Woodbury turnaround that will translate to the college game

I dont get the Zeller and Myers Lenord comparisons.

Zeller is a 4 and Lenord is one random guy whos game and abilities are not that similar to Woodburys.

Neither one of them is any indicator of how Woodbury will do.
 
RocknRollface said:
I dont get the Zeller and Myers Lenord comparisons.

Zeller is a 4 and Lenord is one random guy whos game and abilities are not that similar to Woodburys.

Neither one of them is any indicator of how Woodbury will do.
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Zeller is a center. Being matched up against McCabe doesn't make Zeller a 4. It makes McCabe a misplaced 4.

And nobody has been comparing the actual talents of these players, but rather the impact Woodbury will make compared to the impact made by Zeller and Leonard in their first seasons. Zeller has been wildly successful. Leonard needed the year to get acclimated, and now he's a force.
 
tm3308 said:
Zeller is a center. Being matched up against McCabe doesn't make Zeller a 4. It makes McCabe a misplaced 4.

And nobody has been comparing the actual talents of these players, but rather the impact Woodbury will make compared to the impact made by Zeller and Leonard in their first seasons. Zeller has been wildly successful. Leonard needed the year to get acclimated, and now he's a force.
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People have been constantly comparing Woodbury and Leonard and sighting Leonards struggles as a freshman as a reason to expect Woodbury to struggle.

Zellers skill set is that of a 4 IMO.
 
RocknRollface said:
People have been constantly comparing Woodbury and Leonard and sighting Leonards struggles as a freshman as a reason to expect Woodbury to struggle.

Zellers skill set is that of a 4 IMO.
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Many freshman 7-footers struggle some before blossoming as a sophomore. Leonard is just the latest example.
 
RocknRollface said:
Thats fine but how about some different examples.
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We've had several over the years. Lohaus, Jepsen, and Hansen all took awhile before finally coming out of their shells. Tyler Zeller at UNC also took a while to come into his own, and now he's one of the top centers in college basketball. Ditto for Jon Henson. Hasheem Thabeet at UCONN also blossomed as a sophomore and junior (and he averaged 24 minutes per game as a freshman, so he didn't just ride the pine).

It's hardly uncommon for 7-footers to take at least a year before they really get rolling.
 
RocknRollface said:
Thats fine but how about some different examples.
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Using Rivals:
The #1 rated center last year, Norvel Pelle was ineligible and is not playing.
#2 Center, Rakeem Christmas, is averaging 3 and 3 playing 12 minutes a game for Syracuse.
#3 Center, Adjehi Baru is averaging 8 and 6 in 26 minutes per game for Charleston.
#4 Center Johnny O'Bryant is averaging 8 and 7 in 20mpg for LSU.
#5 Center Michael Chandler is ineligible.
#6 Center Tyler Adams is 2 and 2 in 6mpg for Georgetown.
#7 Center Willy Kouassi is averaging 2 and 3 in 10mpg for Auburn.

As AW is the #7 ranked center on the current Rival's list, I think it would be fair to assume he would put up number not dissimilar from the players listed here. It seems like Zeller's 16 and 6 is an exception, not the rule. That is why myself and others tend to believe AW's stats will look more like Leonard's rather than Zeller's.
 
Hakeem the dream didn't blow the competition away his freshman year , as for being pushed around as a freshman Zeller is a 4 and weighs 220 lbs, Leonard came in at 215 lbs as a freshmen, and it does appear that people are using the star ranking to make the statement that either are better, again lets let Woody steps on a college floor until people start saying this player or that player is better or not.
 
Woody will be playing a lot of minutes. Most freshman centers have other experienced players in front of them which limits the amount of playing time they get their freshman year. This is not the case at Iowa.
 
