Joined: 20 Jul 2006 Posts: 8518 Location: Left coast
Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2018 8:31 am Post subject:
I believe people are looking at the development of our young players in incorrectly. For example, Randle spent several off-seasons adding to aspects of his raw game. Last year he opened peoples eyes and gained respect when his finishing ability inside was much greater. Clearly he focused on specific details but he had already added a lot of knowledge and ability the previous off-seasons. He only had to refine his game, and now he's working on shooting which you can see in videos.
Zubac is a little behind Randle's pace. He had skills and abilities when he came in, but he needed to get good at fundamentals and develop man strength and aggressiveness. The video of him shows he has worked on the finer details of disciplined inside movement. A hook shot would be great, but instead of wasting a lot of time on something that may or may not work well, he is now combining an aggressive inside game with ability to hurt opponents from outside. He has the manly physique to succeed.
LeBron made Ilgauskas, Mozgov, and Tristan Thompson look good, and I'm confident Zubac will be better than those guys when he's done.
His good contributions this year will be thing everyone says that nobody could have foreseen.
Last edited by lakersboy on Thu Aug 09, 2018 9:41 am; edited 1 time in total
Joined: 15 May 2001 Posts: 2146 Location: Tega Cay, South Carolina
Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2018 8:48 am Post subject:
2 years ago Zu was looked at as a really good prospect.
He goes to summer league and messes the bed
Hi regular season also got off to a really bad start.
Reality seemed to really help him learn what was required and he has worked his way back. It looks like he spent his summer playing in Europe and has been hitting the Gym and looking stronger.
I think he will fit in well this year. He is pretty good on defense and rebounding and has a nice low post moves and touch around the hoop. His passing is very underrated. His outside shooting is not featured very much but I think if he regularly took outside shots he would shoot a decent percentage.
I expect that many will be surprised by how well he plays this year.
Joined: 20 Jul 2006 Posts: 8518 Location: Left coast
Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2018 9:44 am Post subject:
oldlakerfan wrote:
2 years ago Zu was looked at as a really good prospect.
He goes to summer league and messes the bed
Hi regular season also got off to a really bad start.
Reality seemed to really help him learn what was required and he has worked his way back. It looks like he spent his summer playing in Europe and has been hitting the Gym and looking stronger.
I think he will fit in well this year. He is pretty good on defense and rebounding and has a nice low post moves and touch around the hoop. His passing is very underrated. His outside shooting is not featured very much but I think if he regularly took outside shots he would shoot a decent percentage.
I expect that many will be surprised by how well he plays this year.
The past couple of years people have been fantasizing about him becoming Kareem. It probably took away from some of the time he could have been working on fundamentals. VIdeos appear to show that this summer he focused on minor details that will help him become a much better player. He looks like a guy who will become a significant part of the rotation's success.
2 years ago Zu was looked at as a really good prospect.
He goes to summer league and messes the bed
Hi regular season also got off to a really bad start.
Reality seemed to really help him learn what was required and he has worked his way back. It looks like he spent his summer playing in Europe and has been hitting the Gym and looking stronger.
I think he will fit in well this year. He is pretty good on defense and rebounding and has a nice low post moves and touch around the hoop. His passing is very underrated. His outside shooting is not featured very much but I think if he regularly took outside shots he would shoot a decent percentage.
I expect that many will be surprised by how well he plays this year.
The past couple of years people have been fantasizing about him becoming Kareem. It probably took away from some of the time he could have been working on fundamentals. VIdeos appear to show that this summer he focused on minor details that will help him become a much better player. He looks like a guy who will become a significant part of the rotation's success.
One of the articles that have come out since the end of the season said that as a rookie Zubac weighed about 280 lbs or so and had over 18% body fat. He lost 40 lbs over the 2017 summer to get down to Magic's 8% fat goal. In doing so, he lost a lot of muscle. So, when he showed up for training camp in September 2017 he had 8% fat but was completely out of shape. Apparently, he has recognized his mistake and is trying to build more muscle this summer. I expect that he will be one of the most improved Lakers players this next year.
