Would you rather have prime Zo today on a 5/200 deal or Vlade 5/150?

[Kblaze8855]

I offer no additional context but this video...which shows some of their best work.



https://youtu.be/X5XFQiP83Cc


Zo blocked the absolute **** outta a dunk in there which some of you may remember seeing on Insidestuff as kids....

[HBK_Kliq_2]

Vlade was underrated on defense. I would say this is like asking would you rather have current Rudy Gobert on 5/200 deal or prime Marc Gasol on 5/150?

I take Vlade\Gasol, they are both very good defensively in their own right and give you better offense. Especially if i'm paying 50 million less.

[And1AllDay]

gimme zo on that super max

[Carbine]

Zo is a better player that Gobert. He was a great big man in the golden age of centers.

Neither have you floor spacing with the 3 ball.

I'll take Zo. For his era and for this one.

[Kblaze8855]

I would say this is like asking would you rather have current Rudy Gobert on 5/200 deal or prime Marc Gasol on 5/150?



Rudy makes Zo look like Dirk:




https://youtu.be/u-zevXoH5Tg




I don’t know what they do with Rudy in Zos place here but I suspect it doesn’t end in a series winning 18 footer:



https://youtu.be/oz94wwNXM2A

[red1]

both would be a great deal in the roody toody era

[Xiao Yao You]

Vlade never carried a bad team. Really good all around player. Mourning isn't the rebounder Gobert is and he'd have to guard in space

[Kblaze8855]

If Zo couldn’t guard in space vs the Clippers hed absolutely have punished the
inside for guarding him with a wing. All the brutally ugly hooks you can eat....4-5 midrange jumpers. Jazz win that series.

[Xiao Yao You]

If Zo couldn’t guard in space vs the Clippers hed absolutely have punished the
inside for guarding him with a wing. All the brutally ugly hooks you can eat....4-5 midrange jumpers. Jazz win that series.

Someone would have to pass him the ball first

[GOBB]

I like Vlade in today’s game. His passing ability is huge and I think he would add a 3 to his game much like Brook Lopez did. Which would be huge. Perhaps a poor mans Jokic. Hating using the word poor because I don’t think it fits. But he would be similar to Jokic as far as game.

[Kblaze8855]

Someone would have to pass him the ball first


Considering how willing they are to pass to Rudy who does (almost)literally nothing with it but dunk I’d imagine a quick drive or knocked down jumper would be refreshing. Maybe enough for a coach t build it into a game plan...and if not...enough to see the mismatch when it appears. It isn’t an offensive mismatch to guard Rudy with a wing. He’s not gonna be able to do anything about it anyway. Just out jump him for lobs.

He isnt shooting 65% because he’s good at scoring. He shoots it for the same reason DJ and Chandler shot 70%. Being too limited to do something that requires risk.

[Carbine]

Watching Vlade and Magic on the same team together was fun when I rewatched the entire 91 finals.

We can't just assume he adds a three point shot to his game. I might as well assume Mourning becomes Were Ibaka for shooting purposes if we're going to go that route.

[Xiao Yao You]

Considering how willing they are to pass to Rudy who does (almost)literally nothing with it but dunk I’d imagine a quick drive or knocked down jumper would be refreshing. Maybe enough for a coach t build it into a game plan...and if not...enough to see the mismatch when it appears. It isn’t an offensive mismatch to guard Rudy with a wing. He’s not gonna be able to do anything about it anyway. Just out jump him for lobs.

He isnt shooting 65% because he’s good at scoring. He shoots it for the same reason DJ and Chandler shot 70%. Being too limited to do something that requires risk.

Conley and Ingles are willing to pass to Rudy but he was hurt. Mitchell and Clarkson dominate the ball and they aren't giving it up. Now you've got Snyder making adjustments. If he'd done that they'd still be playing

[L.Kizzle]

Gimmie Zo. Vlade doesn't turn into Joker in this day and age.
Zo vs Brad Daughtry would be a good one on this era.

[Xiao Yao You]

Gimmie Zo. Vlade doesn't turn into Joker in this day and age.
Zo vs Brad Daughtry would be a good one on this era.

Could Daugherty extend to 3? Pretty much the same as Vlade as far as that goes. Mourning could certainly be a factor because he could protect the rim

[HylianNightmare]

Zooooo

[Kblaze8855]

Watching Vlade and Magic on the same team together was fun when I rewatched the entire 91 finals.

We can't just assume he adds a three point shot to his game. I might as well assume Mourning becomes Were Ibaka for shooting purposes if we're going to go that route.


Vlade took enough to assume he’d take more now I’d say. He made enough that it wasn’t a shock when he did. He took 70 something one year. If he took one a game 25 years ago 2-3 now and getting more comfortable now isn’t too much to assume.

[Xiao Yao You]

Vlade took enough to assume he’d take more now I’d say. He made enough that it wasn’t a shock when he did. He took 70 something one year. If he took one a game 25 years ago 2-3 now and getting more comfortable now isn’t too much to assume.

didn't shoot it well though

[Kblaze8855]

Conley and Ingles are willing to pass to Rudy but he was hurt. Mitchell and Clarkson dominate the ball and they aren't giving it up. Now you've got Snyder making adjustments. If he'd done that they'd still be playing

The only non adjustment being called out both by fans and nba people is not removing the DPOY for defensive reasons. That’s the adjustment. Not letting Rudy play. I told you a couple years ago I’d seen too many times he had to sit for defensive reasons and it just didn’t sit right with me talking him up as some elite player when that happens. When it’s someone who has the other side to lean on? Ok. A guy who is there for defense needing to be totally out of games for defensive reasons just....eh. I’m genuinely not sure I’d want him at this point. Not as a guy I had to depend on.

