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ccgeneral

Cody Zeller - Atlanta Hawks

By ccgeneral, in Hoosiers in the Pros

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OliviaPope40    6,427

OliviaPope40
Posted

Before the season ever started, new Charlotte Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said rookie Cody Zeller would have to play a big part for this team to reach its potential.

Hasn’t happened yet. Not close.

The No. 4 overall draft pick in June, Zeller flashed big potential in the Las Vegas summer league. Halfway through his first NBA season, however, he described himself as a role player, averaging five points, 3.8 rebounds and just under 17 minutes per game. He said he’s fine with that on a team trying to reach the playoffs.

This has been nothing like a splash. Clifford said Zeller’s transition is normal these days among first-round picks, because they can’t anticipate how different it will be playing against grown men who are the world’s best basketball players.

“He’s made gains. But he needs to learn how to act like a pro, think like a pro, practice like a pro, play like a pro. That’s not easy to do at 20 or 21 years old,” Clifford said.

“When Cody went to practice at Indiana, probably if he’s at 70 percent concentration, he’s still the only 7-footer there. Those guys can’t keep him from doing things. Here, if he’s not on,” he’ll be dominated.

The 2013 draft class has had little impact in general. Philadelphia 76ers point guard Michael Carter-Williams, the 11th overall pick, was good immediately. The first pick, Anthony Bennett, has been so bad in Cleveland he might be sent to the Development League.

The players chosen just before and after Zeller – Otto Porter in Washington and Alex Len in Phoenix – have done little.

Zeller is playing behind Josh McRoberts at power forward, and for now the gap between them is significant.

Seventh-season pro McRoberts isn’t just more experienced, he’s strong enough to guard without foul trouble. Zeller has speed, quickness, skill and basketball IQ, but at 7-0 and 240 pounds, he doesn’t yet have what Clifford calls the “functional strength” to face off against the Blake Griffins and Zach Randolphs who define NBA power forwards.

“It’s his hips, his core, his back. It takes some time,” Clifford said. “When Blake Griffin hits (a rookie), normally he goes straight (to where he wants to be) and the other guy goes that way.”

Not discouraged

Zeller seems to accept all this well. He said after practice Tuesday – the Bobcats will play Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday – he embraces what the coaches have asked of him and he feels better about his performance the past few games.

“Everyone on the court is so talented that there is not much room for error,” Zeller said. “On defense if you’re a step late, it’s an easy layup. If you hesitate a little bit on offense it’s the difference between two points and a turnover.”

He often compares notes with former Indiana teammate Victor Oladipo, chosen second overall by the Orlando Magic. Oladipo’s scoring looks more impressive (13.5 points per game), but Zeller understands the Magic is in full-rebuild mode.

“We’re in a lot different situations,” Zeller said. “He gets a lot of chance to play, the ball is always in his hands. He’s playing different positions, they’re asking a lot of him. A lot of shot attempts, a lot of attention.”

Zeller understands the Bobcats’ need for him to get stronger, but he said there’s only so much bulk his frame can support, and he’s trying to work his way through the issue.

“I’ve always been undersized,” Zeller said. “Even when you’re not the strongest guy, you need to play strong. It’s outworking your guy, using advantages you do have. Obviously I can put on some weight, but I’m never going to be 280.”

Expectations

Zeller was named to the all-summer league team after averaging 16.3 points and 9.3 rebounds in Las Vegas. He showed up as a rookie of the year candidate in nba.com’s preseason poll of general managers. Four months later it’s questionable whether he’ll be selected for the game matching first- and second-year pros at All-Star Weekend.

Zeller said he’s never let where he was drafted create undue pressure.

“I’ve dealt with pressure my whole life,” said Zeller, youngest of three brothers who have played in the NBA.

“You just have to worry about what coaches are telling you, what your teammates are saying. Not worry about what the media is saying or the fans. They aren’t in the locker room, they aren’t on the practice court.”

