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View Full Version : UNC gets one in the truck?



Pacer
11-05-2007, 12:13 PM
Official word comes later in the day, but the word around town is Zeller's UNC bound..

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071105/SPORTS0203/711050357

JasonEvans
11-05-2007, 02:23 PM
Official word comes later in the day, but the word around town is Zeller's UNC bound..

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071105/SPORTS0203/711050357

Nice get for the Heels. This may be a weak recruiting class but they needed some bodies and they are getting them. Ed Davis, Tyler Zeller, and Larry Drew is a good class-- probably among the 5 or so best in the land. I don't think any of those guys will ever be All-ACC but they will be decent ACC players and nice pieces in the grand scheme of things.

--Jason "Roy does need to get a stud or two out of the 2009 class though after missing on last year and with this year not being all that strong a class" Evans

sandinmyshoes
11-05-2007, 02:51 PM
Yech. Seems like we were laughing at UNC just a bit ago for missing out on Roe and Samuels. Then they end up with Davis and Zeller. I do not know much about Zeller other than he is supposed to be tall, fluid, a good shooter who needs weight. But Davis does have all-ACC potential.

Patrick Yates
11-05-2007, 03:03 PM
Zeller is a fluid 7 footer who is a consensus top 15 player. He and Davis both have potential All-ACC level skills. It is true that neither one will be superstars from day 1 at UNC, but Roy has long gotten the best out of his players, and his running style favors both Davis and Zeller, who will fit well beside each other.

Drew had a bad summer, but is supposed to be pretty quick. However, while he could be a solid 4 year guy, I don't really see him as a superstar.

But, UNC got two bigs, and they needed them, badly. Even if they are not All ACC guys immediately, that only means they will be there for 3 or so years, at least. As it stands right now, UNC's frontline rotation would be Zeller, Davis, Thompson, and Stephenson next year, even if Hans leaves. If Hans sticks arround, whoo-boy, what a front line. Even without Hans, UNC has a top flight front line next year. Must be nice not to have to worry about that.

I think we can thank Kelvin Sampson's shenanigan's for this. Some people thought Zeller was a IU lean until Sampson began his game of phone Tag. Crikey.

Patrick Yates

hondoheel
11-05-2007, 03:21 PM
Yeah, both Davis and Zeller need to mature physically and hit the weights. It's nice that Alex and Deon should be around until those guys are juniors. I REALLY like the way Tyler finished this break though:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_1PU3XIYN5E

Will be fun watching a pass first PG like Drew throwing it ahead to Davis, Marshall, and Zeller on the break. Shumpert would've been a nice way to round out that fivesome, but there's a lot of good wings in the 2009 class with Carolina at or near the top of their lists.

_Gary
11-05-2007, 08:49 PM
Is this get for UNC worthy of the ESPN2 news crawl? Because they are running this commitment on the scroll at the bottom of the screen. See, this is the kind of stuff that makes me think ESPN has a heck of a lot of UNC grads running the show.

hondoheel
11-05-2007, 08:56 PM
You mean DSPN?

_Gary
11-05-2007, 08:59 PM
You mean DSPN?

Only because we pull in ratings and money. Not because there's a bunch of Duke homers working there. UNC has us beat in that regard for sure. :D

throatybeard
11-05-2007, 09:25 PM
Only because we pull in ratings and money. Not because there's a bunch of Duke homers working there. UNC has us beat in that regard for sure. :D

The reason DPSN is DPSN is because of all the people that hate us. We're a little school with a medium-sized fanbase. They televise us constantly b/c the haters want to see us too.

Lord Ash
11-05-2007, 09:58 PM
Yep, because everyone knows that even in a down year Duke is the biggest draw in college basketball. There are far more UNC folks in power at ESPN than Duke folks.

_Gary
11-05-2007, 10:08 PM
The reason DPSN is DPSN is because of all the people that hate us. We're a little school with a medium-sized fanbase. They televise us constantly b/c the haters want to see us too.

Oh, I agree completely. That's what I was trying to say. Even though I believe there are far more UNC oriented people that work in the news room there, it doesn't mean the network isn't smart enough to televise Duke games. Money is money. Ratings are ratings. Whether that comes because of love or hate makes no difference to ESPN. But no one will ever convince me their newsroom isn't slanted heavily towards UNC.

