### Zion Back?
**Has he figured it out?**
On Nov. 14, [we reviewed comments](https://theathletic.com/5062499/2023/11/14/victor-wembanyama-chet-holmgren-nba-zion-pelicans-the-bounce/) from [Zion Williamson](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/zion-williamson-l6xjgWmi8X4OMdjm/) about buying into what’s being asked of him. But it was tough. In our examination, we saw many of his numbers and usage across the board mirrored last season. The big difference? He wasn’t finishing like we’re accustomed.
Was it about usage? Maybe. Perhaps lacking explosiveness was the issue? That was my theory. In Zion’s last seven games, he’s been the player we remember.
* **First eight games:** 21.6 points per game, 6.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 2.9 turnovers, 51.5/0.0/61.4 shooting splits, 30.6 usage rate
* **Next seven games:** 26.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 2.3 turnovers, 62.4/66.7/68.4 shooting splits, 30.0 usage rate
In prior years, we’ve seen Zion finish better at the rim. **Over his last seven games, he’s shooting 73.3 percent in the restricted area** and 43.2 percent on paint shots beyond the restricted area. In the first eight games, those marks were 66.7 and 30 percent, respectively.
His overall shot volume and free-throw attempts remains mostly the same, but he’s much deadlier in the paint than previous stretches. Zion looks a lot more like his second-year self, whose scoring average and efficiency remain unmatched by any other second-year player ever. He’s not far off from last season’s All-Star production before he got hurt.
[New Orleans](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/pelicans/) went 6-1 amid Zion’s hot seven-game stretch. When Zion is cooking like years past, it’s difficult to handle the Pelicans’ entire attack.
by kingralek
2 Comments
Which 7 games does this refer to? We’ve been playing some worse defenses recently especially in the paint (Kings twice, Clippers, Embiid-less 76ers). I haven’t caught all of the games but he doesn’t seem to have changed much about his offense, it’s just crash the paint, get triple teamed and 50/50 he goes for a layup versus passes outside.
Just from watching he has looked better/more engaged on defense. I wonder if the stats back that up
I think the offense overall has found a much better flow. One thing from the meeting called by Nance was getting guys to share the ball more. This was both BI and Zion. It was also about energy and effort defensively. I feel the offense has flowed a lot better with the ball movement we have had. It has gotten Zion the ball in better positions when he attacks the rim and he has been able to get to the rim a lot more than what he was doing before. He is still extremely one dimensional offensively even though he has made 2 three pointers. With Trey coming back and us having shooters around him it won’t be an issue in the regular season, but I think he will regress his effectiveness in the playoffs when teams can game plan for him more.
Defensively he has given better effort, but he is still bad defensively. He is still needs to get more defensive rebounds.
In December he will probably put up great numbers mainly because our schedule is fairly soft. I hope we can get to Vegas for the in season tournament as I feel those games will have a playoff atmosphere and will give a better test to what this team will look like in the playoffs