Williamson Delivers Strong Opening Impression In Duke’s Blowout Over Kentucky
All eyes were on freshman phenom Zion Williamson on Tuesday night as he took the floor for the very first time at the collegiate level as No. 4 Duke began its regular-season with No. 2 Kentucky.
Under the bright lights, Williamson showed off just about all of the athletic ability, god-given talent and intangibles that people have raved about since his high-school days.
Zion Williamson finished the game with 28 points, seven rebounds and a block in the Duke Blue Devils 118-84 annihilation of the Kentucky Wildcats on Tuesday night.
His first basket of the game would be a 3-pointer on the left wing. A few minutes later, he would take off for a dunk on in transition as he put down a two-handed flush to extend Duke’s lead to 19.
He picked up two fouls in the first half but would play much of the half as coach Mike Krzyzewski showed confidence in his freshman in avoid a third foul in the half.
In the second half, he put on a dunking clinic against the Wildcats with a putback slam and a right handed slam proving to be the highlights as he made 11-of-13 shots from the field.
This boy Zion is not fair y’all pic.twitter.com/QPMXZWf13v
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) November 7, 2018
A YouTube sensation for his amazing dunks before and during games while in High-School at Spartanburg Day School in South Carolina, Williamson is one of the most exciting prospects the NBA has seen in quite sometime.
There’s no exaggeration in saying that the 18-year-old NBA prospect was a big a deal before even stepping foot on the court Tuesday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indiana.
He’s polished with his left hand, can put the ball on the floor from the top of the key and shows confidence in shooting the ball from downtown.
While he’s particularly undersized for the four spot at six-foot-six, his incredible leaping ability to go along with his high motor and relentlessness on the boards is something that can make up for that.
What’s scary if you’re looking at the Duke Blue Devils is that fellow freshman forward RJ Barrett may have looked even more impressive than Williamson.
Barrett scored 20 of his game-high 33 points in just the first half and he made it look easy, scoring at the basket and from downtown as no one could come close to slowing him down.
With that duo likely being a formidable one to go along with the rest of the talent that exists on the team. The question becomes, how do you go about guarding this talented basketball team?
This is going to be a fun season in the world of college basketball and Zion Williamson is surely to be the face of it for the 2018-19 season.
Is Zion Williamson worth the hype? Leave your comments below!