Zion Williamson So Far????

[sco]

I think Zion needs to grow his hair out to cushion his head from the rim.
#Hulk

[Lauri_Legend]

This is crazy but he reminds of rookie Shaq in orlando. Big difference is the obvious: Zion is 6'6 and Shaq was a legit 7 footer. Zion is 285lbs, Shaq was 230lbs back then. But, their styles are pretty similar. Face up and attack the rim at will. Clearly stronger than their opponents. They play bully ball and use their athleticism to dunk from anywhere. Zion doesn't really have a jumpshot yet, but that could be the difference in their careers

[johnnyvann840]

Watch on YouTube

RJ is ridiculously good. His instincts and awareness are so far beyond his age. That kid is the best prospect coming out of high school I've seen in many years. Maybe since Lebron. I think that much of his game. That's the whole package. High IQ, great vision, tremendous athlete. He's the #1 pick and Zion is probably the #2. So much can happen in a year though. Just watch some of the passes he makes. Watch how he just has a nose for the ball on rebounds and second chances. His body positioning when he is dribbles. He uses both hands equally as well. You would never know he was a lefty without watching him shoot. Watch his cuts off the ball. Watch him block shots and get steals because he has great timing. Does it all. Unbelievable.

I know this thread is about Williamson, but man, Barrett is already a complete basketball player, Zion is an athlete who might become a good basketball player. Barrett already has a complete game... plays both ends well. Just knows where to be on the floor all the time. You just don't see that from kids his age unless they are just instinctively on another level. He is.

I am waiting to see Barrett against better competition, as I am not that impressed with him so far, on the contrary - his athleticism is not impressive imo (and he already has problems with his knee) and he doesn't have great lenght (height:WS is almost equall iirc), I still wait to see that vision in half court, so far his most impressive passes have been oops to Williamson, where he does most of the work imo; and he has been relatively inefficient, having in mind competition he is facing, shooting slightly less than 50% FG, while hitting only 6/21 3pts, as well as 16/30 FTs.

Where are you getting your stats from because they're not real. I hope not from Prep Circuit. Don't believe anything from that site.

[JohnnyKILLroy]

This is crazy but he reminds of rookie Shaq in orlando. Big difference is the obvious: Zion is 6'6 and Shaq was a legit 7 footer. Zion is 285lbs, Shaq was 230lbs back then. But, their styles are pretty similar. Face up and attack the rim at will. Clearly stronger than their opponents. They play bully ball and use their athleticism to dunk from anywhere. Zion doesn't really have a jumpshot yet, but that could be the difference in their careers

Killed your cred with that one.

[realEAST]

RJ is ridiculously good. His instincts and awareness are so far beyond his age. That kid is the best prospect coming out of high school I've seen in many years. Maybe since Lebron. I think that much of his game. That's the whole package. High IQ, great vision, tremendous athlete. He's the #1 pick and Zion is probably the #2. So much can happen in a year though. Just watch some of the passes he makes. Watch how he just has a nose for the ball on rebounds and second chances. His body positioning when he is dribbles. He uses both hands equally as well. You would never know he was a lefty without watching him shoot. Watch his cuts off the ball. Watch him block shots and get steals because he has great timing. Does it all. Unbelievable.

I know this thread is about Williamson, but man, Barrett is already a complete basketball player, Zion is an athlete who might become a good basketball player. Barrett already has a complete game... plays both ends well. Just knows where to be on the floor all the time. You just don't see that from kids his age unless they are just instinctively on another level. He is.

I am waiting to see Barrett against better competition, as I am not that impressed with him so far, on the contrary - his athleticism is not impressive imo (and he already has problems with his knee) and he doesn't have great lenght (height:WS is almost equall iirc), I still wait to see that vision in half court, so far his most impressive passes have been oops to Williamson, where he does most of the work imo; and he has been relatively inefficient, having in mind competition he is facing, shooting slightly less than 50% FG, while hitting only 6/21 3pts, as well as 16/30 FTs.

Where are you getting your stats from because they're not real. I hope not from Prep Circuit. Don't believe anything from that site.

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211768616&DB_OEM_ID=4200

And there are, what seems to me like official box score stats, for other two games as well.

[Red Larrivee]

When you consider his size, he may very well be a generational athlete. He moves like a point guard in an NFL DE's body. These highlights aren't even fair. It looks like he's playing against little kids and nobody on the floor even remotely mirrors his stature. It's bully ball.

I'm still skeptical about who he guards and his inability to shoot. He probably needs the ball a lot, but isn't really a point forward. His talent will get him drafted high, but it's interesting that he almost goes against the premium on shooting and defense that's placed on the wing now.

He's going to be fun to watch in college though.

[kodo]

TBH, the competition here is probably worse than what you'd see at some of the HS exhibition games like McDonald's or EYBL. At EYBL, Wendell Carter had score against & guard Deandre Ayton. There's nobody remotely like that at these schools I've never heard of.

I'm definitely looking forward to see how Zion does against real competition.

[realEAST]

Glance at Williamson against higher level competition (Nassr guards him on many possessions) looking more like human with opponent closer to what he will meet in NBA on average. Also, reason I like Nassr:

Watch on YouTube

[johnnyvann840]

I am waiting to see Barrett against better competition, as I am not that impressed with him so far, on the contrary - his athleticism is not impressive imo (and he already has problems with his knee) and he doesn't have great lenght (height:WS is almost equall iirc), I still wait to see that vision in half court, so far his most impressive passes have been oops to Williamson, where he does most of the work imo; and he has been relatively inefficient, having in mind competition he is facing, shooting slightly less than 50% FG, while hitting only 6/21 3pts, as well as 16/30 FTs.

