You weren't alone. To be honest I'd never heard of Zubac and I felt like I was pretty well versed on the first 30 or so kids in the draft. Once he was selected and we started looking into him I thought he had some good tools, but I also felt like he was at least 2-3 years away from being a rotation player. One thing you can't measure on film is heart. The kid wants to be great and he's working hard for it. You've got to reward that type of energy. I believe the league will adjust to him soon, but this is an impressive first step for him. I'm eager to see him continue to develop.
I knew we had a gem in summer league when he not only didn't run from contact, but initiated it. When he gets some meat on him he's gonna be a bully.
He was actually pretty high on some draft boards around the 15-20 range if I remember when we drafted him. I just LOVED his enthusiasm for wanting to be drafted by the Lakers, it being his favorite team, and he already had a player model in mind, Marc, when he came in. The crazy part is Marc was just as raw and less fluid at 24 than Zu is at 19.
Has the audacity to tell teammates too that he isn't passing them the rock anymore if they don't make their shots.
The best part is that Zu has a higher chance of refining his game than most 5's in The League...just not the imposing physical presence at this stage of his development. How many centers out there even think of learning the skyhook? Just don't fall in love with the three.
Thing about Big Z is he's always looking to set a screen. He's said growing up he was told if you set a good hard screen, you'll get the ball. So he's established that and sets a good screen and rolls to the basket. Teammates like him so they are giving it to him. Soft hands, soft touch. Flat footed alot like Marc Gasol. I see alot of the similarities. Good thing we didn't sign a big 7 footer to clog minutes in front of him. oh wait..
As great as he's been we'd be fools to think the NBA won't catch up to him soon. Zubac is still half a step slow defensively in his reads most nights. He's a young kid who isn't used to this pace. Teams will find ways to make him less of a threat, that will happen. Having Mozgov gives Zubac all the space he needs to develop and also an insurance policy for off-nights where Zubac isn't playing his greatest. Besides, if they split the minutes at the position and Zubac gets more of it, then who cares if Mozgov starts?
Zu does lumber a bit also switching ends... His defensive reads will improve given more time and his teammates adjust to his tendencies. Whoever our trainer will have to earn his paycheck in building Zu's conditioning and strength.
I was honking him real early. To realdeal's annoyed disagreement. Then I cooled expectations a bit when seeing him in the few minutes he'd get in the Lakers games. Looked not quick enough on most things but figured he would start getting quicker with minutes.
Tim Difrancesco. He's a good trainer. I think what Zu will need to focus on is core strength and stamina. A man that size running NBA speeds is going to get tired. The longer he's on the floor, the more impact he'll have. Hopefully he meets again with Cap. I know Cap has other things on his mind these days, but he could do absolute wonders for Zubac just in terms of approach and preparation let alone actual offensive moves.
Other PF/Cs in the draft: 5th pick Dragan Bender: 3.1 points, 2.1 rebounds, 0.5 blocks in 12.6 min (37 games) 9th pick Jakob Poeltl: 2.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, 0.5 blocks in 10.2 min (25 games) 11th pick Domantas Sabonis: 6.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 0.4 blocks in 21.7 min (49 games) 13th pick Georgio Papagiannis: 1.0 point, 0 rebounds, 0 blocks in 4.5 min (2 games) 23rd pik Ante Zizic: not in NBA 28th pick Skal Labisierre: 3 points, 2 rebounds, 0 blocks in 7 min (6 games) 30th pick Damian Jones: 0 points, 0.5 rebounds, 0 blocks in 8 min (8 games) 31st pick Deyonta Davis: 2.0 points, 1.4 rebounds, 0.5 blocks in 7.4 min (24 games) 33rd pick Cheick Diallo: 4.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 0.3 blocks in 10.4 min (9 games) 37th pick Chinanu Onuaku: 3 points, 1.5 rebounds, 0 blocks in 5 min (2 games) 40th pick Diamond Stone: 2 points, 0.8 rebounds, 0.2 blocks in 4 min (5 games) 41st pick Stephen Zimmerman: 1.3 points, 1.8 rebounds, 0.1 blocks in 4 min (8 games) 46th pick AJ Hammons: 1.4 points, 1.2 rebounds, 0.4 blocks in 4.5 min (17 games) 52nd pick Joel Bolomboy: 0.9 points, 1.1 rebounds, 0.1 blocks in 2.2 min (9 games) 57th pick Wang Zhelin: not in NBA 32nd pick Ivica Zubac: 5.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.6 blocks in 12.9 min (16 games) Totals for Centers: Points- Zubac- 91 Poeltl: 52 Davis: 48 Rebounds- Poeltl: 67 Zubac: 62 Davis: 49 Blocks- Davis: 13 Zubac: 10 Poeltl: 8 Assists- Zubac: 9 Poeltl: 5 Plumlee (not drafted): 4 Minutes- Poeltl: 254 Zubac: 206 Davis: 178 edit: this list excludes Willy Hernangomez and Joel Embiid because they were not drafted last summer even though they are technically rookies.
With Zubac' ascension, I think the Lakers could now do something before the trade deadline using Clarkson and/or Randle and maybe throw one of the 2 bad contracts we have. Any chance something out there makes sense?
Kareem Abdul Zuubbar! Man, we are truly the best at drafting second round picks, that's why keeping our picks even in the second round is very important in building this team. You can tell once he gets stronger physically and stamina wise he'll be a double double machine. We should try a twin tower game with both ZU and Moz in the game till randle comes back just to see how our defense looks
I agree we should do something while we can. And yes, teams out there would love to have Jordan, Lou, or Nick. What they're willing to part with is the question.
He's really coming along nicely and it's been a welcoming surprise. He has the tools to be really good, some might say he's a long lost Gasol brother. More playing time and experience against good centers will do wonders for him.
