Zane Meeks 6'9 F Arizona St Transfer

[Regul8te]

I am pretty sure I talked to this kid’s Mother at our hotel. She was pretty high on him. She talked a little trash but it was fun.

His mom was high on him?

[jcdshocker]

She bragged about his basketball abilities.

[shocks02]

[SubGod22]

The question would be, I think, is do you like Meeks as much or more than Isaac Abidde.

Abidde has a higher ceiling and athletic ability. Lots of untapped potential that we hope this staff can utilize. He could be one of those dynamic game changers if he can put things together. Meeks gives you a solid piece that should be reliable while Abidde works on his game and hopefully takes large strides.

I don't think Meeks is a game changer, but he's yet another guy that could be a solid, reliable piece and gives you some versatility. Solid, smart player.

I'm not sure we're going to land a WOW type of player. Mills seems to focus on other things for the most part, or he says certain things to lower expectations because he's been unable to get a WOW guy. But it's not unheard of to have some good, solid teams built around guys who just fit well together. Personally, I'd always like a couple of guys who fit that mold but are capable of being more, but aren't selfish about it. We've had guys like that in the past. Maybe someone we have develops into that.

But when it comes to big guys, I'll take solid. We'd all like a game changer, but solid can work.

[Shockm]

Abidde has a higher ceiling and athletic ability. Lots of untapped potential that we hope this staff can utilize. He could be one of those dynamic game changers if he can put things together. Meeks gives you a solid piece that should be reliable while Abidde works on his game and hopefully takes large strides.

Abidde hasn't shown that he's ready yet, but I think others will be in the portal, and we can do a little better than Meeks. But a one year guy might be the right fit.

[SubGod22]

Abidde also hasn't had a coach that's shown any ability to help him, or much anyone, develop. We're hoping that Mills and Co. can be that and install some discipline which would also help and was greatly lacking with the last staff.

I also specifically mentioned that his potential is untapped and he needs to develop. I fully believe that he can develop in the right setting. I hope that setting is here.

[Shockm]

Abidde also hasn't had a coach that's shown any ability to help him, or much anyone, develop. We're hoping that Mills and Co. can be that and install some discipline which would also help and was greatly lacking with the last staff.

I also specifically mentioned that his potential is untapped and he needs to develop. I fully believe that he can develop in the right setting. I hope that setting is here.

I don't think we are disagreeing on Abidde. He needs more time. I think we need a one year "bridge", and get him more good game minutes (perhaps he's ready for 20 minutes and end of game time but we don't know yet) when they count. But I like Boone in the portal from OSU much more than Meeks.

[SubGod22]

I don't think we are disagreeing on Abidde. He needs more time. I think we need a one year "bridge", and get him more good game minutes (perhaps he's ready for 20 minutes and end of game time but we don't know yet) when they count. But I like Boone in the portal from OSU much more than Meeks.

That's fair. I just think while people ***** about players not staying around and being loyal, many are also willing to write guys off pretty quickly if they don't produce right away and aren't willing to allow them time to develop. We need guys who can play now, but we also need guys with high ceilings that may take a little more time to step up and into those more important/valuable roles. You see it with people bitching about Pohto and a few are glad he's leaving, despite the huge strides we saw him make as a freaking sophomore. They seem to forget that he's pretty much ahead of any other good/decent big we've had in 20 years. Stutz and Miller didn't really seem to start to find and establish themselves until their junior years, before making major strides their senior years. Pohto seemed to be doing that earlier and was primed to take a big step next season.

So I may have misread your tone a bit because of some of the comments from others over time. I like having a guy like him, with his ceiling, sitting in the 8 to 10 spot on the roster but with the potential to move into a starting/contributing role. There are no guarantees, but even Marshall, who I loved, sometimes had trouble giving guys like this some court minutes to help them develop. Midtgaard is the biggest one for me. He showed promising signs when allowed to play some extended minutes but it was never consistent. He finally left and was one of the better big men in NCAA at Grand Canyon and I fully believe he could have been that here. Eric Hamilton was another guy that I don't know if he was run off or gave up, but he ended up playing good minutes at Pitt. He was another good athlete with size that just needed time.