Ignatius07
11-05-2007, 10:10 PM
I also saw the Zeller commitment on the news ticker. Does anybody remember seeing Elliot Williams there? I didn't watch ESPN that day so I don't know. It would be a little strange if it didn't make the ticker as well, although it could be because Zeller is ESPN's 10th-best prospect. Perhaps they have a policy of only highlighting top 10 commitments?

JasonEvans
11-06-2007, 09:13 AM
I also saw the Zeller commitment on the news ticker. Does anybody remember seeing Elliot Williams there? I didn't watch ESPN that day so I don't know. It would be a little strange if it didn't make the ticker as well, although it could be because Zeller is ESPN's 10th-best prospect. Perhaps they have a policy of only highlighting top 10 commitments?

I saw the Elliot Williams news on the ESPN ticker and the FoxSports ticker the day he committed. I think it has to do with how much other sports news there is on a given day and who is doing the ticker that day. If you have a college hoops fan editing the content on the ticker, you are more likely to see something like this make it.

--Jason "when Duke signed McBob a few years ago, I got CNN to put it on the ticker... that was a real highlight of my TV career ;) " Evans

duketaylor
11-06-2007, 10:48 AM
"Jason "when Duke signed McBob a few years ago, I got CNN to put it on the ticker... that was a real highlight of my TV career " Evans"

AHA!!!
So you are/were partly guilty for hyping McBob, thus creating enough interest for him to leave early; there may be a traitor amongst us;)

I actually want to thank you as I'm learning that the team chemistry is much better this year already.

duke "the latest in 94 feet of hell" taylor

AtlDuke72
11-06-2007, 05:13 PM
I hate to say it but Roy seems to have done it again. It looks to me that with Davis and Zellers the Heels will have a great team for the foreseeable future. The Devils are headed in the same direction and the rest of the ACC will be struggling to keep up. Zoubek has been vastly underrated on this Board. It may not be this year, but he will be a real horse in the middle before long. The doubters will be eating alot of crow by the end of next year. .

Uncle Drew
11-06-2007, 06:41 PM
I hate to say it but Roy seems to have done it again. It looks to me that with Davis and Zellers the Heels will have a great team for the foreseeable future. The Devils are headed in the same direction and the rest of the ACC will be struggling to keep up. Zoubek has been vastly underrated on this Board. It may not be this year, but he will be a real horse in the middle before long. The doubters will be eating alot of crow by the end of next year. .



Well if losing Monroe wasn't a disaster, the %$@$@'s in light blue being able to reel in yet another quality big man sure as %$##$ is! Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we got Williams and Cryz and have quality guards up the freakin' wazoo for the forseeable future. But someone explain to me why we can't add some height or at least girth? Is this Zeller guy a D average student in the classroom and Duke didn't attempt to get him? Maybe they did and he showed no interest, I don't know. I know it's a weak class overall and the class after it is considered great. But I haven't seen a focus on size, strength and power down low.

Look I know some people are going to give me the "Duke will be just fine" and "Duke competes against itself and it's own expectations", lines. But like it or not we are competing against a powder puff blue team down the road. The more they win and the better they recruit the worse it is for Duke period. I'm not saying beating UNC is the only important thing, and the rivalry is all that matters. But I'm already sick of seeing Hansblahblah after two years dominating us down low. I don't want to see a continuation of that for the rest of the decade!:mad:

AtlDuke72
11-06-2007, 08:02 PM
Get a grip, Latta. The rivalry is only great when both teams are great. Zoubek will dominate Zellers. The Heels are loaded this year, but they can be beat. Nobody beats the Devils the next year!

Troublemaker
11-06-2007, 08:20 PM
Yeah, I mean, did anyone really think UNC's recruiting would dry up any time soon? I think your concern is really with Duke's recruiting and how you perceive that we don't have enough big men to succeed at the level we want to. But let's wait and see on that. We have 4 bigs in Singler, King, Thomas, and Zoubek right now with Czyz on the way. I'm not convinced yet that this group can't do the job.

whereinthehellami
11-07-2007, 08:41 AM
I watched some of his available footage on youtube (major disclaimer) and lets just say that I'm happy UNC signed him. He doesn't project as an immediate impact player and I think alot of things would have to go right for him to be a major player in the ACC.

