Ivica Zubac Discussion: Zu's Gonna Clip

Well I wasn't going to go there. But now that you mention it ....

 

how short of a "lease" on this guy gor this upcoming season? heard bryant did well for was in sl, didnt pay attention to was

 

I always laugh at this part of Rocky 3... although it is my favorite of the series. Apollo is clearly sandbagging... Carl Weathers actually played professional football.

 

That movie always frustrates me because I think Clubber Lang got a raw deal. Mr. T did a good job though.

 

I mean, Zu still has a lot of potential to develop. He's been behind Mozgov and Lopez his first two years, and when he did get some time his rookie year, he showed some promise.

He didn't do well last year coming into camp, but he should be more focused this year, especially with doing well playing internationally with Croatia.

Remember, Marc Gasol didn't even come into the league until 24, and he was more raw than Zu was at that age. Zu has the tools, he just needs to focus a little better and he could steal the starting spot because it's wide open at the moment. McGee and Wagner will challenge him for minutes if he doesn't.

 

A more athletic Zu (seems like from his recent tournament clips) ought to be able to more aggressively go to the basket and jam it, not like all the weak gimmies in that clip right above from last year. And he could easily hit 2 point Js if they present and once in awhile out to 3. We saw he had a good stroke as a rookie. All depends on what Luke and the FO want him to do or will let him do with all the other firepower on the floor.

 

He looks like he's 19 not 21 to me. I could grow that much peach fuzz in 8th grade. And I'm sorry but those are pea shooters not guns. The back of his hands are pressed up against the back of his biceps.The ol' junior high trick to make the girls think you had guns.

Ultimately it's about getting down the court fast in transition, rim protection, passing, going up for some lobs or gimmies. He was a good shot out to 16-18ft his first season. His rookie year, I thought he'd was promising especially his hands, he received passes well and made buckets. Reminded me of Pau a little as far as hands. His mid range and hi post scoring suffered a lot last year and he just looked almost Kwame stupid at times in the post.

It could have been mental, he comes in after a fairly promising rookie season and finds we've signed Lopez and Bogut and got his already limited minutes cut severely. That may have been a little short-sighted on our part.We weren't winning anything last year anyways. We should have (carefully) continued to develop him last season I think. 10 more minutes per game even if we had to slide Brook to stretch 4 to keep his scoring. I think a lot of us noticed a spark of life when Zu got more minutes in the last 8 games or so of last season. The coaches/FO may have noticed the way he regressed with less play and have decided to throw him into the fire and see what happens. Maybe we'll see 20-23 min from him. It kind of makes sense since we axed Bryant and picked up McGee who's good for 15-20 min at best and a rookie. That leaves a little slot for Mo the rook to get time and also time for some small ball center via LBJ/Beasley.

He's a 3rd year man now. The "bigs always struggle early" excuse is running out as most hit their stride 3-5 years in. Unless you're AD or KAT.

 

Hopefully he has worked on his vertical jump.

 

I’m hoping he’s stronger. He gets manhandled too easily for his size.

 

He works better with a pick in roll guard. His range doesn't extend out to 3-point range, but he can hit shots from '15-18' feet. And he needs set screens with authority (get contact), and roll hard, trying to dunk a player through the rim...

 

.... Look at the size of those "guns" now. Said no one? Sure hope he is busting his a** in the weight room and with his skills and conditioning.

 

Really just hoping that his core improved; not so easily pushed around as @sirronstuff noted, but on the contrary, gets physical himself. We just need 12-15 mins out of him. That's it.