In the Big Ten, there are two centers 0f attention that have separated themselves from the pack. And that makes sense as there are just fewer and fewer true centers these days; especially at the NBA level. And where would the NBA get such beings? When college basketball is seeing the decline of the big man too.
The two main big men in the Big Ten are Cody Zeller at Indiana, and Meyers Leonard at Illinois. And as we saw Thursday night in the way the Hoosiers handled the Illini, (not to mention the individual matchup) you can see which one is the highly rated recruit, and which one is the McDonald’s All-American.
Illini Coach Bruce Weber gave a very candid description of Leonard, and described what Zeller has, Leonard lacks.
“Zeller’s very good, Meyers is good. Zeller probably has a much better basketball feel for a young age, Meyers is still learning and trying to figure it out,” Weber said.
“One play he makes he looks like a lottery pick, the next play he looks like he’s never played. And that’s what he’s getting better and better at it, and he’s gotta keep learning.”
Zeller is averaging 15.4 ppg this season, with 65% FG, 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks. Leonard is averaging 13.5 ppg, 2.1 blocks, 7.8 rebounds and 59% FG.
Indiana coach Tom Crean on Cody Zeller responding to the physicality of the Big Ten:
“I think he relishes it, I really do. I think it gets him going and he’s a tough young man. He’s mentally tough, he’s physically tough. He’s getting stronger all the time and I think the more you come at him, the better it is. I think we saw that the other night, whatever your gameplan is, if you want to be physical, he’s going to respond. That’s a great attribute for a young man. You’d have to ask him, but I’m sure a lot of that comes from the way he was raised and playing with his older brothers the way that he did.”
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