Gilbert Arenas gives his opinion on Zion Williamson

[Funcrusher]

He's in the 99th percentile for Post scoring on high usage. The **** is he talking about

I don’t think you understood his point. Sure he can post up effectively against far inferior athletes. He doesn’t have to use much post skill or work hard to establish position or score. The question is does he have the post skill to score on NBA size and athleticism

he has post skills. his drop step, spin move is gonna be pretty much unstoppable against mismatches which is how he should primarily be used in the post. You don't want him backing down bigs when he can just blow by them from the perimeter. but he has counters if defenders take his go-to away from him, and obviously great footwork and touch.

[Pablo Escobar]

He's completely right. The NCAA Tournament actually killed the hype because he wasn't getting those highlights he got in the regular season. UCF, Virignia State and Michigan State exposed his lack of IQ, skill and versatility outside of athleticism.

You mean like Shaq?

Zion is closer to Kobe than he is to Shaq, in terms of size.

Not even close, Kobe at his heaviest was 230-240 in 04. Zion still has a good 40-50 pounds on him which is insane. Now if youère talking about height then you have a point.

[Illmatic12]

He's in the 99th percentile for Post scoring on high usage. The **** is he talking about

I don’t think you understood his point. Sure he can post up effectively against far inferior athletes. He doesn’t have to use much post skill or work hard to establish position or score. The question is does he have the post skill to score on NBA size and athleticism

Yeah he's correct that Zion isn't very polished in the post . Against MSU he had a lot of possessions where he tried to force ugly post ups and got stuffed or lost the ball.

His handle is also not nearly polished enough to be a primary creator just yet.

Zion 's biggest asset to an NBA team today is how hard he plays. That's not to say he is unskilled, but his hustle and energy is what will give him an instant impact while his skill level catches up.

This is a good scouting video on his strengths and weaknesses (the channel is run by a former NBA scout. I don't think they give him quite enough credit in certain areas defensively, but a lot of the observations about his offensive game still hold)

Watch on YouTube

[cpower]

Can he run the offense like Draymond Green? I mean if he can handle the ball and be a 10X better finisher than Green, that is already an all star.

You're not asking him to be a playmaker, he's not that kind of player. He's going to get rebounds, putbacks, be a menace in the open court, and play bully ball while in playing in a more spaced offense.

ok that will significantly lower my expectation. So you really need to pair him with elite PG who will run offense and boost him up..umm....

[MagicBagley18]

I think Zion is going to be very very good and a perennial all star type player but I do think he’s over hyped and that’s not his fault it’s the era he’s coming up in....social media, hot takes and constant spotlight.

When I say over hyped and then in the next breathe say pernial all star what I mean is that to say day one he’s top 20 in the nba like I’ve heard or he’s the next Lebron is just not realistic or fair to him.

[Duke4life831]

Honestly I think Gilbert has just been watching the highlights and not the games. He doesn't know how to post? The dude was doing things like this all year

Read on Twitter

If that is not showing great footwork and a great understanding on how to post at the age of 18, I don't know what is. He is also trying to make it sound like Zion being able to impact the game even off the ball is a bad thing.

[JonFromVA]

He's completely right. The NCAA Tournament actually killed the hype because he wasn't getting those highlights he got in the regular season. UCF, Virignia State and Michigan State exposed his lack of IQ, skill and versatility outside of athleticism.

Zion is a freshman, just like 3 of his teammates. Freshman tend to get "exposed" in the tourney.

Yet, Zion's highlights were still numerous and his performance was such that all you can wonder is why couldn't Duke get their best player more involved?

Alas, big men can't pass themselves the ball.

Barrett wanted to be the hero and came up short.

[The_Hater]

He's completely right. The NCAA Tournament actually killed the hype because he wasn't getting those highlights he got in the regular season. UCF, Virignia State and Michigan State exposed his lack of IQ, skill and versatility outside of athleticism.

His bball IQ is one of his biggest assets and his skill level for a player his size is very good. He can handle and pass like a guard, he has a dribble drive game that can get to the rim easily plus he’s a fantastic individual and team defender. His skill level is a huge reason why he’s rated so highly. Even his often criticized 3 point shooting was 7/17 (41%) for the tourney.

Perfect? No. Overhyped? Probably, but I have no idea what player you have been watching with your scouting report above. And this might be the first time I’ve seen someone claim that a player was ‘exposed’ while averaging 26 ppg on 64% shooting?

[JonFromVA]

Can he run the offense like Draymond Green? I mean if he can handle the ball and be a 10X better finisher than Green, that is already an all star.

You're not asking him to be a playmaker, he's not that kind of player. He's going to get rebounds, putbacks, be a menace in the open court, and play bully ball while in playing in a more spaced offense.

ok that will significantly lower my expectation. So you really need to pair him with elite PG who will run offense and boost him up..umm....

If Zion's man constantly leaves him to double someone else (like teams leave Green to double Curry); I think the least of their worries will be Zion's passing skills....

[Illmatic12]

Honestly I think Gilbert has just been watching the highlights and not the games. He doesn't know how to post? The dude was doing things like this all year

Read on Twitter

If that is not showing great footwork and a great understanding on how to post at the age of 18, I don't know what is. He is also trying to make it sound like Zion being able to impact the game even off the ball is a bad thing.

Arenas comments were from early in the season I am not sure why this is just surfacing now. But since then, I agree Zion has shown more skill level than many expected throughout the course of the year

But regardless, even in that clip the guy guarding him was 6'6 220 lbs. You can't tell me you didn't notice how many unsuccessful post ups Zion had against MSUs bigger/longer defenders

[cpower]

You're not asking him to be a playmaker, he's not that kind of player. He's going to get rebounds, putbacks, be a menace in the open court, and play bully ball while in playing in a more spaced offense.

ok that will significantly lower my expectation. So you really need to pair him with elite PG who will run offense and boost him up..umm....

