I am good with that. As many players on the court as possible who can do the basics. (Shoot, dribble and pass) You would think they would be easy to find but apparently it is not. Hark and Chief were not good at any of them IMO. As long as Mario is an average rebounder and defender then he is an improvement.
I dont know, Jimmy Butler is considered a “fighter” and he moves teams about as often as a Kardashian gets a new boyfriend. I am not at all saying Zach wants out, or will ask out. However if Nurk is the obvious starter and Zach wants to play Center it wouldnt surprise me at all if at some point Zach would like to find a place he can start at center. Yeah its speculation, but this a forum most of the posts here are speculation. Also while Jimmy Butler is probably a bad comparison, guys change teams all the time, its pretty rare for a guy to be in one team their entire career. Maybe Zach gets starter minutes at PF and he is ok with that, I dont know.
Zach could see some minutes on the 2nd unit for the Blazers. But if he has to go up against a Jokic, Adams, Kanter, Jordan, etc, he just isn't big enough or strong enough yet. I can see him starting for the first 5 minutes, coming out for Skal/Tolliver, and then coming back in for Whiteside .
I think way too much is being made about his center comments. He seems like the type that will do whatever necessary to get on the floor.
I agree, but thats part of my point, if at some point he determines the best way to get on the floor is to leave Portland that wouldn't shock me at all. I think if he’s starting at PF he’ll probably be content with that, but if his heart is set on being the center Im not sure he’ll be ok with it, but we’ll find out.
I guess? He did say he liked playing Center. Your opinion is just as much conjecture as mine though. Like I said, we’ll find out soon enough.
If Collins takes the next step and some, he will be able to play whatever position he wants, and it could be with the Blazers and maybe not. Can you image once Nurk gets back and healthy the battles in the low post!
IMO the only reason that Collins said he preferred to play Center is because he can get more blocks in that position. It wasn't because he was going to try to leave someday if he didn't get to. The dude is the ultimate team player. He didn't start a single game in College.
I don't think Dame ever said that though...I heard Collins respond to a question of what position do you prefer and he said center. At this point I'm sure he'll do whatever the team ask of him.
The guy literally said he preferred playing center though. No one has said he is leaving tomorrow or wants to. The speculation and the question is really, is playing center a big enough deal to Zach that if he is tagged as the teams PF will he accept that or want to go somewhere he can play Center? This isn't a national writer trying to speak something into existence which is why every good player is “linked to the Lakers or Knicks”, this is just our opinions on how big of a deal is playing Center to Zach. I dont know him, I have no idea whats important to him. Maybe he stays here his entire career and loves it the whole time, who knows...
If you asked me that question when I was Zach's age I would've said I'd like to play PG, ha ha. That doesn't mean anything in terms of me being unhappy playing other positions.
I agree with that..Players in the league now days pretty much try and coordinate what kind of team and where they want to play at some point, not all, by many do. Its a players driven league more so than years past.
But if had a father that trained you as a post player that could also have a bearing on his aspirations as a pro.
