September 28, 20187 yr 6 hours ago, UTDD said: Zion has a better handle than I thought after watching him. I think his immediate NBA skill that will translate well is rebounding -- he looks very quick off the ground and his vertical is obviously elite to say the least. His athleticism and unusual height/weight combo doesn't really garner many good NBA comparisons, but maybe guys like Larry Johnson and Charles Barkley are somewhat in the neighborhood. I think he's the best pure athlete I can recall since LeBron although I am sure I am forgetting somebody. Lot of good NBA talent on Duke this year...as usual I suppose. I think his biggest problem is going to be maintaining weight. Everything about him says "antione walker" but instead of gaining all of his weight at retirement he looks capable of gaining 40 pounds in the offseason. It'll be interesting to see him at the next level when you can't just go to the rim with impunity. He's got great potential but really is going to have to round out his game. Could be a great 4 man if he can hit consistently from outside.
October 22, 20187 yr AP Preseason top 25 released. 1 Kansas (37) Big 12 Record: 31-8 PV Rank 4 Points 1,581 2 Kentucky (19) SEC Record: 26-11 18 1,529 3 Gonzaga (1) West Coast Record: 32-5 8 1,461 4 Duke (4) ACC Record: 29-8 9 1,452 5 Virginia (2) ACC Record: 31-3 1 1,286 6 Tennessee (1) SEC Record: 26-9 13 1,268 7 Nevada Mountain West Record: 29-8 24 1,230 8 North Carolina ACC Record: 26-11 10 1,221 9 Villanova (1) Big East Record: 36-4 2 1,085 10 Michigan State Big Ten Record: 30-5 5 1,024 11 Auburn SEC Record: 26-8 19 974 12 Kansas State Big 12 Record: 25-12 - 922 13 West Virginia Big 12 Record: 26-11 15 678 14 Oregon Pac-12 Record: 23-13 - 638 15 Virginia Tech ACC Record: 21-12 - 630 16 Syracuse ACC Record: 23-14 - 620 17 Florida State ACC Record: 23-12 - 530 18 Mississippi State SEC Record: 25-12 - 451 19 Michigan Big Ten Record: 33-8 7 437 20 TCU Big 12 Record: 21-12 - 311 21 UCLA Pac-12 Record: 21-12 - 297 22 Clemson ACC Record: 25-10 20 268 23 LSU SEC Record: 18-15 - 187 24 Purdue Big Ten Record: 30-7 11 170 25 Washington Pac-12 Record: 21-13 - 165 Others receiving votes:Loyola of Chicago 162, Marquette 124, Indiana 98, Florida 71, Nebraska 35, Maryland 28, Wisconsin 24, Notre Dame 22, Cincinnati 21, UCF 15, Alabama 15, Arizona 14, Buffalo 14, Louisville 11, Miami 10, San Diego St. 9, Texas Tech 6, Southern Cal 6, Butler 6, Texas 5, St. John's 3, Arizona St 3, Providence 2, Xavier 2, Davidson 1, Missouri 1, Marshall 1, NC State 1.
October 25, 20187 yr ACC basketball moving to 20 game schedule next year. https://247sports.com/college/wake-forest/Article/ACC-basketball-moving-to-20-game-conference-schedule-123737177/
October 31, 20187 yr Supposedly Zags and MSU had a not so secret scrimmage and the Zags punished MSU. Winning the first session (half) 58-46 and the second one 52-46. Zags will be the real deal this year. Edited October 31, 20187 yr by Jhawk
October 31, 20187 yr I don't think there is a comp for Zion. He's like no one we've ever seen, really. Barkley is probably the best comp but Zion is bigger and has more bounce. As far as "pure athlete" he's definitely in the convo since LeBron. Some other freaks since then would be Westbrook (who I actually think is a better "pure" athlete than LeBron. For his size), Wiggins, Giannis, Lavine, maybe Aaron Gordon, Embiid (again, for his size). And then, there are plenty of absurd athletes sitting on the bench that you forget about. It is the NBA, after all. This dude should be playing in the NBA. It's a joke for him to be playing against 2 star 18 year olds.
October 31, 20187 yr This seems like it was the longest offseason of all time. Finally it's almost over and we can enjoy college kids unable to run basic offensive sets.