Bobcats teammate Gerald Henderson relates. Like Zeller, Henderson was a lottery pick out of a high-profile college program (Duke). He played so little as a rookie that he never got into the 2010 playoff series against the Magic.

“This is a different monster,” Henderson said. “This is his first time seeing it, and that split-second makes all the difference: The recognition and anticipation.”

Clifford said force-feeding Zeller minutes, as some fans have advocated, wouldn’t speed this process.

“People think by throwing them out there, they get better. I don’t agree,” Clifford said. “I want a role that 1) he earns and 2) that he can play well in. If that’s 16 minutes right now, then that’s what he needs to be.”

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/01/21/4629806/charlotte-bobcats-cody-zeller.html#.UuM4XWQo569

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OliviaPope40    6,427

OliviaPope40
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The Bobcats are set to embark on a four-game Western road swing on Wednesday after already playing 10 of their last 16 games away from Charlotte. With so much time away from home, Cody Zeller dishes on what NBA life is like on the road, as well as his recent ill-fated run-in with Blake Griffin.

I got a lot of texts and tweets from friends about my missed dunk on Blake Griffin. Honestly, it wasn't as bad as it looked. I had a running start and he bumped me just enough that I didn't get to the rim, so I ended up just trying to get it there. Unfortunately, as you can see, I didn't. All my teammates are still talking about it, joking about how high I was. He's Blake Griffin and I'm a rookie so I'm not going to get the benefit of the doubt on that call. You win some, you lose some. You're going to get dunked on, you're going to dunk on someone. Maybe 10 years from now people will look at that picture and think I did throw it down.

NBA road trips might seem glamorous, but traveling so much can be pretty tough on your body. The toughest part are the time changes, especially coming back from a road trip. You just never adjust. You try and sleep on the plane, but of course you're wide awake because you just played a game. We got home at 6:30 in the morning from a trip to Sacramento, but I didn't feel like I could just go sleep and waste the entire day. That's one of the toughest parts about NBA travel. Of course, they treat us pretty well. The flights are pretty quick and there's plenty of leg room -- which is huge -- and the hotels are pretty nice, but it's still rough on the sleep schedule.

It's fun to travel and see new cities, but what's been most fun for me is getting to go around the country and see friends I don't normally get to see. We were in Los Angeles for New Year's Eve and I got to meet up with a friend of mine from Indiana. The regular-season schedule is so crazy we probably wouldn't see each other otherwise, so it's nice to be able to see different faces at different stops.

Each player has their own thing they do on the plane. We have a group of 4-5 guys that usually play cards, a handful of people watch movies. I usually try and sleep, but that doesn't always work out. It's nice that we're based out of Charlotte because most of our road games are pretty quick trips. But if you're in Orlando like my buddy and former teammate Victor Oladipo, you've got to add 2 1/2 hours to every trip.

My favorite road stop this season was probably Indiana because I got to see all my friends. Some guys on the team get excited about Miami and Atlanta because they have the best clubs, but that's not really me. Orlando was great because I got to catch up with Vic. We're always texting and comparing situations with each other. I definitely have the better one there.

When I'm not sleeping I'm usually watching movies. If there's a new movie out that's good, there's a good chance one of the guys will have it. Anchorman 2 had some pretty funny lines, The Wolf on Wall Street was pretty entertaining. Lot of f-bombs. I thought Lone Survivor was pretty good, but as you can tell from the movie title everyone was pretty much bawling their eyes out after that one. I watched all of Breaking Bad, which was great. With so much time on the road, I zoomed through it pretty quick. It was pretty addicting.

One of the toughest things about being on the road is there isn't a lot of time to work on your game. One thing I'm trying to do is get stronger, so I work with our strength and conditioning coach and will lift even on the road in our hotel weight room. The problem is, you play so many games you don't want to break down your body too much and you want to be fresh. So a lot of what I do is just maintenance to try and keep your strength throughout the season. In the summer I'll try and put on more muscle, but I've always been undersized so it's more of playing stronger and learning the right techniques on how to play in the post and trying to use my advantage and quickness to make it tougher on people.

