Z-Rex: The Cody Zeller Thread

LamarMatic7 · Post #961 » by **LamarMatic7** » Fri Nov 29, 2013 3:06 pm

BrotherDave wrote:If your best defense is "At least he's not Mullens" that doesn't sound too good.

That's an excuse that works for the "Adrien is too small" argument, not the "our number four pick might not be that good" argument.

Post #962 » by **JDR720** » Sun Dec 1, 2013 4:47 am

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nba/ne ... kie-diary/

lmcguir5 · Post #963 » by **lmcguir5** » Sun Dec 1, 2013 7:05 pm

JDR720 wrote:http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nba/news/20131127/cody-zeller-charlotte-bobcats-nba-rookie-diary/

Pretty cool insight. I think it's easy to lose sight of the adjustments these guys have to make, especially when he said, even if you have a bad night, KG is coming the next night. Mentally, that has to be pretty taxing for a rookie. That's why I will always be patient with rookies, it is a huge transition for them

Radu_Hornets · Post #964 » by **Radu_Hornets** » Sun Dec 1, 2013 8:48 pm

JDR720 wrote:http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nba/news/20131127/cody-zeller-charlotte-bobcats-nba-rookie-diary/

Very interesting reading, after having gone through the article, I can feel that he is not adapted to the NBA yet.

He still feels that he belong to the college with his "real" friends.

I believe that it will take time for him to get acclimated to the NBA, I would bet on some month. Once he will have some good games in a row, he will get the Clic.

I wasn't expecting that rookies have so many difficulties to adapt to the nba...And how much it could affect their game.

Give some time to the kid, he will be just fine.

Post #965 » by **JDR720** » Sun Dec 1, 2013 9:47 pm

JDR720 wrote:http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nba/news/20131127/cody-zeller-charlotte-bobcats-nba-rookie-diary/

reading it again i think i found a mistake by Zeller

Even in college you'd play some good players once week and some not-so-good players the next, but here you face the best 3-4 times a week. If you play bad one night, you have Kevin Garnett the next night.

think he meant one, once doesn't sound right to me

catch20two · Post #966 » by **catch20two** » Sun Dec 1, 2013 9:52 pm

"once a week" or "one week", probably a typo or a editor's mistake.

Eoghan · Post #967 » by **Eoghan** » Mon Dec 2, 2013 12:27 am

I don't remember hearing Biyombo whining about having to play Garnett the next night after a bad game. The only real reason he's struggling is b/c he's in between positions. He needs to suck it up and scrap down low or actually learn to be a stretch 4.

catch20two · Post #968 » by **catch20two** » Mon Dec 2, 2013 3:49 am

I want to see this fool hoist up a few 3s or at least one since he claims he could be a stretch 4. He look like a regular PF right now and even that might be generous because I seen his brother Tyler shoot jumpers more frequent and efficiently in his rookie year. Even Biz made the FT jumper that he's struggling to get down pact. It's becoming frustrating to me because he's a top 5 pick with limited upside that was supposed to be NBA ready and now he doesn't even have any trade value. We should've traded down or traded away.

mrknowitall215 · Post #969 » by **mrknowitall215** » Tue Dec 3, 2013 5:07 pm

1 of the Things Zach Lowe Don't Like

The overwhelmed Cody Zeller

Zeller's a rookie learning the speed of a new level, so some growing pains are understandable. But he's shooting 34 percent with an ugly turnover rate, and looking completely overwhelmed every time he catches the ball at the elbow — his sweet spot, should he desire a long NBA career. "OK, I have the ball. Omigod, omigod, omigod, I have the ball! Should I shoot? I dunno, that guy is pretty close to me. Can I dribble? Am I allowed to dribble? Maybe I should pass to that guy in the corner, the Swedish one or something, and, oh, shoot, they figured out I was looking over there. OK, gotta do something! Here goes!" (At this moment, Zeller typically takes one or two hard lefty dribbles toward the rim and then falls over.)

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/100 ... -greatness

Note: Cody Zeller is currently ranked 19th on David Thorpe's Top 50 Rookie Class. Similar players, Mason Plumlee (#2), Steven Adams (#3), Vitor Faverani (#4), Pero Antic (#13), Kelly Olynyk (#15), and Rudy Gobert (#18) are ranked ahead of him

MasterIchiro · Post #970 » by **MasterIchiro** » Tue Dec 3, 2013 5:44 pm

mrknowitall215 wrote:
1 of the Things Zach Lowe Don't Like

The overwhelmed Cody Zeller

Zeller's a rookie learning the speed of a new level, so some growing pains are understandable. But he's shooting 34 percent with an ugly turnover rate, and looking completely overwhelmed every time he catches the ball at the elbow — his sweet spot, should he desire a long NBA career. "OK, I have the ball. Omigod, omigod, omigod, I have the ball! Should I shoot? I dunno, that guy is pretty close to me. Can I dribble? Am I allowed to dribble? Maybe I should pass to that guy in the corner, the Swedish one or something, and, oh, shoot, they figured out I was looking over there. OK, gotta do something! Here goes!" (At this moment, Zeller typically takes one or two hard lefty dribbles toward the rim and then falls over.)

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/100 ... -greatness

Note: Cody Zeller is currently ranked 19th on David Thorpe's Top 50 Rookie Class. Similar players, Mason Plumlee (#2), Steven Adams (#3), Vitor Faverani (#4), Pero Antic (#13), Kelly Olynyk (#15), and Rudy Gobert (#18) are ranked ahead of him

It's too early to panic but all those other rookies are having to make adjustments at the NBA level. We drafted the one who looks like complete **** as he adjusts.

I think he was a reach.

