I was getting ready to say the same thing.  The only concern I have is foul trouble.  If our guards can’t stop penetration, he could easily end up with 2 quick fouls in every other game.  As long as he avoids that, he should be able to fulfill most of our expectations.

I think the only people that are “anointing him the savior of Indiana basketball” are the journalists. IU fans know the deal here. The team has talent to help now and more is coming. He doesn’t have to do this by himself.

I’m not any more worried about foul trouble than any other fan is of any BT team with a 6’11″ PF. You will not see Cody hedge out on the 3-point line and pick up a stupid blocking foul. He knows how to contest a shot realizing the other team will score every other possession.

We talk about our guard play, and how that affects the foul situation etc. The reality is we have not had a big that can move around like Cody without hacking since DJ White. It’s Cody’s athleticism that will make a difference on defense.

Every time I think about Cody’s potential I think of what Tyler was doing in the tournament last year. You’re exactly right, he was flying down the court, beating most guards and just sending thunderous dunks down in transition.

Tyler is listed at 250 pounds as a senior. Cody is at 230 right now and I think 250 will be the goal. But we have to keep in mind, in most circles, Cody was rated better then Tyler coming out of high school. Should be fun to watch. One thing is for sure, Tyler is a beast!

I think we are missing something here! CW is one of the best players in the big ten, and with Cody down low this will free up CW for a monster year. You can not double on him anymore!

There are some upperclassman big men in this conference that are going to push him around on the boards and in the block. It’s not a bad thing as it happens to just about everyone coming into the college game. If he averages more rpg than Dawson (MSU) I’d consider that a major accomplishment. 9 pts/6reb/2assists is what I’m expecting and anything more than that is gravy.

Hold your horses there base. Did you really just compare Cody Zeller, who you have never seen play in a collegiate game, to Michael Jordan and Larry Bird?! Let’s be a little bit more realistic here now. People are not annointing Cody the “savior of Indiana basketball” because he himself is one of the greatest players ever (i.e. MJ and Bird), but because he was the first recruit of his caliber to commit to IU, creating a nice little in-state pipeline for Crean to dominate.

Also, just out of curiosity, what is your predictions for our record in-conference this year and next?

I hope just as much as anyone that Cody is the real deal and can dominate like Sullinger did as a freshman (in a completely different fashion obviously), but lets not get too wild with the comparisons just yet.

 Jared Sullinger for OSU, Basabe for Iowa, Mbakwe for Minnesota.  After that, which big men in the conference are capable of pushing Zeller around.  I am not suggesting he is going to average 10-12 rebounds a game but there is this perception that there are a ton of big guys with a lot of experience and talent.  Fact is, there aren’t many talented, experienced big men in the Big Ten or in college basketball.  Zeller would be the best big man on Purdue, Northwestern, Penn State, Nebraska, possibly Michigan and possibly Illinois. 

You just don’t get “it”

Dude, seriously, chill out.

I think CZ is a huge asset to the Hoosiers this year, even as a FR.  But Jordan to the Bulls?  Come on man.  Maybe a Tim Duncan to the Spurs, but not the greatest of all time.  And, CZ is no Bird!

What CZ is to IU basketball is a great talent and even better kid that knows how to win.  He brings a skill set to IU that may never have been seen before for a 6’11″ kid.  And, he makes us much better.

Keep in mind that a basketball team is usually about 12 guys working together to achieve a common goal….winning!

And, the 2011-12 Hoosiers are better at every position than they were last year.  Our improvement this year will be the sum of all parts that make up the team, not only CZ.

CZ is no Tim Duncan either. Agreed on everything else.

I get that.  My point being, they have a similar style game.  Excellent passers, agile on the floor, can hit the open j, but have a nose for the basketball on the boards and can score efficiently on the blocks.  CZ is probably quicker down the court.

You’re getting way too ahead of yourself. He’s not MJ or Bird so to put it simply, that’s just dumb. Also if you are saying that an 18 year old freshman is going to give us 5-6 wins then I think you’re going to be very disappointed. I think his contribution along with the experience of others it is possible to achieve 5-6 more wins, but to say it’s all because of Zeller is again dumb.

