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

[skones]

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.

He's literally dominated no one in the bubble.

[reflex35]

Zion needs to call Barkley and ask him how he being a fat-ass lost 30-40 pounds in his first seasons.

Seriously Zion - call Barkley. Williams seems to be like Charles - likes to eat a lot looking at his weight and frame now. It's all good when he's young but that will take a toll on his knees quickly.

Sort this out Zion if you want to play and have a longer career. You can always be fat after you finish your career and nobody will care.

There's a major difference though: There's nobody to go after Zion and give him crap. You can't give heart to someone who won't give a damn when it comes to getting their conditioning in check.

Whereas with Barkley, he had just joined a 76ers team that had won the title the year before and had many hall of fame players on that team(Moses Malone, Julius Erving, Mo Cheeks, Bobby Jones) plus some other talented dudes(Andrew Toney). Barkley knew that he couldn't play around and in fact, it was Moses Malone who was tasked with mentoring and instilling a mindset of working out. Barkley went from 300 to 250 pounds by the end of his rookie year and the rest as they say is history.

Sadly, the Pelicans don't have a Moses Malone type of guy to get on Zion's tail, but we will see if he himself cares in the end.

I agree - there's nobody like Malone in the Pelicans team or organisation.

There are still professionals whom Pels can hire to help.

It's up to management to tell Zion to start cutting weight or he does not play at all.

The young guy won't understand it but what other option Pelicans have?
If they leave it like it is Zion will be out of the league because of injuries in a few years probably.

[SeattleJazzFan]

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.

He's literally dominated no one in the bubble.

ha. he's played three games - one game he played 15 minutes (6-8 FGs, 13 pts), the second, he played 14 minutes, the third he dropped 23, 7 and 5 and the opponent couldn't handle him down the stretch of a close game.

but again, lets go with the fact he hasn't dominated anybody. he's played the equivalent of a game and half. c'mon, man.

[LivingLegend]

I worry he probably ate large meals everyday and just lounged around his house during the shutdown. Probably prefers eating to playing. I keep telling myself he's fine but something's wrong definitely. I dont know if we ever see him play half a season. I hope he doesnt become one of those "what could've been" stories down the line

I agree with you. This whole thing with him reminds me of Greg Oden. Super athletic for his size and it eventually led to his injuries and his body broke down. That and the mental toll it took on Oden where even when he was out there, he couldnt get back in the right mindset to trust his knees and play up to his ability.

I hope thats not the case with Zion, but man there is no way a 20 year old should be his size.

Zion needs to find a way to lean out. I dont know if that is possible with his hormones or body type but him playing a 82 game season looking like a defensive tackle is not going to last long.

[NO-KG-AI]

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.

He's literally dominated no one in the bubble.

ha. he's played three games - one game he played 15 minutes (6-8 FGs, 13 pts), the second, he played 14 minutes, the third he dropped 23, 7 and 5 and the opponent couldn't handle him down the stretch of a close game.

but again, lets go with the fact he hasn't dominated anybody. he's played the equivalent of a game and half. c'mon, man.

He's played 22 games, and scoring at ridiculous rate.

Dominated last night. Best player on the floor, and first W. Ha

[BoardCrusher]

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.

He's literally dominated no one in the bubble.

ha. he's played three games - one game he played 15 minutes (6-8 FGs, 13 pts), the second, he played 14 minutes, the third he dropped 23, 7 and 5 and the opponent couldn't handle him down the stretch of a close game.

but again, lets go with the fact he hasn't dominated anybody. he's played the equivalent of a game and half. c'mon, man.

he played 21 games, one of the best rookie seasons in history?
dominated?
stop doing drugs...

[The-Power]

he's in the midst of one of the best rookie seasons in the history of the NBA.

ha. he's played three games

Yeah, no double standards at all on display here. Three games don't matter whatsoever, but 19 games mean you can be in the discussion of having one best Rookie seasons in NBA history. Sure.

Also, if you haven't noticed that Zion has been much worse in the bubble so far then I'm not sure there's anything anybody can tell you to realize that. Fun fact: two of his three least efficient scoring games came in the bubble, where he has only played three games thus far. Coincidence? Not to mention that his defense has been terrible, zero effort and he still looks exhausted quickly.

Nobody is saying that Zion isn't talented or an athletic marvel that could be a great player. But there shouldn't be anyone in here surprised by critical comments given what we've seen of him thus far, both in terms of how he played and how out of shape he came into the bubble. But given that you have already shown that you will be selective in what you mention in order to make Zion appear in the best possible light (see matters of sample size, and the selective reference to numbers), it's probably pointless to try to make you understand why threads like these exist.