Post #971 » by **fatlever** » Tue Dec 3, 2013 5:46 pm

i have to admit, that's pretty funny from lowe.

MasterIchiro · Post #972 » by **MasterIchiro** » Tue Dec 3, 2013 5:54 pm

We took a major project at 4 overall.

MasterIchiro · Post #973 » by **MasterIchiro** » Tue Dec 3, 2013 5:57 pm

fatlever wrote:i have to admit, that's pretty funny from lowe.

It really is funny parody but terrifying at the same time. I want to laugh but I think I'm past that point.

freakon0mics · Post #974 » by **freakon0mics** » Tue Dec 3, 2013 5:57 pm

I'm still holding out hope for Zeller. It's his rookie year and he is a young big man. I think guards and smaller forwards can come in right away from college and produce, while big guys take a while to adjust to the pro game. He has shown flashes of why we chose him. He's mobile and can run the floor for someone at that size, and has range on his shot.

BadMofoPimp · Post #975 » by **BadMofoPimp** » Tue Dec 3, 2013 6:07 pm

I like what I have seen from Zeller for you guys. He may just take time to develop, but he has solid skills to score, board and pass. There are many players chosen before him who look much worse like Thabeet, Darko, Derrick Williams and the list goes on. Zeller is a legit NBA player, but who knows what his ceiling will be.

mrknowitall215 · Post #976 » by **mrknowitall215** » Tue Dec 3, 2013 6:41 pm

BadMofoPimp wrote:I like what I have seen from Zeller for you guys. He may just take time to develop, but he has solid skills to score, board and pass. There are many players chosen before him who look much worse like Thabeet, Darko, Derrick Williams and the list goes on. Zeller is a legit NBA player, but who knows what his ceiling will be.

Saying that Cody Zeller is doing better than Hasheem Thabeet & Darko Milicic isn't stating anything positive, neither should it make anyone feel better about the pick. By the way, technically Thabeet had more impact in his rookie season than Zeller is having right now. Milicic was bad, but never really got a chance playing less than 5 minutes a game. As far as Derrick Williams, he had a PER of 12.9 as a rookie compared to Zeller's current PER of 7.8, therefore Williams was not worst. At this point, Charlotte can't dwell on Zeller's lack of production or if he's a bust, but instead they will focus on the foresight of him improving on what has been a abysmal start to his rookie campaign to become the player that they drafted him to be. Come April, Zeller might be putting up double-doubles, but we'll see

BadMofoPimp · Post #977 » by **BadMofoPimp** » Tue Dec 3, 2013 6:53 pm

mrknowitall215 wrote:
BadMofoPimp wrote:I like what I have seen from Zeller for you guys. He may just take time to develop, but he has solid skills to score, board and pass. There are many players chosen before him who look much worse like Thabeet, Darko, Derrick Williams and the list goes on. Zeller is a legit NBA player, but who knows what his ceiling will be.

Saying that Cody Zeller is doing better than Hasheem Thabeet & Darko Milicic isn't stating anything positive, neither should it make anyone feel better about the pick. By the way, technically Thabeet had more impact in his rookie season than Zeller is having right now. Milicic was bad, but never really got a chance playing less than 5 minutes a game. As far as Derrick Williams, he had a PER of 12.9 as a rookie compared to Zeller's current PER of 7.8, therefore Williams was not worst. At this point, Charlotte can't dwell on Zeller's lack of production or if he's a bust, but instead they will focus on the foresight of him improving on what has been a abysmal start to his rookie campaign to become the player that they drafted him to be. Come April, Zeller might be putting up double-doubles, but we'll see

Kerrick Williams had a 12.9 PER in his first 20 games?

Anyways, I would reserve analysis until the 2nd half of the season. If the Bobcats are playing well now while fighting for a playoff spot, then they will play whomever has the best chemistry at the moment. If they falter and fall out of the playoff contention, then Zeller will be amounting more minutes. He has plenty of time to earn his. I was just stating players drafted 2nd overall while this draft was weaker than those. Zeller will be fine, but it is hard to judge how far he will go.

mrknowitall215 · Post #978 » by **mrknowitall215** » Tue Dec 3, 2013 7:09 pm

BadMofoPimp wrote:Kerrick Williams had a 12.9 PER in his first 20 games?

Derrick Williams was averaging over 8 points & 4 rebounds on mid-40% shooting in about 20 minutes his first 20 games compared to Cody Zeller's 5 points & 4 rebounds on mid-30% shooting in about 20 minutes. I'm sure he had a higher PER than Zeller's 7.8, but that's neither here or there

HornetJail · Post #979 » by **HornetJail** » Wed Dec 4, 2013 5:31 am

Cody is looking both better and worse recently. He's making some nice hustle plays on both ends of the floor, but he still looks pretty outmatched out there, sometimes EXTREMELY outmatched. The downgrade from Al Jefferson to Zeller when the bench comes in is a fair bit of the reason we tank early 4th quarters. I still like him going forward but he doesn't play like a 7-footer at all. I'm hoping that changes once he's accustomed to playing against NBA bigs every night.

amcoolio · Post #980 » by **amcoolio** » Wed Dec 4, 2013 6:16 pm

I really think when Cody's shot starts falling he will be a lot more effective on offense. He's getting open looks, the shots are just rimming out every time. His defense isn't particulary bad, he was up in Dirk's grill most of the game

Also, it occured to me yesterday that maybe we are doing the same thing with Zeller as Orlando is doing with Oladipo...playing him out of position purposely in order for him to become a more complete player down the line. Oladipo is being forced to handle the ball every posession, Zeller is forced to the perimeter. Its weird that we are 20 games into the season and have yet to run a play for Zeller in the post, despite him playing in the post his entire college career and he being a 7 footer.