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How do you lead in steals and blocks, and not be close to a good defender at the same time?

What kind of "steals" and "blocks" are we talking about? If it is the Rudy Gobert kind, where he patrols the paint, plays great positional D, and tips shots, great. OTOH, if it is a guy using his outsized athleticism/length to block the shots of physically outmatched opponents.... It is something else.
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In simpler terms, is Zion blocking shots because he is in the correct place at the correct time, or is he blocking shots because he's much more athletic. The former translates to college, the second will be reduced some because college opponents are bigger/stronger/more athletic than their HS peers. There are a lot of guys, who, 2-3 years ago, were 6-8 and 210 lb HS seniors. Next year, they will be 6-8 and 235. Bullying the former is one thing, the second? It is a little harder.
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And the steals are a function of his shot blocking. As he blocks shots, he gets steals on some of them. Both of which, again, may be more of a function of a disparity of physical ability vs HS talent, which might not be present vs College talent.
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And, yes, I know that AAU teams loaded with talent. But it is relative talent. The best teams play kids from 2-3 classes of HS. A soph might be the best soph in the nation, but he is worse than the top 100-300 seniors. He'll improve, but you get my point.
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Further, the AAU games are terrible, terrible examples of hoops. There is a reason that ESPN, which is desperate for programming in the summer, doesn't air more of them. It is a lot of ISO ball and sloppy zone defense. If a team is particularly well coached on D, they'll play a half-hearted M2M that features zero help defense (outside of the occasional weak side shot blocking). I'm very hesitant to put much faith in AAu evaluations. Tre Duval was unstoppable in AAu ball. Vs players that were closer to his physical abilities, in structured settings, he was less effective.
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Zion will be a beast on O, even if he can't hit 15% of his threes. What can he do on D.
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And I hope someone that loves him tells him to focus on D. If he shows a nose for Defense and rebounding next year (even with some frosh mistakes/lapses), he's a top 5 pick. At worst. With Nike and Adidas (and, I guess Puma?) salivating over signing him. If he shows out as relatively poor defender and rebounder, he probably slides closer to 10, with about half the shoe deal as if he balls out on D and the boards.
 
I’m a bit giddy over that Bolden mid range jumper poppin.
I bet you 100$! He doesn’t take one of those this season. ???? :) Or maybe something you can bet on a message board.....like my choice of your avatar for a month vs your choice of mine?? Lmao suggestions? Takers? I’ll go with either or. He does or doesn’t:
 
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We need a bet thread..... would be interesting and fun

I think it would too. And the avitar is an easy one to settle up on. I remember there used to be a bet between Folks on this board and thr where the loser had to use the avitar selected for them. I don't remember what the bet was. Maybe who finished highest in the conference or head to head games maybe?
 
I think it would too. And the avitar is an easy one to settle up on. I remember there used to be a bet between Folks on this board and thr where the loser had to use the avitar selected for them. I don't remember what the bet was. Maybe who finished highest in the conference or head to head games maybe?
Gives you something on the side to root for during rough patches or whatever the case may be.
 
I have a standing bet with a guy at work every year for the tournament. He lets me pick 4 teams, then he gets the rest of the field for who wins it all. I think we are in year 4 maybe? So far, I haven't lost! It will happen though
 
I have a standing bet with a guy at work every year for the tournament. He lets me pick 4 teams, then he gets the rest of the field for who wins it all. I think we are in year 4 maybe? So far, I haven't lost! It will happen though
I bet you..something.... Duke was in your 4 every year! Haha
 
I bet you 100$! He doesn’t take one of those this season. ???? :) Or maybe something you can bet on a message board.....like my choice of your avatar for a month vs your choice of mine?? Lmao suggestions? Takers? I’ll go with either or. He does or doesn’t:
He took a few last season so you name your price.
 
