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Starting to think Zion Williamson...

AuHoosier420

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Oct 9, 2008
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Is going to end up being one of those what if stories. Won’t be on the floor enough. Anyone else agree?
 
Not ready to say that, but I have not been impressed by him at all today. I legitimately think he was a better player last March than he is right now, he’s just been hurt too much and seems to be much fatter.

He is just 20 now and is already having serious weight issues and it only becomes harder to keep off as he gets older. Feel bad for the guy as he is a freak athlete though....
 
How can you come to the conclusion his rookie year, this ain't grant hill or Brandon Roy
 
He plays with a reckless style, similar to Rafa Nadal (a guy who has had quite a few injuries but been able to overcome). Unfortunately, he’s like 100 pounds heavier.

He needs to learn to play a little more under control and also drop 20-25 pounds if he wants his career to last 10+ years.
 
He plays with a reckless style, similar to Rafa Nadal (a guy who has had quite a few injuries but been able to overcome). Unfortunately, he’s like 100 pounds heavier.

He needs to learn to play a little more under control and also drop 20-25 pounds if he wants his career to last 10+ years.

If Vince Carter can play 21 years , this kid can play 10 . It's just a matter of how good he can be
 
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If Vince Carter can play 21 years , this kid can play 10 . It's just a matter of how good he can be
Vince Carter is an outlier. He's accomplished something that very few even get close to, but he also has a frame/body type that can pull it off, Zion's body won't hold up for 10 years, especially if he tries to play the style he plays.
 
I completely agree that it’s a definite possibility. If I’m being totally honest though, the fact that he’s not even fatter post-quarantine gives me hope. I was half expecting him to roll into Orlando pushing 400lbs
 
He’s really good obviously, but playing him only 15 minutes a game as a wait and see approach seems weird to me. The dude is in his youth, and he’s probably got a 7-8 year window imo. Play him and see what happens. The injury bug could hit any player, and if that’s what the NO staff is worried about, perhaps they need to provide better conditioning. Bc, from what I’ve seen...he has supreme skills and energy at the start of the game, and they’ll pull him at the 10 minute mark because he gets lackadaisical on defense and can’t keep up. They in turn put him in again for 5 more minutes later and that’s it. It’s also strange to me that he’s apparently the face of the franchise yet Ingram is there most consistent player who’s really good. When sports center or TNT say anything in regards to the Pels, it’s “Zion Williamson and his NO Pelicans”. Wut? Dude plays like 12-15 mins a game.
 
He’s really good obviously, but playing him only 15 minutes a game as a wait and see approach seems weird to me. The dude is in his youth, and he’s probably got a 7-8 year window imo. Play him and see what happens. The injury bug could hit any player, and if that’s what the NO staff is worried about, perhaps they need to provide better conditioning. Bc, from what I’ve seen...he has supreme skills and energy at the start of the game, and they’ll pull him at the 10 minute mark because he gets lackadaisical on defense and can’t keep up. They in turn put him in again for 5 more minutes later and that’s it. It’s also strange to me that he’s apparently the face of the franchise yet Ingram is there most consistent player who’s really good. When sports center or TNT say anything in regards to the Pels, it’s “Zion Williamson and his NO Pelicans”. Wut? Dude plays like 12-15 mins a game.

You realize he was gone from the bubble for 2 weeks and still has to get in shape . Why play him heavy minutes if he took a break on conditioning ?
 
You realize he was gone from the bubble for 2 weeks and still has to get in shape . Why play him heavy minutes if he took a break on conditioning ?
He wasn’t conditioned before the break either. If you’re a franchise player you should play more than 14 minutes a game.
 
He could play 40 mins a game and the Pelicans still aren’t winning the championship this year. They are playing for the future and while it sucks as fans it makes sense.

Unfortunately for them if zion does turn into an all league type player he will likely leave NO like AD before they achieve anything.
 
the only time "playing for the future" works is when a team (any sport) tanks for the draft
otherwise play your best players
 
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the only time "playing for the future" works is when a team (any sport) tanks for the draft
otherwise play your best players
I honestly don’t get it. However, the way NO handled the Anthony Davis situation, I’m not at all surprised.
 
