Z-Rex: The Cody Zeller Thread

[JT2006]

NBA.com's Rookie Ladder

7. Cody Zeller : CHARLOTTE BOBCATS

Zeller had one of the best games of his young career Monday. Zeller scored a career-high 12 points (he'd scored 10 points twice before), grabbed seven rebounds and blocked a pair of shots in 22 big minutes to help Charlotte beat Milwaukee 111-110 in OT. For a more intimate look at Zeller, check out his recent diary on SI.com in which he talks about coming off the bench, filming commercials, talking with his brothers (they don't talk hoops) and much more. Good stuff. -- Dec. 26

http://www.nba.com/rookie-ladder/

*NOTE: Cody Zeller has moved up to #11 on David Thorpe's Rookie Rankings

#7 on that list, not 11.

Also I've seen that commercial on my local stations and it cracks me up

[mrknowitall215]

NBA.com's Rookie Ladder

7. Cody Zeller : CHARLOTTE BOBCATS

Zeller had one of the best games of his young career Monday. Zeller scored a career-high 12 points (he'd scored 10 points twice before), grabbed seven rebounds and blocked a pair of shots in 22 big minutes to help Charlotte beat Milwaukee 111-110 in OT. For a more intimate look at Zeller, check out his recent diary on SI.com in which he talks about coming off the bench, filming commercials, talking with his brothers (they don't talk hoops) and much more. Good stuff. -- Dec. 26

http://www.nba.com/rookie-ladder/

*NOTE: Cody Zeller has moved up to #11 on David Thorpe's Rookie Rankings

#7 on that list, not 11.

Also I've seen that commercial on my local stations and it cracks me up

#7 on NBA.com's Rookie Ladder & #11 on David Thorpe's Rookie Rankings, two different rankings & publications

[JT2006]

*NOTE: Cody Zeller has moved up to #11 on David Thorpe's Rookie Rankings

#7 on that list, not 11.

Also I've seen that commercial on my local stations and it cracks me up

#7 on NBA.com's Rookie Ladder & #11 on David Thorpe's Rookie Rankings, two different rankings & publications

oh cool, i'll check it out

[fatlever]

he's #9 on sheridanhoops list currently.

[JDuaneWayne]

Uh oh Zeller is on the rise. I think he even got his PER up to about 10 now.

[Liver_Pooty]

How quickly we forget?

Bismack Biyombo took as much criticism during his rookie & 2nd season as Cody Zeller, if not more. There were partitions on the board to denounce Biyombo down to the D-League both seasons. I have yet to see Zeller face that type of ridicule

I sure hope many don't think Zeller has shown enough to be praised either. Lately though, he's been good enough to void unsound cynicism & generate more optimism. However, he hasn't shown any glimpses of stardom, just serviceability

I must have forgot because I don't recall Biyombo taking NEARLY as much heat as Zeller on here, especially his rookie year. Hell he still barely takes any heat.

[mrknowitall215]

How quickly we forget?

Bismack Biyombo took as much criticism during his rookie & 2nd season as Cody Zeller, if not more. There were partitions on the board to denounce Biyombo down to the D-League both seasons. I have yet to see Zeller face that type of ridicule

I sure hope many don't think Zeller has shown enough to be praised either. Lately though, he's been good enough to void unsound cynicism & generate more optimism. However, he hasn't shown any glimpses of stardom, just serviceability

I must have forgot because I don't recall Biyombo taking NEARLY as much heat as Zeller on here, especially his rookie year. Hell he still barely takes any heat.

Biyombo was drafted as a project that nobody expected to be more so mentally and/or somewhat physically ready for the rigors of the NBA game as somebody just learning the sport, yet still he's never played as bad as Zeller started off his campaign. I'll give Zeller his credit though, he's been producing lately & I expect him to continue doing so. Biyombo took heavy heat during his early years, and all you'd have to do is open up the first edition of "The Bismack Biyombo Thread" to see

[lmcguir5]

Biz didn't take as much heat his rookie year because the entire team was awful and his role was pretty even with everyone else. I do remember people saying he was a bust early on, but everyone is expecting Zeller to put up 10/8 each game because he was a top 5 pick versus being the 7th its a little absurd

[JDR720]

Biz didn't take as much heat his rookie year because the entire team was awful and his role was pretty even with everyone else. I do remember people saying he was a bust early on, but everyone is expecting Zeller to put up 10/8 each game because he was a top 5 pick versus being the 7th its a little absurd

and he was a top 5 in a terrible draft, he probably wouldn't go top 10 in the 2014 draft

[catch20two]

Uh oh Zeller is on the rise. I think he even got his PER up to about 10 now.

