After a loss to the Blazers on November 10, Zion Williamson found himself at the center of criticism. The reason ? His defence. Or rather, his lack of defence. The Pelicans star had often been overwhelmed, one-on-one, without much effort.
His rotations and his faulty communication in the last quarter were also pointed out, forcing the player to react after the meeting, to precisely defend himself (no pun intended) in the face of these observations.
“I think that when people watch the matches on television, they don’t know everything”replied the All-Star, for The Athletic. “My coaches tell me to do certain things, to defend like that. It’s not that I don’t defend, but I follow instructions. »
Zion Williamson has never been very concerned in defense since the beginning of his career, but to imagine that Willie Green and his staff wanted them to be so soft in this area, it was still unlikely… Even CJ McCollum agreed that his teammate needed to do more.
“That’s how you build character. It’s not supposed to be easy, it’s supposed to be hard. You have to go through criticisms and areas of turbulence. Now it’s time to answer. »
“When he goes up a notch in defense, we become a much better team”
The answer came in the last few days. Brandon Ingram has been absent for four games, and to compensate, Zion Williamson is brilliant offensively, as we know, but also in defense. He averaged 2 steals and 1.8 against in his team’s four consecutive wins.
“It gives us energy, it allows us to run, to play in transition”, CJ McCollum analysis. “When he goes up a notch in defense, we become a much better team. That’s what great players do. He shows that he is complete, he dominates with his power and not just by scoring. »
In addition to the statistical impact with stolen balls and repelled shots, we saw the former Duke resist in one-on-one against a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or a Pascal Siakam. A much sharper attitude than that displayed against the Blazers a few weeks ago.
What logically receive the compliments of his teammates.
“I told him that he was making extra efforts in defense,” says the former Portland fullback. “He told me that he noticed that he needed to improve in that area, that what he was achieving in attack, he was not doing in defence. He didn’t move enough, didn’t try to block shots, save balloons. Now he is much more involved. »
| Zion Williamson | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2019-20 | NOP | 24 | 28 | 58.3 | 42.9 | 64.0 | 2.7 | 3.6 | 6.3 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 0.4 | 22.5 |
| 2020-21 | NOP | 61 | 33 | 61.1 | 29.4 | 69.8 | 2.7 | 4.5 | 7.2 | 3.7 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 2.7 | 0.6 | 27.0 |
| 2022-23 | NOP | 18 | 32 | 59.1 | 27.3 | 72.7 | 2.1 | 4.9 | 7.1 | 4.3 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 0.6 | 23.6 |
| Total | 103 | 32 | 60.2 | 32.2 | 69.0 | 2.6 | 4.4 | 7.0 | 3.4 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 2.7 | 0.6 | 25.4 | |
