You had me with the first sentence and then completely lost me. I think he could have a career like Shawn Kemp. I do think he will possibly blow up when he is older but in his 20s and early 30s he's gonna be a monster athletically. He'll probably even lose some weight coming into next season but I guess we'll see. If injuries hamper his ability to stay on the court and stay active, you might be right, he could be out of the league in a few years and could be very big.
If he can't be on the court for crunch time, what's the point? Dude is so skilled but yet again, he has to keep his weight down. That is way too much load to put on his knees/feet given how high he jumps. How is he STILL not in game shape? We have seen this sorta thing intimately with BRoy/Oden. So it's hard to really fault the team for managing his time. It really sucks to have to see the guy on the bench after playing just 15 minutes when he has had 4 months off. But they also need to put a heavy investment on finding the right kind of nutritionists and trainers to get his body right.
How do you know he's not in game shape? I think the Pels are just being overly cautious with him. I say let him play.
He has historically been someone to put on weight very quickly. He looked to be in great shape during the early part of this bubble restart training camp, but after like 3 weeks there, he looks much like he did in summer league last year. It's why they really need to monitor his nutrition. I legitimately think he weighs > 300 lbs right now. I hate it, but my very first post on the first page of this thread is manifesting. He puts way too much load on his knees. And NO has always been one of the shittier teams in conditioning and training (they used the Saints' facilities even due to cost-cutting). Unfortunate.
Why is everybody so excited to see this kid fail......the hate is sad. Of course his body is the reason his career will end prematurely. But it is exactly the reason he is so fun to watch. Just sit back and watch what he can do out there for a 20 year and enjoy it. The injuries will come and you will all be able to rejoice soon enough.
I can't like your comment because I wholeheartedly agree with it. It's pathetic that people are waiting for this guy to fail. He's so much fun to watch. I hope he loses some weight, adds a bunch of skills that aren't predicated on his explosiveness and prolongs his career. I'd love for Zion to be in the league playing at a high level in 12 or 13 years just to shove it in the face of all of the haters.
One knee surgery does not make someone Brandon Roy. Roy had degenerative cartilage damage in both knees not meniscus damage like Zion. Roy's surgeries were all more serious than a simple torn meniscus and Roy had 6 of them. I know Zion has also had a bone bruise in his knee before but there is no reason to think that him and Roy have anything in common. Zion might be carrying too much weight and jumping too high, too explosively for his knees to handle, I don't know that for sure though. Roy had a degenerative condition in his knees that had nothing to do with weight or explosiveness.
Fail is different than having a great career cut short because of injury. I don't actually think Zion is the kind of guy to be in our way, to be honest. If you want someone on that team's game to decline it should be Ingram. Zion if healthy will be a big Dominique Wilkins. A human highlight real but not the leader of a championship team. Think Blake Griffin just a lot wider. I want to see him ball not win. We can beat him. I don't want the Blazers to win because of injuries to the best players or most fun players in the league. I want our team to win because they are the best and beat the best.
I don't get it. They are playing 8 games in the bubble. The Pels are in the playoff hunt and they are holding ZIon out for rest tonight.
David Griffin would have you believe that sitting Zion is part of his master plan. The only reason you sit him is because he is an accident waiting to happen i.e. injury. Feel bad for Alvin Gentry.
I can't say I'm super surprised by the above post, in terms of Zion's effect on stagnating the offense. I commented last year, that despite his uncanny shooting touch around the hoop, he really doesn't appear to have a clue how to run an offensive set. His incongruous skill set is almost as weird as his physical attributes.
I have not watched a lot of Zion, but what I did seemed like he always relied on being more athletic then everyone else. He does not have that advantage now. Will be interesting to see if he works on his game this offseason and what he adds to it.