Where are you getting your stats from because they're not real. I hope not from Prep Circuit. Don't believe anything from that site.

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211768616&DB_OEM_ID=4200

And there are, what seems to me like official box score stats, for other two games as well.

I see what you're looking at. I'm not too concerned even if that is correct. It's a few exhibition games coming three months after he last played competitive ball and three months before the college season even starts. He shot high %'s in the U19 Worlds and his shooting stroke is solid. He was 77% from the line in FIBA play and still shot close to .500 from the field. He did average over 30 PPG in those exhibitions and got to the line a lot. I see a pretty special player. I'm skeptical of those stats anyway.. Just from watching the highlights of that one game, he made three 3 pt shots and got 2 blocks and the stats have him 1-5 from 3 and only one blk in the game.. Makes no sense.

When November 10th comes around and Duke takes the court for real, I think you'll see him putting up impressive numbers in both scoring, assists and shooting %'s.

[DASMACKDOWN]

When you consider his size, he may very well be a generational athlete. He moves like a point guard in an NFL DE's body. These highlights aren't even fair. It looks like he's playing against little kids and nobody on the floor even remotely mirrors his stature. It's bully ball.

I'm still skeptical about who he guards and his inability to shoot. He probably needs the ball a lot, but isn't really a point forward. His talent will get him drafted high, but it's interesting that he almost goes against the premium on shooting and defense that's placed on the wing now.

He's going to be fun to watch in college though.

I would rank Zion in the 1 percentile all time as a basketball athlete. Im talking in terms of size, strength, speed, explosiveness and skillset.

If the closest basketball comparison athleticism wise is Lebron, then you are in all time catagory. And even Lebron wasn't this big at the same age.

[DASMACKDOWN]

Glance at Williamson against higher level competition (Nassr guards him on many possessions) looking more like human with opponent closer to what he will meet in NBA on average. Also, reason I like Nassr:

Watch on YouTube

True but Zion was also coming off injury during this time period too.

[johnnyvann840]

Keep in mind Barrett just turned 18 after the draft in June and Zion just turned 18 about a month later. Both of them are still growing and should develop a lot over the next year in both their bodies and their games. Zion looks like a kid who is going to have to really watch his weight though.

[Hangtime84]

Glance at Williamson against higher level competition (Nassr guards him on many possessions) looking more like human with opponent closer to what he will meet in NBA on average. Also, reason I like Nassr:

Watch on YouTube

True but Zion was also coming off injury during this time period too.

Watch on YouTube

end of the game he locked up Williamson.

Not shown but spent time guarding RJ Barrett more

[Lauri_Legend]

This is crazy but he reminds of rookie Shaq in orlando. Big difference is the obvious: Zion is 6'6 and Shaq was a legit 7 footer. Zion is 285lbs, Shaq was 230lbs back then. But, their styles are pretty similar. Face up and attack the rim at will. Clearly stronger than their opponents. They play bully ball and use their athleticism to dunk from anywhere. Zion doesn't really have a jumpshot yet, but that could be the difference in their careers

Killed your cred with that one.

Killed your cred by killing my cred

[JohnnyKILLroy]

This is crazy but he reminds of rookie Shaq in orlando. Big difference is the obvious: Zion is 6'6 and Shaq was a legit 7 footer. Zion is 285lbs, Shaq was 230lbs back then. But, their styles are pretty similar. Face up and attack the rim at will. Clearly stronger than their opponents. They play bully ball and use their athleticism to dunk from anywhere. Zion doesn't really have a jumpshot yet, but that could be the difference in their careers

Killed your cred with that one.

Killed your cred by killing my cred

Shaq was probably 230 lbs when he was 10 years old definitely not in Orlando.

[NecessaryEvil]

Read on Twitter

[Lauri_Legend]

Killed your cred with that one.

Killed your cred by killing my cred

Shaq was probably 230 lbs when he was 10 years old definitely not in Orlando.

He weighed 250lbs leaving HS (Zion's age) and at the end of LSU he was 294, 9 pounds heavier than Zion. Same weight class at that age but a good 6 inches shorter.

[DuckIII]

When you consider his size, he may very well be a generational athlete. He moves like a point guard in an NFL DE's body.

He's bound for the NBA where he will have guaranteed contracts and a longer career in all likelihood. And a healthier retirement. So good call on his part.

But I just can't believe this kid didn't end up playing football. I googled it and found nothing about him playing HS football. He's got the physical profile of an all time great.

EDIT: Found this on his wikipedia page:

His father Lateef Williamson was a defensive lineman who had earned All-American honors at Mayo High School in Darlington, South Carolina. Lateef had committed to NC State before transferring to Livingstone College.[1][3] Zion's mother Sharonda Sampson was a sprinter at Livingstone and became a middle school health and physical education teacher.

Makes sense.

[R3AL1TY]

Zion definitely looks good so far. It looks like he has toned up too. He reminds me of Julius Randle, but with more explosiveness. His handles is better than I thought. If he can muscle his way easily to the rim over a long period of time with that speed + do the same in the NBA, he should be top player easily.

It won't be as easy. Hell he really has played against real talent in college yet. I just can't see him dominating in the front court at 6'6", but maybe he is this generation's Charles Barkley. Not convinced yet.

The keyword I mentioned is *if*. He still has to prove this dominance throughout this upcoming college season + at least a season or two in the NBA to be rightfully crowned.

[23-7]

Killed your cred by killing my cred

Shaq was probably 230 lbs when he was 10 years old definitely not in Orlando.

He weighed 250lbs leaving HS (Zion's age) and at the end of LSU he was 294, 9 pounds heavier than Zion. Same weight class at that age but a good 6 inches shorter.

You said he was 230. I agree credibility shot