Exclusive Welcome Zach Collins!

This kid will play minutes at the first of the season. He need to get stronger but he still be effective anyway. He has the whole package but he will have adjust to the speed of the game at the start. I see alot high and low post with Nurk and Collins when there in there together.

 

ZBO2? Pasted the article just in case someone didn't want to hit the link. Good find!


Playing the name game with Gonzaga
Tue., Feb. 21, 2017, 11:45 p.m.

Gonzaga forward Zach “Z-bo (or Z-Bo or Zbo)” Collins works his way to the basket, Jan. 12, 2017, in Spokane. (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)
By Jim Meehan
jimm@spokesman.com
(208) 659-3791
J3 held his ground and collected the rebound after forcing a wild, missed shot by San Francisco guard Charles Minlend.

At the offensive end, Gonzaga swung the ball around the perimeter before a drive-and-dish found J-Mat, who buried an open 3-pointer. Snacks bolted from his seat on the bench to applaud the unselfish play.

On USF’s next possession, Minlend tried his luck again but Z-bo (or Z-Bo or Zbo, we’re not quite sure of the formal spelling) came off his assignment and challenged the shot. It bounced off the iron and into the hands of J3, who was fouled on the low block at the other end.

Translation: J3, or 3, is Zags’ junior forward Johnathan Williams, whose dad and older brother share the same first name; J-Mat is senior guardJordan Mathews; Snacks is redshirt freshman guard Zach Norvell, a nickname reflecting his affinity for sweets as a youngster.

And Z-bo?

“I’m going to be honest, I have no idea why it’s Z-bo,” Gonzaga freshman center Zach Collinssaid. “I think it just sounds better than Z-co, has a little better ring to it, a fun vibe to it.”

The top-ranked Zags – and nearly every basketball team from Parks and Rec to City League – have a language of player nicknames unique to their squad. Coaches regularly use the monikers in postgame interviews or when addressing players during timeouts or practice drills.

Players refer to each other by their nicknames more than their actual names, which became the genesis for this article.

Earlier this month Nigel Williams-Goss – “That’s kind of a tough one, usually it’s just ‘Nige,’ Collins said – sat out the Santa Clara game with a sore ankle. That opened up some minutes for sophomore wing Bryan Alberts, who provided a 3-pointer, three assists and solid defense on Broncos standout guard Jared Brownridge.

“Silent Larry, BA, did a great job,” Mathews said later in the locker room.

Who, what?

“HEY, SILENT LARRY,” shouted Mathews, immediately catching Alberts’ attention. “See.”

“I’m kind of quiet,” Alberts explained. “On the court, coach (Mark) Few wanted me to talk a little bit more so he gave me the nickname Silent Larry until I talked more and then he said he’d change it.

“Silent Larry apparently was a silent movie guy. It’s a little past my generation so I had to look it up when he first called me that.”

Gonzaga has a rich history of nicknames during its 18-year run of NCAA tournament appearances. Some were simply a combination of the players’ initials, such as Richie “RF” Frahm or Dan “Double D” Dickau. Axel Dench, a member of the 1999 Elite Eight team, was “Ups” because of his deep voice and Australian accent.

Blake Stepp was “Helmet,” in reference to his helmet-shaped hair. Cory Violette was “Chunk” for carrying an extra pound or two.

“He preferred “Chisel,” assistant coach Tommy Lloyd noted.

Physically imposing Casey Calvary was Casey because “everyone was too scared to call him something else,” Lloyd cracked.

Adam Morrison was “Mo” or “Ammo.” Derek Raivio went by “Rabbit,” a tribute to his energetic style of play. Elias Harris was simply “E.’ Mike Hart was the “Man of Steel.” Kevin Pangos was “The Robot,” because he was like a machine. Gary Bell Jr. grew sideburns and quickly became “Burns.”

Assistant coach Brian “B-Mike” Michaelson he has no idea who gave him his nickname.Przemek Karnowski goes by “PK” or “Shem,” a shorter version of his full first name Przemyslaw. Josh Perkins is “Perk.”

