Like I say every year, Z typically starts slow ... and having to come in cold (give or take a heat pack) doesn't help. Revisit after 20 games ...
You don't remember last year then when he was playing at what some said an "All-Star" level by shooting 54% from the field, and putting up 16 points a game through November... He also went on to put 11 points on 48% through December before getting hurt...
Or back in 2007-2008 when he started the season off shooting 49% and 47% from the field and putting up 14 points a game...
Or in 2005-2006 when he shot 47% and 52% from the field and put up 14 & 17 points a game..
Heck even the first five games he shot 54% from the field and put up 9 points...
In 2006-2007 he shot terribly after the first 8 games but then turned it up and finished out the 2006 year with high %'s...
The stats actually suggest quite the opposite of what you suggest... Historically the past 3 years he's started real hot and you could even say 4 years depending on how you look at it..
* He is still allowing Coach Brown to sit O'Neal for very large periods of time. That is invaluable.
With the way he's been playing, all he's been is another big body on the floor which really isn't invaluable to me...
* Defensively Z is doing a job. Most don't see it, but Z's show on the ball handler is very effective. you only have to see the difference tonight with Wade. With Shaq who doesn't show he just gets inside with ease and has finished. We Z out there, Wade has to push wide before driving which gives the help defense oodles of time to come across. Missed shots and turnovers have been a result.
If you're reserving to something that pretty much any decently mobile big can do to prove that Z is effective then that is a sign... Problem is that against better teams who move the ball is that they'll take advantage of dragging Z out of the paint and expose that...
* Offensively Z still is playing the sets smart. He picks at the right time and has forced a couple of second chance opportunities.
Again reserving to complementing to his "smart" play should be indictment in itself...
Look: I love Z and everything that he represents and am willing to give him until early December to get things figured out but right now it's painful watching him play...
One of the problems is not that he's not hitting shots it's that if he's not hitting shots, he's not contributing much to the team, especially offensively... He can't finish anymore, he doesn't have any post moves and he can't create anything for himself... Really the only thing he does offensively anymore is space the floor and pass the ball well... His spacing his invaluable but like someone mentioned earlier, if he doesn't hit those shots then his presence will be negated because teams will start sagging off of him...
Defensively while he's still done a decent job, he just can't co-exist with another slow, plodding center who also has trouble in transition and defending the P&R... He hasn't been a liability on defense but it's obvious he really isn't anything more than a big body on defense that basically is a deterrent in the paint and grabs some rebounds...
Like I also mentioned in another thread: the biggest problem with Z really has nothing to do with him directly but rather indirectly... This team just can't have two centers who have similar liabilities defensively... Now you can mention how his size will be valuable against the contenders and while that's all fine, that's only half true... His size will only get him as far as his mobility will allow him... The elite teams have big men with size and agility, not just one or the other... Z may have the size to battle Bynum, Howard, Duncan, etc., he has trouble with all of them because of his lack of mobility/agility... And having two centers who play major minutes with that problem is not good... No other elite team suffers from that...
I'm not saying trade him now because his contract will be invaluable but Z needs to either a). start playing well or b). the other bigs need more minutes while Z's minutes are cut down...
So PIP give me a rep because I ripped Z and Karma say I'm wrong because I now apparently hate him...