Is Zizic what you expected?

[Dchuck]

I know, it's only 2 games.  But is Zizic what you expected?  I had tempered expectations having not seen much of him outside a few YouTube highlights.  I will say, though, as tempered as they were, he is below what I expected. 

He is certainly raw!  He seems slow footed and not as nimble as I thought he would be. Running up and down the court seems laborious to him.  He has shown very little lift and seems to play below the rim.  Honestly, he reminds me (a little) of Perk.  Again he's young and raw, so hopefully he can improve.

[bellerephon]

I also was disappointed with Zizic. As always, we need to remember that Summer League doesn't mean much, but he does not look like he is anywhere close to being an NBA player. He looked slow, clumsy, and raw. Maybe he can develop, but what we have seen so far indicates he has a long way to go.

[coffee425]

could do better with positional defense.
and should make an early decision to never dribble the ball in his career. all hand-offs please.

if anything, he's less athletic than i thought, but the rebounding and the hands are what i expected.

[hpantazo]

He looks like a young Kendrick Perkins so far. Perk took 3 seasons to develop.

So far he is below what I expected, mainly because of his slow speed and apparent lack of energy. I kept reading about how active he was and how great his motor and competitiveness was. I have yet to see that in summer league.

[perks-a-beast]

Zizic sure does look slow out there..moving laterally he looks likes he's wearing a weight vest trudging through quicksand. This may just be a matter of getting in NBA shape. as expected, the effort and hustle was there which is good.

I know it's just two preseason games but I'm hoping Zizic isn't an unfortunate case of a good basketball player whose game just isn't equipt to play in the modern day NBA - no outside shot, inability to switch on defense.

With that said I'm hoping for better things for a guy that has been playing professionally since the age of 16 and is praised for his work ethic. But in all honesty he doesn't strike me as a Brad Stevens type big.

[rollie mass]

He looked quicker in Europe it could be the altitude.It is not at sea level and he is a big guy  i
I watched a lot of his tape the last year and he moved fine and he was known for his motor
If Zizic is that slow for real -send him back to Europe or to hoop house where Tatum and Semi
trained-
Out of the whole lot all i would keep is Semi and Nader.

[hodgy03038]

Everything else aside I think I have at least seen him dunk with authority more times in summer league than I have seen in Zeller's entire Boston career.

[Tr1boy]

He looked quicker in Europe it could be the altitude.It is not a sea level he is a big guy or i watched alot of his tape-and he was known for his motor
If Zizic is that slow for real -send him back to Europe or to hoop house where Tatum and Semi
trained-
Out of the whole lot all i would keep is Semi and Nader.

Bc most players in Europe sukk

Half of the SL players will be going over there and most of the time end up becoming the top players

[Tr1boy]

more excited about Yabu than Zizic

[PAOBoston]

He has tools to be a good rotation big. He needs development.

Don't forget he's only 20 years old and unlike the rest of the rookies, he just came off a full professional season in Europe. He's basically had no time off before SL. There might be a case of tiredness in there as well.

[kmart12]

Zizic sure does look slow out there..moving laterally he looks likes he's wearing a weight vest trudging through quicksand. This may just be a matter of getting in NBA shape. as expected, the effort and hustle was there which is good.

I know it's just two preseason games but I'm hoping Zizic isn't an unfortunate case of a good basketball player whose game just isn't equipt to play in the modern day NBA - no outside shot, inability to switch on defense.

With that said I'm hoping for better things for a guy that has been playing professionally since the age of 16 and is praised for his work ethic. But in all honesty he doesn't strike me as a Brad Stevens type big.

Exactly what I was thinking - TP.

My understanding of Zizic was based off of highlight videos, scouting reports, and the praise he receives here and I'm not seeing anything other than his size and strength. The game has changed and we're at a point where bigs either need to be exceptionally athletic (e.g., Davis; Jordan) or exceptionally skilled (e.g., Embiid; Gasol). From what I've seen of Zizic (even in his highlights), neither is the case and I was assuming that his potential was more defensively based. However, he doesn't look like he can guard a man one-on-one and he's been unimpressive on the boards.

[TheSundanceKid]

I expected him to be Shaquille O'Neal in his first few games tbh, perhaps evoking some of Wilt's dominance as well.

Completely underwhelmed so far, he looks like a 20 year old recruit from Europe adjusting to a new style of play. You wouldn't think we used the 23rd pick in the draft on him...

[ederson]

People here have unreasonable expectations. Zizic is NOT a solution to the the PF/C problems. He is a hard working close to the basket bruiser who could give 10 15 mins off the bench. That is all.

He looked quicker in Europe it could be the altitude.It is not a sea level he is a big  :)guy or i watched alot of his tape-and he was known for his motor
If Zizic is that slow for real -send him back to Europe or to hoop house where Tatum and Semi
trained-
Out of the whole lot all i would keep is Semi and Nader.

Bc most players in Europe sukk

Half of the SL players will be going over there and most of the time end up becoming the top players

You sure know european basketball........

Your excitement about yabu based on his chinese league stats is funny ....

[perks-a-beast]

I think his role will be to set get picks, roll to the basket, and antagonizng opposing bigs, making them work hard. He is very good at those 3 things.

We may have Zaza Pachulia 2.0 on our hands, which wouldn't be too shabby for a #23 pick. Again, the question is - can he be effective in the modern day NBA? Like Kmart12 put it, you have to be super athletic or super skilled to make a difference in today's game.

[dreamgreen]

He looks like an old school banger. He will be great against some teams and useless against others. Have to wait and see though, summer league is different and hard to evaluate players.