The actualization of Zion Williamson

Zion Williamson had the 2nd-most points ever in a playoff debate against the Lakers, but he’s struggled with injuries throughout his entire career. This detailed film breakdown & scouting report explores Zion’s playoff debut, the secrets to his incredible finishing, his growth as a playmaker, and why he could be an MVP-level centerpiece moving forward.

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Music by csus (instrumental)

#ThinkingBasketball

by NS here come the Pelicans with a
chance to tie inside s
Williamson we are tied Zion Williamson
is right after years of injuries after
an out of shape start to the season and
an embarrassing loss to the Lakers in
the inseason tournament Zion finally
made his playoff debut and showed us
what all the hype was about 5 years
after being drafted the most publicized
American Prospect since LeBron James
stole the show against LeBron dropping
40 in a performance that nearly won the
game The pels Lost out after Zion missed
the final 3 minutes with an injury but
this was a new level of play for
Williamson and very much representative
of why he could be an MVP type Force
going forward New Orleans actually
outscored La in Zion minutes but without
him they couldn’t generate any decent
offensive looks so as the game
progressed the offense became more Zion
Centric and a hobbled Anthony Davis and
Company had few answers for
Williamson this Slimmer Zion was quicker
and had more lift around the rim and
that turns him into a shorter more
compact version of janisan Dupo as a
central offensive force and we saw in
this game when Z has space he’s too
quick for most Defenders he gets really
low and once his huge frame is by you
it’s basically over but he’s also agile
enough to avoid contact at the last
second and finish this is at full speed
off a quick dribble and he slides around
the defender who moves into him and he’s
also so strong he blasts through him
like he’s
wallpaper so in the last two Seasons
he’s actually committed offensive fouls
at nearly half the rate of Giannis
because he’s slippery deep in the paint
with all his spins and contorting twoot
finishes and we saw this against La
LeBron is sagged way off him Zion goes
right into the screen and then look at
this finish he jumps out on the other
side but moves back to the left to twist
around Davis in the air this superpower
pairs perfect
with his feel for finding soft spots and
attacking them and we saw this last year
before his injury slithering into cracks
and finishing at insane angles LeBron
gives him space again here before
switching that foul line screen and this
time it’s a hesitation to get low into
Davis and a quick two-footed layup and
when Zion’s lighter and bouncier he has
all these atypical launch angles that
allow him to take off early and throw
off Defenders last season he messed with
Rudy goar by taking off from the foul
line on a layup and he can do this
because he also has great touch near the
paint look at these back-to-back
possessions against the 7t IIT a zubot
where he floats horizontally across the
lane and uses two very different release
angles with a soft fade followed by this
High arcing rolling flip shot so when
when he’s in great shape he’s too quick
for forwards and centers to contain in
space but against bigs in traffic has
all kinds of counters in the air with
these soft flip shots at different
angles on his last play against the
Lakers he sets up a wobbling ad just to
take off mid drive and feather one over
him but at the end of the first half he
did this on a full- speeed Sprint off
one leg to kiss it off the high Glide
last season a healthier Zion generated
34 of his offense at The Rim or the free
throw line that’s well above giannis’s
career high which means you basically
have to build a wall in the paint to
stop him which then opens up the
perimeter as he’s played himself back
into shape Zion’s grown as a playmaker
and the Lakers didn’t sell out a ton to
him in this game but his decision making
was good for such a highlevel c contest
in particular I really love how quick
some of his passing decisions are and
how ready he is to punish defenses and
then he’ll do it off a live dribble like
this so if you want to send a soft
double team to him he immediately finds
the vulnerable area and that is great
playmaking and all this is huge for the
future because surrounding him with
Shooters will really carve up defenses
who collapse a ton like this on his
Drive
watch this sequence in the fourth where
he has a great isolation possession
defensively against LeBron then seems to
graze his layup from behind quickly gets
up so he can create a five on four in
transition and he knows hell P to come
touch passes it to Jose Alvarado and
that was an enormous three Zion also had
a big off ball game because of that
rediscovered explosiveness near the
basket CJ mcallum dancing with the ball
in the first quarter and normally
players spot up for three here but
Zion’s playing to attack off the catch
spins around LeBron then hangs right
through Davis my goodness in the second
half of the game the pels ran through
Zion Moore he swings it against pressure
here and then on the reset Williamson
turns into the rle man and has a Runway
to finish again so if a Defender wants
to ignore him because he can’t shoot he
can turn into a screener that creates a
two-on-one for a good shooter and then
he becomes very dangerous rumbling down
the lane you can also do stuff like this
with him he’s spotting up on the wing
LeBron’s not worried about him shooting
so Zion just back Cuts him for another
easy dunk and then 2 minutes later he
was out in front of the play in
transition goes to the shack Spin Alley
Oop blob and few guards on Earth can
hand that because of his strength and
explosiveness in those spots those plays
were nice but this one at the end of the
third was Peak Zion he somehow teleports
to a loose ball and elevates all in
about 8/10 of a second that ball is like
6 feet away he reaches for it and jumps
in the same motion splitting the two
shot blockers for free throws and that’s
both a heads up play and just his
freakish unmatched
athleticism actualized Zion is actually
a fascinating off-ball player despite
his on ball gifts he doesn’t dominate
the ball a lot finishing in the 76
percentile in time of possession this
year with his quick hitting actions and
so you can’t just ignore him out there
and let him build up ahead of steam and
when he’s in better shape like this he
can be a much more viable Defender using
that athleticism to make plays and
reading in the game well to make
important rotations staying active and
not bleeding value on that end and so
despite the formidable injury history
and his inconsistencies with
conditioning the Zion in this game the
one we briefly saw flashes of at the
beginning of last season this is the
Zion we were promised with all that
draft hype he could easily be one of the
best offensive centerpieces in the
league now heck New Orleans had a top 10
offense last year when Brandon Ingram
was injured and Zion played before
Williamson’s season was abruptly ended
and his playmaking and defense were at a
much higher level in his first playoff
game in
2024 this was such a critical test for
him to pass because the Lakers have not
only befuddled the Pelicans this season
but Zion has had some issues trying to
Brute Force his way through some of the
game’s best shot blockers before ad came
into this one with back spasms but this
was more about Williamson’s bounce and
feel than anything else his defense was
also solid and his passing could be
really good in the next few years and
remember he’s only 23 years old Joel
embiid’s career didn’t really even get
going until he was 23 or 24 and while
Zion’s body presents its own set of
issues he’s still really young he’s
already made two all-star teams so at
this point he’s really just one good
healthy off season from the best
conditioning of his NBA career and after
seeing what he looked like in his
playoff debut that might just be enough
to turn Zion Williamson into a top 10
player in the world let me know what you
think of Zion down below of course he
left this game with a hamstring injury
so it’s yet another hurdle for him to
overcome to support us patreon.com
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