If Zion's man constantly leaves him to double someone else (like teams leave Green to double Curry); I think the least of their worries will be Zion's passing skills....

well, Curry is an extreme case obviously. Lillard, Klay or Beal would be just as deadly if Zion can run enough offense and get the ball to the shooters.

[Duke4life831]

He's completely right. The NCAA Tournament actually killed the hype because he wasn't getting those highlights he got in the regular season. UCF, Virignia State and Michigan State exposed his lack of IQ, skill and versatility outside of athleticism.

Zion is a freshman, just like 3 of his teammates. Freshman tend to get "exposed" in the tourney.

Yet, Zion's highlights were still numerous and his performance was such that all you can wonder is why couldn't Duke get their best player more involved?

Alas, big men can't pass themselves the ball.

Barrett wanted to be the hero and came up short.

Ya if 26/8 on 61% shooting and 41% from 3 is being exposed as a freshman, I would love to have more of Duke's freshman exposed.

This is on K for not figuring a way to get the best player in the nation the ball in his hands to score in the final 3 possessions. Same thing happened in the Gonzaga game when the last 5 possessions all went through RJ. I believe in Zion's 3 losses at Duke, all came within the final possessions, RJ was 0-9 in the closing minutes of those games, while Zion was 0-1. That is on K for not figuring out a way to get him the ball. Or if the opposing team is so focused on Zion, use that to get a wide open look at the rim. One of those two options should've been made available by K. I know it would've been available by K from 90-early 2000s.

[bisme37]

I just can't get behind any take on Zion that starts with "he's undersized." Especially in the current NBA. And especially if you've ever watched Zion play.

IKR, plus with where the NBA is going with no positions, you'd think they would put Zion because he's 6'7" he's mandated to put up a ton of 3's, and that' s not how he's going to dominate on the next level.

In Gilbert's day we would have said Zion is a "tweener." In today's league we call it "versatile." And the whole thing misses the point that Zion is an actual really good basketball player and not just a random pile of physical measurables.

[Karate Diop]

Gil isn't an idiot... But he's certainly not an authority I'd turn to when it comes to basketball analysis. Gil is an attention seeker who often likes to mouth off as a way to get shock value views...

[Duke4life831]

Honestly I think Gilbert has just been watching the highlights and not the games. He doesn't know how to post? The dude was doing things like this all year

Read on Twitter

If that is not showing great footwork and a great understanding on how to post at the age of 18, I don't know what is. He is also trying to make it sound like Zion being able to impact the game even off the ball is a bad thing.

Arenas comments were from early in the season I am not sure why this is just surfacing now. But since then, I agree Zion has shown more skill level than many expected throughout the course of the year

But regardless, even in that clip the guy guarding him was 6'6 220 lbs. You can't tell me you didn't notice how many unsuccessful post ups Zion had against MSUs bigger/longer defenders

I can think of many times Zion rooted out his post defender very well but Duke's perimeter players were incapable of throwing a good entry pass. Zion also faced countless triple teams as well, something I don't think he will ever see in the NBA.

Im not saying Zion was Jahlil Okafor at Duke or Duncan in the pros and was this super elite post player. But Zion's ability to post up, doesn't come anywhere close to a weakness for him, in my opinion.

I personally think Zion has 2 major question marks, his conditioning and his handle. Both I think are below where they need to be at this stage of his career.

[Wigginstime]

Zion is basically Charles Barkley playing in an Era where 3pt shooting and small ball basketball is king. The "he is undersized" argument is ridiculous as this point in time.

[iamworthy]

Zion is basically Charles Barkley playing in an Era where 3pt shooting and small ball basketball is king. The "he is undersized" argument is ridiculous as this point in time.

And comparing a kid one year removed from high school to a HOF'er isn't?

[Showdown]

I just can't get behind any take on Zion that starts with "he's undersized." Especially in the current NBA. And especially if you've ever watched Zion play.

He has same height as Hardaway jr , Booker or Derozan

[Duke4life831]

I just can't get behind any take on Zion that starts with "he's undersized." Especially in the current NBA. And especially if you've ever watched Zion play.

He has same height as Hardaway jr , Booker or Derozan

Guys like Justise Winslow, Draymond, PJ Tucker and more are all the same size if not shorter than Zion and they have handled playing the 4 with no problems. None of them are nearly as strong or explosive as Zion.

Utah Jazz 2nd most used lineup is Gobert/Crowder/Ingles/Mitchell/Rubio. Where is the 4 in that lineup that makes Zion undersized? Can Zion not handle the likes of Paul Milsap? Can he not handle Jayson Tatum or Aminu? What about Harrison Barnes or Luka Doncic? Zion at the 4 in today's NBA really shouldn't be an issue at all.

[E-Balla]

Gilbert said he "Blake Griffin'd" it. Now Blake was far more of a post-up player than Zion is, but Blake in his first (kinda second) season was a 23/12/4 player. Now, if Zion can just go out and Blake Griffin it his first season and then add more skills later, what's the problem?

Basically. This is a trash hot take. If anything the tourney showed how bad RJ actually was and how much limited the team.

Not really, it was how small Reddish came up, even going back to the ACC tournament. He was suppose to be their talented shooter to spread the floor, but he was awful.

Nah the tourney didn't show how bad Cam was he sucked all year.