Zavier Simpson broke into the NBA tonight, and it looked awfully familiar.
Pursuant to the board thread from earlier, which reported Zavier Simpson signing a 10-day contract with OKC:
He made his debut tonight, scoring 10 points. And...
That’s fucking sooooo much fun to watch.
Can we please have him come back and teach that shot to Frankie?
I was impressed with Frankie's finishing skills for being a Freshman. Now, if Duncan Robinson could come back and help Frankie with his outside shot and free throws...
The entire team needs Duncan on those issues.
Whenever I daydream of being an NBA player, throwing paper into the trash or dirty clothes into the hamper, I’m daydreaming hook shots. Thanks, Zavier.
I think he is quick enough to get that shot whenever he wants it. Tough to defend a quick guy crossing the lane taking that shot six to eight feet from the basket.
It's like that feeling you get when you see a friend you grew up with after so many years, but they look so much thinner and more agile in the lane than you recall.
happens at the bowling alley ALL THE TIME
Is it the home whites? But I thought Livers looked much thinner in a Piston’s uniform recently.
Brett Farve can’t do that.
Nor can Brett Favre.
But can Vrett Fabre?
What about Bret Favre Jr (AKA Aaron Rodgers)?
When State Farm had the Raji commercial where they ripped on Rodgers, I would tell my son that they should have the super fan with the cheese head on come into the scene and call him Brett Favre.
Bret Favre could do it, but would only do it if he were paid in funds siphoned from welfare trusts.
That last one looked like a trick shot.
It's because he jumped off the wrong foot. Eli Brooks was incredible at that with regular layups, he routinely would keep guys off balance by going off his right for a right handed lay-up.
It screws with the timing for a block because you're expecting them to take two steps and they only take one. If you watch it again, he still has another step where he can jump off his left like you traditionally would.
Yup. Tons of training videos on that now. Never recall that being a thing when I played but there's a ton of deception just on layups now with the off foot and the euro step
I feel like Steve Nash started it. It wasn't a thing when I was a kid either.
That just broke my heart that you wrote...Eli Brooks as not being on the team anymore....too soon.
Kareem is smiling upon you, Zavier! By coincidence, today, April 5 [PDT] is the 38th anniversary of the date Kareem became the NBA all-time leading scorer (which he still is!). A lot of Kareem’s points were his famous “Sky Hooks”.
Wow impressive info.
His baby sky hook is a nice bit of branding, but his defense is what will keep him in the bigs.
It's branding, but beyond that he uses it effectively to shoot over bigger defenders. Smart player!
This is so cool
This is awesome. Good for Jeff! So fun to see that shot crafted even further.
This is also OKC tanking.
OKC is so bad they can't even tank right and won the game.
let the pistons lead the way...
Thanks Zavier! Pacers are now only one game from being the 4th worst team in the league. Keep OKC winning my good man. Pacers need those ping pong balls!
If Zavier keeps playing like that OKC will have to sit him the last couple games to keep this tanking on schedule. That box score was something. I follow the NBA a little bit more that the casual fan but there were not many names I recognized.
Stupid double post
the last one was ugly. . .but effective
so proud that he is making the most of the opportunity.
Simpson played 44 minutes, second most on the team. OKC overcame a huge deficit, outscoring Portland 31-12 in the 4th quarter to get the win.
He is still lightning quick! He also got 5 assists and 2 blocks. I love Zavier - but in my wildest dreams, I could never have predicted a multiple block day in an NBA game for him.
Yep. A few years ago it wasn't easy to predict an NBA game for him.
AND a left handed one!
If he shot from the left at Michigan, I don't recall it. Also, weren't most of his hook shots on drives down the right side of the paint? Now Capt. Hook is hookin' all over!
So we can legit call him a hooker?
He'll need to beef up before he plays in the middle of the front row in a 15s game, but why not
TJ Hooker would be proud.
Yes, but don’t tell Craig James.
If so, he better be careful, because Craig James . . .
Okay, so the hooker responses make sense after I teased it with "hookin'."
But, sere-yuss-lee, does anyone remember his shooting hook shots other than those drives down the right side of the lane?
He developed the left hand hook before his final year but didn't do it very often and it wasn't as accurate.
Persistence!! Exhibit A. So happy for the young man. Keep giving it to 'em Z!
Exhibit A. To Z!
He looks so tiny out there! But I'm happy for him, he looked just as comfortable on the NBA court as he ever did at Michigan. I hope he sticks!
That's great news. A few years ago I figured his outside game was way too limited to ever sniff the NBA.
Those were fun to watch! And congrats to Zavier on his NBA debut!
This is amazing. You can see the OKC bench knows what's coming on the first one.
The first guy off the bench is funny, shooting a couple of air hooks of his own in celebration.
I saw Chaundee playing for the Lakers G-League team in their playoffs last night. At least one of the Laker teams made the playoffs.