Well, I told you if there was some breaking news, I would have another show for you this week, and it just so happens that we got some welcome into Clipperstock. I'm out of Osland here to bring you good news in the form of Big Zoo getting paid a big bag a well deserved contract. Is Adrian Woodroowski reported that he got a three year extension at fifty eight point six million dollars that gets him max available money for his next three seasons. Is now guaranteed seventy billion over
his next four. Congratulations to Viza Zoo boss, well earned, well deserved, and I'll tell you why in this episode, and maybe I'll even spliced in some clips to help buttress my point and support it, as VTB would say, because I am and have been one of Big Zoo's biggest faians for a long time, and I'll try to make the case for why you should be as well, because to me, he's been one of the most underrated players, an unsung hero on this Clippers team, and I don't
know where they'd be without him. He's been an iron man, he's been mister consistent. This last season was really the first where he missed a significant portion of the year just getting to sixty eight games before that, seventy six games, seventy six games, seventy two, seventy two and remember those were shortened seasons back then. His first full seasons with the Clippers was during the COVID hiatus we had before
restarting things in Orlando. Beats A Zubots has been mister reliable and I am so happy that the Clippers value him as many of us do, because I think it beats Zuba is one of the biggest wour shack tests you can have for knowing if you know ball. He has a lot of detractors. There's a faction of fans that don't understand what he means to this team. It makes me sad. It makes me sometimes call people a casual.
I don't want to have to do that, but I've done it at times on Twitter, and some people are saying this is some massive overpay. No Vitza Zubos is gonna average about seventeen million over the next four seasons that they gave him the maximum they could on that three year extension, when the salary cap will be up by at least thirty percent at the end of this based off projections.
It will be guys.
He just turns twenty seven. We haven't even seen the best of Big Zoo yet. I think we got a glimpse and a sign of things to come in the playoffs this past year against the Dallas Mavericks, when I said for them to have a chance, he's gonna have to average about seventeen and ten heading into that.
Series, Well he was close.
He ended up at sixteen to nine, And the only reason his averages weren't higher would be because I don't think he was featured enough after Game one. I don't when he had twenty and fifteen and was detonating at the rim and dunking on Gafford and Lively and taking them to school and using the left hand, as I've called him for years, a long lost gasol brother.
Yes, it's high praise.
I think it beats the Zubats is far more skilled than people realize.
He has a plethora of moves.
He has a bag that he can reach into in.
Arsenal of moves on the block. They just have an exploited Big z in the good way enough.
They haven't given him the required minutes that I think he's going to get this upcoming season now because he's paid more, because he's coming into his prime, because they don't have Paul George, they haven't had Russell Westbrook. Too, high usage guys are gone. A beata Zubats is gonna get plenty of opportunities, plenty of touches to prove himself. But something that always helps a player get a little bit longer of a leash, well, let's.
Say money plays.
There could be politics, seniority, veteran status, all these things can come into effect when it comes to playing time. Zoo is reaching all those benchmarks. Now when you're making after this season twenty million per year about you got to see what you have. You got to see what he could do offensively.
Here's what we know.
And what areas of eats of Zubats has been thriving in for years, and what all already makes it worth it when you take into account the NBA and defensive anchors and guys who are great at guarding the rim, and how they are highly sought.
After and valued.
Well, last year, within six feet of the rim at his position, no one was better than six ft of the rim. Teams only shot fifty one point eight percent against the Beasta Zubas best in the league, ahead of guys like chet Hartenstein, Chris STAPs, Go Bear and Bead Jokic. Everybody, all his peers of East Zubats was better than them. And I'm here to tell you this isn't a fluke. It's a credit to his consistency because he's always been in the top five when it comes to rim protection.
The year before the twenty two to twenty three season, teams were shooting just fifty four point two percent within six ft of the rim against him. He's in the top five. Then the twenty one to twenty two season a little bit higher fifty six point seven percent, but still one of the best in the league. In twenty twenty one, fifty three point seven percent within six ft of the rim. That was the opposition's fuel goal percentage.
In the nineteen twenty season, his first full season as a Clipper, teams only shot forty eight point six percent against him, again number one in the league.
Nobody was better.