Zubac and McGee will be keys to a good season.
They have to provide rebounding, rim protection, and defense of the big centers. And hit that slam when fed.
McGee has shown he can play at the NBA level but for some reason perceived as having a problem playing long minutes.
So Zubac is the last line of defense at the center position after McGee. Doubt if Wagner would be ready to play against NBA centers.
Are they good enough to be at least serviceable at center?
His good contributions this year will be thing everyone says that nobody could have foreseen.
I'll say. There are Zubac haters who were literally counting down the days to July 1 when he'd supposedly be cut and even out of the league. They will lose their minds if he ends up starting at any point this season and succeeds.
Joined: 15 Sep 2012 Posts: 29281 Location: La La Land
Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2018 12:57 pm Post subject:
Baron Von Humongous wrote:
Good thing Zu is bad at low post scoring and is pretty darn good at rebounding and rim protection.
I'm a big Zubac fan. I think he could be a Nurkic-level player some day.
Surprised to hear someone say he's a good rebounder. Are there advanced stats that back that up? _________________ "Every hurt is a lesson, and every lesson makes you better”
Good thing Zu is bad at low post scoring and is pretty darn good at rebounding and rim protection.
I'm a big Zubac fan. I think he could be a Nurkic-level player some day.
Surprised to hear someone say he's a good rebounder. Are there advanced stats that back that up?
By per-minute average, by rebound %, and by per-possession, Ivica Zubac was the Lakers' best rebounder last season (just behind Bogut & Nance, who didn't finish the season with the team, and ahead of Randle).
And since I've spoken to people who believe offensive rebounding is the better way to measure one's ability... here, too, Zubac was just behind Bogut and Nance (by .2), and FAR ahead of Randle in ORB per 36 minutes (by a full 1.0 rebound).
All of these advanced rebounding numbers are also better than those of any of the new Lakers. (Read "Javale McGee") So, going in, he's at least on paper the Lakers' best rebounder next season.
Beyond just rebounding - because he also converts a high percentage of FG and FT, and blocks shots - his overall PER last year was the highest of any returning Laker.
Last edited by MickMgl on Thu Aug 09, 2018 1:35 pm; edited 3 times in total
Good thing Zu is bad at low post scoring and is pretty darn good at rebounding and rim protection.
I'm a big Zubac fan. I think he could be a Nurkic-level player some day.
Surprised to hear someone say he's a good rebounder. Are there advanced stats that back that up?
By per-minute average, by rebound %, and by per-possession, Ivica Zubac was the Lakers' best rebounder last season (just behind Bogut & Nance, who didn't finish the season with the team, and ahead of Randle).
And since I've spoken to people who believe offensive rebounding is the better way to measure one's ability... here, too, Zubac was just behind Bogut and Nance (by .2), and FAR ahead of Randle in ORB per 36 minutes (by a full 1.0 rebound).
All of these advanced rebounding are also better than those of any of the new Lakers. (Read "Javale McGee") So, going in, he's at least on paper the Lakers' best rebounder next season.
Beyond just rebounding - because he also converts a high percentage of FG and FT, and blocks shots - his overall PER last year was the highest of any returning Laker.
_________________ “When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.”
Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 5347 Location: United States
Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2018 1:45 pm Post subject:
MickMgl wrote:
CantStopJM wrote:
I can't believe people are still high on him...
I can't believe people gave up on him so quickly, and even had T. Bryant over him.
Then I remember he's white and European.
He is still pretty young.
Same age as our 21 year old rookies Svi and Wagner. 2 years younger than Kuzma.
I'm not so high on him, but he has still plenty of potential. Hopefully he pans out and becomes a decent player. Too early to count him out. _________________ SCHROEDER/CARUSO/COOK
MATTHEWS/KCP/THT
LEBRON/KUZMA/BABYGIANIS
AD/MORRIS/DUDLEY
GASOL/HARRELL/TINKLE
Coachs:Vogel/Kidd
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum