NBA - Main

15 readers

1 users here now

Game analysis, highlights and everything else that is happening in the NBA.

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

communick@nba.space

It’s kinda crazy how Zion has basically become an afterthought (alien.top)

submitted 1 year ago by MasterTeacher123@alien.top to c/nba@nba.space

76 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I remember the hype coming out of duke, how teams were tanking for him, the “generational” talent/prospect talks. How by this time Zion would either be the straight up face of the league or one of them. Definitely a top ten player and more than likely a top 5 player by now. That basically didn’t happen, he’s been surpassed by other young players since. I legit remember several Who would you rather have going forward Luka or Zion threads. It’s crazy

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] -Ran@alien.top 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

When Zion was coming to Louisiana, there was so much hype about how he was going to turn New Orleans into a basketball city. I had so many friends/coworkers asking me questions, and all becoming pretty engaged in the first season.

Then the injuries happened. The turnover in coaching. The Pelicans just kept having long stretches of players being hurt. It wasn't just Zion, but the entire team that was bogged down.

This year, Zion has the third highest minutes played on the team, but the two who are leading are Hawkins [Rookie] and Dyson [Year 2.] Most of this year has been the same story as last. Injury and after injury. Before last night's game, we had the third worst bench in PPG in the league.

Zion has been trying to be an active passer all year to soften up the lane for himself. It's just difficult with all the injuries. He's still third in the team with 4.2 assists per game. I've watched entirely too many possessions where he kicks it out to an open man, but that open man should be playing on a G-league affiliate.

It's just frustrating.

[–] shoefly72@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I’ve watched a lot of Pels games and he goes long stretches where he’s not really impacting the offense. Last night CJ was out and I expected more shot attempts for him and instead a lot of times he didn’t even touch the ball on several possessions in a row or just cycled it around the perimeter.

He did also do a nice job of driving and kicking out for 3 point looks when the defense collapsed. But in general he’s not really getting any post ups like he used to, and his faceup game gets stymied a lot by his lack of a jump shot and defenses collapsing on him. While you guys clearly played well as an offense and blew out the mavs, the offense in general doesn’t really cater to what Zion does well and I get why he’s having a hard time finding his shot opportunities.

Ingram is a little different because if he wants a shot he can just pound the ball and work into a midrange, and Zion can’t really do that because it’s either get to the rim or bust. Until he decides to take some jumpshots or forces some post ups, he’s gonna have a hard time.