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the only time "playing for the future" works is when a team (any sport) tanks for the draft
otherwise play your best players

I see your POV but if they were playing him 40mins a night and god forbid he suffered a major injury, they would be getting crucified for that too.

Besides maybe they are playing for the draft as opposed to making the playoffs this year when they won’t get any home games anyways bc it will be in the bubble.

The only thing I don’t understand is if u are gonna have him on a minute restriction, why not let him play with the 2nd 5 the first half and save most of those minutes for the 4th quarter. Maybe they are reducing zions injury risk and tanking at the same time.
 
This whole NBA season has been a clusterf&ck obviously, hopefully Zion is in tip top shape for next season and workouts like a beast.
 
And I understand u can’t predict injuries, but u can limit exposure and decrease the odds a player gets hurt by having them on a minute restriction.

regardless I’m a racer alum, so I’m all for him not playing much so Morant will win the ROY. And not a pelicans fan either so I don’t much care if they win or lose, but I understand why they are doing what they are doin regarding zion.
 
Given his weight, has to be a risk factor for Covid. Should be careful.
 
At some point people should stop doubting the guy... it’s been near constant.
 
You realize he was gone from the bubble for 2 weeks and still has to get in shape . Why play him heavy minutes if he took a break on conditioning ?
How do you know he took a break from conditioning just because he was gone for 2 weeks? If he did, that would be pretty irresponsible on his part. Even if you're home dealing with an urgent family health issue you can still find a few hours every day to work out. After all, that's why he's getting paid tens of millions of dollars.
 
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Yea I don’t understand that line of thinking either, hell everyone was supposed to be staying at home, seems he would have had a lot of free time to work out.

Hell look at what Jokic did to transform his body, and he actually had the virus for a bit.

I guess there is injury risk in working out as well but seems it would be lower on a workout bike or swimming in a pool, idk. Doesn’t seem like an excuse to be out of shape, but hell he is still basically a kid, age wise.
 
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Yea I don’t understand that line of thinking either, hell everyone was supposed to be staying at home, seems he would have had a lot of free time to work out.

Hell look at what Jokic did to transform his body, and he actually had the virus for a bit.

I guess there is injury risk in working out as well but seems it would be lower on a workout bike or swimming in a pool, idk. Doesn’t seem like an excuse to be out of shape, but hell he is still basically a kid, age wise.

He's young and probably wasn't prepared for this....i mean what youngster would be? I see him more of a Shawn Kemp than Charles Barkley (Barkley could shoot). Zion has plenty of time to hire chefs that make the right food and he will benefit from NBA coaching as well. Its really up to him what he decides to do. There Re plenty of people (templates) that do it a certain way.
 
He's young and probably wasn't prepared for this....i mean what youngster would be? I see him more of a Shawn Kemp than Charles Barkley (Barkley could shoot). Zion has plenty of time to hire chefs that make the right food and he will benefit from NBA coaching as well. Its really up to him what he decides to do. There Re plenty of people (templates) that do it a certain way.
This Shawn Kemp? :D
CVGT7ZOUYAAbMfq.jpg
 
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Zion will probably have stretches of putting up big #'s, maybe not in the same way as Anthony Davis but still show clearly he's an upper level player in spurts kind of like Davis did. I'm not saying he's going to be as good as Davis, just in terms of getting out there and showcasing his obvious elite talent.

It will be interesting to see how Zion does when he's up for Free Agency and looks to head to a contender. Not sure where his head will be at that time, it's possible he does great things in NOLA and wants to stick around but feels more likely we see him move on.
 
I'll add I "think" he was one of the first athletes to look to help out others financially, didn't he pay a month salary for a group of employees of the team? Easy guy to root for, can't hate on him for looking for getting his in a broken system that pays everybody else too when he was in college.
 
You kinda made my point for me, but I feel like NO is doing all this minute restrictions to try and make sure he has a long productive career, when more than likely, if he does have a long productive career, he will be playing for someone else anyways.

And that’s not any sort of character attack on zion, just this day and age It’s just hard to see any player that has star power stick with one team like they used to. I miss the old days and it makes me respect guys like Dame even more. Hopefully giannis will stay with the bucks as well. IMO the league is no fun when we already basically know who will be in the finals. This year is a little more open than the past few, when everyone knew the Warriors were gonna be there. But that’s just my opinion.
 
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