limbo wrote:MisterHibachi wrote:Jeez, Zion is scoring 27.1 ppg on 70 FG% in his last 8 games. Why does it feel like he's gone under the radar this year, despite being one of the most hyped rookies last year.
Because he doesn't bring much else to the table outside GOAT-level finishing that has not even stand the test of Playoff basketball yet, and he is terrible defensively.
Still, the Pelicans team construction and bench is terrible, so kudos to Zion for still being able to assert his will on the game despite playing in less than ideal circumstances... That said, i don't know where to put him in the hierarchy of elite offensive players because his impact/style is so atypical...
He’s gotten better on defense, not good or anything but he’s gone from bottom of the league out of place to probably. Closer to neutral than bad.
Since PowerPoint Zions been a thing the pels offense has skyrocketed, 124.5 off rtg over the past 10 games, that’s not all him but most of his points come from drives in isolation (with a center screening the help usually but not always) vs cuts
27ppg on 66% shooting and near 80% from the free throw line in 32 minutes a game as the second option is pretty good for a guy that’s 50 games into his career. The pels being great on offense isn’t all him, but he’s a +5.0 per game in that time and his on off has gotten better, so in a raw sense his impact seems fine, he’s not a ball stopper at all since if an attack isn’t open literally right away they go into a handoff at the wing and run a different action usually with reddick or Ingram, they prolly do this too much actually
What’s probably the biggest development for Zion is that he’s a good ft shooter. The team said he tweaked his form at the start of the year, has shot 76.5% from the line since he missed the game vs the clippers (18 games) over 150 attempts in that span. It’s been trending up too
His line since PowerPoint Zion (ball handler Zion, they said on Twitter it’s since the wizards game late January) is
26.1/5.5/4.4 on 66FG and 77FT, 71TS (technically 44.4% from three on like 1 attempt a game lol) and 2 turnovers in 32 minutes, although this game brings his scoring average to 27 a game I think
The team around him just doesn’t make sense since he’s essentially a drive guy at heart, in a team with bottom tier spacing, so him being able
A lot of the pels doing well is lonzo exploding though
Still though the fact that Zion since he took on a new role, which he’s done for about half his season now, is top 10 in scoring while leading the league in TS% (for reference, it’s nearly the same as currys best month in his unanimous mvp year in raw TS although of course curry hit like 37 a game and was steph friggin curry lol), while not being a ball stopper and being pretty Ok as a passer, is pretty great, esp when you take into account he’s still a player that pretty much can only get to the hole and finish absurdly well on a team with poor shooting, a defensive minded coach, and no stretch 5
The thing with Zion is he’s more raw than pretty much any other top tier prospect in recent memory, in terms of the gap to his ceiling, so the fact he can put up these numbers is impressive
