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Zions Defense
Posted on 11/5/22 at 10:53 am
Posted on 11/5/22 at 10:53 am
I honestly can’t believe how bad he is on defense. Would have never thought this would have been an issue. The problem is, it does not appear to be a physical thing. He literally does not hustle, does not move his feet. The amount of effort he shows on defense is the opposite of every other player we have out there. He should be a force on D and on the boards but the coaches have to start getting on him for his effort. Great player but he has a ways to go and he can start with actually committing on the defense end of the court.
7
Posted on 11/5/22 at 10:55 am to SaintNation
His perimeter defense needs a lot of work right now. He's struggling. Shows flashes but has a real bad habit of giving up on plays and display horrible body language.
Posted on 11/5/22 at 11:15 am to supe12sta12z
Hopefully it’s partly a conditioning issue. Best way to get in basketball shape is playing games. As he gets more and more games under his belt and his conditioning gets better hopefully he will be playing better defense.
Seems to be resting on defense and that would explain the poor body language, not moving his feet and lack of hustle .
Seems to be resting on defense and that would explain the poor body language, not moving his feet and lack of hustle .
Posted on 11/5/22 at 11:18 am to Buck Dancer
I think you're sugar coating it, unless there's a lingering issue of some sort
I would bet a lack of effort
I would bet a lack of effort
Posted on 11/5/22 at 11:36 am to Buck Dancer
quote:
Hopefully it’s partly a conditioning issue. Best way to get in basketball shape is playing games. As he gets more and more games under his belt and his conditioning gets better hopefully he will be playing better defense.
Seems to be resting on defense and that would explain the poor body language, not moving his feet and lack of hustle .
He was bad on defense even when he played a mostly full season in 2020/21.
Posted on 11/5/22 at 11:36 am to supe12sta12z
He reminds me of my brother.
He does exactly what he wants to do, and he loafs around looking annoyed if it's not something he wants to do.
He does exactly what he wants to do, and he loafs around looking annoyed if it's not something he wants to do.
Posted on 11/5/22 at 11:42 am to Pelefraan 1
quote:
I would bet a lack of effort
Lack of effort is the symptom, lack of comfort and understanding in what he's supposed to be doing plus his stamina is the root cause. We saw the same thing during the SVG season, he was beyond terrible the first few months, but once he had his stamina up and he understood where he was supposed to be better, he actually started playing good defense. That year his DRtg Pre All Star Break was 116.3. Post All Star Break it was 106.1.
I'm not saying people are wrong to call him out on it, but I think this is something that's just going to take time to get right, like his layups, and isn't something be all doom and gloom about.
Posted on 11/5/22 at 11:48 am to Broski
quote:
He was bad on defense even when he played a mostly full season in 2020/21.
He wasn’t nearly as bad then as is now
Posted on 11/5/22 at 11:49 am to SaintNation
His close outs are still terrible and his change of direction sucks at the moment. A lot of it looks like hesitancy.
But I will say, he has been playing passing lanes and coming up with off-ball stops a lot this year. He’s up to 1.3 steals per game and made a big play in the 4th quarter last night to break up a pass.
Honestly for it to improve, he just has to stay on the court. Defense isn’t really skill based, it’s about feel and reacting appropriately.
But I will say, he has been playing passing lanes and coming up with off-ball stops a lot this year. He’s up to 1.3 steals per game and made a big play in the 4th quarter last night to break up a pass.
Honestly for it to improve, he just has to stay on the court. Defense isn’t really skill based, it’s about feel and reacting appropriately.
Posted on 11/5/22 at 11:50 am to WicKed WayZ
quote:
wasn’t nearly as bad then as is now
Yes he was. He got much better the back half of the season. Which leads me to believe with Willie coaching he'll be fine.
Posted on 11/5/22 at 12:36 pm to whatiknowsofar
He seems lazy as frick if we’re being honest. I don’t want to shite on him early because he hasn’t played meaningful basketball in like two years but giving him a max contract has me a little concerned. Hopefully Willy can motivate him.
Posted on 11/5/22 at 12:36 pm to SaintNation
Apparently he was actually laboring out there last night. When he came out early in the 3rd and when he sat for the final minutes in the 4th he was asking for fluids. His whole problem on D maybe still trying to work himself into basketball shape.
Give him 30-40 games and if he still looks the same, then you can start to criticize him.
Give him 30-40 games and if he still looks the same, then you can start to criticize him.
This post was edited on 11/5/22 at 12:37 pm
Posted on 11/5/22 at 12:39 pm to Soggymoss
Maybe we are seeing why we don't go to point Zion as often as our fans are hoping for. Maybe they're waiting for him to get into good enough game shape to break it out. SVG did the same thing 2 years ago.
This post was edited on 11/5/22 at 12:40 pm
Posted on 11/5/22 at 12:42 pm to supe12sta12z
Could be, it’s hard to miss almost 2 years of basketball and try to jump right back in and be your old self.
Posted on 11/5/22 at 12:48 pm to Soggymoss
Yeah, I read the fluids thing
Perhaps he was cramping or something
Idk. His defense was so extra bad last night. You almost hope there was something medical behind it.
Perhaps he was cramping or something
Idk. His defense was so extra bad last night. You almost hope there was something medical behind it.
Posted on 11/5/22 at 12:51 pm to SaintNation
Zion will be fine, just needs to get in basketball shape. Tell sign is Zion not being able to consistently get into a defensive posture and position (He's often standing straight up). He spent the off-season getting into physical condition that is a pre-cursor to basketball condition.
Posted on 11/5/22 at 3:01 pm to TigerinATL
quote:
That year his DRtg Pre All Star Break was 116.3. Post All Star Break it was 106.1.
I do remember him playing much better defense in the second half of the year, but where are you getting that number? Basketball Reference has his pre/post all star DRtg split as 119 before and 113 after
Posted on 11/5/22 at 4:39 pm to TigerinATL
zion was considered a weak sister on defense going into this season.
as is cj McCollum.
when we considered the Vegas o/u of 44.5 defense was part of it.
I agree with posters saying the big part of defense is effort and want to.
yes he's not in great shape.
if he can id rather see his Jerry Sloan* level all nba 2nd team defense for 4 or 5 minutes at a time vs just being a meh for his shift.
* 100% effort guy in the Jerry west era.
west was usually first team D big guard but Sloan got it once. someone mentioned contract extension. he gets a fortune for what he can do and no defense. he may not GAF about defense or how he looks out there.
he just got into Espn top 10 plays for a dunk.
as is cj McCollum.
when we considered the Vegas o/u of 44.5 defense was part of it.
I agree with posters saying the big part of defense is effort and want to.
yes he's not in great shape.
if he can id rather see his Jerry Sloan* level all nba 2nd team defense for 4 or 5 minutes at a time vs just being a meh for his shift.
* 100% effort guy in the Jerry west era.
west was usually first team D big guard but Sloan got it once. someone mentioned contract extension. he gets a fortune for what he can do and no defense. he may not GAF about defense or how he looks out there.
he just got into Espn top 10 plays for a dunk.
This post was edited on 11/5/22 at 4:49 pm
Posted on 11/6/22 at 8:17 am to TSLG
Unfortunately,if we tell Zions Mom, she'll continue to baby him
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