More as a Chandler type I’d play depending on the matchup. As my main guy?

If I gotta pay a defender like he had to be paid I need one who never has to come out for his defense. He did crazy damage to his rep and it’s gonna take some time to fix.

If they win 74 games next year I don’t think he’d get the love even from those who had come around. It was ugly. He did lasting damage to his legacy. He pretty much handed the team to Mitchell in the eyes of everyone who had not already decided it. They win next year? He’s probably considered the sidekick. Maybe he won’t care though. He shouldn’t. That’s all fan talk.

[Kblaze8855]

didn't shoot it well though


Who does on like 50 attempts a year?

Im talking baseline skill. Vlade was a guy who could shoot. It wouldn’t be something to learn. It would be something to do from a different place.

[Xiao Yao You]

The only non adjustment being called out both by fans and nba people is not removing the DPOY for defensive reasons. That’s the adjustment. Not letting Rudy play. I told you a couple years ago I’d seen too many times he had to sit for defensive reasons and it just didn’t sit right with me talking him up as some elite player when that happens. When it’s someone who has the other side to lean on? Ok. A guy who is there for defense needing to be totally out of games for defensive reasons just....eh. I’m genuinely not sure I’d want him at this point. Not as a guy I had to depend on.

More as a Chandler type I’d play depending on the matchup. As my main guy?

If I gotta pay a defender like he had to be paid I need one who never has to come out for his defense. He did crazy damage to his rep and it’s gonna take some time to fix.

If they win 74 games next year I don’t think he’d get the love even from those who had come around. It was ugly. He did lasting damage to his legacy. He pretty much handed the team to Mitchell in the eyes of everyone who had not already decided it. They win next year? He’s probably considered the sidekick. Maybe he won’t care though. He shouldn’t. That’s all fan talk.

He doesn't need to be out of games for defensive reasons. Mitchell might need to come out for not guarding anyone nor passing the ball. Gobert doesn't care about being a sidekick. If he did he wouldn't be happy about being a footnote to lesser players now

[Bronbron23]

I offer no additional context but this video...which shows some of their best work.



https://youtu.be/X5XFQiP83Cc


Zo blocked the absolute **** outta a dunk in there which some of you may remember seeing on Insidestuff as kids....

I feel vlade game is better suited for this era. He was more finesse and he flopped a shit ton. He'd fit right in

[Kblaze8855]

You can win a shootout. You can’t win when the other team scores and your team can’t. That’s why Donovan will never be pulled. Rudy as an old school defensive wing can ruin your D in a league that makes you defend the 3 at all 5 spots....when he’s also a traffic cone on offense there to be in the way and get a few lobs dropped off there’s no reason for him to play.

This league can flat out make Gobert, Mutombo, and guys like that have to come off the floor in some matchups. If they get threes rained on you and can’t make them pay on offense you might as well have one of us out there.

They were talking about finding ways for him not to be exploited a year or two ago. Obviously it hasn’t been figured out yet. In the 90s bad defensive guards fed their man to the great shot blocker. Now they just stick a shooter out there so Rudy either leaves him open or can’t cover for guards. He loses his defensive value.

Lots of defensive bigs played with bad defending guards. Zo used to argue they made him DPOY giving him so many layups to block. But now....they make either decision by the big....wrong. Guard the paint and give up threes. Guard your man and give up layups.

Thats game over for the lumbering big. You become a liability. Guards been serving up attackers to bigs for generations. But now a big like Gobert kills you by giving up threes to do his job.

He just...can’t play in some settings. For defensive reasons. And for a defender...who is basically a screen machine on offense with no exploitable skill with the ball....you’re useless.

Donovan is never useless because worst case...he creates shots. Rudy couldn’t defend or create. That’s when you need to watch.

[Reggie43]

Zo easy off athleticism and defense alone. Sure he had predictable caveman moves on offense but he was still very impactful on that side of the floor and could post you up and demand double teams or hit the midrange J.

He also had a good enough looking shot to probably develop a three pointer if needed. I remember reading about him playing in exhibition games and hitting five threes with ease.

[GOBB]

Watching Vlade and Magic on the same team together was fun when I rewatched the entire 91 finals.

We can't just assume he adds a three point shot to his game. I might as well assume Mourning becomes Were Ibaka for shooting purposes if we're going to go that route.


That’s nonsense. Zo took 89 3’s his entire career. Vlade took 426. During a time where the 3 ball was not nearly shot as much by centers as it is today. So who are you to say that in today’s game Vlade Divac wouldn’t had worked on shooting the 3 better but took even more? In fact Brook Lopez played 8 seasons and went 3-31 or some shit. Had I said “Brook should add a 3 to his game and stretch the floor” would you have chimed in with what you just said? Possible so being the smartass. Guess what Brook did in year 9? 134-387 on 35% from 3. And since then has lived on the outside when he spent the previous 8 close to the rim. So yea we can’t say Brook would add a 3 to his game. Might as well say Zo would too. Smh

[ClipperRevival]

Vlade gets underrated because he was a high IQ player who had touch, could pass, shoot the ball and OG flopper. And he was a huge piece to those Kings teams in the early 2000's.

But this is Zo all day. Zo is legit one of the better bigs EVER. He gave you this in his first 9 seasons in a slow-paced era against other GOAT tier bigs:

21.1 PG, 10.01 RPG, 3.1 BPG, .526 FG%, 22.4 PER

He is legit one of the better rim protectors EVER and his O wasn't a complete liability either. Like most bigs back then, he had a reliable midrange J and basic post moves. And he could no doubt defend in space much better than the less mobile Vlade in today's game.

[ClipperRevival]

As for 3 pt shooting and just touch, I would say Vlade had better touch for sure over Zo though.