Gudris wrote:http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/25584773/duke-zion-williamson-thinking-playing-41-games-garden-msg-debut

Zion Williamson's first game at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night left the star Duke freshman thinking about playing in a few more.

"Forty-one games at the Garden, I mean, it would probably be incredible," the projected top-five NBA draft pick said after helping Duke come back for a 69-58 win over Texas Tech.

Projected top-5? Who writes these? How about consensus #1?

martin wrote:

Gudris wrote:http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/25584773/duke-zion-williamson-thinking-playing-41-games-garden-msg-debut

Zion Williamson's first game at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night left the star Duke freshman thinking about playing in a few more.

"Forty-one games at the Garden, I mean, it would probably be incredible," the projected top-five NBA draft pick said after helping Duke come back for a 69-58 win over Texas Tech.

Projected top-5? Who writes these? How about consensus #1?

Lol, that's hilarious! Any team that passes on Zion is ****ing insane.

TripleThreat wrote:

Cartman718 wrote:Lets hypothetically say that we CAN draft Zion in 2019.
I have a question since I haven't seen him play that much. What position is he going to play on the Knicks?

He would be a PF.

Something to consider is the traditional positional breakdown ( C, PF, SF, SG, PG) has shifted quite a bit in the modern era.

Now it's

1) Wing
2) Pivot/Big ( Floor spacer and/or rim protector, ideally both)
3) "Attack Guard" ( ball dominant gunner who can get to the rim consistently and create their own shot consistently but usually a liability somewhere on defense

As a pivot/big, Zion is not a true rim protector. He has crazy athleticism and moves insanely well for his size. His long range shooting has questions to it projecting to the NBA level. He has very good court vision and it's not crazy to think, in time, you could run an offense through him.

Carrying that kind of weight is going to push him into his natural decline phase sooner, if his weight stays static.

One of the complications is he's bigger/stronger/faster than nearly all of his college counterparts. In the NBA, it won't be the same situation. While the natural "enforcer" role is gone from the league since the brawl with the Malice In The Palace, Zion is going to get hit hard trying to take it to the rim in the NBA.

Like every other player in the NBA, he needs a consistent and effective three point shot in his arsenal.

If about 10 things go right, he will be a HOF caliber talent.

If any of 50 things individually go wrong, he's an overcharged tweener who will stay in a rotation, but won't be a franchise player.

His talent is unique though. Just bizarre to see him move so fast, and this is even accounting for NBA game speed and athletes. In a place with freak athletes, he's a two headed circus show all on his own.

I mean if he's Banana Boat Buddies like talent then you don't pass on that, but how well does he move off screens, because he's sure to have a quicker defender on him and like we agree...his size is not going to get him doing much against a good shot blocking PF...kinda like KP.

I think if he went one on one against KP...KP would simply stay between him and the basket and wait till a shot is taken, then jump up and just swat it away.

Does this kid have a good fadeaway that's hard to block or a good rainbow arching 3 in his arsenal?

His STAT like 360 moves may not do much...even STAT was 6'10"

How well does he finish against a taller college player in the half court?
Looking for opinions here.

VCoug wrote:

Cartman718 wrote:

TripleThreat wrote:

Cartman718 wrote:Lets hypothetically say that we CAN draft Zion in 2019.
I have a question since I haven't seen him play that much. What position is he going to play on the Knicks?

He would be a PF.

Something to consider is the traditional positional breakdown ( C, PF, SF, SG, PG) has shifted quite a bit in the modern era.

Now it's

1) Wing
2) Pivot/Big ( Floor spacer and/or rim protector, ideally both)
3) "Attack Guard" ( ball dominant gunner who can get to the rim consistently and create their own shot consistently but usually a liability somewhere on defense

As a pivot/big, Zion is not a true rim protector. He has crazy athleticism and moves insanely well for his size. His long range shooting has questions to it projecting to the NBA level. He has very good court vision and it's not crazy to think, in time, you could run an offense through him.

Carrying that kind of weight is going to push him into his natural decline phase sooner, if his weight stays static.

One of the complications is he's bigger/stronger/faster than nearly all of his college counterparts. In the NBA, it won't be the same situation. While the natural "enforcer" role is gone from the league since the brawl with the Malice In The Palace, Zion is going to get hit hard trying to take it to the rim in the NBA.

Like every other player in the NBA, he needs a consistent and effective three point shot in his arsenal.

If about 10 things go right, he will be a HOF caliber talent.

If any of 50 things individually go wrong, he's an overcharged tweener who will stay in a rotation, but won't be a franchise player.

His talent is unique though. Just bizarre to see him move so fast, and this is even accounting for NBA game speed and athletes. In a place with freak athletes, he's a two headed circus show all on his own.

I mean if he's Banana Boat Buddies like talent then you don't pass on that, but how well does he move off screens, because he's sure to have a quicker defender on him and like we agree...his size is not going to get him doing much against a good shot blocking PF...kinda like KP.

I think if he went one on one against KP...KP would simply stay between him and the basket and wait till a shot is taken, then jump up and just swat it away.

Does this kid have a good fadeaway that's hard to block or a good rainbow arching 3 in his arsenal?

His STAT like 360 moves may not do much...even STAT was 6'10"

How well does he finish against a taller college player in the half court?
Looking for opinions here.

First of all, read this article: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/zion-williamson-is-the-best-college-basketball-player-in-at-least-a-decade/

Zion doesn't need a fadeaway, which is something that can be learned anyway, or a rainbow arcing three, something only Steph Curry has. If Zion's matched up with a defender that's bigger/stronger than him, he's so fast and has such a good handle that he can pull back and take them off the dribble. If you put a smaller, faster defender on him he's so strong Zion will bully him into the post and score that way. If teams send a second defender at him his passing ability and court vision are so good that he'll just hit the open man.

Cartman718 wrote:Good article.... how does he handle double teams? And how good is his lateral movement on defense?

He can handle doubleteams. He's got good court vision and passing ability to hit the open man when the double comes. He's a good defender, definitely a plus though I don't know if he'll ever be DPOY like he wants to be.

martin wrote:

Gudris wrote:http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/25584773/duke-zion-williamson-thinking-playing-41-games-garden-msg-debut

Zion Williamson's first game at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night left the star Duke freshman thinking about playing in a few more.

"Forty-one games at the Garden, I mean, it would probably be incredible," the projected top-five NBA draft pick said after helping Duke come back for a 69-58 win over Texas Tech.

Projected top-5? Who writes these? How about consensus #1?

I still think Barrett is better