"Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound!"
Six games in, Zion Williamson is the most dominant rookie I have ever seen.
He bullies the NBA veterans that get paid to bully other NBA veterans. He treats his own missed shots like a go-to move. He owns the paint, crashes the glass, and literally leaves the rim rattled like a prime 7'1, 325-lb Shaquille O'Neal.
Williamson is every calorie of 285 pounds, and despite what many media members would have you to believe, that nearly 300-pound frame is his greatest asset, as it combines with a 45-inch vertical to turn Williamson from a 19-year-old rookie to an on-court superhero.
Faster Than a Speeding Bullet
Standing at just 6'6 while operating primarily at the 4 or 5, Williamson is going to have a taller defender on him most of the time. However his wide frame and freakish athleticism makes it n̶e̶a̶r̶l̶y̶ impossible for a bigger, slower defender to stay in front of him.
Prime example, Jonas Valanciunas, a 7'0 big man with a 7'6 wingspan who ranks second on the Grizzlies in defensive win shares.
A veteran-like swipe through paired with a guard-like first step allows Zion to blow by the Grizzlies highest-rated defensive big man like drill work.
There should be no shame in Valanciunas for becoming a cone against Williamson; Williamson is simply unstoppable at the 5 in Alvin Gentry's spaced-out offense. According to Cleaning the Glass, the Pelicans are the best team in the entire NBA when Zion is playing at the center spot.
In case you didn't click the hyperlink here's one glaring per 100 possession bullet point to scream at Alvin Gentry until he gives Williamson more run at the 5:
1.) The Pelicans outscore their opponent by 40 points.
"We could be beating them by 40 if you played Zion at center!"
Feel free to add some sentence enhancers throughout so he gets the message.
As much as I love Jaxson Hayes, and I really love Jaxson Hayes, unless Williamson or Hayes unexpectedly turns into a legitimate threat from deep, the future of the Pelicans is Zion roaming around the paint at the 5 while four shooters space the floor.
Such lineups allow Zion to operate out of the low post with all the space a scorer could dream of. With shooters positioned around the perimeter, the Grizzlies are forced to not double team, allowing Zion to toy with Valanciunas with a jab step to the baseline followed by an explosion to the rim.
It's worth noting that even though the Grizzlies chose not to double Williamson, look at how wide open Josh Hart is in the corner and Nicolò Melli is at the top of the key thanks to the attention being drawn by a rookie in his fifth game. Minimal offense is necessary when you have an unstoppable force down low.
More Powerful than a Locomotive
Remember that sentence that went like, "He bullies the NBA veterans that get paid to bully other NBA veterans"? Yeah, I typed that after watching this play against P.J. Tucker.
As someone who is 5'11 and routinely guarded my 6'4 friend in his driveway throughout high school, I immediately recognized the hopelessness P.J. Tucker felt in the above moment. No matter what you do or how hard you try, if a talented big man wants to score on someone smaller, he's going to score, get fouled, or both.
Tucker fronts the post, tips the pass and hustles back into the play, only to give up an easy layup like he was never even relevant in Zion's path to the rim. There's nothing more Tucker or 16-year-old me could have done, and that's the sad reality he, I, and the rest of the NBA have to come to terms with.
Zion could easily use his Hall of Fame bruiser badge all game to bully opponents, however, he doesn't rely solely on brute force against smaller defenders, and that makes his game even more difficult to gameplan for and equally effective in regulating his fatigue.
P.J. Tucker is braced for impact and lunging forward while Zion is already halfway to the rim after facing up and utilizing his athletic first step. Zion's ability to switch from strength to finesse makes it difficult for smaller defenders to even physically position their body for the ball entering the post.
This will lead to a lot of hopeless smaller defenders choosing to take their chances going for a highly inefficient post steal rather than accepting their fate in the post.
Honestly, going for the early steal isn't the worst bet to take, considering that, with a 61.5 field goal percentage, Williamson is the most sure bucket in the NBA of players attempting at least 10 shots a night. The only other player above 60% is a 7'0 Hassan Whiteside.
