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Zion at Center
PG Jrue
SG Redick
SF Moore
PF Melli
C Zion
This lineup could be killer. 3 elite shooters. Small ball is definitely possible and it would be interesting to do lineups with Zion at center for a few minutes. We can do a lot with our talented roster. I also like the idea of making Ingram the primary ball handler at times.
PG Ingram
SG Jrue
SF Ball
PF Zion
C Favors
Another lineup for closing the game. (Gotta have guys who can make Free Throws.)
PG Jrue
SG Redick
SF Ingram
PF Zion
C Favors
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Zion's definitely going to play a couple of minutes every game as a small ball 5. I don't think they'll do it for too long, because I can't imagine that Gentry wants to throw Zion into the thick of things all season as a rookie, but he's too talented not to spend some time there.
Zion at centre is an interesting prospect because even if he is 6'8 or 6'9, he's still a little undersized. What makes up for it is the fact that's beyond explosion, and has great timing. It takes him 0 time to get off the floor, and his nose for the ball as a rebounder is extremely impressive. Given the fact that he can handle, and even pass on the break at a pretty high level, he's a big grab and go threat that most bigs have no chance of defending in transition. Big possibilities there, particularly on offense.
Ingram will definitely have a chance to have the ball in his hands at times as well. We've gotta give him that opportunity and see if he can really execute it on a high level, given his payday coming up. You can't exactly judge whether he's worth that money unless you give him some chances to show you what he can do. I feel like your lineup wouldn't be great for him though. When he's really running the show, it would probably help him a lot to give him shooters. Put Redick and maybe Hart or Melli on the floor with Ingram when he's being given the green light, to give him more room to operate and people to pass to. We wanna make it as easy as possible for him to shine, and guys like Ingram who aren't really dynamic long range threats need some extra space to get their dribble going.
What's more intriguing to me is the possibility of giving Zion the ball in his hands. He was used off-ball the vast majority of the time in Duke's offense, and barely ran any action as the ball handler, especially in the pick and roll. I'd love to see Zion get given some responsibility on the ball this year, maybe in PnR action with a shooter like Melli who he can dish to. Zion showed some advanced passing in college when he got given the chance, including cross court bounce passes, skip passes through the traffic, and one handed passes off the dribble, and I really think his skill as a facilitator will help him unlock his game if he's given the chance to use it.
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Just figured I'd post this in here as well as the other thread. It's not really worth starting a new thread over, but it's related to Zion and his production this year.
When asked to predict his first year statline, Zion answers ''20/10/3''.
Amazing. Depending on what role we ask of him, I think that's entirely possible as well.