And he did that with broken fingers, by the way, which people seem to forget about. Conveniently, so he's booking so far in his Clipper's tenure, being the best rim protector in the nineteen twenty season, in his first season with them, and in his last season. Just this past year was also number one when it comes to being a rim protector in the NBA. Can't tell you how important that is, can't tell you what a difference that may. It's not just because he's some athletic freak or because
he's big. He's great at playing angles and being disciplined. He has great instincts on the interior.
He patrols the paint and.
Creates a moat, as Carlo Jimenez and I like to say, and when he's on the floor, Because I know some of you were saying, why weren't they better defensively than last season?
They finished seventeenth.
Well, when Zoo was out there, they had a defensive rating of one twelve.
Without him, it was about.
Three points per possession of per one hundred possessions higher. So you go from being a top ten defense when he's out there to closer to a bottom ten defense without him.
He can only do so much. This has been my gripe. I've been.
Losing my mind a little bit about the lack of playing time for viats to Zoo Bots, especially considering the backup center options, and this season there are more unknowns there. I like the potential of Mobamba. I like that he already has an NBA skill and is proven to be somewhat of a stretch big in limited time.
But he has shot.
Above league average from three, above thirty six percent from three on over seven hundred attempts so far in his career. He's had seasons where he shot about forty percent from three. That's not nothing.
He's twenty six, still young.
Maybe the Clippers can tap into more of that potential and show what he can do. I'm excited for that signing. I think he has more game than we've seen so far. I'm excited for Kai Jones non guaranteed contract. Needs to prove it in training camp.
I'm rooting for him.
But last season, Daniel Tice and Mason Plumley, who just looked like he had lost his basketball powers after the Julius Randall play where he ran into his knee. He missed significant time, came back maybe too soon. I don't know. The guy was trying to tough it out, but he wasn't the same player, and he's getting up there. I think thirty three or thirty four years of age, Big plump now with the Phoenix suns his instincts of the ram the opposite of Big Zoo. He might be a
better athlet, can still jump higher. This guy was in a dumb contest to one point, but teams use it against him.
He's overly aggressive.
Big Zoo stays down when he needs to and doesn't fall for as nearly as many pump fakes. That's what makes him special. That's what lets other guys be able to float a little bit more play free safety.
Oh, Big Zoo's behind me. I'm good.
Iviata Zoo bots is gonna make up for my mistakes on the perimeter. He's worth this much, and I think it's still a bargain because right now, coming into this next season, he's going to be making less because he's still his old deal before the three year extension kicks in, so they got him the next four years. He's still gonna be making less, no disrespect, but less than Marvin Bagley, former top three pick Sacramento Kings. I think took him second.
Bagley is making twelve point five million dollars this season. The Viza Zubats is at eleven point seven million. Marvin Bagley I think, has played fifty games the last couple of years for the Detroit Pistons. There's still high potential there, I suppose because he was such a high draft pick, Iman got a duke, the expectations, all that. But he's doing this on a really bad team and getting paid
more in a Viza Zubats. That's crazy value that the Clippers are getting and will continue to get even when he's making closer to twenty million, because the cap will continues to go up and there's only a handful of guys that are as good or better than him when it comes to protecting the I think he's already a top ten center in the league. He's twenty seven. And what I'm most excited about is I think his big opportunity is now mentioned Paul George out, Russell Westbrook out.
The Clippers need to use Big Zoo on offense out of necessity. Finally, it's no longer an option to feed him here and there, keep him involved. What Shack always used to say, if you want the dog to protect the house, you better feed him. It's natural. It happens all the time when big men get more involved on the offensive end, they're even better on the defensive end. Well, Big Zoo, the unsung hero doing the dirty work.
A thankless job.
It seems like he's already good defensively, he's already played his role there. He's earned more touches and opportunities on the offensive end, and he has shown enough with what he just did against in that series, bodying their centers and giving the Clippers a chance even without Kawhi Leonard throughout most of it, where he was the second best player in that series behind James Harden. It was easily to eat Zoobos then Terrence Man more about him in
a little bit than Paul George. I have been screaming this phrase for a long time on Clipper stock. There is an easier path to victory. There's an easier way to win, a obvious path of least resistance, and it's Big Zoo getting involved on offense. Because guess what, you may not believe this. You may think and have these images in your mind of him dropping passes back when he had broken fingers, and that's still playing an effect
on you. Our guy Carl Tart, who I love, always brings this up with the beats of Zubos, and he's not the only one. Many for whatever reason, they won't let him shake that reputation I guess of having bad hands, which he doesn't. He had broken hands and played through it, and that gets criticized for it where he can't catch the basketball or he probably shouldn't have been out there, and that was their first impression of Big Zoo.
