Zion over 70% FT his last six games - on over 10 FTA/game. That is HUGE for him.
edit Giannis and Harden only 2 guys in all NBA over 10 FTA/game!
Right. But even with adjustments, the comparison is flawed because Shaq came in as a 7' giant playing against other centers, in an era when centers still played primarily around the basket. Zion is defending both bigs and some wings, both of which pull him away from the basket far more than Shaq ever did. So Shaq was bound to gather in more rebounds. To me that makes what Zion is doing even more incredible. To even be close to Shaq numbers in rebounding is insane!
Zion over 70% FT his last six games - on over 10 FTA/game. That is HUGE for him.
edit Giannis and Harden only 2 guys in all NBA over 10 FTA/game!
The bolded was one of the points I was trying to make about Zion! He becomes worldwide (and he's on his way), young athletes will absolutely try to emulate his build and game. Impossible tasks but it will happen! You'll start seeing mini-Zion wannabes pop up on the AAU circuit in the next year or two. Mark it down!
As for me, yes, it did swell me up some. They used to feed it to us in the not-official-but-adjacent workout programs associated with my middle and high school sports programs, particularly football. IIRC, parents had to sign a waiver. The programs promised to add X lbs to your bench, Y lbs to your squat, Z lbs to your deadlift. It was STRONGLY encouraged that if you wanted to achieve those off season gains, you needed to take the creatine they administered. The coaches would reinforce/encourage it, too. I thought it was odd then, even more so now. The programming starts early, man!
Zion is unstoppable.
I have watched pretty much every Pelicans game since he returned, although sometimes I fast-forward to skip his bench minutes. (He's now regularly playing the 1st 6 minutes of each quarter, plus the last 3 minutes of the 2nd & 4th quarters.) The Pelicans -- who are a very likable team, btw -- are much better when he's on the court. He's scoring down low against much taller guys like Steven Adams and Hassan Whiteside. If he gets switched against a non-big -- it's automatic. He's also thrown some very nice passes.
He needs to get in better shape, which likely won't happen until next season, and improve as a defender, and I am terrified that he won't be able to stay healthy, but if he does, he is a lock to be one of the best two or three players in the league -- and maybe the undisputed #1 -- for as long as he plays.
I said this last season in a different thread and got some pushback: I'm a Duke alum and have been a pretty fervent fan, and seen pretty much every game, since 1985. Zion is the best player Duke's ever had.
I know that statement/conversation requires some criteria, so here are mine: if you were to consider each Duke player at the conclusion of his Duke career, and choose a team to play one ACC/NCAA season (or one NBA season for that matter, but since we're talking about Duke's best players, I think it makes sense to primarily consider this for a college season) -- Zion is going #1 in that draft, displacing Laettner at the top.
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We didn't read the stories that said "Send in the Rebels and send out the clowns."
And we didn't lose by 30.
Zion's end of game misses are rough....
Zion in the house! I know it’s been mentioned on the in-game thread, but I can’t bear to see the Zion thread fall off the first page.
BR with an article on the pressure of 'being Zion', how he's handling it, and how those around him are trying to make sure he maintains a joy for the game...which craters for a lot of people when they become pros.
Check out this beautiful jab step that sent the Warrior defender tripping: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIIO6X_XnaY
He's looking more and more like the Duke version; not quite but getting close.
Another video nicely summing Zion's progress in the NBA so far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u09NPT8WSLE
It's crazy to think he's not even in Duke shape yet and he's only the 3rd youngest player in the NBA!
How can you not love Zion? My uncheat buddies even like him and that's a miracle in its self. Zion loves the game and has fun playing it. I've never seen a player that can do all the things he does. Drive the ball-check, offensive rebound-check, defensive rebound-check, on the ball defense-check, block shots-check, pass the ball-check, shoot the three-check, midrange shot-check and Smile big time-check. Like I said, how can you not like him!
GoDuke!
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
https://www.zagsblog.com/2020/02/12/...te-to-the-nba/
Not looking too prophetic there, Mike.