I've been a Zach Collins homer since I checked his game out right after we drafted him. But, so far he has sucked. He's clearly been uncomfortable on the court. In SL, Biggie looked like the better prospect. He's shooting .424 from the field, and his PER is 8.1. This is all the national media sees, and he's getting no love there - perhaps rightfully so. However, recently, he's looked a lot better, and even semi-discerning fans can see he's a fantastic defensive big. So, I wanted to check out his more recent numbers, because he seems to be playing more consistently now that his role has been cemented. Here it goes: Zach Collins in January (per ESPN): He's shooting .500 in his last 13 games, and .391 from 3. He's not getting to the line, and when he does, he's not making them. If he continues to play this way, his seasonal numbers will increase and the national media will notice - it won't just be us "soccer moms" singing his praises.
Yeah, you really have to watch the games to see why he is getting minutes. What I see (and I'm not a super-analyst): 1) 3pt: He is not hesitating when he is open. If he is open and set, the shot is going up. Unlike Biebs who should shoot like that, but second-guesses himself and then ends up not shooting at all. 2) Spacing: he seems to really understand where to be for screens and then were to go to either spot up or run the play. This is true on both ends of the court. 3) Defense (obviously): He hasn't had as many highlight plays as I would expect, but his skill set is more subtle than that. Again, he seems to understand spacing really well for his age. I still want him to channel into the next Laimbeer, but I think that will come as he fills out.
This is heartening. Pretty damn amazing considering he hasn't really been touted as an offensive player. He's converting his looks a great rate and will only get better as he gets stronger.
I'm always aware of his stats and I know he takes at least 2 ill advised swish3's per game. But let me ask you this: How often is he relied upon to shoot desperation shots against the clock? Let's not compare his and Zach's numbers because Zach isn't even in the game in crunch time.
I will settle for Gasol skills, with Laimbeer personality. I don't want to see Collins make the llama face when he gets called for a foul.
On 2 attempts per game. Funner fact: Dame is shooting .439 from 3 in January on 8.2 attempts per game. BNM
Whoa, Nelly! Back the truck up. I know some use stats to put down Lillard, and I understand that there is some validity to it, but that's not what I was trying to do. I wasn't commenting on Lillard at all. I was trying for something more like: Dame is a fantastic 3 point shooter. For this month at least, He's shooting even better than Dame's average this year. That's reason for optimism and makes me happy. Zach's comfort level is obviously increasing, which suggests that the new Zach is likely the real Zach, so that these numbers aren't temporary, or ephemeral. tldr; Zach Collins: He is who I thought he was! Boom!
