Zeller showed remarkable improvement in his sophomore season. His win shares more than doubled to a solidly above average mark. His defensive and offensive ratings improved. His rebounding percentage improved. His per game and per 36 minute numbers improved.
He's not much of a passer, but the upside of that is he rarely turns the ball over. His defense still needs to improve; he actually records a solid number of blocks for his playing time, but he still fouls too much (not unexpected for a young player). His help defense and rotations are generally solid, he just needs better timing and instincts, which only come with playing time. His true shooting percentage is fantastic, and he averaged an insane 1.38 points per shot last season, and even got to the foul line at an above average rate with respect to his minutes played.
Will he ever be a star? Probably not. But he is improving rapidly and I think his ceiling might be higher than some expect. He is already qualified to be a starter, in my opinion (especially for a team like Boston). To be honest, I think he's the perfect Center for us at the moment; he has upside, and while he isn't going to take over games he is going to consistently give us efficient production from his position. I'm really happy with this pick-up (and this coming from someone that was down on Zeller his freshman year. I think his improvement in his sophomore season, especially given the general Edited. Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline.-show that was Cleveland, was remarkable).