All of this warm and fuzzy talk about Cody taking us to the next level just keeps reminding me of the ’09 class and how they were going to take us to the next level. After we are still mediocre at best this season we will again move the goal post to next season. How long will we move the goal post people??? We are entering year 4 of a rebuilding project. If we are talking .500 again at the end of next season will we move it again? At some point it’s no longer about the talent or lack there of. At some point it’s about the functionality of the system that these “bad” players are being put into. It’s like we are a bunch of cult members following blindly and listening to all of the hype as if it replaces the lack of production on the court. Here is the truth, no one individual is going to take us where we need to go. It is the sum of all of the parts that will take us where we need to go. The question is, do we have all of the parts? 

I am speechless. It may be a first.

Hulls is the key to how far this team goes. Agreed here that he unlike anybody else can create for others.

Agreed. Cody can shoot over Green. There is more to rebounding that just getting shoved around. Cody has great instincts in terms of reading the shot. He moves as well as anyone on that list.

But the point is taken. Most will try to push him around and get in his head. It will be interesting to see his reaction. And with the Big ten having the crappiest offiicials in the country, it could get ugly.

I suppose all the accountants of Fortune 50 companies, noticed I said 50 instead of 500, are also ahead of themselves when they do quarterly and yearly projections. Aren’t those guys foolish, huh?

You may need some help in comprehending what I said. I did not say Cody is MJ, Bird or Walker. To repeat what I said; Cody is to IU what those aforementioned were to their teams. I think the names confused you and you lost track of the meaning. And what were they to their teams?Answer, the best player, the significant one, the leader by example. Incidently, you get a penalty flag for piling on.

Unlike some others opinions, we aren’t stacked with talented athletic players. We have some players that are athletic but not real talented. We have some talented players who aren’t athletic. Matt Roth is a bona-fide shooter, but he’s slow. Watford is a decent scorer, but he can’t jump or run the floor and his defense is vulnerable.

Zeller is our only talented athletic player we have.
Some people just can’t handle the truth and of course this is just my opinion. Perhaps a couple more players will emerge, but it will because of Zeller. Don’t underestimate the presence of Zeller, he’s a really good player. read Crean’s quote about Zeller at the end of the article. 

We can always hope!

Yeah, if anything, Zeller is a more athletic and has more ball skills than Tim Duncan.

But very similar to Duncan, Cody will get 20 and 10 very quietly.

I think Crean’s quote says it all. His only weaknesses are his strength and experience. And they will improve daily.

One huge advantage Cody has going into Big Ten play, is practicing against one of the best post defenders in the conference every day in Pritchard. 

I think that he’s going to have issues unless IU rebounds as a team. There isn’t anyone on IU that has shown the ability to rebound consistently besides CW. That tells me that CZ is going to spend  a lot of time fighting off multiple guys in the lane. Minnesota has some big men, Wisconsin always hits the boards hard, MSU will continue to punish the boards, Illinois has some athletes and you know that Purdue is going to come after them hard. It might not be just one guy pushing/shoving CZ in the lane, let’s keep that in mind. 

What Freshman year?  Tyler scored 18 pts in his first game (he started), was injured in the second, and didn’t come back until mid-February, playing behind Hansborough.  Given playing time his sophomore yr, avg’ed 9 pts/5 rebounds.  This isn’t UNC — not as it was then, not as it is now.  There is no Tyler Hansborough on this team.  I expect Cody around 12 pts/6 rebounds per game…

You’re referring to the ’09 class — the one whose gem suffered through 3 potential career-ending injuries in 22 months?  Elston was injured last yr, too.  Capo and Bawa were way overrated, obv.  Hulls and Watford have shone and will be even better surrounded by better players.  We were better last yr than the year prior, will be far better this year than last.  And next year, the sky’s the limit.  Seriously — what more do you want? 

Have you been watching the news about the financial industry the last few years? Pretty easy to say that yes, those accountants and financial analysts are pretty dumb…