We're now halfway through the season and it's gone by quick. I can feel a huge difference in my game between now and training camp. Having two brothers, Luke and Tyler, go through the same thing has helped me be prepared for some of the challenges. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season and building off the progress I've already made.

And if I get a chance to throw down a big dunk on Blake Griffin again, I'l try the same thing. We'll see what happens.

As told to SI.com's Matt Dollinger.


Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nba/news/20140127/cody-zeller-rookie-diary-road-trip/#ixzz2rdlinnXV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uCmlmvblgI

In case you didn't see the missed dunk against Griffin here it is again I find this comical.

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OliviaPope40    6,427

OliviaPope40
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Is it time yet to question Cody Zeller’s NBA potential?

Back in the preseason, Clifford said the Bobcats couldn’t meet their potential this season unless rookie Zeller had a big role. That never materialized.

Zeller, the No. 4 overall pick, averages about five points and four rebounds in nearly 17 minutes per game. He shoots just 38 percent from the field and struggles to guard NBA big men.

But to say that makes him unique in the 2013 draft class, or that his future is already decided, is myopic. Three of the other top five – first pick Anthony Bennett, third pick Otto Porter and fifth pick Alex Len – have done the same or less so far.

Zeller needs a lot of weight training – what Clifford calls “functional strength” – to hold up physically against NBA big men. He has misgivings about undermining quickness, but he can’t continue to be outmuscled like this.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/02/15/4697564/12-questions-where-the-charlotte.html#.UwD3mUJdUi4

Anything right now is fair game.

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Scooter D    928

Scooter D
Posted

 

Is it time yet to question Cody Zeller’s NBA potential?

Back in the preseason, Clifford said the Bobcats couldn’t meet their potential this season unless rookie Zeller had a big role. That never materialized.

Zeller, the No. 4 overall pick, averages about five points and four rebounds in nearly 17 minutes per game. He shoots just 38 percent from the field and struggles to guard NBA big men.

But to say that makes him unique in the 2013 draft class, or that his future is already decided, is myopic. Three of the other top five – first pick Anthony Bennett, third pick Otto Porter and fifth pick Alex Len – have done the same or less so far.

Zeller needs a lot of weight training – what Clifford calls “functional strength” – to hold up physically against NBA big men. He has misgivings about undermining quickness, but he can’t continue to be outmuscled like this.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/02/15/4697564/12-questions-where-the-charlotte.html#.UwD3mUJdUi4

Anything right now is fair game.

 

 

I am glad that the kid is getting paid for what he loves to do.  Can't argue with him for skipping out and taking the dough...but I think that the majority of us knew that he was not ready for the NBA and that he needed one more year of college ball.  One more year to put on some weight and really develop that outside jumper.  I wish him all of the luck and hope that he makes it in the NBA.

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OliviaPope40    6,427

OliviaPope40
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Many questioned whether or not Cody Zeller was strong enough for the NBA after leaving IU following his sophomore season.

Zeller has had a rough rookie season (that's putting it nicely). The former IndyStar Mr. Basketball is averaging 5.0 ppg and 4.0 rpg, while shooting 37.5 percent from the field. Zeller has four double-digit scoring games (out of 54 games) and hasn't reached double figures in rebounding in a game all season.

So was Zeller strong enough for the pro game after two seasons in Bloomington?

Cody, meet Greg Monroe, then the floor. Ouch.

On the bright side, Cody is making $3.85 million this year rather than sitting in J420: Advanced Case Analytics and Effective Consulting at the Kelley School of Business.

http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/2014/02/19/indysportsday-cody-zeller-pat-mcafee-nick-goepper-tom-arnold/5602303/

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OliviaPope40    6,427

OliviaPope40
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I wasn't in New Orleans, but my All-Star Weekend was pretty eventful, to say the least.