First impressions do a lot for you.
He hasn't been able to overcome that with some people. So even if it only happens seldomly now, whatever it does, they have it stuck in their mind that, oh, this is who beats the Zubats is, always has been and always will be. None of that is true a visas Zubos, believe it or not. I know this is going to rock the foundation of some people's basketball principles and minds, and there's gonna be a paradigm shift, hopefully because I tell them this.
This is that Rorschack test.
Those who saw Bigsho was a good player probably already knew this. From five to nine feet out. He just led the league in field goal percentage from five to nine feet out this past season. He just shot in that area sixty three point eight percent. That's better than Jokic shot. Yeah, Jokic took two hundred more shots in that area because they feed him much more. He's one
of the best players in the NBA. And I'm not saying if eatsa zubats as him, but I am saying from five to nine feet out, he just shot better than Jokic. And it wasn't like it was on a small sample. We're talking about one hundred and thirty eight attempts.
It's not nothing.
That's a healthy sample to say, oh, he has touched around the basket.
He doesn't have bad hands. If you had bad hands, he'd have five turnovers per game.
Prove he has bad hands.
You can't.
All you can do is pull some past history, anecdotal evidence when he had broken hands.
Get it to big Zoo.
And get out the damn way. Because this guy, well, he's made it clear to a few different players that.
He can also be nasty.
Ask Demanta Sabonus, Ask Jericho Sims, ask the Spurs, Ask Rudy Gobert, ask Pascal Siakam, ask Bobi. There is a confidence to have eats zoobots around the rim where he is looking for a body and looking to embarrass someone. He just needs more opportunities. Guys, he can't be at twenty six minutes per game season. That's the only thing that's been holding him back. Somebody hit me up on X after I tweeted out he's the third most important
player on the team. He is when you account for offense now and what he's been doing defensively for them, saving them at times on that end, doing everything.
Someone said a.
Ten to nine guys or third best player.
Yikes.
Hmmm, Well, first of all, that's somewhat inaccurate if eats a zoobas and his numbers.
Were higher than that.
Overall, he was last season twelve and nine, but that doesn't tell you represent the entire picture. He only got twenty six minutes per game, actually less than he got the year before. I don't know why.
I know he got injured at one point.
I sure that was it. It just seems like he almost has been getting a rookie treatment or is on the shortest leave possible. When he messes up, he doesn't get the same opportunities to fail. I think that's about to change.
I do.
I think coach lu trusts him he did in the playoff series, and that's how his numbers went up, because if you look at his per thirty six numbers throughout his entire career, well, if he gets thirty six minutes last season, he's likely putting up sixteen and twelve. That's where he's at. Has to watch out for foul trouble. But he's been okay overall in that area. I know he filed out before he got to thirty thirty against the Indiana Pacers a couple of years ago, and that was unfortunate.
He should have had that bilestone. Still a crazy game.
Showing off just how amazing he can beat, how incredible he can beat, how much potential there is for this.
This center that is coming into his own.
I believe right now, age of twenty seven, athletically stole in his prime and things are gonna start slowing down even more. I think I made a meme one time, or a photoshop edit of Keishawn Johnson give me the damn Ball his book, and I put Aviatza Zubots's face on it.
That's how I feel about it. Beatza Zoobots.
It's so simple, guys, instead of settling for jumpers, and tough shots.
You need to get easier shots.
That is something the Clippers of needed to generate for a long time, and it's no longer an option to do so, it's a necessity because no Paul George.
So how do you make up for some of that production? Big Zoo's going to be a part of that.
And he's coming off a series where he just outplayed Paul George and Average sixteen to nine against the Dallas Mavericks and showed great footwork, awareness.
Heart.
