and the stripper killed and was bombarded by adult actress Twitter, Zion Williamson's off-court nightmare has just ended half a year, and once again because of his convex figure and 1 of 6 free throws, he has become the fat at the center of public opinion.
"Fat Zion" has rushed to the Twitter trend, and the worries about weight have plagued him and the Pelicans for years. Diet lists, training plans, weight-loss manifestos...... The weight Zion lost is like a Ben Simmons projection, forever on the horizon you can see but can't touch. The Pelicans' patience is slowly running out, and recently, they complained directly to the outside world through the team reporter: "The team has repeatedly stressed to Zion that he wants to improve his diet and fitness, but Zion has not listened. ”
Compared with Yang Kan's team, the Pelicans are obviously not so friendly to fat people, after all, on the court, no one wants their core to use the forward body to carry the weight of the center and drag a piece of rotten things to slide with weights. Even Zion's template, Barkley, who can't keep his mouth shut on and off the field, is 11 kilograms lighter than he is now. What's even worse is that in a win-win midseason game, directly opposite him, James, who is 8 centimeters taller, 15 years older and 15 kilograms lighter, scored 30 points and 8 assists with 75% of his crosshairs.
Before people had time to worry about James' stub fitness, the Lakers chopped the Pelicans 44 times. And Zion himself only scored 13 points and 2 rebounds, and James used the same posture to make two offensive fouls in the same position, and hit the back, Zion could only choose a pull-up jumper that he was not good at when facing James...... The contrast between the champions is too cruel and stark, and every praise for James's insistence on self-discipline is a critique of Zion's self-indulgence, and every highlight of James is a wordless satire of Zion.
Not just this round or two, but throughout the game, Zion didn't get anything cheap from James. The breakthrough of his face frame was seen through by James at a glance, and it was difficult to push James away from his back attack.
In the face of James' change of defense in this round, Zion couldn't wait to share it with his teammates before he chiseled twice, and the Lakers' defense line did not change at all.
To be sure, Zion's form in the midseason wasn't normal, and his shots dropped significantly in his final two games, as evidenced by his free-throw crosshairs against the Lakers. In the blink of an eye, facing the Timberwolves, who are the league's No. 1 defensive team, he regarded the twin towers as nothing, and almost every shot met the big hands of Towns and Gobert, scoring 36 points on 13-of-17 shooting. From a devil to an angel, Zion is still the same 250-pound Zion.
Zion's most representative goal of this game, after turning and erasing Downs, faced Gobert's supplementary defense and played 2+1.
After dribbling the ball, he turned his back sharply, used his width to get a shot, and finished with his left hand. It's Zion's best finishing style, combining his dribbling, his size, explosiveness, and finishing ability under the basket. This silky combo is especially effective against interior defense, but against a heavy forward like James, who has both body and strength and a good brain, it depends on Zion's condition.
Zion's talent is undoubtedly outstanding, and without the need to list too many stats and celebrity touts, he has all the possibilities of a "misplaced monster": ball handling, speed and explosiveness at the forward level, weight at the inside level, finishing under the basket at the center level, and of course, an epic ass - the two pieces of meat that countless insiders can't ask for, have converged on this man, and Charles Barkley is standing in the past and beckoning to his future self.
But now Zion is far from reaching the realm of Barkley, as a core, his style of play is too extreme, and his strengths and weaknesses are too distinct, which instantly complicates things.
All of his three-point points were left in the opening game against the Spurs three years ago (can you imagine Zion now being 4-of-4 from three-point range), his mid-range shot is gone, and almost all of his shots come from the restricted area. Of course, this kind of player needs teammates to pull space, but the Pelicans' three-point shooting is the lowest level in the league, which may also explain the reason why Zion's shots have plummeted in some games - Zion can only pass out when he is caught in the opposite side.
The Pelicans are also interested in developing Zion's "point forward" attributes, and he averages a career-high number of assists per game. But compatibility on the offensive end is not the biggest problem, but the walk and spirit on the defensive end are.
Zion often gets into this jogging, walking-like state of wellness on the defensive end, completely unaware that the opponent will take advantage of the situation. The 38-year-old James accelerated, and the 23-year-old Zion simply couldn't catch up.
In fact, the Pelicans are already very protective of Zion, he generally smokes in the bottom corner on the defensive end, saves energy on the offensive end, and avoids too much sliding and running to wear out his legs and feet. But even then, Zion was too lazy on the defensive end. Forget about running heavy with his teammates, after Conley shook his teammates, he was stunned in place, without raising his hands, if it was James, he would have been scolded hundreds of floors.
Not only in the bottom corner, but Zion often appears in this kind of walking scene when he is defending against blocking. At first glance, it didn't seem out of place, but in fact, no one looked at it. In order to wipe Zion's ass, the Pelicans really lost a lot of points.
The most blood pressure surge is that he often poses like grabbing rebounds, and then walks around and is stuck behind by opponents, waiting for the rebounds to fall into his hands. In this round, James was worried that he couldn't jam Zion's rebounding position, and pouted his buttocks, but no one arched the arch and stood to watch the show.
So James also saw through it, just stuck Zion's position in advance, he wouldn't be desperate.
Zion on the defensive end is another Zion, his speed at receiving the ball and the speed of the defensive fill, his passion for hitting the interior and his enthusiasm for the rebound. Of course, this has a lot to do with his weight, the 250-pound Zion can't risk injury and play a desperate role on the defensive end, but it actually solidifies his professional attitude - all teammates who tried to imitate James's self-discipline ended up failing, compared to Zion, which is much simpler.
O'Neal's comment hit the nail on the head: "At the beginning of my career, I didn't work as hard as I thought, my talent allowed me to score 20 points, but going up, I had to take action." Zion doesn't have that drive, he doesn't have that 'I'm the strongest' look, I know it at a glance. I used to be like him, and people told me that I wasn't putting in the effort I should have. ”
Unbridled unbridled talent, this hatred of iron is the source of criticism of Zion. He has the ability to blow up the top twin towers, and he can do better, be more committed on both ends of the floor, and really become the core of the game like Ross Barkley, instead of being indulgent, spontaneous, and lying on the hotbed of talent like he is now.
Not everyone has such eyes, and not every person will cherish his talent, data, wealth, reputation, and sex...... Everything that shimmers with colorful neon lights is like mineral water and can be drunk right out of the cap, and with all the desires of mortals at their fingertips, it is difficult to spur themselves on for a purer goal, and it is more effortless to lie down and enjoy in this flowery world.
Zion is moving in the dangerous direction of going with the flow, and if this is his choice, then we can only hold the heart of respect and blessing, and continue to imagine how strong the "weight loss sen" is after the peak Mai, the reasonable department, the harmless Luo, and the diligent shark.