I'm not saying Abidde is ready right now to play 20 minutes. But I do think he's a guy that would greatly benefit from some structure (which the last staff was lacking) and getting some consistent backup minutes that could hopefully be in the 10-12 minutes range. End of game play is tough to judge when it doesn't matter and you're out there with a bunch of other guys that don't play regular minutes. That's why I would think you look for opportunities to get guys like this in the game with three or four of the starters from time to time so they can settle into roles and the offense and play. Even 8-10 minutes in that situation will show you more, and allow him to learn more, than two minutes of mop up duty with the end of the bench and walk-ons from time to time.

[asiseeit]

Abidde is still a big ?? Meeks may not be near as athletic but looks pretty solid to me and better than an 8 thru 10 bench guy. More like a 4-6 on our team and probably a starter based on todays roster. Another plus for me is that he is from Kansas ! Hope we can get him for a visit and sign him !

[Topshock]

[QUOTE=SubGod22;n1392528]


So I may have misread your tone a bit because of some of the comments from others over time. I like having a guy like him, with his ceiling, sitting in the 8 to 10 spot on the roster but with the potential to move into a starting/contributing role. There are no guarantees, but even Marshall, who I loved, sometimes had trouble giving guys like this some court minutes to help them develop. Midtgaard is the biggest one for me. He showed promising signs when allowed to play some extended minutes but it was never consistent. He finally left and was one of the better big men in NCAA at Grand Canyon and I fully believe he could have been that here. Eric Hamilton was another guy that I don't know if he was run off or gave up, but he ended up playing good minutes at Pitt. He was another good athlete with size that just needed time.

He was a good big man in that league. I he were one of the better bigger big men in NCAA he would be playing in the NBA right now. He never ever showed the ability to play adequate defense at the AAC level.

[Topshock]

[QUOTE=Topshock;n1392535]

So I may have misread your tone a bit because of some of the comments from others over time. I like having a guy like him, with his ceiling, sitting in the 8 to 10 spot on the roster but with the potential to move into a starting/contributing role. There are no guarantees, but even Marshall, who I loved, sometimes had trouble giving guys like this some court minutes to help them develop. Midtgaard is the biggest one for me. He showed promising signs when allowed to play some extended minutes but it was never consistent. He finally left and was one of the better big men in NCAA at Grand Canyon and I fully believe he could have been that here. Eric Hamilton was another guy that I don't know if he was run off or gave up, but he ended up playing good minutes at Pitt. He was another good athlete with size that just needed time.

He was a good big man in that league. If he were one of the better bigger big men in NCAA he would be playing in the NBA right now. He never ever showed the ability to play adequate defense at the AAC level.

[SubGod22]

[QUOTE=Topshock;n1392536]

He was a good big man in that league. If he were one of the better bigger big men in NCAA he would be playing in the NBA right now. He never ever showed the ability to play adequate defense at the AAC level.

Being one of the best in NCAA doesn't always translate to NBA. Especially for bigs as they're often used differently.

Against Iowa in the NCAA Tournament he went for 18 and 6 on 8-11 shooting.

12 and 8 against NMSU in the WAC championship game.

16 and 9 against Colorado.

14 and 9 against Arizona State.

14 and 10 as well as 12 and 9 against NMSU in the regular season.

Those are just the stats against the top teams he played that year.

Pretty consistently played around 30 minutes per game.

He could have played in any conference and done well if given the chance to do so, which we didn't give him.

[Topshock]

[QUOTE=SubGod22;n1392539]

Being one of the best in NCAA doesn't always translate to NBA. Especially for bigs as they're often used differently.

Against Iowa in the NCAA Tournament he went for 18 and 6 on 8-11 shooting.

12 and 8 against NMSU in the WAC championship game.

16 and 9 against Colorado.

14 and 9 against Arizona State.

14 and 10 as well as 12 and 9 against NMSU in the regular season.

Those are just the stats against the top teams he played that year.

Pretty consistently played around 30 minutes per game.

He could have played in any conference and done well if given the chance to do so, which we didn't give him.

Offense was not his problem..

[TrackSuitAndTie]

[SubGod22]

Are we running out of PF options? At least that we know of.