I still don’t understand why Zion won’t shoot?

He's not a good shooter. He doesn't jump when he shoots, which isn't a big deal, but he shoots the ball really flat, which is why he's a shitty free throw shooter as well. How many free throws does Zion hit the front of the rim and it keeps going and then bounces off the backboard and back into the goal?
That's not a good looking shot, and it's luck that it goes in, and he does this all the time.

I've seen him shoot FT's with the proper arc. It's common knowledge why somoene hits the front of the rim on FT's, usually b/c they are tired.

I've got zero faith in him being even around 35% on 3's. If he shot them consistently he'd probably be around 30%

You want to hear a stupid stat.
Zion's a 33.7% career 3 point shooter.
If you remove the 1st game of his career when he was 4 for 4 from 3, he drops down to a 30.4% career 3 point shooter. 1 game in 4 years of playing has a 3% boost to his career 3 point shooting.

It is somewhat ironic than in Zion’s first nba game, he had so much success with the 3, being left wide open. Yet he’s never consistently tried to go back to that well, though it’s essentially always free and wide open. He’s probably a better shooter than it seems, but when it comes to the game, he’s going to revert to what he’s most comfortable with. Y’all are a little too down on Zion this year though. Let’s not forget what he was doing to the Lakers in the play-in before tragedy struck once more.

I’m not worried about him getting blocked. It’s difficult to consistently make 3s with a flat shot. It’s science.

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Y’all are a little too down on Zion this year though. Let’s not forget what he was doing to the Lakers in the play-in before tragedy struck once more.

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Nobody has forgotten that. We need him to do that for more than a dozen games per year.

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but it’s really just about how many repetitions they are putting in to master that movement.

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It's more than that, though. The arch absolutely increases the effective opening of the rim. It's simple geometry. The rim is more forgiving as arch increases.

Some guys can succeed in spite of poor fundamentals through dedication (Reggie Miller, Shawn Marion, etc.), but Zion clearly isn't a gym rat.

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still don’t understand why Zion won’t shoot?

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He might hurt himself

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Everyone has their own shot, CJ shoots a flat line drive and he’s one of the best shooters in the league. Trey has that beautiful rainbow but it’s really just about how many repetitions they are putting in to master that movement.

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You're absolutely right.
CJ from time to time does shoot sort of line drives, mostly when he's on move towards the goal and pulls up and him momemtum carries him forward.
And i'd bet you he'd be critical of himself on those shots and say he needs to be under control more and get a higher percentage shot off by getting his feet set better and having more lift on his jump, giving him more arc on his shot.
Also if you're releasing the ball from close to 10' in the air b/c you actually take a jump shot like CJ and Hawk does, then the appearance of the shot may look more like a line drive sometimes, but it's got a much higher chance of going in than someone like Zion shooting the line drive flat footed and not jumping, releasing the ball from under 9' in the air.
The difference there is CJ is going to hit the back of the rim, and it's going to go in from time to time b/c the ball still has more of a downward trajectory at the rim than Zions flat shot released from a lower height, and you see Zion hitting the front of the rim, and it's unlikely to go in.


Zion gets away with his flat free throws at times b/c he's shooting the ball straight more often than not, so if it gets over the rim he's got a good chance of it bouncing it's way in. When you get further out, that bounce isn't as friendly.



You know damn well Zion doesn't put the work in on his outside shooting. He's had plenty of time to practice shooting with his injuries he's had, which most weren't a big deal to his shooting form b/c he doesn't jump when he shoots. Trey's been getting shots up for over 2 weeks now with his hamstring injury. We've literally seen him shooting in videos of practice, and he said he's just shooting, no running. You think Zion was doing that?

Not sure tbh. I find it hard to believe an NBA player wouldn’t be working on his shot but I can admit there’s certainly not a lot of evidence to support that he is. I guess the most likely answer is he does what is minimally required, but not enough to ever become great. To be great at anything, you have to be obsessed. Seems pretty clear to me at this point that Zion is obsessed with dominating and winning, but not obsessed with putting in the work to do that consistently.

There's a lot of truth to that, and it's why I'll always give Lebron his props as a basketball player b/c he without a doubt lived up to the ridiculous hype that was around him.
I would love for Zion to become friends with Lebron just so he can see what it takes to be the best. Lebron is the most physically gifted athlete ever, but he's worked unbelieveably hard to be the best and stay the best as a basketball player.
First 8 years in the league 33% 3 point shooter. Never shot over 35% in any year.
Last 14 years in the league 36% 3 point shooter, with 8 of them over 36%, and 4 of those over 38%.
You'll never hear anyone say Lebron doesn't work hard in offseason, or even during the season. He's relentless with his work ethic, and all great players are like that.
Not that Lebron is fat or ever was, but he puts in a ton of time and effort to make sure his body stays in the shape he wants it to be in to play the type of game he wants to play. You can argue HGH and what not, and I don't care one iota about that if it's true b/c he's still putting in the physical work necessary to get to where he wants to be. Same with how he eats. Micheal Beasley was on a show recently talking about how the one year he played with Lebron in Miami and followed his diet and workout routine it was the best he ever felt physically as a basketball player, but he couldn't keep up that routine without him.