GhostofBTT said:
Well, both Zeller and Leonard are dominating the Big 10, and Woodbury is dominating SC North. Woodbury will be a good one, but he will not match either of those two next year.
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Neither is dominating the BIG. Leonard is maketedly better than last year, but he had to be and he still has a long way to go.
Zeller dominates lesser opponents and hasn't done a whole lot against the truly quality teams in the BIG.

I would take both in a heartbeat, but they are dominating in the media moreso than they are dominating on the court.
 
sportstalent said:
Neither is dominating the BIG. Leonard is maketedly better than last year, but he had to be and he still has a long way to go.
Zeller dominates lesser opponents and hasn't done a whole lot against the truly quality teams in the BIG.

I would take both in a heartbeat, but they are dominating in the media moreso than they are dominating on the court.
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Zeller is in the top 5 Big 10 in Points, Rebounds, and Blocks. Pretty safe to say he's dominating. Leonard, probably not, because his coach is an idiot and doesn't use him correctly.
 
Leonard is in every mock draft lottery,so he is doing something right. I would not say he is dominating but he plays with a lot of shooters like Paul,who do not feed him as much as they should.

Adriean Payne of MSU was a top 20 player,but struggled as a frosh. This year? He got stronger and is coming on lately,outplaying Sully today.

Big men who step right in are rare, like Anthony Davis, and like Davis go very high in the draft after one year...Davis likely will go #1.
 
Thanks for the numbers Ghost...

I think those numbers put it into perspective a little better. Would we all like to think that AW will come in and be a dominant force his freshman year...yep. But it probably just is not going to happen. Almost all freshmen struggle, especially during conference play. Playing like Zeller is playing just means that he will be around about another year before he goes pro...He is not going to be playing college ball long.

If AW and Meyer (and Olesani) can all get a lot of minutes next year to learn the college game and get used to the rigors of college and traveling and so on, Iowa will be set for the following year. All these guys have a lot to learn about the college game.

They will each have their up and down games, games where they do very little, and some games where they look like all americans.

What they will bring is a huge front line for Iowa and true big centers, which is something that Iowa has been missing for a long long time. Just their presence is going to add dimensions to Iowa's game that we have not seen yet, like added rebounding, a true inside game, and their presence will free up our talented forwards, all of whom will have an additional year under their belt.

The good thing is that Iowa will not be totally dependent on AW, Meyer, and (or) Olesani next year and they can learn slowly but steadily. I do believe though that Fran will want to get all of these guys, especially AW and Meyer as many minutes as he possibly can just to prepare them for the future. Fran might even think the future is next year as far as I know.

What we do know is that Fran is building the type of team that Fran wants and he is getting those players...every year he is building to that core. We have good reason to be excited for the future of Iowa BB IMO...
 
sportstalent said:
Zeller dominates lesser opponents and hasn't done a whole lot against the truly quality teams in the BIG.
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You could not be more wrong by pretty much any standard. You should just stop commenting on things you clearly don't know the first thing about.
 
sportstalent said:
Thank you for your concern.
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You are welcome. Zeller averages 16 points with 64% shooting in Big 10 games including 2 games against Ohio State where he averaged 15 points while shooting 69% from the field.

So you can now see why your analysis of Zeller: "he hasn't done a lot against quality teams" and "dominates in the media and not on the court," is one of the most ridiculous posts of the year and gives the impression you have extremely limited knowledge about the game of basketball.
 
Tskinner said:
You are welcome. Zeller averages 16 points with 64% shooting in Big 10 games including 2 games against Ohio State where he averaged 15 points while shooting 69% from the field.

So you can now see why your analysis of Zeller: "he hasn't done a lot against quality teams" and "dominates in the media and not on the court," is one of the most ridiculous posts of the year and gives the impression you have extremely limited knowledge about the game of basketball.
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TKO
 
I respect the kid for doing what he felt was right and becoming a Hawk to help put Iowa hoops on the map again. At the same time I kind of feel nervous for him knowing he has the entire weight of Hawkeye Nation on his shoulders.
 
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