WASHINGTON -- Duke forward Zion Williamson added another dunk to his ever-growing highlight reel on Friday night, when he took a transition pass from point guard Tre Jones midway through the second half against Virginia Tech, caught the ball above the rim and finished with a two-handed slam.
The dunk drew comparisons to a similar Grant Hill dunk in the 1991 national championship game and was immediately shared and gawked at across social media.
And just like basketball fans around the country, the players in Michigan State's locker room have taken notice of Williamson's high-flying heroics.
"Being a basketball fan, you're going to see Zion highlights," Spartans forward Xavier Tillman said. "That's just the way it is, especially with the media nowadays, everybody blowing him up. I've definitely seen many, many clips of him."
Williamson stands as the biggest challenge between Michigan State and the Final Four as the Spartans and Blue Devils prepare for a Sunday Elite Eight matchup here at Capital One Arena (5:05 p.m., CBS).
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In his one year with the Blue Devils, Williamson has reached a cult-like status for his otherworldly athletic ability.
He stands 6-foot-7, 285 pounds but plays the open court like a guard -- cutting and running the fast break for open dunks. He averages 22.6 points per game while shooting 68.8 percent from the field, while hauling in a team-high 8.7 rebounds per game. That's put him as a leader to win college basketball national player of the year honors next month.
Asked if he's seen a player who compares to Williamson, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo had to go outside the sport of basketball to the sport he calls his favorite: football. He named Chicago Bears linebacker Khalil Mack as a comparable player.
"I could borrow somebody from the Bears, maybe we could cover him," Izzo joked. "He's an incredible athlete."
One of Williamson's most impressive numbers, though, for a player his size, is his 67 steals. That's one off the team lead held by Jones and nearly twice as many as any other Michigan State player.
Izzo said his uncommon quickness for a big man helps account for that.
"He's got the most incredible first step," Izzo said. "That's why he's getting all those steals. He can take one dribble and cover more space than most human beings that I know can do. And so then he has the strength to finish at the end. So he's not Superman, but he's damn close."
Tillman, who stands 6-foot-, 245 pounds and has shown the best lateral quickness of Spartans big men, stands out as the most logical matchup for Wililamson. But Izzo said defending a player of Williamson's category is about far more than an individual matchup.
After an injury scare with his left hand on Friday night in their Sweet 16 win over LSU, Spartans junior forward Nick Ward is expected to play against the Blue Devils. That will give the Spartans a veteran three-player rotation, including big man Kenny Goins, to take on Williamson.
"Me, X and Kenny, all the bigs really, are very excited to take on this challenge tomorrow, and we'll do our best to contain him," Ward said.
Williamson, for his part, said he's also been impressed with Michigan State's frontline after the group outrebounded a much larger LSU team on Friday.
"Their bigs are great," Williamson said. "They're very aggressive and physical and they have great motors. I'll just have to try my best and my teammates are going to have to try their best to contain that."
Those bigs will have a clear task on Sunday: prevent Williamson from adding more dunks to his highlight reel.
“It’s an impressive dunk, nonetheless,” Goins said. “Everybody’s going to be impressed with it. That’s just something that gets them motivated and kind of gets the crowd into it I think if we can limit the number of times he dunks.”
https://www.mlive.com/spartans/2019/03/michigan-state-is-ready-for-the-zion-williamson-show.html
2019-03-30 21:28:00Z
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