Sunday, February 08, 2009

Tyler Zeller Update

For those of you not at the game extremely early, Tyler Zeller came out in athletic clothes shortly after the JV game to shoot around with the team. He no longer has a cast on, and his shot was looking really good. He nailed 3-pointer after 3-pointer. He didn't seem to jump very high, but as far as I could tell, his wrist was looking pretty good. (Afterwards, he came back out before game time with a suit on to sit on the bench).

I take this to be a very good sign. There is talk that he might medical redshirt this year so that he can play four more years. But really, no one knows what the next four years will bring. The team might not be this close to a title again. If he redshirted, Zeller would essentially be trading this year for his 5th-year senior season, which is a complete unknown. If his goal is to win an NCAA title, this year may very well be his best shot. And the team could really use another scoring threat since the bench's output stinks. He also might be able to replace Deon Thompson in the starting lineup, who hasn't done anything since ACC play started. It's only early February. Zeller could work his way back into the line up in the coming weeks. Then we could tinker with lineups to get things right. If we lose a couple games, it's all right. Then by NCAA-time, he's meshed with the team and we're ready to go the distance.

2 comments:

Meredith said...

w00t tyler!

John said...

Thanks Dan, Good Analysis. I think we need him for a run at the title.

Love,

Dad