We had played a game in Brooklyn the Wednesday before the break and everyone on our team knew our flights would be canceled out of Charlotte on Thursday because it was storming and the south doesn't handle snow very well. But this is our only break of the entire year, our one chance to briefly escape the NBA grind, and I really didn't want to be stranded in Charlotte for the entire weekend.

Luckily, my teammate Josh McRoberts, who is also from Indiana, was trying to go exactly where I wanted to go: Indianapolis. When we landed back in Charlotte, Josh said, "Why don't we drive?" It was pretty snowy outside, but we didn't want to wait until Friday and risk having the same thing happen at the airport, so we took off. In the middle of the night.

The roads were pretty bad. We took it really slow the first three hours. In all, it ended up taking us about 10 hours to get from Charlotte to Indianapolis and we arrived at 1:30 p.m. in the afternoon. We drove all the way through the night and the roads were empty. Josh handled the wheel the entire time, but I tried to stay awake and entertain him. It was kind of fun to chit-chat with him and just talk about everything. We usually sit next to each other on the planes so we know each other pretty well. I let him handle the music on the road trip since he was driving, it was only fair.

Ironically, my brother Tyler (who plays for the Cavaliers), was trying to get to Charlotte while we were leaving because his fiance lives nearby, but his flight out of Cleveland was canceled too. After that, he decided to try and come to Bloomington, Ind. where my other brother Luke and I were going for the weekend, but he got rear-ended about halfway into the trip and decided to turn around. People have no idea how to drive in the snow.

Right after the All-Star break came the trade deadline. It was pretty wild hearing of all the possibilities of trades, especially when they involve your team. A lot of guys don't know what city they are going to be living in tomorrow, but that's just how it is in this profession. There are so many last-second deals on the table, so many names flying around, so many combinations. We ended up trading away two guys (Ramon Sessions and Jeff Adrien) and bringing two new guys in (Gary Neal and Luke Ridnour). Obviously in high school and college you lose players to graduation, but that's at the end of the year. For us to lose two guys and add two new ones 55 games into a season is completely different. You see the same guys every day all year, and then they're gone. It's pretty weird.

The players knew the front office was working on a couple of different possibilities at the deadline. We're definitely aware of that stuff. But we actually had the day off the day of the trade deadline. I came in and worked out in the morning, and so did most of the team, but I was home by 12:30 p.m. or so and the deadline wasn't until 3 p.m. So I was trying to stay on top of the news.

Believe it or not, my mom was the first one to tell me the Bobcats made a trade. She called me and said she was just checking in, but then added, "Sounds like you've got two new teammates."

That's right. My mom knows more about my team than I do.

Since both me and Tyler are in the NBA, she was refreshing Twitter over and over again. The trade deadline is a stressful time for everybody.

Our team has been having a lot of success lately -- we've won four straight and are really coming together. I think games 20-30 were the hardest for me this season. At the beginning of the year I was excited to play but still figuring things out. Games 30-40 you can see the All-Star break at the end of the tunnel. And now it's the second half and we're making a big playoff push and every game really matters. The level of urgency has definitely turned up a notch. Lots of guys, including myself, have never been in the playoffs before and we're hungry. People are accepting their roles and no one is trying to do something they can't.

I'm trying to bring energy on both sides of the floor. Trying to defend or get one our shooters open for a shot. Running the fast break. Crashing the glass. Anything I can do to spark the second unit.

Our next four games are against the four best teams in the NBA -- the Spurs, Thunder, Heat and Pacers. It'll be a tough stretch, but you've got to be prepared to compete with anyone when you're in a playoff hunt. That's just the nature of the NBA.


Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nba/news/20140227/nba-cody-zeller-rookie-diary-all-star-break-trade-deadline/#ixzz2uaeJgZST

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OliviaPope40    6,427

OliviaPope40
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Cody Zeller was a program-changing recruit for Indiana.

In his two seasons in Bloomington, the All-American forward led the Hoosiers to 56 wins and an outright Big Ten championship before entering the 2013 NBA Draft, where he was the No. 4 overall pick by the Charlotte Bobcats.

