Z-Rex: The Cody Zeller Thread

[catch20two]

Most of the past years draft are looking like projects with the exception of Oladipo and MCW, unfortunately.

But what's a project with limited upside?

I think he has great upside. Very athletic with a high basketball IQ.

I'll hold you to that opinion. I think he has Nick Collison or someone like that written all over him.

[Liver_Pooty]

But what's a project with limited upside?

I think he has great upside. Very athletic with a high basketball IQ.

I'll hold you to that opinion. I think he has Nick Collison or someone like that written all over him.

Ill hold him to the same regard that I do every draft pick. Give it 2-3 years before judging him, not 10 games.

[lmcguir5]

I honestly believe that if he were getting McBob minutes he would be averaging near a double-double. I don't think his shot is as bad as you guys are letting on. For not playing any 4 in college he has a solid mid-range, and I watched a good amount of IU basketball last year, and they were not asking him to hit midrange shots.

I agree the guy needs to bulk up, and I still have high hopes for his ceiling but I didn't think he would come in right away and blow people away. Coming into this draft we knew that Oladipo would most likely be the most impressive rookie and that was about it. Bennett has looked like straight ish so far and he was the number one overall choice. We could definitely be in worse shape guys.

Zeller might not be the ROY but I think with increased minutes he puts up a better stat line than a healthy Alex Len given the same amount of minutes.

[Eoghan]

Only Oladipo and MCW are playing well as rookies. Not sure why you hate Zeller so much.

I don't hate Zeller at all, I just highly dislike Charlotte for picking him. I didn't see anything at Indiana that would suggest him being a stretch 4 in the NBA. That being said, I don't think it's fair to knock his shot since he's a rookie and not playing a lot of minutes nor shooting a decent volume.

I'll hold you to that opinion. I think he has Nick Collison or someone like that written all over him.

Hell, I'd do a flip if I thought he could be NIck Collison. Cody has to strength train enough to warrant shopping outside the Juniors department for belts before he plays as well as Collison.

[BigSlam]

How is he a stretch 4 if he don't even shoot threes?!? I think every PF in the NBA shoot midrange jumpers.

Its been 10 games. Were always patient with every other rookie I don't see a reason why we can't be patient with him.

I'm patient enough to believe that he'll become a serviceable starter maybe 2-3 years from now if not longer but he's yet another project pick. That's where my disgust is coming from. If we wanted to draft a project I would've much rather have drafted one with more upside and a higher ceiling.

When is a drafted player not a project?

[mrknowitall215]

When is a drafted player not a project?

I wouldn't mind answering this question. A drafted player is not a project when he isn't raw and doesn't have to be molded into the basketball player that you drafted him to be, just improve on the skills & abilities that he already has been productive at. Cody Zeller could be considered a project player because it appears that the Bobcats may have to teach him to play the game a manner in which he hasn't shown success in yet, and that's as a perimeter oriented big

I would like to see him become more aggressive as a scorer/shooter on the offensive end, make or miss. I think that'll help his confidence and allow us to see what type of player he can or cannot be

[Red Larrivee]

4. Cody Zeller - healthy and contributing

This is like little league giving a trophy to everyone who participated.

Per 36 minutes:

10.7 PPG
7.4 REB
1.3 AST
0.6 BLK
9.6 PER
45.2 TS%

Zeller's been bad. He looks lost offensively and he's not very good defensively either. His lone bright spot is that he runs the floor consistently and finishes well in transition. Maybe his upside is something like Spencer Hawes or Jason Thompson. I don't see him being an ideal long-term starter. If he does start, I think the team he's on is looking to upgrade immediately.

Ben McLemore isn't off to a great start either, but I think he has the upside of an all-star scorer. With Zeller, I just see an alright player.

[thruthefire]

Red Larrivee, I was going to post something very similar yesterday, but decided not to. There isn't a single stat you can look at with promise. He's a rookie and will get better, but it's clear from what was said in the offseason that Cho and Clifford were expecting him to be a much bigger part of this season. Hopefully this unfolds like Greg Monroe's rookie season, which he had an awful start to before doing a 180.

[Robot Rock]

Its been 10 games. Were always patient with every other rookie I don't see a reason why we can't be patient with him.

I'm patient enough to believe that he'll become a serviceable starter maybe 2-3 years from now if not longer but he's yet another project pick. That's where my disgust is coming from. If we wanted to draft a project I would've much rather have drafted one with more upside and a higher ceiling.

When is a drafted player not a project?

In Biyombo's case, sometime around 2025.

