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| Zion & RJ. Great teammates to each other and their Dukie teammates. Rare for highly ranked McD All-Americans and high NBA draft picks. (Photo credit: Grant Halverson/Getty Images) |
Yes, this take will be long, but it won’t be all Zion.
It will be stated and it is unanimous amongst the Insanity
Report Staff that Zion is the 2019 Outhet Player of the Year! (Insanity Report
Board Member, Terri McCarrell may have had LeGerald Vick as a write-in vote,
but overall it was unanimous) Zion deserved any and ALL credit that goes his
way for his play this season. What gets the attention and awe to all is his
freakish abilities while weighing an ungodly and non-chunky 285 lbs. His dunks
capture the imagination of millions of fans’ own nerf dunks, but he actually
does his own dunks with a regulation size ball and regulation 10-foot hoop…….with
a regulation non-springboard hardwood floor.
What we feel goes completely unnoticed about Zion is that he
may very well be a better defender then he is the complete offensive force he
is within the quote-unquote eye test but also on the stats.
Zion’s dunks are off solid steals he generates on D. He
covers for a lot of mistakes of the Duke team defense while at the same time
giving the rest of his 4 Duke teammates the confidence to take the chances on D
they do, knowing that Zion is under the hoop ready and capable of swatting the
ball not just 30 rows back, but while being what seems to be at an un-defendable
distance such as his highlight of the night block of DeAndre Hunter in the 2nd
Virginia game. This has led to Duke having an uncommonly high ranking
defensively all season being the 5th rated defense in the nation according
to the Kenpom.com ratings.
Mainly, Zion is the most hyped and famous NBA prospect since
LeBlame James and rightfully so. He is the modern version of Dominique Wilkins;
He is the “Human Viral Clip”!!! However he does this while having the hustle of
an enthusiastic team player and being an encouraging freshman.
Zion’s teammate, RJ Barrett was actually the #1 rated
recruit in college basketball in the pre-season, and RJ has shown to be the
bonafide #2 NBA Prospect behind Zion’s #1 status. RJ being the unanimous #2
projected pick in this spring’s NBA Draft is both obvious and non-news worthy
due to RJ’s own play the entire season.
What is not lauded by fans and media alike is how Zion AND
RJ are actually good teammates.
With them being the unanimous top 2 NBA picks in the 2019
NBA Draft, they display zero ill will or the common entitlement that is
stereotypical of top NBA prospects and top NBA stars. Both Zion and RJ are as
supportive and as much each other’s top fan allowing Coach
Krazy-helmet-hair-despite-being-70-ski to not have to worry of getting the
right amount of touches to appease the ego of a stereotypical top high school,
McDonald’s All-American.
With these two being supportive and having their team-first
demeanor, they have also influenced the other top talent in Cam Reddish and Tre
“Don’t Call Me Tyus” Jones (Both being the top rated Shooting Guard and Point
Guard recruits respectively) in not being egotistical cancers that could happen
with this collection of top “Fab Five” talent.
That’s the good part of Duke.
The flip side to this coin is that the many Duke highlights
throughout the whole season and commendable teamwork within this team have
allowed many weaknesses to go on the wayside.
Firstly, in an era of basketball where the 3-pt is key in
all playbooks, Duke shoots a very low 30.2% from behind the 3-pt line while still
shooting the average amount of 3-pt shots per game compared to the rest of the
nation. They shoot in the teens and twenty percentiles in many wins as they
have in losses, but this is a palpable weakness for Duke, especially when many
upsets are predicated by a team being hot from 3-pt land. Duke is unlikely to
get hot from 3-pt land. (Yet they defend the 3-pt shot well ranking 9th
in the country in this category)
Secondly, Duke is very turnover prone as they turn the ball
over in 17.7% of their possessions, which is average in the NCAA, but really
high compared to the other top ranked teams in the Madness. This may not affect
Duke early in the tournament, but a solid team they may play later in the
tournament may take advantage of these turnovers such as a possible matchup vs.
Virginia Tech or the highly anticipated Elite Eight match up vs. 2nd
seeded Michigan State (AKA Izzo).
Thirdly, Duke has 4 freshmen. As talented as all 4 are, they
are still rookies. A rookie lineup with a supporting cast of role players.
The question is: Can Duke win 6 games in a row to the title
without having a high turnover game or low 3-pt shooting game affecting them?
If one or many of their freshmen have an off night, then can a Javin DeLaurier,
Jack White or Alex O’Connell step up?
They are the overall #1 seed in The Madness for a reason,
and Zion is the type of player that can carry the Dukies while covering for
their mistakes. But, again, can he do it for 6 straight games?
We shall see how this pans out in the March Madness Insanity
Pool with the anticipated high amount of brackets choosing Duke to win it all.
Not a bad choice….or is it??
2019 ALL-ADOLPH AWARD WINNERS
2019 OUTHET PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Zion Williamson, Duke Blue
Devils
2019 ALL-ADOLPH 1st TEAM:
Brandon Clarke, Gonzaga Bulldogs
Rui Hachimura, Gonzaga Bulldogs
Coby White, North Carolina Tar Heels
DeAndre Hunter, Virginia Cavaliers
Cassius Winston, Michigan State Spartans
2019 ALL-ADOLPH 2ND TEAM
RJ Barrett, Duke Blue Devils
Kyle Guy, Virginia Cavaliers
Admiral Schofield, Tennessee Volunteers
Markus Howard, Marquette Golden Eagles
Zach Norvell, Gonzaga Bulldogs
2019 ALL-ADOLPH COACH OF THE YEAR: Kermit Davis, Ole Miss
Rebels
2019 ALL-ADOLPH ALL-COACH TEAM
Kelvin Sampson, Houston Cougars
Chris Mack, Louisville Cardinals
Nate Oats, Buffalo Bulls
Tom Izzo, Michigan State Spartans
Scott Drew, Baylor Bears
