditioning, wanting to attack the basket to the left every time, and opponents playing well off of him and trying to stop that. Wow.

3. I can't wait to see the full Zion in the NBA. Besides the conditioning and learning curve, I've read that the team has instructed him to pick his spots on defense so far. Everyone remembers the 3-pointer block against VA, but I also remember Ky Bowman, a very athletic guard even at the NBA level, getting Zion is iso, showcasing a series of moves, and Zion still blocking his jump shot. We also still haven't seen all of his playmaking yet, though he did have 5 assists last night.

4. We should have used him down low even more last year. The best defenders in the NBA have difficulty stopping him, even when they know exactly what's coming. Zion bully ball should have been options 1, 2, and 3, even with other capable scorers. Of course, if you could have combined that with one more year of Trent sharpshooting or Cam shooting like he did in the last month or so of his NBA season.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Based on watching Zion so far, I think:

1. He still has not been fully in shape in the NBA, and he's farther away now than he was before. He's even a bit pudgy now. The 2 weeks of inactivity definitely hurt, but his body clearly can put on weight easily. In terms of losing fitness quickly, marathoners commonly taper very markedly for 2-3 weeks before a race to balance peak fitness and freshness. I've been surprised at how quickly Zion lost fitness, if the reports of his conditioning just before he left the bubble were accurate. I also don't recall his losing fitness that quickly when he was out with us.

2. Having said that, it's stunning how efficient he has been this year at less than 100% conditioning, wanting to attack the basket to the left every time, and opponents playing well off of him and trying to stop that. Wow.

3. I can't wait to see the full Zion in the NBA. Besides the conditioning and learning curve, I've read that the team has instructed him to pick his spots on defense so far. Everyone remembers the 3-pointer block against VA, but I also remember Ky Bowman, a very athletic guard even at the NBA level, getting Zion is iso, showcasing a series of moves, and Zion still blocking his jump shot. We also still haven't seen all of his playmaking yet, though he did have 5 assists last night.

4. We should have used him down low even more last year. The best defenders in the NBA have difficulty stopping him, even when they know exactly what's coming. Zion bully ball should have been options 1, 2, and 3, even with other capable scorers. Of course, if you could have combined that with one more year of Trent sharpshooting or Cam shooting like he did in the last month or so of his NBA season.

Actually, he hasn't been that efficient since the return. At least compared to his pre-quarantine self. During the ~20 games he played, Zion shot a little less than 60% from the floor. In the 3 games post-quarantine? 50%. 50% is still an excellent number for most basketball players. But Zion is generally on another level from an efficiency standpoint.

The area where Zion has truly struggled has been defense. He's getting burned on every turn - including by big men - and loses his man a lot. I know, I know...he's young and he'll figure it out. But right now, he's a liability on defense.

[jv001]

Based on watching Zion so far, I think:

1. He still has not been fully in shape in the NBA, and he's farther away now than he was before. He's even a bit pudgy now. The 2 weeks of inactivity definitely hurt, but his body clearly can put on weight easily. In terms of losing fitness quickly, marathoners commonly taper very markedly for 2-3 weeks before a race to balance peak fitness and freshness. I've been surprised at how quickly Zion lost fitness, if the reports of his conditioning just before he left the bubble were accurate. I also don't recall his losing fitness that quickly when he was out with us.

2. Having said that, it's stunning how efficient he has been this year at less than 100% conditioning, wanting to attack the basket to the left every time, and opponents playing well off of him and trying to stop that. Wow.

3. I can't wait to see the full Zion in the NBA. Besides the conditioning and learning curve, I've read that the team has instructed him to pick his spots on defense so far. Everyone remembers the 3-pointer block against VA, but I also remember Ky Bowman, a very athletic guard even at the NBA level, getting Zion is iso, showcasing a series of moves, and Zion still blocking his jump shot. We also still haven't seen all of his playmaking yet, though he did have 5 assists last night.

4. We should have used him down low even more last year. The best defenders in the NBA have difficulty stopping him, even when they know exactly what's coming. Zion bully ball should have been options 1, 2, and 3, even with other capable scorers. Of course, if you could have combined that with one more year of Trent sharpshooting or Cam shooting like he did in the last month or so of his NBA season.

I certainly agree with the bolded part of your post. Getting the ball down low to "Z" should have been our best option on every possession last season. But the opponents knew this as well and defensed giving up some 3 point opportunities in order to stop "Z" down low. Then there were times RJ controlled the ball a good portion of the shot clock. Didn't Coach K tell the team during a timeout to get the ball down low to Zion and stop taking so many 3s?

GoDuke!

[DukieInBrasil]

Based on watching Zion so far, I think:

4. We should have used him down low even more last year. The best defenders in the NBA have difficulty stopping him, even when they know exactly what's coming. Zion bully ball should have been options 1, 2, and 3, even with other capable scorers. Of course, if you could have combined that with one more year of Trent sharpshooting or Cam shooting like he did in the last month or so of his NBA season.

In the highlights of the NOLA vs Memphis game one of them is Zion just jumping up thru the chest of Valanciunas and knocking V. back and out of position so that Z can get the Oboard and put back. Val is a LARGE man, and for Z to just abuse him physically like that indicates that using him down low is a great option.
While i wish we could have seen more of that from Z at Duke, we must remember that the refs were very eager to call charging fouls on Z for precisely that type of play b/c he was so huge compared to everyone in NCAA ball. Granted, some of the charging was from Z driving from the wing and then someone either running into him and bouncing off or a flop after Z had spun away from them. Who else remembers the egregious hacking that Z took from, well almost everyone, but in particular Tacko Fall without getting fouls called for the hacking?
So, while i think Duke could have benefited from some more Z in the post, i think there was a real risk of picking up more charges and/or lulling the refs into never calling fouls again for Z b/c they had already allowed so much hacking/flopping to happen.

[subzero02]

Actually, he hasn't been that efficient since the return. At least compared to his pre-quarantine self. During the ~20 games he played, Zion shot a little less than 60% from the floor. In the 3 games post-quarantine? 50%. 50% is still an excellent number for most basketball players. But Zion is generally on another level from an efficiency standpoint.

The area where Zion has truly struggled has been defense. He's getting burned on every turn - including by big men - and loses his man a lot. I know, I know...he's young and he'll figure it out. But right now, he's a liability on defense.

Unless you are playing a zone, intense fatigue and solid defense can't coexist.

[weezie]

Well everybody has to grow up sometime. It may be difficult to play without fans cheering but it could be worse.
When the going gets tough...