November 2, 20187 yr On 10/31/2018 at 11:51 AM, ztejas said: I don't think there is a comp for Zion. He's like no one we've ever seen, really. Barkley is probably the best comp but Zion is bigger and has more bounce. As far as "pure athlete" he's definitely in the convo since LeBron. Some other freaks since then would be Westbrook (who I actually think is a better "pure" athlete than LeBron. For his size), Wiggins, Giannis, Lavine, maybe Aaron Gordon, Embiid (again, for his size). And then, there are plenty of absurd athletes sitting on the bench that you forget about. It is the NBA, after all. This dude should be playing in the NBA. It's a joke for him to be playing against 2 star 18 year olds. Zion has some tools to work with. I'm still not sure about his shot but I also haven't seen him play since HS so he may have made some improvements there. I think his drive will be what makes or breaks him. If he wants to play like wiggins and be a great athlete that only tries when he see fits he'll make some money but will always be underwhelming. If he has the motor of Ayton then watch out. The guy can be really good. If he gets his shot where it needs to be then he can be a really great player. A lot of guys have shown the potential but then don't show the fire. It's hard to be worth tens of millions of dollars and stay motivated like Lebron has. That's why there aren't very many lebrons out there.
November 2, 20187 yr 7 minutes ago, Jhawk said: Zion has some tools to work with. I'm still not sure about his shot but I also haven't seen him play since HS so he may have made some improvements there. I think his drive will be what makes or breaks him. If he wants to play like wiggins and be a great athlete that only tries when he see fits he'll make some money but will always be underwhelming. If he has the motor of Ayton then watch out. The guy can be really good. If he gets his shot where it needs to be then he can be a really great player. A lot of guys have shown the potential but then don't show the fire. It's hard to be worth tens of millions of dollars and stay motivated like Lebron has. That's why there aren't very many lebrons out there. Good take. He looks great when he's overwhelming inferior athletes. It will be interesting to see how his game develops around the rim facing NBA shot-blockers. His most NBA ready skills are his footwork, finishing, and handles (and rebounding I guess, but that's either something you're good at or you aren't. Not usually something you "improve"). And - you take those three things and inject it with superhuman athleticism - generally it makes for a good NBA player. His shot is actually a good amount better than people think it is. He has good mechanics and isn't a great FT shooter but he will be more of a 70-80% a la LeBron FT shooter than a 50-60% guy I think. An issue I forsee is creating the space that he needs to operate against NBA defenders. There will be times where he doesn't get that space - and I think that's where the "motor" aspect comes in. i.e. can he affect the game in enough ways when he's struggling getting to the rim? Can he bring down some offensive boards and throw a few dimes and make a couple steals every game - because he will need to at the next level.
November 2, 20187 yr Pitt had a secret scrimmage with Dayton the other day. It's been reported that Pitt won both sessions. Anything over the last two years, especially last season, under Kevin Stallings will be much appreciated. We lack a quality big guy inside. Last night Capel started four guards. They looked much more athletic than last season, two were freshmen. Non-conference games will be fun. Not sure what we can do in ACC games, but hopefully we can get a few wins. Last season, 0-19 against ACC teams was not fun. As an Auburn fan as well I will wait a while but that ranking seems awfully generous to start the season. That Tweet below is of one of the freshmen guards. Edited November 2, 20187 yr by PittsburghTiger
November 2, 20187 yr On 10/27/2018 at 6:53 PM, Goo Punch said: He's a man ... and he's not even halfway to 40.
November 6, 20187 yr Game Day Mafackas! KU v. Sparty @ 6pm Duke v. UK after that. Going to be a great season!
November 7, 20187 yr 7 minutes ago, spystud13 said: KU only up 17 with 3 left in the first. Grimes and Azubuike have been a big reason why
November 7, 20187 yr Wofford gave UNC all they could handle. These openers can be wild especially when you start on the road.
November 7, 20187 yr Guess Seventh Woods is never going to live up to the hype he had all those years ago
November 7, 20187 yr 35 minutes ago, Underdog said: We can just go ahead and mark down Duke/KU in the Finals. KU going on probation
November 7, 20187 yr zion with the block, leads the fastbreak and drops a fucking dime to barrett for the +1.
November 7, 20187 yr Just now, Get ln My Van said: Zion is a freak. Those duke freshman will go 1, 2, 3 in the draft Zion is 4th best player on Duke after Barrett, Reddish and Jones. He is awesome and fun, but a lot of what he is able to do, and will be able to do, will be because of those guys. (And yes, McConnell is in)
November 7, 20187 yr Players like O'Connell get wasted playing for Duke. He would start for a team like us at the 3. He'll be there 4 years and only get starters minutes during his final season. Edited November 7, 20187 yr by Catdaddyhorn
November 7, 20187 yr Zion is 4th best player on Duke after Barrett, Reddish and Jones. He is awesome and fun, but a lot of what he is able to do, and will be able to do, will be because of those guys. (And yes, McConnell is in)lol...bullshit. Z is a real live Thanos.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.