Tyler is tall, thin, and needs some major work in the strength department. Against the questionable competition in the footage I saw he was not dominant. Dunks in transition, if wide open. Runs well but avoids contact, against smaller opponents. Doesn't seem very strong with the ball. At 6'11 against smaller competetion I would expect to see lots of putback dunks not double pumps and chip shots.

Apparently Zeller spoke about liking UNC because he would be able to come along at his own pace and wouldn't have to be the man on day one. I think that speaks volumes about where he is at mentally and physically.

jawk24
11-07-2007, 01:09 PM
lets just give them some credit, they are able to recruit big men and at the present time we can't seem to.

hondoheel
11-07-2007, 04:28 PM
I watched some of his available footage on youtube (major disclaimer) and lets just say that I'm happy UNC signed him. He doesn't project as an immediate impact player and I think alot of things would have to go right for him to be a major player in the ACC.

Tyler is tall, thin, and needs some major work in the strength department. Against the questionable competition in the footage I saw he was not dominant. Dunks in transition, if wide open. Runs well but avoids contact, against smaller opponents. Doesn't seem very strong with the ball. At 6'11 against smaller competetion I would expect to see lots of putback dunks not double pumps and chip shots.

Apparently Zeller spoke about liking UNC because he would be able to come along at his own pace and wouldn't have to be the man on day one. I think that speaks volumes about where he is at mentally and physically.

UNC fans are even happier about Czyz. :D

Uncle Drew
11-07-2007, 04:43 PM
Okay, okay I have a grip. I guess it's just I've grown to hate Hansblahblah so freakin' much. It started when he led UNC to a victory over JJ and Sheldon on senior night. (Most humiliating loss in my book, ever!) And it has continued to grow even when he got busted in the mouth last year. The guy is good and down right dominant, and I've been aching for him to go pro early which hasn't happened. (His game is not all that suited for the NBA, so it's probably best he gets a degree even if it is from UNC.) I can totally understand how the Duke haters out there felt having to watch someone as good as JJ and or Sheldon for four years.

I'm not taking away anything from Zoubek, I like the guy a lot and as some blow hard in Chapel Hill once said, "you can't teach height". But Hansblahblah is such a freakin' bully / force under the boards and I'd like to know we have something to counter him with this year, next year etc. McRoberts wasn't that type player and while I hated he went pro early even he wasn't going to help stop Tyler too much. On paper Duke matches up great with teams A, B and D. But against teams U, N and C we don't match up well, at least not down low. Neither Lance or Zoubek have the girth to keep him from bulling his way in. Lot's of people thought our guards lacked the quickness to stop Lawson last season. Frankly I think we'll be able to slow him down and tire him out. And the rest of their team I don't think matches up well with Duke.

Look guys, when you run across an opponent who exposes a weakness you go out and try to fill that hole or counter their strength. It's done all the time in the NFL and NBA. All I'm saying is with missing on Monroe if Tyler stays for his senior year it's not going to be pretty to watch.

Finally the rivalry does NOT feed off both teams being good. And one team can pass the other and leave them for dead. UNC dominated Duke in the 70's and it took 10-15 years to try and catch up. I loved seeing Duke destroy the 8-20 UNC team a few years back MUCH more than I enjoyed seeing them nip a 20-8 UNC team.

Troublemaker
11-07-2007, 05:25 PM
All I'm saying is with missing on Monroe if Tyler stays for his senior year it's not going to be pretty to watch.

