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Cody Zeller - Atlanta Hawks

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in Hoosiers in the Pros

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OliviaPope40 Contributor

OliviaPope40

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There's an impatience with the NBA Draft that irks me.

You draft a rookie in the lottery so his immediate expectations are a little higher than the average draft pick. This is fair; You're comparing the player to their peers and the investment levied into getting them. You want them to be able to play immediately, that's why you drafted them so high. But sometimes, they can't play right off the bat. We've seen this with Anthony Bennett and Tristan Thompson up in Cleveland, and plenty of others in other cities and in other years. The draft pick doesn't go as smoothly as fans and analysts had hoped and expected. Two months into a player's young career and they're deemed a bust. That's ludicrous. How can anybody say if a player is going to make it in the NBA that quickly?

This brings me to Cody Zeller. Zeller, to put it bluntly, had an awful start to his rookie season. In November, Zeller shot 36 percent from the field, sported a True Shooting percentage of 43 percent (a shooting efficiency metric that incorporates value of free throw shooting), far below league average, and for the most part didn't look like he had any clue what he was supposed to do out on the floor.

As the months passed, things didn't really get any better. The Bobcats would give Zeller the ball at the top, just inside the three-point arc, and he would still have a deer in the headlights look. Confused what to do with the ball, he'd hold it and burn a few seconds off the shot clock before passing it off or throwing up a midrange jump shot, which he still hasn't shown he can consistently make.

Zeller's defense had similarly bad weaknesses. Though he has good lateral quickness to defend the pick and roll, he struggled to contest shots, and when he did, it resulted in fouls, sometimes ugly ones. A lot of this had to do with Zeller's lack of strength, which is to be expected from an NBA rookie. Bobcats coach Steve Clifford even commented on it to the Charlotte Observer back in January: "It's his hips, his core, his back. It takes some time," Clifford said. "People think by throwing [rookies] out there, they get better. I don't agree. 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."

Although it's not to the extreme of Bennett in Cleveland, there has definitely been some murmuring that because of Zeller's inability to make basic basketball decisions on offense and a lack of defensive skills, that he may not be an NBA player and if he was it was an end of the bench player at best.

However, Zeller slowly started to show improvements. Though he still had moments where he looked lost and confused, they're becoming less frequent. In January, Zeller had a TS% of 47 percent in large part due to him no longer being so indecisive. He took the ball and he acted immediately.

Zeller followed up his improved January with an even better February, getting his True Shooting percentage above 50 percent for the first time all season. However, if we reduce the sample size a little to only games after the All-Star break, Zeller has a TS% of 55.9 percent and a base field goal percentage of 45.6 percent. His points per game since the all star break has taken a slight jump from 5 points to 8 points and more than ever he's looked like the NBA player everybody wanted him to be.

With this kind of jump we really have to ask ourselves what exactly Zeller is doing differently after the All-Star break. We'll have to remember the sample size is still relatively small as the Bobcats still have played a mere 11 games since the All-Star break.

Here is Cody Zeller's shot distribution chart pre All-Star break:

Cody_Zeller_pre_all_star_medium.jpeg

And here is Cody Zeller post All-Star break:

zellerchart_medium.jpeg

Besides the number of shots taken, the most obvious difference between the two charts is that Zeller is taking almost two-thirds of his shots from within 8 feet of the basket (the dark blue area on the second chart) compared to the first chart where it's a little more spread out.

We know getting closer to the basket has helped Zeller's improve because we've seen it in his post all star break numbers. One of the main reasons his True Shooting percentage had a jump as high as it did is because Zeller is getting closer to the basket and drawing more fouls. Zeller's free throws attempted per game have increased from 1.8 a game pre all star break to 3.4 a game post all star break. I think it's fair to say this is because of Zeller choosing to go towards the basket more, another benefit of having an offense that's creating more spacing than they did early in the season.

