Basketball Gods Scouting Notes Will Be Updated Multiple Times When Needed, To Provide Basketball Fans With Enlightening Descriptions Of An NBA Player’s Skill Strengths & Weaknesses, Also An In-depth And Thorough Full Scouting Report Using Basketball Gods Analytics, Will Be Created And Provided To Basketball Fans Throughout The Basketball Season
Updated: 2/20/2020
Strength & Weaknesses
Underrated feel for the game
Capable of consistently making the smart, simple, needed, and spectacular play
Powerfully Built
Surprisingly agile for his size
Powerful and explosive athlete
Possesses an elite combination of quickness and strength
Explosive/quick first step off the dribble
Has elite run and jump athleticism
Has elite vertical jump explosiveness
Freight train in transition
Moves people out of the way with his size and strength
Graceful Athlete
Has spectacular body control while driving and jumping
Tweener
Not a natural fit for the power forward or small forward positions
Has height, weight, and length concerns
Complete/Well Rounded Athlete (meaning: he’s a great all around athlete)
Once In A Lifetime Athlete
Unselfishness, impressive court vision, and underrated play-making ability allows him to dynamically create offense for others
Best Case Scenario Player Comparisons: Charles Barkley/Anthony Mason/Isaiah Rider
Has point forward potential if he improves his ball-handling skills, ball protection skills, court awareness, and ability to read the defense and make the right play
Has an underrated all-around skill set, to the point where he can impact the game in a variety of ways
Is more than just a great athlete and wants to prove that he possesses great basketball skills
Is a skilled, powerful, and dynamic slasher/driver
Utilizes quickness and strength to create space and separation off the dribble
Shows underrated skill and solid use of footwork & technique in his dribble drive game
Can create space and separation off the dribble with quickness, strength, and solid use of skill, footwork, and technique
Attacks the basket off the dribble like a running back running through a hole in the defense, this tactic allows him to take advantage of his strength and explosiveness, and shed defenders off of him like a running back that is breaking tackles
Has very good court vision and shows the potential to develop into an elite passer
Is a skilled, accurate, and efficient passer
Loves to pass to teammates who are in position to do something in a manner that creates an offensive advantage against the defense
AKA: Passes with a purpose, and passes to create an offensive advantage/opportunity
Because of his unselfishness, desire to make the right play, and exceptional feel for how to best utilize the skill set of the players around him, he will develop into a player that can make the players around him better
Style of play & intangibles will greatly contribute to winning games and create a winning environment and positive environment amongst teammates.
He plays with great force, effort, energy, and has a great motor
He plays with maximum effort, maximum focus, and maximum concentration on every possession, he takes no plays off
Will not give up on plays, goes all out
Effort and energy will be contagious (example: plays the right way, does the little things, is willing and ready to make hustle plays, and makes plays that creates positive momentum for his team)
Because of his effort, energy, work ethic, unselfishness, and overall intangibles, coaches will love him
Highly competitive and passionate
Loves playing the game of basketball, which is an intangible that is needed to achieve greatness and maximize skills/abilities
Is special and spectacular in transition as a play-maker, passer, ball-handler, rim runner, finisher, alley-oop receiver/finisher, and rebounding grab & go one man fast break threat. Reminds me of a young, dynamic, and explosive Charles Barkley in transition
At the moment, he is just a average mid-range and three-point shooter, and he is just an average shooter off the dribble, this part of his game has to improve for him to become a dynamic all-around 3 level scoring threat at the next level. Doesn’t have to become an elite shooter from the mid-range and three-point areas, he just has to become a solid and reliable shooting threat from those areas on the floor to develop into an efficient all around scoring threat, and to maximize team spacing that improves his team’s offensive efficiency and effectiveness
He is a dynamic mismatch threat and is a tough defensive cover for guards and big-men (meaning – he is too big, strong, and powerful for guards, and he is too quick, agile, and nimble for big-men)
Is a dynamic, powerful, explosive, and spectacular finisher, plays way above the rim because of his athleticism, but can also finish well with either hand and has a soft touch, and he is a excellent contact finisher because of strength and body control ( meaning – can absorb contact, play through contact, and use his wide body and strength to initiate contact in the air, to force his defender to play off balance and clear space in the air to gain clean looks around the rim)
Shows the potential to develop into a reliable help side defender and weak side shot blocker, and shows the effort and willingness needed to thrive in team defensive schemes
Will weight management be an issue?
Hasn’t shown much, in terms of using crafty and dynamic face-up triple threat footwork & technique
Face-up shooting, face-up triple threat footwork, and post scoring arsenal need improvement/refinement. Development of these skills will make him not overly dependent on his spectacular athleticism and prevent a predictable style of play
Actually shows solid use of a combination of post skills, post footwork, power, elite elevation, and strength needed to win positioning that creates scoring opportunities in the paint/low post. Really knows how to use his wide body and strength to gain and create an advantage in the lost post area. But his post scoring arsenal can improve to make him a more dynamic, efficient, and dominant post scoring threat. Dominate post scoring development relies on utilizing needed positioning and needed angles that consistently create an advantage against the defense
Has the potential to develop into a Russell Westbrook type of player at the power forward position. His strength, athleticism, length, and motor will help him play bigger than his height
What’s encouraging concerning Zion Williamson, is the fact that he is more athletic and more skilled than other former great players, who were similar sized players that had a lot of success playing the power forward position (example: Charles Barkley, Larry Johnson, Anthony Mason, and Clarence Weatherspoon)