clyde21 wrote:NO-KG-AI wrote:clyde21 wrote:
I think Zion would have a better chance at that rebound than you'd think based on their height/reach.
We'll see. I think his only chance at stardom is if his quickness/handling is good enough to attack smaller and weaker guys on the perimeter. Sadly for him, playing in the paint doesn't allow you the time to get full run ups or gathers to reach your peak vertical for blocks and rebounds, and the real big men are just going to snatch the ball over you. I think if length is part of the equation, is definitely not the best overall physical package in the league since LeBron, not that close really. And if it isn't part of the equation, then there are small guys that are faster and more explosive that are better athletes. It's just weird that people seem to include size as an athletic component, but only to a certain extent.
Out of curiousity, why do you see 6'10 reach for a 6'6" guy as a weakness? That's above average reach.
LeBron also had just 'above average' reach, yet that didn't affect his athletic prowess.
LeBron had over 2 inches of wingspan over Zion at the same age, and over 3 inches of standing reach. That's nothing to sneeze at, at all. There is a bigger gap between LeBron and Zion's reach than there is between Zion and Russell Westbrook's reach.
Plus, if LeBron wasn't so quick and fluid with the ball, he wouldn't be the best athlete in the NBA either. But LeBron's agility and short area movement combined with his explosion and power has made him the best physical package and able to take over a game at will on the offensive end.
But even with all those physical tools, he doesn't stack up with some of the taller guys as an athletic package defensively, but he more than makes up that ground on the offensive end. Does Zion? I don't buy that he has the short area quickness, agility and fluidity to create from nothing on the wing like guys like LeBron or a Wade can, that helps them make up the gap they give up defensively to prospects like say, Joel Embiid for instance.
I think Zion has potential to be a stud offensively, but he has a way lower ceiling defensively than a LOT of guys that can reach similar levels of offensive prowess, and it's not all skill based. Power is a great asset on the wing, but speed and explosion is still the best thing to have when creating offense from the perimeter, so he kind of ends up as a bit of a tweener in terms of athletics prowess.
Maybe he's more fluid and quick than I expect, and if he is, it gets a lot more interesting, but I felt the same way with Andrew Wiggins, despite him being such a phenomenal leaper, the rest of his athleticism didn't wow me like it did others, though ZIon has a MASSIVE bulk advantage that can't be discounted, I don't think bulk matters as much when you give up to much reach. Barkley was a HUGE exception, because other guys haven't been able to use their bulk and explosion to that degree before or after, but I guess it's bound to happen again.