[skones]

He's literally dominated no one in the bubble.

ha. he's played three games - one game he played 15 minutes (6-8 FGs, 13 pts), the second, he played 14 minutes, the third he dropped 23, 7 and 5 and the opponent couldn't handle him down the stretch of a close game.

but again, lets go with the fact he hasn't dominated anybody. he's played the equivalent of a game and half. c'mon, man.

He's played 22 games, and scoring at ridiculous rate.

Dominated last night. Best player on the floor, and first W. Ha

Do I need to make a Willy Wonka meme that says: Tell me again when a 45.28TS% was DoMiNaNt

Or do you want to take a few steps back? This Zion hasn't even come close to looking like the Zion of a few months ago, and it's obvious. When I say, "He literally dominated no one in the bubble," and you counter with "he's played 22 games, and scoring at a ridiculous rate" it means you're moving goal posts. This thread is about the way Zion currently looks, and it's not great.

[rockmanslim]

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.

[yoyoboy]

People just pointing to Zion's box score numbers are completely missing the point. The dude is clearly panting after a few minutes straight of playing during the games and that's despite virtually resting on defense. He's a generational talent, so of course he'll get buckets no matter what. But to look this out of shape and come back even heavier despite having 4+ months to get his body right...that's pretty inexcusable. And it's going to lead to injury, make no mistake. You're talking about a 300+ pound guy whose game heavily relies on raw explosiveness. And one who has two recent knee injuries that caused him to miss time.

[jwise44]

the pelicans finally inserted him in a close game down the stretch, he excelled in the clutch and the pelicans won by 10. finished with 23, 7 and 5.

not seeing the problem.

Because he could easily be better if his conditioning was better. I hope this is a wake up call for him. There isn't a doubt in my mind that Zion can't be the best player in the league if he's in shape.

could easily be better? he's in the midst of one of the best rookie seasons in the history of the NBA. Rookies don't come into the league and drop 24 ppg on 59% FGs and 61% TS. like, that's not normal. he is incredible and the narrative is that he should be even better? what on earth?

zion, you know, you could be wilt freaking chamberlain!

I think Zion is going to be fine and looked great on offense at the end last game (I didn’t see all of it)

But with better conditioning he could be better and put in more effort on d for sure looking at the first 2 games so it’s not like what the guy is saying is crazy that he could be better with better conditioning

[jg77]

the pelicans finally inserted him in a close game down the stretch, he excelled in the clutch and the pelicans won by 10. finished with 23, 7 and 5.

not seeing the problem.

Because he could easily be better if his conditioning was better. I hope this is a wake up call for him. There isn't a doubt in my mind that Zion can't be the best player in the league if he's in shape.

could easily be better? he's in the midst of one of the best rookie seasons in the history of the NBA. Rookies don't come into the league and drop 24 ppg on 59% FGs and 61% TS. like, that's not normal. he is incredible and the narrative is that he should be even better? what on earth?

zion, you know, you could be wilt freaking chamberlain!

Yes, better than what he has been in the bubble. I thought his was coming into his own before the pandemic. It looks like has added a bit of weight since the season has been cancelled.

[Sofia]

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.

As a fan of his team, are you happy with the shape he is in?

[Homer38]

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.

He's literally dominated no one in the bubble.

ha. he's played three games - one game he played 15 minutes (6-8 FGs, 13 pts), the second, he played 14 minutes, the third he dropped 23, 7 and 5 and the opponent couldn't handle him down the stretch of a close game.

but again, lets go with the fact he hasn't dominated anybody. he's played the equivalent of a game and half. c'mon, man.

He can become a all-time great player if he want,but to become one,he need to be on much better shape and he need to be able to play more minutes for the good of his team.This is our point.

[sikma42]

Can you really expose a rookie? I mean he's a rookie

I will keep preaching this: Zion will get exposed against good interior defensive and offensive teams in playoff environments when teams can scheme against him.

I got roasted for this earlier in the year, but I'm sticking with it.

Sent from my SM-N960U using RealGM mobile app

[Alonzo_Morning]

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.

As a fan of his team, are you happy with the shape he is in?

Read on Twitter

[And1+2]

Can you really expose a rookie? I mean he's a rookie

I will keep preaching this: Zion will get exposed against good interior defensive and offensive teams in playoff environments when teams can scheme against him.

I got roasted for this earlier in the year, but I'm sticking with it.

Sent from my SM-N960U using RealGM mobile app

Yes. Because the exposure will happen throughout his career.

[themoneyteam2]

I hope he doesn't eat himself outta the league

[themoneyteam2]

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.

As a fan of his team, are you happy with the shape he is in?

Read on Twitter

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.

[Pelly24]

I don't want to speculate too much about his work ethic because there's so much we don't know.

I think Zion is a historical outlier athletically and he's still trying to figure out his body.