[fatlever]

i'm a big zeller fan, but i will definitely admit his play has been disappointing thus far, especially given what we saw in summer league.

what is not clear is why he has played below our expectations. could be as simple as getting used to speed/physicality of the league, could be small sample size, could be adjusting to coming off bench, playing further from basket, lack of touches in comfort spots, not enough minutes, or that he just isnt as good as we had hoped.

[MasterIchiro]

In summer league, the offense was designed to make him a focal point whereas now he has to defer. We've seen flashes of moves from him driving and faking and running the break. He has to figure out which of his strengths work at this level. I think he's being groomed gradually. I'll admit though, he looks frantic out there sometimes. His assignments were much simpler in college because he spent so much more time down low in the paint. His having to learn the perimeter has maybe caused unanticipated fatigue that might be masking his talents. He looks shell shocked. I think it's much too early to dismiss him, especially considering the amount of rope given to Biyombo and MKG in their rookie seasons. Neither are consistent yet and neither have justified their draft position.

[JDR720]

i'm a big zeller fan, but i will definitely admit his play has been disappointing thus far, especially given what we saw in summer league.

what is not clear is why he has played below our expectations. could be as simple as getting used to speed/physicality of the league, could be small sample size, could be adjusting to coming off bench, playing further from basket, lack of touches in comfort spots, not enough minutes, or that he just isnt as good as we had hoped.

im gonna say that list of reasons is why he isn't playing great he has never done any of those things

[lmcguir5]

Zeller had 6 points and 6 rebounds in his first 11 minutes of play last night. How does the coaching reward him? 8 more minutes for the rest of the game. If you extrapolate his stats to even 22 minutes he records a healthy double double. I honestly have no idea why the staff won't play him more if he's being this efficient.

At this point, I'm ready to dump McBob or trade him for what he is worth and let Zeller take over the starting role and make Rocky the backup, which he has proven he can do.

[Radu_Hornets]

Zeller had 6 points and 6 rebounds in his first 11 minutes of play last night. How does the coaching reward him? 8 more minutes for the rest of the game. If you extrapolate his stats to even 22 minutes he records a healthy double double. I honestly have no idea why the staff won't play him more if he's being this efficient.

At this point, I'm ready to dump McBob or trade him for what he is worth and let Zeller take over the starting role and make Rocky the backup, which he has proven he can do.

Moreover, I don't think that MCbob value would be higher than it is now...

[catch20two]

Zeller had 6 points and 6 rebounds in his first 11 minutes of play last night. How does the coaching reward him? 8 more minutes for the rest of the game. If you extrapolate his stats to even 22 minutes he records a healthy double double. I honestly have no idea why the staff won't play him more if he's being this efficient.

At this point, I'm ready to dump McBob or trade him for what he is worth and let Zeller take over the starting role and make Rocky the backup, which he has proven he can do.

I have to agree. I might have been down on Zeller for the past week but it's easy to see that he was just lacking confidence. I wouldn't mind going into a little tank mode that might prove to make us better by starting Zeller. This McBob experiment as the facilitator is really starting to get on my nerves. Our offense hasn't been any better being ran through McBob than it was last year with Dunlap just making the guards attack the rim kamikaze style.

[Eoghan]

You don't think opposing teams couldn't figure out Zeller, I dunno, instantly? Let's see, he can't back down anybody, his range is apparently limited to 18 feet and he doesn't have a quick release. His handles are limited so he only beats his man with quickness. So basically put any NBA starting PF on him and his numbers will probably plummet.

Leave Zeller where he is and let him build confidence and work on his game against 2nd units.

[LamarMatic7]

But what's a project with limited upside?

I think he has great upside. Very athletic with a high basketball IQ.

I'll hold you to that opinion. I think he has Nick Collison or someone like that written all over him.

Nick Collison is no slouch.

[JDR720]

trade McBob to someone that needs a facilitator big....if anyone needs one not very common need...start Al at PF when he gets back, start Biz at C, Adrian backs up Biz and Zeller backs up Al

[JDR720]

I think his absolute ceiling is David Lee who is a border line All-Star and his floor is Tyler Hansbrough who is a good "energy" big off the bench

[mrknowitall215]

trade McBob to someone that needs a facilitator big....if anyone needs one not very common need...start Al at PF when he gets back, start Biz at C, Adrian backs up Biz and Zeller backs up Al

I wonder what kind of deal could Cho swing for McRoberts...maybe Shumpert? The Knicks need as many facilitators as well as big bodies as possible