A senior Hansbrough would've destroyed a freshman Monroe. I wanted Monroe as much as anyone but let's not oversstate what a thin freshman forward can accomplish. Don't give up hope on being able to slow down Hansbrough some with the personnel we have. Z is big and very tall and given time, that can sometimes translate into good post defense. I don't think we've seen enough of him yet to know one way or another how his career will unfold. I agree that Hansbrough is probably a 4-yr player and thorn in our side, though, so we have to figure out how to slow him down or how to stop UNC from getting him the ball. He's such a big tremendous dork that I just can't see him leaving before winning an NC, so I think there's only a 10% chance or so that he leaves after this season (or whatever percentage represents UNC's true odds to win it all in the spring). What a big dork and embarrassment. He's going to be a 23-yr-old giant adult dork overpowering 18 and 19 year old kids in 2009. But yeah, it's envy talking, so let's hope Duke can recruit a couple of dorks like him in the future.

whereinthehellami
11-08-2007, 08:28 AM
UNC fans are even happier about Czyz. :D

I guess we'll see. I've seen less of Czyz but from what I've seen of him, I've liked. He is way more aggressive around the basket, tries to dunk everything, even though he is smaller than Zeller. I am concerned about his basketball IQ, will he be able to play aggresive and stay out of foul trouble? Still I like that he is aggressive, you can't teach that.

What do you like about Zeller? Other than his height and the fact that he can run well for his size? Are you concerned that he might be soft? What did you think about his comment about not having to be the guy right away? I see that as a red flag.

Anyway i'm not saying that Zeller will be a bad player, just that I think roy signed what he wanted to sign, a decent team player.

hondoheel
11-08-2007, 08:47 AM
I don't think Zeller will be physically ready for the ACC as a freshman. It may even be his junior year when he's strong enough to hold his own. He should still be useful for short stretches next year, especially when the other team's big men are tired and he can simply sprint downcourt for dunks. Luckily I believe UNC will have Hansbrough, Stepheson, and Thompson all 4 years to tutor Zeller. Plus UNC has maybe the best strength and conditioning coach in all of college basketball to help him build strength.

Now Patrick Patterson is another story. Sure glad you guys don't have him!

whereinthehellami
11-08-2007, 01:25 PM
Luckily I believe UNC will have Hansbrough, Stepheson, and Thompson all 4 years to tutor Zeller.

We'll see about that. I definately don't want to cross that bridge until i have to.

Ignatius07
11-08-2007, 08:35 PM
Still I like that he is aggressive, you can't teach that.

I think you have your quotes mixed up. Being aggressive is decidely something you CAN teach, even if some aren't really willing to listen. Anyway I'm not trying to pooh pooh Czyz, but the main benefit we will derive from his next year will be five fouls in the post.

As for Zeller, I know next to nothing about him other than he is ranked #10 in his class. That has to mean something - therefore I am not happy UNC got him.

Troublemaker
11-08-2007, 09:06 PM
As for Zeller, I know next to nothing about him other than he is ranked #10 in his class. That has to mean something - therefore I am not happy UNC got him.

Eh. Opportunity-cost-wise, they probably could've gotten someone better, maybe not in the 2008 class, which is just about out of unsigned prospects, but certainly in the 2009 class. UNC will always have highly-ranked bigs (and players, in general); it's just a matter of whether they turn out to be Brandan Wright or Brian Bersticker. As others noted, Zeller is probably a guy who's not going to contribute much his first couple of seasons. But I think UNC fans are okay with that, and I think UNC haters are okay with that as well.

whereinthehellami
11-09-2007, 08:52 AM
But I think UNC fans are okay with that, and I think UNC haters are okay with that as well.

Exactly.

whereinthehellami
11-09-2007, 08:57 AM
I think you have your quotes mixed up. Being aggressive is decidely something you CAN teach, even if some aren't really willing to listen.

Maybe I didn't pick the right word but what I'm talking about can't be teached. Its part of ones makeup. Its what you do when you don't have time to think. Fight or flight. I see Zeller as finesse and Czyz as a bull. We need that type of player.

sandinmyshoes
11-09-2007, 11:43 AM
A UNC fan with whom I can actually discuss basketball with some civility said the Zeller is not strong but that calling him soft was not an apt description. According to him, Clint Jackson says Zeller is aggressive and tough considering his strength issues. CJ has also said, however, that Zeller does not have the frame to carry a lot of weight, so I would surmise that he will always have to depend on his reported fluidity and shooting touch.

Looking at Davis and Zeller they both look as if they could have some trouble against strong players who are not complete stiffs. With the exception of that Stephenson kid, it looks like UNC could use some muscle in their front court once Hansblahblah is gone.