It was a compliment.

[catch20two]

expecting Zeller to put up 10/8 each game because he was a top 5 pick versus being the 7th its a little absurd

I'm sure there's a few posts in here about Zeller's expected numbers as a rookie and I will find them.

I probably even posted at least 10/7 myself but I can't remember.

[JDR720]

i think i had his rookie stats to be about 8ppg and 6reb....not to far off from what he is doing

[lmcguir5]

What he's doing in his allotted playing time is fairly impressive. If you extrapolate his minutes he records a few double doubles at this point

[catch20two]

What he's doing in his allotted playing time is fairly impressive. If you extrapolate his minutes he records a few double doubles at this point

His per 36 numbers aren't that great. To be modest I'll say that they are average. Definitely not impressive. He's improving and has been playing up to my expectations over the past 5 or more games so I'm not knocking him.

[Eoghan]

Why are we even talking about Biz? Do Zeller fans really have to take pot shots at Biz for no reason to make themselves feel good?

Enough of that mess, not even worth a Bob's Buddy response.

Zeller looks like the game is way too fast for him right now. I'm reserving a lot of judgment until he shows signs of adjusting to NBA game speed. The only reason he's seeing an uptick in minutes is because Clifford is trying to keep McBobcat fresh.

[HornetJail]

i think i had his rookie stats to be about 8ppg and 6reb....not to far off from what he is doing

Yeah I was expecting 9/5 or 9/6 but I was also expecting him to start over/get as many minutes as McBob

[Seven11]

I hated this pick when we made it. I still hate it now. Is there anyway we can trade him for that scoring/shooting wing we so desperately need?

[HornetJail]

I hated this pick when we made it. I still hate it now. Is there anyway we can trade him for that scoring/shooting wing we so desperately need?

I'd love to find a way to package him with one or both of our future picks and expirings, etc for a legit stud at the 2. Shouldn't be too hard, as he's going to be pretty good one day, once he bulks up a lot.

[mrknowitall215]

I hated this pick when we made it. I still hate it now. Is there anyway we can trade him for that scoring/shooting wing we so desperately need?

Good question. I wish I could be a fly on the wall as Cho call around the league to other general managers to gauge his value. I have no faith or belief that Cody Zeller will ever be able to live up to his draft billing, no matter how weak they may want to say his draft class was. Zeller went from a consensus #1 pick to being projected a late lottery pick for a reason. Cho just reached on the reputation that preceded him, and it's not exactly paying off

[HornetJail]

I hated this pick when we made it. I still hate it now. Is there anyway we can trade him for that scoring/shooting wing we so desperately need?

Good question. I wish I could be a fly on the wall as Cho call around the league to other general managers to gauge his value. I have no faith or belief that Cody Zeller will ever be able to live up to his draft billing, no matter how weak they may want to say his draft class was. Zeller went from a consensus #1 pick to being projected a late lottery pick for a reason. Cho just reached on the reputation that preceded him, and it's not exactly paying off

And who do you suggest we should have picked? Nerlens Noel, a rail thin center, who has had two knee injuries already, is taking 18 months to recover from his second one, and is a carbon copy of a player we already have? Trey Burke, in the place of our best player? Ben McLemore, who has been utter garbage? Alex Len, whose ankles haven't let him play too much? Don't say MCW, Adams, Giannis, all would have been even bigger reaches than Zeller, Hindsight is 20/20 but none of them were anywhere near our radar at all.

I consistently wanted us to trade off the pick. I was a fan of nobody in this draft. But given our draft position, I stand by the Zeller pick and really think he'll pan out into a solid player once he's bulked up significantly. He gets thrown around in the paint and that has to change.