Zeller looking pretty good....

[Alleyoopster]

The last two games Zeller seems to be playing better than normal. He's keeping loose balls alive on the boards, grabbing rebounds and making a few good cuts to the basket. Even his defense has been decent.

For much of tonight's game I thought there was someone else wearing his uniform. He looked that good to me. Anyone else think this may be the new 'Z' as in Zorro? Or, do you feel these last two games have been flukes? 

[Denis998]

Id rather have a pylon

[yagru]

I thought this thread was going to be a joke

[crimson_stallion]

The last two games Zeller seems to be playing better than normal. He's keeping loose balls alive on the boards, grabbing rebounds and making a few good cuts to the basket. Even his defense has been decent.

For much of tonight's game I thought there was someone else wearing his uniform. He looked that good to me. Anyone else think this may be the new 'Z' as in Zorro? Or, do you feel these last two games have been flukes?

Zeller played really well for us a couple of seasons back - I find it hard to believe any 25 year old player could just drop off the face of the earth like that.

Last year he got barely any playing time (he didn't even get on the court many nights) so it would have been pretty tough for him to get the reps and to get into any kind of rhythm.  The same has been true so far this year.

Give him time and I'm sure he'll start looking less lost and more like the Zeller of a couple of years ago.  I think he's got the skill to play ~20 MPG give or take - just a matter of whether he'll get comfortable.

[KingofDaPlayazBall]

Why are people so easy on Zeller? Sully was 3x the player Zeller is and people ragged on him

[ederson]

Why are people so easy on Zeller? Sully was 3x the player Zeller is and people ragged on him

different expectations.sully has / had all the tools to become a really good starter and zeller is expected to give a few mins from the bench

[pearljammer10]

Zellers been terrible.

[Alleyoopster]

Zellers been terrible.

The original post was primarily about the game he played last night. Cleveland was unreal from the 3 point line...can't blame Zeller for that. Even with an incredible shooting night the Celtics didn't get blown out. 

Tyler in 27 minutes. 11 points, 62% from the field, 10 rebounds - 3 offensive. 6 assists, 2 blocked shots. Yes, he was -6. but you can't fault him. Cleveland was not missing anything from outside.
What more do you expect? 

[Tr1boy]

Zeller is a decent backup 5...

Too bad he didnt have a longer reach/wingspan... would be a good starting 5

[greece66]

Last season, his confidence was low. Maybe seeing David Lee taking his mins early in the year had something to do with it.

As was mentioned by @crimson_stallion he had a good year in 2014-15(10.2 pts and 5.7 rebs in 21.1 mins with a spectacular 54.9 FG%)

I even remember ppl in the Forums (but esp. the Blog) complaining that Stevens was not giving Zeller enough time.

Zeller can be a serviceable backup center, esp when the opponents do not put an athletic, big center against him. This is why we re-signed Zeller after all.

[Celtics4ever]

He most likely was playing with an axe to grind against CLE, who gave up on him.

[Tr1boy]

Last season, his confidence was low. Maybe seeing David Lee taking his mins early in the year had something to do with it.

As was mentioned by @crimson_stallion he had a good year in 2014-15(10.2 pts and 5.7 rebs in 21.1 mins with a spectacular 54.9 FG%)

I even remember ppl in the Forums (but esp. the Blog) complaining that Stevens was not giving Zeller enough time.

Zeller can be a serviceable backup center, esp when the opponents do not put an athletic, big center against him. This is why we re-signed Zeller after all.

Well another reason was bc Rondo was looking for him

Last season he barely received a decent pass

Yesterday was the first time i saw him receive easy passes from IT and AB.  And with scoring some buckets you also tend to play better D

[Surferdad]

Zellers been terrible.

The original post was primarily about the game he played last night. Cleveland was unreal from the 3 point line...can't blame Zeller for that. Even with an incredible shooting night the Celtics didn't get blown out. 

Tyler in 27 minutes. 11 points, 62% from the field, 10 rebounds - 3 offensive. 6 assists, 2 blocked shots. Yes, he was -6. but you can't fault him. Cleveland was not missing anything from outside.
What more do you expect?

I thought Zeller looked really good on the boards last night.  He kept balls alive, and for a little while looked like the tallest player in the paint.  I know Zeller is here mainly to be traded, but that doesn't mean he won't occasionally have a pretty good game in the meantime.

[Bobshot]

What you see is what you get with Zeller. A backup center. Decent offensive player, good hands, shoots and passes well from the key area. Soft on defense. He doesn't have the toughness and athleticism to match their backcourt defense. Olynyk is a similar player, except a perimeter guy on offense. They can't afford two similar 7 footers up front who are weak on defense. That's why they probably won't keep them next year. They must get better up front defensively.

[86MaxwellSmart]

I like Zeller, he has talent. But, he's too soft on the inside, letting guys push him around-he's Big enough, this shouldn't happen...He needs to play angry...I noticed Kelly plays much better when he's p---ed off.

His New $8 Million Contract was most likely a Danny move--for a future Trade Salary Match.