Blazers: Zach Collins not dominating Summer League as expected

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LAS VEAGS, NV – JULY 8: Zach Collins #33 of the Portland Trail Blazers goes to the basket against the Atlanta Hawks during the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League on July 8, 2018 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Offense

Shooting

Zach Collins played primarily alongside Ed Davis in the reserve unit last season. He therefore didn’t spend much time in the paint to avoid crowding his teammate.

Collins had to develop his midrange and three-point shooting prior to his NBA debut to fill the outside role. He did well, shooting 39.8% from the field and 31% from the perimeter in 2017-2018.

Looking purely at the stats, his two Summer League games didn’t display any signs of improvement. Against the Utah Jazz, he shot 2/12 and scored 5 points. The following day, he only attempted 5 shots, 3 of which he made.

However, Collins consistently put himself in positions to knock down jumpers. The uncontested looks didn’t fall, but that won’t always be the case.

Collins will be doing a lot of this with Dame and CJ. Hopefully once the mask is off those midrange jumpers start falling pic.twitter.com/VLfWVIc64V
— Nate Mann (@nate_mann13) July 10, 2018

Plus, he’s wearing a mask after Caleb Swanigan broke his nose before Summer League began. The new experience of playing with a mask on likely affected Collins’ shooting to some extent.

Post moves

Despite the team’s focus on shooting more three-pointers, Collins will adopt an interior role next season in the absence of Davis. He played center in the two Summer League games, therefore giving him more run in the post and under the basket.

In his exit interview, Collins mentioned his plan to bulk up this summer. After watching him fail to back down opponents the past few days, the need for this becomes more evident at the center position.

Collins said he planned on bulking up this summer, and we see why in this video. He gets pushed aside by Haas and forced into a bad shot on the drive pic.twitter.com/va2HOH669x
— Nate Mann (@nate_mann13) July 10, 2018

Until then, the big man will rely on his post moves to create open looks. These also have a ways to go before the Blazers look to find scoring out of Collins in the post. Here’s one example of his inexperience shown in backdown.

Zach Collins bulked up this summer, but still has some post moves to work on. He dribbles the ball off his knee on the first attempt, then misses a layup despite the smaller defender and good position pic.twitter.com/AwojWgShyX
— Nate Mann (@nate_mann13) July 10, 2018

He did display a smooth-looking Dirk-fadeaway at the end of last season, but it barely made an appearance in Summer League.

Screens

Another problem coming from his thin frame is screening. As a center in the Blazers offense, Collins must set several screens per possession for Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum to get open.

In the Summer League games, Collins either peeled off the screen too early for a roll to the basket, or budged when the opponent ran into him. Both allow the defender to stick with the Portland player using the screen, wasting time off the shot clock.