Inside the Hall had the opportunity recently to talk at length with Zeller about his rookie season and about his time at Indiana. In part one of a two-part series that will appear this week on the site, Zeller reflects back on his collegiate career as a Hoosier:

Inside the Hall: Going back to your time at IU, what would you say was your favorite memory from your time as a Hoosier both on and off the court?

Cody Zeller: Wow, that’s a tough one. I can’t think of one. I definitely miss playing in Assembly Hall in front of the Hoosier fans. It was always so loud every game. It’s so easy to play hard just because you’ve got so much adrenaline and you kind of feed off the crowd. So I definitely miss playing at Assembly Hall. The campus was always fun off the court. There was always something to do and a lot of people hang out with. There was always something going on so I do miss the college campus a lot.

ITH: How much do you keep in touch with your former IU teammates these days?

CZ: Quite a bit. I didn’t get to know the younger guys as well, but I still talk to Austin (Etherington), Will (Sheehey) and Jeff (Howard) and those guys and all the guys from last year as far as Vic (Oladipo), Christian (Watford), Jordy (Hulls), Derek (Elston), all those guys. We keep in pretty good touch. I think it’s tough for all of us, the first year out of college. Obviously I’m not playing overseas like Jordy and Derek and Christian, so I think it’s even tougher on them. I think we’re good for each other because we’re kind of going through similar situations with being away from Bloomington and playing our first year professional. We definitely stay in touch, all of us.

ITH: It’s got to be a good thing too for all of you to have that support system with each other …

CZ: Yeah, definitely. Like I said, a lot of us are in similar situations so there’s not too many people you can go to that are in similar situations. You can obviously look to friends and family, but they’re not the ones playing every night. They’re in the same situation, so it’s good to be able to talk to those guys.

ITH: How close are you following this year’s team? What are your thoughts on them?

CZ: I’ve been able to watch a fairly decent amount of the games. Obviously they’re playing better recently and it’s tough for them with how many guys we lost from last year. It’s always tough, but I think they’ve been doing alright, especially lately.

ITH: What do you think this team does especially well that maybe last year’s team didn’t do as well? Or what differences do you see in this year’s team and last year’s team?

CZ: I don’t know. I’m not around it every day to see the big differences. I feel like I’m a fan now instead of in it every day like I was. So it’s tough to compare. But I think they’ve got a lot of young guys so I think they’re starting to figure out what wins. Just the details and the small things that make the big difference the younger guys are starting to realize that now later in the season.

ITH: I know a few days ago you tweeted about how happy you were for Will after his 30 point game against Iowa. Can you talk about why he was such a good teammate?

CZ: Will was unbelievable. He was one of my favorite teammates there to play with through high school, college or the NBA just because he’s got an edge about him. He’ll run through a wall for the team, he’ll do anything for the team. Opposing players hate him, but he’s one of those guys who you love to have on your team but other teams hate to play against him just because he plays so hard. He’s willing to put his body through anything for the team whether it’s diving for a loose ball or defending the best player on the other team or playing the four or five spot. He’ll do whatever the team needs to get a win and he’s always a lot of fun to play with.

ITH: Tomorrow is senior night and I know you weren’t able to go through it because you had the opportunity to go the NBA, but how would you have approached the senior speech?

CZ: Oh, man. I don’t know, but I wish I did have the chance just because there were so many great people that helped me and I do have a lot of people to thank just because of how great my two years there were and how much Indiana means to me. Obviously, I’ve thanked them in a text or call, but it’s different than doing it in front of 17,000 people and being able to recognize those people for the impact they’ve made on my life and my basketball career.

ITH: Have you been back to Bloomington since you’ve left and what’s it like coming back as a former student?

CZ: I was back for the (NBA) All-Star break, but it was only for a couple of days and I didn’t do hardly anything. I just saw some family and a couple of friends and caught up with some teammates and stuff. I didn’t do much, but it’s definitely fun being back in Bloomington and at the same time, it was just a quick weekend so it was kind of a tease being there for only a little while.