After a bumpy start for Zeller filled with doubts, it's cool that we're seeing him develop and already show improvements in his game. He's gone from the rookie who almost looks terrified to get the ball, to a player who makes decisions and acts on them. He's stopped settling for jump shots and he gets to the basket. The end of the season is in sight and if the numbers tell us anything, Zeller is ready to have a strong finish.

http://www.rufusonfire.com/2014/3/11/5481968/charlotte-bobcats-cody-zeller-improving

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Charlotte Hornets ‏@hornets 42m42 minutes ago “I’m a simple kid from Indiana… I’d play this game for free.” @CodyZeller on his contract extension

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That explains why he chose us over UNC 

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After 4 years away, Zeller ready to graduate from IU May 3, 2017 Mike Miller Men's Basketball Leave a comment For the past four years, Cody Zeller has been determined to make this weeke

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[quote name="KingPG21" post="47731" timestamp="1394847696"]He has been playing better recently, which is always good to see[/quote]

Definitely. I was worried it may take him a few years to really get adjusted.

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OliviaPope40 Contributor

OliviaPope40

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It was something short of an explosion, but it certainly was progress for Charlotte Bobcats rookie Cody Zeller on Monday night.

The 15 points he scored against the Washington Wizards were his NBA high. He also grabbed eight rebounds. He played plenty of meaningful minutes in a game that had stakes as far as the Bobcats’ playoff situation.

Sure beats what happened during November and December, when he struggled to stay on the court without fouling. The fourth overall pick in June’s draft is finding his way in the NBA, and it shows up in recent numbers:

In his first 55 games, Zeller averaged five points and four rebounds, shot 38 percent from the field. Over the past 19 games, he’s averaging eight points and 5.1 rebounds and shooting 52 percent.

“You’ve got to make such quicker decisions,” Zeller said of the difference between college ball at Indiana and the NBA. “If there’s a play there, you’ve got to make it because of the shorter shot clock than college. If there’s a shot, you’ve got to take it. If there’s a gap you’ve got to drive it.

“And you’ve got to stay confident in your skills.”

Bobcats coach Steve Clifford always valued those skills. He liked Zeller as a shooter, ballhandler and most importantly decision-maker. But it didn’t particularly surprise Clifford it would take a while for Zeller to catch up to pro basketball nuances.

Clifford thinks that difference – from the best conferences in college basketball to the starters in any NBA game – is wider than the public or most college players understand.

“The two things that are so different are the pick-and-roll game and the great players,” said Clifford, a former college coach. “In college you don’t have to worry so much defensively about the 3 (from frontcourt players), so it’s a lot easier to (defend).

“The great players in this league are phenomenal. The great players in college are still kids. They just don’t have the maturity of game, the understanding of what they can do. That’s what makes the defensive side of this much, much more difficult.”

Zeller’s challenge initially was figuring out how defend these grown-men power forwards without getting into such quick foul trouble that he’d have to come out. That’s coming, both coach and player say, allowing Zeller more chance to express himself at the offensive end.

“That’s a big thing,” Clifford noted. “He has to be able to contain the ball, contest shots, make it harder on the other guy to get to shots, and do all that without fouling.”

Zeller said some of this is just the natural repetition of an NBA season. He now has seen each of the 29 other teams at least twice this season. That’s providing data so every new game doesn’t feel like a mystery.

“We’ve played some of these teams three or four times,” Zeller said. “I know what’s coming with each individual matchup. I’m playing with more energy, and it’s a lot of fun with this playoff push.”

Zeller certainly buys Clifford’s observation that the talent and skill level of the NBA can be a shock to any rookie’s perspective.

“Everyone on the court is capable of having a really big game, and they’re waiting for you to make one little mistake,” Zeller said.

“Then it’s a layup or an open 3. You’ve got to be really into the details. There was stuff I could get away with in college on athleticism or being stronger than the other guy. Here everybody is just that athletic and just that strong. So little margin for error.”

Edited by OliviaPope40

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