Davis didn't dunk like this. Davis didn't block shots like Zion does. Davis wasn't doing 360 dunks and busting out of his shoe.
Davis is an all world talent, but he wasn't creating the same "can't wait to see what he does tonight" feeling that Zion does.
No real disagreement. I think it's because AD has been less flamboyant but more efficient with his athleticism, and more team oriented in his play. ZW is like a kid on Christmas morning with his new favorite toy, running around showing it to everybody. But as everyone here knows, I've been wrong before.
He was really awful last night.
Actually, he did. Bilas made numerous comments about Duke's turnovers, inability to do much on offensive etc. You just had to be listening.
Bilas is usually relatively unbiased. But the fact he didn't even mention that Zion got away with steps on that breakaway dunk shows that it's institutionalized Zion bias.
Personally, I think that Zion's performance was incredible. Especially his first game back after an injury.
All of those dunks... some of the shots he hit -- it was a performance that deserved to be gushed over, no question.
I had a bigger problem with the slanted pre-game coverage than I did in-game -- the announcers were fairly balanced, especially when we made our push to claw all the way back.
Lebron is one of the best shooters you've ever seen? That statement right there calls into question the validity of your post. What has made Lebron great is that he is so athletic for his size and can handle the ball and pass like a point guard at his size.It's called "cultivating the market." It's more important that the fans believe he's fabulous than for him to actually be so. That's going to be very important next year when he plays more against grown men and not still-growing boys. And his style of play is pure physicality, and that's going to get him hurt (again): 82 games is a LOT more than 35. But that's not the only problem he's going to have. The NBA has become a orgy of 3 point shooters, and he's not a particularly good one. LeBron could always thunder dunk with the best, and still can, but what made him "Lebron!" is his scoring, and he's one of the best shooters I've ever seen.
I think they have to do it while they can. In past years (way in the past at this point) you knew you had another year or two to talk about a successful freshman as he progressed through his college career. You also had players that had been elite as young guys that they continued to follow as they matured. That balanced the coverage a bit. Now ESPN knows they cover this guy in college for, at most, three more games. Then CBS gets him for up to six. The window for college coverage is so small and they lost a chunk of it with the injury.Exactly how I saw it. He was THAT impressive during the game but the pre-game stuff was just entirely over the top.
I am so glad I got to see that game in person and didn’t have to listen to the broadcast!! ESPN’s shilling of Zion is over the top. However, he is good.The worst part of the broadcast to me was not so much Bilas' comments but the first 10 minutes. It was more like Zion against the world than Syracuse vs Duke.
Zion is a great player but I don't need to be told and shown that until I'm ready to vomit. He may as well have ESPN tattood on his forehead.
But to hear him openly GUSH, (you can interpret that multiple ways) on the telecast, MOANING with delight at Zion’s amazing play, it was completely unprofessional.
gotta go spider cam angle.I am so glad I got to see that game in person and didn’t have to listen to the broadcast!! ESPN’s shilling of Zion is over the top. However, he is good.
It was tough being on the losing end of Return of Zion night, but what can you do. He was the story.
We should be happy. If he wasn't back, we win by 20 without our best player.
If we can win our first round game we're going to give the non-ACC 1 or 2 seed one hell of a game.
He did cite their many turnovers several times as the reason the game was still close, but failed to mention SU was turning it over almost as much.Actually, he did. Bilas made numerous comments about Duke's turnovers, inability to do much on offensive etc. You just had to be listening.
He did cite their many turnovers several times as the reason the game was still close, but failed to mention SU was turning it over almost as much.
Yes. I heard that too but he added that Duke would have “scored a lot more”...which I thought was odd since he didn’t say that about Syracuse. Also failing to point out that Tyus handles the ball a lot to help us in pressure situations. And he was out. Wasn’t much of a storyline for ESPN though.Somebody made that very point being made in the second half -- that Duke had 17 turnovers, but we weren't taking advantage because we'd turned it over 15 times of our own. Thought Bilas was the one who made that point; maybe it was his co-announcer.
Your comment about Zion’s return being “the story” is spot on.
With as much college basketball as the denizens of this board watch, I’m surprised they don’t realize that the stories that these big game broadcasters intend to emphasize are pre-planned by the producers and the broadcasters. And they stay on the message or messages unless the game action makes them untrue or irrelevant.
How many times have you heard the SU zone explained along with the difficulty of opposing teams simulating it in practice. It has to be on the “don’t forget to say this” checklist for broadcasters.
It may annoy SU fans, but Duke and Zion attract thousands of viewers. They are expecting this emphasis from the announcers.
He had 1 more point than Frank. Get off his d!@k.The overall review on Bilas last night amazes me... why was he so one sided? Because he had a man crush on Zion?
Well, tbh, it was pretty hard not to. He was that much better than anyone on the court.
Outside of that, he spoke highly of multiple Syracuse players and made repeated mention of Battle being down.
And, it’s his alma mater. It doesn’t surprise me that he gets excited when they do something cool on the court, like dunk on our faces from all spots in around the world.
Sounds like a lot of crying about nothing to me.
And of course we've had no problem being "the story" when we were really really good. If we don't wanna constantly hear about other teams we need to get back to that level.Your comment about Zion’s return being “the story” is spot on.
With as much college basketball as the denizens of this board watch, I’m surprised they don’t realize that the stories that these big game broadcasters intend to emphasize are pre-planned by the producers and the broadcasters. And they stay on the message or messages unless the game action makes them untrue or irrelevant.
How many times have you heard the SU zone explained along with the difficulty of opposing teams simulating it in practice. It has to be on the “don’t forget to say this” checklist for broadcasters.
It may annoy SU fans, but Duke and Zion attract thousands of viewers. They are expecting this emphasis from the announcers.