Able to Leap Tall Buildings at a Single Bound
Every great NBA player has a go-to move that opposing defenses can only hope to contain.
For James Harden and Luka Dončic, it's a patented stepback. For Kevin Durant, it's a leaping hesitation into a crossover into a pull-up jump shot. For LeBron James, it's a crossover in one direction into a spin into the other direction. The list goes on.
However, some players are either so athletically or physically gifted that they don't rely on one skilled move; instead, they can depend on an attribute to carry their game when needed.
For Russell Westbrook and De'Aaron Fox, it's an unmatchable speed. For Giannis Antetokounmpo, it's the length of a Greek god. For Zion Williamson, it's a combination of size, speed, strength and second jump ability.
According to ESPN, heading into Sunday's game against the Houston Rockets, 79.7% of Williamson's shots either turn into two points or get rebounded by Williamson. Those previously mentioned 60% odds of Williamson scoring down low are actually 20% worse for defenders because Zion has an ability only before seen in video games--he can double jump.
It's impossible for bigger defenders to jump with Zion a second time after going arms straight up into a collision. From a physics standpoint, it's probably impossible for someone pushing 300 pounds to be able to jump again that suddenly too, but superheroes defy physics and I am a Journalism major, so we'll change the subject.
Only smaller defenders can jump with Williamson a second time and due to the limitations of their mortal bodies, they are likely pushed out of the play on Zion's initial attack.
A Trusty Sidekick
Most would read the word sidekick in a Zion Williamson article and assume words about Brandon Ingram would be next. Don't assume things because you make a-blah blah blah. Just don't assume things.
No disrespect to Chris Paul and Tyson Chandler, but Lonzo Ball to Zion Williams is the new Crescent City Connection. Any real fan of New Orleans basketball knows how great of a connection Paul to Chandler was, so they understand the severity of that sentence.
For those who missed the Paul-Chandler days, here's a great 280p video that doesn't do the duo justice:
Through just six games, Ball and Williamson have already displayed the chemistry of a veteran duo. The perceived chemistry is a testament to the offensive IQ of the two young players, as Ball is making the same passes he has all season, but instead of becoming bobbled passes or unforced turnovers, Ball's passes are turning into the top of SportsCenter.
Fifth in pace, the Pelicans thrive off quick possessions, and Ball's passing ability and court vision paired with Williamson's athleticism and immovable frame is a match made in heaven for fast play.
Think back to Ball's senior year of high school. Ball was able to launch fullcourt passes to his brother LiAngelo Ball thanks to LiAngelo's physical advantage over high school defenders. With the return of Zion Williamson, Lonzo Ball is able to play Chino Hills-style basketball thanks to Williamson's physical advantage over grown men.
Thanks to Ball's rebounding ability and his trust in Zion, Williamson is able to leak out down the court and get a 1-on-1 post up right in front of the rim with whichever unlucky defender hustled down court fast enough.
Throughout my week of watching the Pelicans, Ball was the only Pelican that seemed committed to or capable of rewarding the efforts of Williamson, and Zion ran down the court like he knew it.
Kryptonite
Even Superman, a hero capable of reversing Earth's orbit to turn back time, has a weakness.
Despite being slightly more dominant than Superman, Williamson has his fair share of weaknesses as well.
First, there's the free throw situation. A player who will make their living under the basket like Zion has to shoot better than 48% from the line or else they'll risk losing touches in the crunch like dominant scorers of the past. However, as a 19-year-old rookie, free throws seem like an easy fix over a healthy offseason.
The real kryptonite of Williamson through six games has been his lack of defense. Granted, numbers suggest his defensive presence is bringing a boost to the Pelicans, but I haven't been seeing it.
Likely due to the combination of fatigue and being a rookie, Williamson allows a lot way more easy shots than expected. For example, compare Williamson's viral closeout bock against Virginia to this lazy closeout against the Grizzlies.
Again, history and numbers suggest this kryptonite to be temporary, but if there is an Achilles' heel on Zion at the moment, it's on the defensive end.
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