Scout: Zion Williamson Moving Worse Than He Did In Summer League

[skones]

Well it's clear that report is 100% bull now after seeing how out of shape he looks. Unless he just put another 20 lbs on when he got to Orlando idk.

Honestly, knowing who Mark Titus is, I think most people took that tweet as 100% legitimate rather than tongue in cheek. I mean, the quote itself is a joke.

25 lbs of PURE Fat!

10 lbs of LEAN, EXPLOSIVE, DYNAMIC MUSCLE!

Sounds like an infomercial for a *NEW* dietary supplement that's nothing but placebo.

[Alonzo_Morning]

Well it's clear that report is 100% bull now after seeing how out of shape he looks. Unless he just put another 20 lbs on when he got to Orlando idk.

Honestly, knowing who Mark Titus is, I think most people took that tweet as 100% legitimate rather than tongue in cheek. I mean, the quote itself is a joke.

25 lbs of PURE Fat!

10 lbs of LEAN, EXPLOSIVE, DYNAMIC MUSCLE!

Sounds like an infomercial for a *NEW* dietary supplement that's nothing but placebo.

I actually got that Tweet from ESPN who appear to think it's legit

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29564646/how-carmelo-anthony-nikola-jokic-other-athletes-changed-their-look-coronavirus-shutdown

[Alatan]

Interesting. In his first game I thought he was moving better than he did before the lockdown, despite being fatter. He looked quick off the dribble. Even on defense he was in a lower crouch than before and looked generally more active, I thought. Also in transition he wasn't dragging around his right leg like he was before lockdown.

I didn't watch the second game so maybe that's where this scout's negative assessment of his movement is coming from.

Or maybe I'm just taking crazy pills.

Lol, what are you talking about. He was HORRIBLE in both games.

What are you talking about? He moved well in the first game.

He played traffic cone defense. Ran the floor like the last mile of a Marathon race and barely finished a dunk before his weight ripped him down from the rim. I dont know what game you watched but in the one i did he not only looked out of shape but he also looked like his jumping ability was zapped out of him. I dont know what is behind all this but it looks like he had some kind of injury during the shutdown and is now recovering from it.

[Alfred]

Crazy that he has problems moving, is lazy, an has 0 skills, and is a 6'6 post player with mediocre length, but he can just dominate other teams.

People aren't talking about his problems because he sucks. They're talking about his problems because if he solves them he will be a generational talent. He is legitimately one of the best athletes I have ever seen in my life.

[Duke4life831]

Okay 1st of all, Zion has not looked good in the bubble so far. His best game was last night and it was 23/7/5, but that 23 points came on 45 TS% and he might be one of the biggest defensive liabilities in the bubble at the moment. Dont get me wrong, he still is a freak prospect and showed flashes of that last night (especially in the 4th). But overall he still isnt playing good basketball, let alone "dominating". Lets be real, any other player that puts up 23 points on 45 TS% and plays horrible defense, that player gets called an empty stat player that didn't help his team win.

Also the vast majority of people in this thread arent saying Zion flat out sucks and is a useless player. Most people are criticizing that he clearly came in out of shape. He was so out of shape that he was on a 15 minute restriction, not because of an injury, but because they felt like if he played past that, he was in way too big of a injury threat because of how fatigue he'd get.

All people are saying is, look at him at Duke and look at him right now. That is two drastically different body shapes, also two drastically different playing styles. Zion was able to be a freakish athletic energizer bunny on both ends, now he looks he struggles to run and on defense he puts in the minimal amount of effort and he still gets visibly gassed within minutes.

You can say the guy still is a fantastic prospect and shows flashes of that greatness, but we are seeing less and less of that because he is continually getting in worse and worse shape.

[Buckets22]

What Zion needs is a veteran to guide him...the best thing for him would've been to end up with the Hawks.
Just glue him to Vince Carter - eat what Vince eats, drinks what Vince eats...have Dominique serve as another mentor type, etc.

I'm afraid that my prediction that he is the next Marcus Fizer will come true :\

[Duke4life831]

What Zion needs is a veteran to guide him...the best thing for him would've been to end up with the Hawks.
Just glue him to Vince Carter - eat what Vince eats, drinks what Vince eats...have Dominique serve as another mentor type, etc.

I'm afraid that my prediction that he is the next Marcus Fizer will come true :\

Its not like the Pels are without solid veterans. Favors is one of the better defensive bigs in the NBA. Jrue Holiday is a vet known for his work ethic and fantastic attitude. JJ's work ethic and veteran presence are almost talked about as much as his shooting ability. That is a pretty damn good veteran presence for a young team with those 3 guys.

[SF_Warriors]

He's a 20 year old who hasnt played ball in almost five months and missed any practice time and warm up games coming late into the bubble.

