Zavier Simpson - Workout Video
I happened upon this video a week or so ago, and I thought it'd be good for a board discussion. Zavier Simpson seems to be quite a bit more fluid and comfortable with his jump shot. He's shooting it easily, and well, off the dribble. The release on his shot is quicker, as well.
Also, the craftiness of his drive game is on full display, and quite impressive. His hard work will bode well for him and the team this season.
Thought he was going to give Richard Simmons some competition when I saw the title...but I liked this a lot better.
Thank you for that visual!
What? NO leotards?!?!
That hook shot is money
Killing those sky hookers.
Allegedly
ZSK5SH?
If he is named a captain this year (do they have those in basketball?) his nickname needs to become Captain Hook.
Less aimy and more shooty. Looks good.
Xavier is a winner. I love his competitive nature.
Confidence is usually a good thing. That is not a "jump shot". At least he is trying to learn to go left.
He's above turning left (sorry nascar fans) /s
The hook shot really is an efficient means for him to score, if he can even keep you honest with his outside/mid-range jumper I don't see why he can't compete for top PG in the league. And that includes Winston at MSU.
I agree. I'll take Zavier as my point guard on my team vs any Big Ten team.
Eh... I’d take Cassius. Swap Cassius for Xavier and Michigan wins the BIG last year and makes it to the Elite 8 at least
Seems to me that Texas Tech shut down the Winston led Spartans quite similarly to how they shut down the Simpson led Wolverines. It was Michigan's misfortune to get Texas Tech in the Sweet 16, and I surmise that if Sparty had matched up versus Texas Tech at any point before the Final Four, they would have met a similar demise. So much for that theory.
As far as winning the Big Ten last year, I'd say McQuaid and his 7 three pointers in the title game had more to do with Sparty's win than having Winston. Oh yeah, that 30-7 free throw disparity didn't help in that loss to Sparty in the regular season finale, either. But, you can have Winston. I'd say the matchup is a draw, at best, for Winston. He's better offensively. Simpson is far superior defensively. Winston has been to the Final Four, Simpson has been in the Title Game. Winston, an over-dribbling, high turnover point guard would not have helped us more last year.
They are the top two. Cassius is more talented. Just something about Zavier.
Love X
Lefty hook? Awwww shit, look out.
If he shoots like that in season, we're in business! Despite that they were in a gym titled 'Home of the Spartans', he looked pretty damn good!
His high school gym. Colors are TOSU's and they are the Spartans. Double whammy!
Yuck! Combining those colors and that name is an awful thing to do to kids!!
Sam W was floating the idea that X and DDJ are a starting backcourt possibility. I think too this will the likely outcome.
Brooks will start. He’s a better option as a 2 alongside Z
If he can shake the yips.
Is he, though? Brooks can defend, and seemed to be getting more comfortable offensively late in the year. But DDJ also showed some defense (drawing a charge on Winston) and seemed to be getting comfortable late, also. Tournament time benched DDJ because freshman. Personally, I think DDJ has more upside. But experience (slightly) favors Brooks...
Seems like a good battle to watch early.
Nice to see him use his left hand around the basket. If that becomes a weapon it would really open up his overall game.
Still the heart and soul of this team. Easy to overlook until you see him willing his team to win. Michigan will never be out of a game with X on the floor. It was true last season and it will be true next season.
No 3 pt hook shot? Aww.
I just hope he's shooting free throws for an hour every day.
Zavier's FTs weren't really an issue last year. He got off to a bit of a rough start, but he shot 75% in conference games.
75% for a point guard is not good, are you saying he shouldn’t try to improve on that? I don’t remember the exact numbers, but he only averaged like 2 free throws a game. That is really bad for a ball dominant guard. That means he’s afraid to draw contact, which in turn means he’s afraid to go to the line. If he wants to take the next step in his game, that has to change. The hook shot was a nice novelty for a few games, but as the season went on it was not a very successful weapon and he was clearly doing it to hide his free throw shooting flaw.
75 % is fine. This is a dumb argument.
Seems like a fitting thread to drop this in if it hasn't been posted yet. Adrien Nunez and Isaiah Livers at the Moneyball Pro-Am.
Nunez looks likes Camp Sanderson is working for him. It would be a huge lift to the team if he can become a contributor.
I saw him around town recently. He's definitely bulked up.
It looks like he’s shooting more off to the side than directly in front of his face, not losing sight of the rim. I noticed it in that mini clip from the first practice. It puts a smile on my face that they have the guys at that camp work on the “old school” style of dribbling. The style Isiah always loves to talk about how he learned to dribble. “Keep it in the box”.
His shot looks much better mechanically. Elbow is in, etc. If he can can shoot from the outside, it will open the offense up considerably both for him and his team. Opposing defenses won't be able to play off of him.
Looks like he finally raised his release, but the elbow is still flared way out so I can't imagine it'll be too much more reliable :(. Looks nicer though.
I am a fan of Simpson. Just love his work ethic and what I think he is missing and may have found is confidence in himself offensively. The belief he can score.
He has clearly improved but he is a quality pg for the right system. You don't have to score like senior Walton or player of the year Trey Burke. You can skin a cat a bunch of different ways.
That being said, if you go the Simpson style pg route then it's up to the coach to surround him with plenty of scorers. If this team has a low post presence who can put up 10-12 pts a game and also step out for a 15 footer plus a PF who can also score inside and out and average 12-15 pts per game plus a SF and 2G who can combine to average 25 pts per game then you have yourself a decent offense.
That would require Simpson to average 10 pts per game plus bench pts of 12-15 and there you go. That's a winning combination with a good defensive team. Simpson is the least of the problems with this team going forward. The focus should be on the low post guys, the bench and SG & PF.
Dang! I thought this was to followed by the Kate Upton workout video.
Came for the refined jumper, stayed for the hook.
You obviously have to take these videos with a grain of salt, but if Simpson can get his 3PT% into that 33-35% range and he can actually develop a somewhat decent midrange shot (which seems doubtful) he could be come a very dangerous player, especially in the pain area. Having a hook shot, midrange jumper, and being able to finish at the rim would make him very dangerous
his jumper is looking more natural. That left hook would be killer in his arsenal
I watch the hook shot compilation video all the time
Curious if anyone had actually broken down the shot percentage on his running hooks - off gut feel from watching the whole season my guess is he was pushing 75%, but if anyone has the actual tally Id be really interested