I've always trusted him in big games, in big moments, seems like he embraces them. There's a level of almost cockiness to Big Zoo that I like, Like remember this clip on Podcast P. I know, I know, but for the sake of this Vista Zoobots quote, I want you to hear it. He's been like this. He has been someone that has wonted a larger role going back to his Lakers days and by the way, he's had some of his best games.
Against the Lakers, some of his best games against Anthony Davis. He had last season a.
Twenty two to nineteen game where they lost by three. Mounts it to come back late and I thought he outplayed ad I thought he did. He got thirty seven minutes in that game. More Zoo for the opposition. That's typically how it works, Coach Lou. Part of it is he likes to play small sometimes. If you have the personnel, I'm all for it. They certainly had it in twenty twenty one in the playoffs and it worked beautifully. And
at that time, Big Zoo's coming off. You know that series against the Golden State Warriors in twenty nineteen where he got played off the court at times.
But he's not that guy anymore.
He has progressed so much further since then, and they kept him on the court against Luka Doncic, who he still hit some incredible tough shots against. Zoo also blocked him on one of his patented step back fadeaways this year, showing some growth there, just saying step per step with Luka Doncic, you could just see he's not the same player. He's progressing. He is arriving, and I don't know what
his ceiling is. I think all Star with the front court players we have in the West, it goes backcourt front court.
I think with voting and.
Just all start voting, you never really count on anyways, I mean, Yaoming still getting voted in probably uh SASA.
But can he forget All Star?
Can this season or these realistic expectations get to me in the comments section?
Can he make an All Defensive team? I think so?
Can he be in the hunt for most improved player? There's going to be more of a spotlight on him. He's going to be more of a focal point. People are gonna be watching him, and there's a chance if he really shines, he starts off the year averaging fifteen to ten the opening month, people are going to take notice. And I think he's capable of that. In fact, I think he's capable of averaging seventeen and ten seventeen and eleven this season. It's just dependent on minutes, and I
don't know why he wouldn't be playing more. If he gets the minutes, he'll get the numbers.
He'll give you the production period. Fully believe that he's my favorite Clipper.
I should say full disclosure because I feel like he's been overlooked and undervalued, and those are the guys I rootfore.
It's close to home. No, it's just.
I like his style.
I like his effort and energy I know.
He wasn't drafted as a Clipper, but he's been here for a while now. I've been in southern California in his entire career, and we see him play internationally.
I tend to gravitate.
Towards those guys. My dad, we always like the international guys back of the day, different skill set as as martial Iwness, Drazen Petrovitch, guys like that. And now you see it at the highest level with what we saw from Dirk and now Jokic and Luken Dancic. But his potential is tantalizing. It fascinates me to think about what a Beats's Zubas could do if they really give him a green light, if they give him the keys, if they show the confidence in him that I think he has in himself.
I don't think he's lacking any confidence.
I think he knows that this is his time.
There's a few guys right.
Now that have a chance to prove something. Terrence Man is another. I'd expect him to get an extension too. We'll see what happens with that. But I wasn't surprised at all seeing this news with the beats of Zubas today, and.
I couldn't be here.
I wasn't even having a good day, and for some reason, Big Zoo getting sixty million made me feel better too, turned my day around. I just he's easy to root for. Man, He's one of the fan favorites. My god, Patrick Beverley after he left the Clippers, after they moved him, came back to a game wearing a Viza Zubas jersey on the sidelines.
Courtside was rooting on and Visa Zubas. The players like him.
I remember this clip of Kawhi giving him props after having a big game, and my goodness, he has had some.
It's just it flummixes me.
It's mind boggling that they will talk about trying to get him more involved, and then they do for a quarter or a game or two, and then.
They just forget about him. I keep joking about it.
I should probably just do it at some point, But Chuck Mockler might be right. We talked about this earlier on Clips and Dip as we did a Live at five.
The parody I'm gonna do at least on World two or two.
I'm not.
I'm probably not never gonna do it here.
I just talk about it and fantasized about it. It's my little fan fiction. Uh the parody of Dre's Forgot about Dre.
On the two thousand and one album with the chronic two.
Uh yeah, I Forgot about Zoo is what always seems to happen.
It is memento with Guy Pierce, with him. I don't know why.