[Alfred]

What Zion needs is a veteran to guide him...the best thing for him would've been to end up with the Hawks.
Just glue him to Vince Carter - eat what Vince eats, drinks what Vince eats...have Dominique serve as another mentor type, etc.

I'm afraid that my prediction that he is the next Marcus Fizer will come true :\

Its not like the Pels are without solid veterans. Favors is one of the better defensive bigs in the NBA. Jrue Holiday is a vet known for his work ethic and fantastic attitude. JJ's work ethic and veteran presence are almost talked about as much as his shooting ability. That is a pretty damn good veteran presence for a young team with those 3 guys.

Yeah the Pelicans have guys that not only have been in the league for a while, but are winners. JJ Redick has NEVER missed the playoffs! Jrue Holiday was an All-Star and an All-Defensive first team selection!

[SA37]

He was already visibly overweight when he started playing in the regular season, so he might even be heavier now after ~4-5 months without playing.

ESPN has him listed at 284lbs. Assuming that is reasonably accurate, he’ll need to get down to about 250-255.

[Crizzle]

He was already visibly overweight when he started playing in the regular season, so he might even be heavier now after ~4-5 months without playing.

ESPN has him listed at 284lbs. Assuming that is reasonably accurate, he’ll need to get down to about 250-255.

I bet he is closer to 350 than he is to 284

[Smirk]

Most people are criticizing that he clearly came in out of shape. He was so out of shape that he was on a 15 minute restriction

The Pelicans did the EXACT same thing and minutes with Derrick Favors during the season when he came back after missing two weeks.

It is simply part of Aaron Nelson's "ramp up" policies.

[nikster]

He's a 20 year old who hasnt played ball in almost five months and missed any practice time and warm up games coming late into the bubble.

The entire league missed ball for 5 months, nobody put on weight like Zion has. Unless he was dealing with an injury they kept quite, there is no excuse for that

[nikster]

Lol, what are you talking about. He was HORRIBLE in both games.

What are you talking about? He moved well in the first game.

He played traffic cone defense. Ran the floor like the last mile of a Marathon race and barely finished a dunk before his weight ripped him down from the rim. I dont know what game you watched but in the one i did he not only looked out of shape but he also looked like his jumping ability was zapped out of him. I dont know what is behind all this but it looks like he had some kind of injury during the shutdown and is now recovering from it.

yeah i caught the 4th quarter of that last game and dont think I saw him sprint once

[TheHartBreakKid]

Zion is such an athletic freak that he can clearly be out of shape and still the best athlete on the court. Reminds me of shaq in that way. It's all fun and games when he's young but those nagging injuries will start happening as he ages if he doesn't take his fitness more seriously. And to add, he had a spurt in the third/early fourth quarter where he just looked winded and his body language looked terrible.

Of course, all that said, he still dominated at the end and he'll only get better skill wise. I just hope a GOAT/ATG potential career doesn't turn into a multiple All Star/ poor longevity type career. Whether he'll be an allstar isn't even up for debate.

Honestly though, it's early for this kind of talk. He's young and I'm sure he will mature as time goes and realize that his fitness is what we'll separate him from just another all star level player that didn't live up to his potential vs an ATG.


But yeah...let's not kid ourselves. He was dominating despite his terrible fitness yesterday. It's not too alarming yet, but if I'm the Pels, it has to be a concern.

[PistolPeteJR]

He's young, but one wrong injury could really end him. Presently, Memphis won the draft, though it's obviously early still to come to a firm conclusion.

[Crizzle]

He's young, but one wrong injury could really end him. Presently, Memphis won the draft, though it's obviously early still to come to a firm conclusion.

you wouldnt be able to tell if you had only watched yesterdays game. Second worse game of Ja's career. Hes gotta work on that shot to reach his full potential.

[Duke4life831]

He's young, but one wrong injury could really end him. Presently, Memphis won the draft, though it's obviously early still to come to a firm conclusion.

you wouldnt be able to tell if you had only watched yesterdays game. Second worse game of Ja's career. Hes gotta work on that shot to reach his full potential.

That is as tough of a matchup as it gets for Ja. He basically had to go against Jrue, Lonzo or Hart all game long. There is just zero let up with that group. Just a bunch of big physical defenders he has to face all game. But ya I agree, for him to be a consistent threat and truly reach that star level, that shot needs to come around. You cant give a defender like Jrue the ability to sag off and play the drive, no way you're getting around him consistently.

[DNice68]

He's young, but one wrong injury could really end him. Presently, Memphis won the draft, though it's obviously early still to come to a firm conclusion.

Memphis hasn’t won anything yet!

[ubernathan]

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/259013/Scout-Zion-Williamson-Moving-Worse-Than-He-Did-In-Summer-League

This is not good if this is true.

Zion needs to put on about 50 pounds of fat and muscle and reinvent himself as a lumbering brute in the low post.