Some nicknames are outdated but they’re not going anywhere.

“My dad (Zach Sr.) played at New Mexico State and he ate a lot of junk food,” Zach Jr. said. “Everyone was like, ‘Man, your son is going to eat a lot of junk food, too.’ When I was really young I loved candy, snacks, so everybody said it fit me well.

“I actually hate candy now, not a big fan of it.”

Collins enjoys his nickname, but “for some reason it kind of irks me when my family calls me Z-bo. When everyone else calls me that, I’m fine with it.”

Ryan Edwards is the “Big Dipper” or “Dip” for short.

“In practice a while ago, I can’t remember if it was a good play or a bad play, somebody said, ‘Geez Dip,’ but it sounded like ‘Cheese Dip,’” Lloyd said. “Rem (Bakamus) loved that one.”

 

Okay I don't know shit about college players but you got me hyped for this guy

 

Guys, i'm really depressed we didn't take Malik Monk.
Monk was available at #10, was it not possible because for any particular reason??

What the hell??

 

I like the look of this guy. Sure, the sample size was small in college, but he seemed to have a really consistent three point shot in the practice videos. Watching him it was pretty easy to see him can them at a 35-40% rate in real games. And he clearly is a gamer when it comes to rebounding and moving his feet on defense.

Besides, how many 7 footers are there in the league who can defend the rim and hit a three pointer? Porzingas, Durant, Anthony Davis...probably a couple of others, but not many. That's the exact skill set you want on this team.

 

We did not need Monk. We needed Collins and thought he was the best player available for us.

 

I liked Monk too, but I think Portland moved up to get the guy they wanted at the position they needed. Monk has proven more, but then everybody says big men take more time, so it's not like they were worlds apart in overall potential.

Rebounding and hitting open three pointers seem to be skills that transfer over from the college to pro games. I'm pretty optimistic about this.

 

Interesting Sports Science video of Zach.

 

Monk will be an all-star. You don't need an explosive Guard who is a great shooter and have defensive potential?? WTF? He will be a great asset to have regardless of what you need or don't need.

Right now our team is in a ridicules situation where CJ and Dame can't sit on the bench together without the team falling apart, how do we not need Monk??
When Moe Williams had good games it was a huge help for our team, i believe Monk could have slipped into that role perfectly.

 

So Monk was completely possible but Neil chose not to take him??
Please, someone confirm this.

 

Our big men rotation would have remained Nurkic and nobody else of genuine quality. We traded for 10th pick to get Zach Collins, not Malik Monk, and Kings were the team willing to deal with us. We basically built our entire draft strategy around wanting to get Zach Collins, would have been poor planning to take Monk in a heat of a moment just because he's available.

We have two borderline All-Star guards. We needed a power forward/center.

 

Well he went no. 11 to Charlotte so yes. The idea of trading up was to get Zach Collins. We would not have traded up for Monk.

 

I'm asking if Monk was available because i saw the draft show and Adam Silver said "The Kings Select...", which made me think the Kings made the selection for us and we had no choice but take Collins.

This is horrible, i think i'm off "Olshey Island".
A General Manager selecting the inferior player based on 'need' is just awful, what a fatal mistake.

 

Like Sarni said- NO wouldn't have swapped picks, if Collins wasn't available. Check out the after draft press conference. It made me feel a lot better about things.

http://www.sportstwo.com/posts/4188234/

And yeah, when they swap picks, the original team picks what the other one wants, then they actually swap the people to finalize it.

 

Monk would be great but you can't get everything. Collins would be a very good player.
But I agree regarding our need at guard. I think that's the number 1 priority in free agency, ideally getting a very good 3rd combo guard to sub in for Dame and CJ

 

Watching NO's interview, he really doesn't seem to believe Collins is the inferior player

 

Why are you so annoying?

 

What? are you upset because you are not the only annoying guy on this board anymore?