It's not the coaching staff, it's not the players, it's everybody.
It's it's not one in particular person. Really, it's not. It's just.
He gets lost in the shuffle. He has been in the past. I don't expect that to happen much more.
How's a guy.
Go from playing thirty seven minutes getting twenty two to nineteen to one game to play in twenty eight minutes the next game that happened after that game against ad in the Lakers. How does a guy who has given Nikola Jokic two of the worst shooting games of his career, which happened over this past season, where he went nine for thirty two against Zuo and one and eight for twenty three against Zuoe in another not get more run, not get talked about enough for how good he's been defensively.
He does get up to play against Jokich. In particular, it seems like he's had his highest scoring game against Jokich.
Zu had thirty two.
Jokic I think still had almost forty and the Denver ended up winning that game, but Zuo was trying to match him bucket for bucket, the amount and the array of shots that he can hit, you know, in the pain. I think his offensive game could be much low, larger and grander and special than people have any idea because he hasn't had a chance to show it.
Now he has to meet the opportunity. Stay rasied. You don't have to get ready. I think he's been standing by.
I think he's been ready for this. I think he's prepared.
I think he has the tools.
He's more than capable of proving that the Clippers are still getting a bargain even with this three year extension for almost sixty million.
I don't know if it means he's going to start hitting threes or anything, but.
Yeah, that he finally got an opportunity to show that in one game at the end of twenty twenty one. I just want Big Zoo to be unleashed because I have full faith that He's going to prove the Zoo truthers like myself right, and the doubters and the tractors and the haters and people that quite honestly don't understand basketball and how you win in this league and what's important and don't look at the advanced stats ever, which always favor Big Zoo. And I know the coaching staff
in the front office know all these things. But he was second in the league last season when it came to defending the pick and roll.
The only guy better was Rudy Gobert.
Tell me that's a meaningless stat When the only guy better was Rudy Gobert.
Was he four defensive player of the years?
Now, so big day for Big Zoo, Big day, I believe for Clipper Nation. He should be rejoicing and praising this and feel good about the fact that one of your youngerish players that is still entering his prime is locked up throughout his prime. Now, don't have to worry about it. Don't have to go into a season and say, who's our center, who's our starting center? You have a mister consistent there. That position is taken care of. Next four seasons, Big Zoo, a Clipper all right. Maybe I
don't know if I do another show on Monday. Thought about doing something up for Terrence Man.
Maybe I will.
I didn't expect to be doing this today. But I can't talk about the Clippers enough. I can't talk about it eats a Zoo bots enough.
I mean, this is it.
This is one of the most intriguing storylines of this season, and we'll determine a lot of the Clippers' success at Big Zoo has a big year. They're in the hunt for getting out of the planet. I think he's the third most important player. I hope I have given you reasons to believe that too, and believe in Zoo. If you didn't like him before, if you didn't understand his worth, if you're saying, hey, what are you me and Adam? Look at his career numbers nine and seven, ho hum,
not that special. Yeah, that includes a career minutes per game of twenty one. Get it up to thirty plus this season.
Have to If.
You're skeptical, and I think it's fair to be, If you are curious and have a little bit of trepidation regarding the backup center position, well, here is a way to mitigate some of those concerns play big Zoom more so, the backup is only getting twelve minutes a night. That was an issue last year. I don't know how he was only playing twenty six minutes.
This year thirty plus.
He averaged thirty three in the playoff series. I really believe that's a sign of things to come.
Make it thirty two wouldn't be accurate.
As always, here's the Big Zoo making a big impact. Prove the doubters wrong and proving Zoo nation at Zuo al Cinder fans at guys like me that when he has a dunk, when he's hanging from the rim and kicks his legs out, and I go back to the old Tequille O'Neil reebok logo and do the side by side comparison.
Prove us right. Please, we're all rooting for you. We are in your quarter. Zoo, do it this year.
I'm certain you will.
I'm Adam Ansland.
This has been another edition of Clippers Talk. You get a hold of me and I follow out of may on X at clippers Talk on YouTube now at Clippers Talk, follow out of me on Instagram and at clippers Talk on TikTok. Those are all these social media platforms, some I hate less than others, But yes, we will top to you later next week.
Enjoy Labor Day.