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He took a few last season so you name your price.
You come in very strong and confident. makes me have 2nd thoughts about this... I gotta think on the wager hahaha. Or you can determine one. I don’t care
 
I can’t remeber him taking one last season . I take your word for it though. Memory’s blurry, and my odds are way against me on this..... We have a lot of talent ....yet he’ll get more minutes....with less bigs.... lot of variables in this that suck!! Hahaha
 
f it is a guy using his outsized athleticism/length to block the shots of physically outmatched opponents.... It is something else.
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In simpler terms, is Zion blocking shots because he is in the correct place at the correct time, or is he blocking shots because he's much more athletic

I'm with ya....sort of, but I also believe he is going to run into a LOT of college players, where he physically outmatches them and is more athletic than them. I don't at all think he is the next Lebron, or AD, or whoever, but I think he is very athletic and strong, and will be a handful for the majority of college players that he faces
 
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I'm with ya....sort of, but I also believe he is going to run into a LOT of college players, where he physically outmatches them and is more athletic than them. I don't at all think he is the next Lebron, or AD, or whoever, but I think he is very athletic and strong, and will be a handful for the majority of college players that he faces

For someone so hyped, there wasn’t a lot stated about his game from scouts. One thing that wasn’t listed as a detriment was his defense.

LeBron wasn’t regarded as one of the best defensive players until his chase down blocks happened (dear God please no one take this as me comparing Zion to LeBron in terms of ability and greatness). But upon further review, he used his size and strength very well as a defensive asset. I think the same can be said in a lot of cases with Zion. Don’t let the absurd highlights take away from what he actually does well.
 
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For someone so hyped, there wasn’t a lot stated about his game from scouts. One thing that wasn’t listed as a detriment was his defense.

LeBron wasn’t regarded as one of the best defensive players until his chase down blocks happened (dear God please no one take this as me comparing Zion to LeBron in terms of ability and greatness). But upon further review, he used his size and strength very well as a defensive asset. I think the same can be said in a lot of cases with Zion. Don’t let the absurd highlights take away from what he actually does well.

Agreed. I think in a lot of cases, Z is being labeled as just a dunker. I believe he brings a lot more to the table than that.
 
You won’t find one scout who has watched a bunch of games over just highlights that will agreee with that statement. He has the potential to be very good on D but that’s not a strength of his right now

He was? I’ve seen him and he’s pretty darn good at D
 
There's not a freshmen on this team, or really any player on this team for that matter, that anyone can honestly say are good defensively.
None of our kids have been tested against college competition yet. They will get punched in the mouth. Then we will find out what our group is made of.
I will admit, Zion and Barrett look real impressive, but they haven't played a defense like UVA or Syracuse plays.

Until then, we are hoping and praying.
 
There's not a freshmen on this team, or really any player on this team for that matter, that anyone can honestly say are good defensively.
None of our kids have been tested against college competition yet. They will get punched in the mouth. Then we will find out what our group is made of.
I will admit, Zion and Barrett look real impressive, but they haven't played a defense like UVA or Syracuse plays.

Until then, we are hoping and praying.

Marques Bolden and Javin DeLaurier are good defenders.
 
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Marques Bolden and Javin DeLaurier are good defenders.
Yeah, but neither has played enough to where you can say that. One is foul prone, and the other has battled injuries. Part of good defense is to do it without fouling.
 
You won’t find one scout who has watched a bunch of games over just highlights that will agreee with that statement. He has the potential to be very good on D but that’s not a strength of his right now

Ha ha
 
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There's not a freshmen on this team, or really any player on this team for that matter, that anyone can honestly say are good defensively.
None of our kids have been tested against college competition yet. They will get punched in the mouth. Then we will find out what our group is made of.
I will admit, Zion and Barrett look real impressive, but they haven't played a defense like UVA or Syracuse plays.

Until then, we are hoping and praying.

You can also say none of them will be good offensively either. You can say a lot of things based on, “they’ve never done it at this level.”
 
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You can also say none of them will be good offensively either. You can say a lot of things based on, “they’ve never done it at this level.”
Are you more concerned with us scoring 80 or giving up 80?
I'm hoping we can play decent defense and be respectable shooting the three ball.
 
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