I hope so, and yeah I shouldve used the green font. . I dont know, Though theres a little truth in the Joke Im not really confident that he’s being developed the right way, but I hope to be wrong.
I don't understand people that say Zach hasn't progressed much since last year: OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: 2P% - .455 to .530 (+7.5%) 3P% - .310 to .345 (+3.5%) FT% - .643 to .798 (+15.5%) TS% - .475 to .569 (+9.4%) MISC. OFFENSE (PER 100 POSSESSIONS) ORtg - 93 to 112 (+19) PTS - 13.9 to 18.2 (+4.3) AST - 2.5 to 2.6 (+0.1) TOV 2.8 to 2.7 (-0.1) FTA - 2.0 to 4.1 (+2.1) REBOUNDING (PER 100 POSSESSIONS) Overall - 10.5 to 11.2 (+0.7) Offensive - 2.1 to 3.7 (+1.6) Defensive - 8.4 to 7.5 (-0.9) DEFENSIVE (PER 100 or ADVANCED) BLK - 1.1 to 1.5 (+0.4) STL - 0.6 to 0.7 (+0.1) DBPM - 0.9 to 0.8 (-0.1) OTHER ADVANCED STATS PER - 7.5 to 13.3 (+5.8) WS/48 - .030 to .105 (+.075) OBPM - -4.1 to -0.9 (+3.2) BPM - -3.2 to 0.0 (+3.2) Zach has seen an increase in nearly every single statistical category, with some of them being sizeable.
Whats wild..is some in here who are really amp on Jake & Anfernee cant stand the GM that drafted them. That's ok though! I think the words out that Neil can draft with the best of them and Jennie Buss knows it, he will become the next GM of the Lakers in a few.
If Zach increases as much going into next year as he has this year and he plays 25 minutes a game, this is what his stats would look like: 12ppg 6.4reb 1.6ast 55 FG% 38 3P% 87 FT% (Half-Improvement) PER - 19.1 BPM - 2.0 (Half Improvement Offensively, Slight Improvement Defensively I don't understand why people are so discouraged with him this season. So many people say he hasn't developed as hoped and think he's a bust already... Two more season developing like this and he'll be a star-level player.
I've always said drafting is Neil's strongest skill and he's good at it, especially in the 2nd round. It's his condescending attitude, disrespect towards the fanbase (and now Paul Allen), as well as his inability to make legitimate upgrades to the roster via trade or free agency that I have an issue with.
He’s not a bust yet, but I dont think Zachs going to be a star level player either, he might be that’d be nice. People are dissapointed because there are many other guys Zachs age or younger that are playing better than him. If I had to guess I would say Zachs upside is a quality starter level guy, he may be more than that but I dont really see it at this point. I really wonder what Zach would look like if he was on a bad team that featured him more. Im sure part of the reason for the perception many fans have of Zach is that he is on a good team and he’s like the 8th guys in the rotation. Say you switched him to atl for John Collins (since everyone says we drafted the wrong guy), Well John’s scoring is going to go way down though he may be more effecient because of getting easier / better looks, Zachs numbers would go up though because he’d be im a different role with a higher priority.
So do you think he's improved a lot this year? Do you think he wont continue this rate of improvement?
I think he’s been much like the rest of the bench very inconsistent. There are games he’s felt like a huge net negative, and games he’s been very good in, well good for a bench player. Id say he’s improved in some areas and in some areas he’s got worse. His fouling, reaching and setting screens seems to be going in the wrong direction. His offensive game seems very good, just under utilized. He’s still really good around the rim defensively, I think he needs to get better at rebounding. He’ll probably continue to get better, but I dont think he will be at a 20 PER next year so I dont think itll be at that paxe.
Fouling is literally the only thing that's gotten worse, but he only fouls 1 extra time for in every 300 possessions, so it's negligible. His rebounding has gotten better, and will continue to get better with added strength. It'd probably be a lot better if he played more C, instead of chasing around stretch or small-ball 4s on the perimeter. I just think it's funny how people don't think he's improved much and will also say they don't expect him to continue improving as much as he is at the same time.
Could argue his rebounding might get worse if he had to box out centers when he's clearly not really strong enough to do that consistently yet. I don't like that he's been relegated to a stretch 4 that plays both ends of the floor away from the basket. I think both his offensive game looks better when he's in the post and his defense is better when he's in the paint. You expect every young player to get better, by how much though who knows.
His overall numbers this year are better than last season but just to the eye test, he seems to be regressing this year as the season goes on. It started out well, but it's been a while since he strung together a stretch of even solid games.
And even though he's been relegated to a position that's worse for him right now, he's still progressed a lot, and a lot of Blazer fans don't seem to think so.
When compared to the season as a whole he has regressed but I think it's mental and due to him playing a lot more PF and his role not being steady.
Here are some mostly random guys all younger than Zach. I tried to leave out the guys who are obviously on a completely different level than him. No point really just interesting to look at his numbers next to guys who are kind of his contemporaries in terms of not being drafted too much higher or lower than him.
That is unfortunate if it is a mental thing. We've already dealt with Meyers on that issue for years.