Part two of our Q & A with Zeller, which focuses on life in the NBA and his rookie season so far, will be published later this week.

http://www.insidethehall.com/2014/03/04/q-cody-zeller-reflects-iu-career-talks-2013-2014-hoosiers/

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OliviaPope40    6,427

OliviaPope40
Posted (edited)

Cody Zeller was a program-changing recruit for Indiana.

In his two seasons in Bloomington, the All-American forward led the Hoosiers to 56 wins and an outright Big Ten championship before entering the 2013 NBA Draft, where he was the No. 4 overall pick by the Charlotte Bobcats.

Inside the Hall had the opportunity recently to talk at length with Zeller on Tuesday about his rookie season and about his time at Indiana. In part two of a two-part series that has appeared this week on the site, Zeller reflects on his rookie season with the Bobcats (click here to read part one of our Q & A with Zeller):

Inside the Hall: You’re almost three-quarters of the way done with your rookie season right now. How has the adjustment been?

Cody Zeller: It’s a tough process going from college to the NBA. The game is so much different, both on and off the court it’s a big adjustment but I feel like I’ve made the adjustment pretty well. It’s definitely been a fun year for me.

ITH: What’s the adjustment like to the NBA? What’s so different about it?

CZ: I think there’s so much that’s different really both on and off the court. On the court, you’re playing against grown men every night. The style of play is a lot different than college. I think the biggest difference is just that night in and night out you’re playing against the best players in the world. And you know, in college, maybe you have a few good games each year, a couple tough matchups but in this league it’s the best players in the world every night. There’s no easy games. There’s no non-conference games, none of that. We just played San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Miami and we’ve got the Pacers tomorrow (Editor’s note: Zeller scored 11 points in a 109-87 win over the Pacers on Wednesday). So it’s kind of just how this league goes. There’s no time to catch your breath or get a rhythm. That’s the biggest difference.

ITH: What’s the best aspect of being a professional basketball player, would you say?

CZ: Oh man, there’s so much that comes with it. I don’t know if I could pick one thing. I mean, it’s tough off the court as well, moving to a new city, being 21 years old and not knowing anyone. Obviously you travel a lot, you’re gone a lot so it’s tough to build relationships with the right people, so that’s definitely been a big adjustment for me as well. But anytime I have a bad game or things aren’t going well, I remind myself that I’m basketball for a living and playing in the NBA, which is something I’ve always dreamed of. So it’s tough to have a bad day when you think about it like that.

ITH: So would it be fair to say that the goods outweigh the bad for you?

CZ: Yeah, definitely. 100 percent. I’ve always dreamed of getting to play like this. It’s been nothing but fun for me, especially going around early in the season to all these arenas for the first time and playing against these teams for the first time. A lot of these guys I grew up watching, and it’s been nothing but a fun year for me. I’m living the dream.

ITH: Over your past five games, you’ve scored at least 10 points four times. You only did that four times in your prior 55 games. Are you feeling a lot more comfortable now? How do you feel your game is progressing?

CZ: Yeah, I mean, I’m just trying to bring energy to the court on offense and defense. Just trying to be an energy guy and get offensive rebounds and play good defense. It’s fun being a role player for a change, just to be an energy guy and come in and try to make an impact from that way instead of being the mean scorer like I’ve been in college and high school.

ITH: How often does Bobcats owner Michael Jordan interact with the team, and what kind of stuff do you pick up from being around him?

CZ: He’s around every once in a while, he’s probably been to four or five games. He’s great as far as he acts like a lot of players still so he’ll be in the locker room or the training room and interacting with all of us. He’s obviously the best player of all-time, so any little thing you can pick up from him or advice you can get from him is obviously very valuable.

http://www.insidethehall.com/2014/03/07/q-a-cody-zeller-talks-rookie-season-in-nba/

Edited by OliviaPope40

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