Good minutes for Zu to night. He was very active in the first quarter with some nice blocks.Hope he gets some more minutes with the starters.
He started off brilliantly, but seemed lost in the 2nd half. Okafor sort of figured him out and it flustered Zubac who then was missing play calls and not filling the role like he should have. All-in-all it was a great experience for him. For all Okafor's faults, he's a talented big man in the post and he showed Zubac a lot. More minutes will help Zubac get more comfortable out there and he'll be able to stay aggressive longer.
Those four blocks in the first four minutes of the first quarter were incredible. Yeah, Zu came back down to earth in the second half but he played a heck of a first half. Encouraging!
He is an incredible shot blocker and has a great touch around the rim. He just sucks at rebounding. If he can start putting a body on people and skying for rebounds, watch out.
I think he's just too focused on trying to protect the paint that he sometimes forgets to rebound. Especially how much penetration this team gives up and how many times he needs to rotate over to help.
I've noticed Randle has stopped (never really ever started I guess) boxing out. Very few players on our team have consistent attention to detail like that. Even Nance Jr. doesn't box out every play.
He's at about 10 boards per 36. That's not awful. I bet it's about average for a 7 footer. I'd crunch the numbers, but I'm in a car in Texas.
I don't think Zu is a bad rebounder. I think he's trying to defend the pick and roll, play offense, rebound and sets high picks which take him out of rebounding opportunities on offense.
I don't think Randle really does box out. Julius is the type of rebounder that chases down balls instead of boxing out, which allows him to break out quickly, but also leaves his man open for the offensive board. The problem with Nance from what I've noticed is that he's being used as the small ball 5 next to Randle. If Nance is the one to protect the paint and Julius is not boxing out or helping on defense either, it doesn't work.
I don't think it's a specific Julius problem, although he is definitely guilty. Our guys just routinely do not find bodies. They watch the ball going up, but don't go to the nearest defender to make sure they get the ball. Tarik is probably the one who does it most, but he still gets caught ball watching too.
yeah, i was watching okc recently and noted how steven adams is always putting a body on someone when the ball goes up. he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, nor does he have quick feet, but you don't need those things to just put your body on the nearest offensive player.
