Zoubek is like a homeless man's version of Aaron Gray. And yes, I really do think Brittany Griner is a better basketball player.
Oh, you mean like Chuck Hayes.......No offensive game and flopping in the lane to take charges because he has little defensive ability. And seriously, what BBall player does not push people in the back while rebounding?? Scola, Chuck, Battier, and all your fav Rockets do it also. Be an equal opportunity hater, not just a Duke hater....... I am by no means a Zoubek fan, but lets be serious here. You cannot be a slag and play for Coach K. Not to mention be a starter. He is a big body with potential...... I watched plenty of Duke games this year and do not know what he is referring to. His argument sounds like it came from a 7th grader. Bring something to the table, that's all I am saying. At least you supported your reasons for not liking him, which I can respect although may not agree with.
Chuck Hayes doesn't push people in the back for a living to get rebounds, that would be Carlos Boozer... who coincidentally attended Duke University.
Battier is a perfect example of a guy who drew a lot of charges and played for many teams, both college and NBA (including Duke) - and if you look at my history here or most other posters, we genuinely liked him even before he was a Rocket. It's not that sacrificing your body for a charge, in and of itself, is a bad thing. It's attempting to manipulate the situation. The single biggest problem in NCAA bball is the tendency of officials to call EVERYTHING a charge. If it's at all debatable, it's a charge, every single time. Book it. And if you watch Zoubek, he slides in late on plays he knows he has NO BUSINESS contesting, then looks at officials with those puppy-dog eyes and hopes to get bailed out. Nine times out of 10, given tendencies of officials (see above) and the Duke jersey, he gets it. If you watch the slo-mo replay of DaSean Butler's ACL tear, Zoubek didn't need to slide in. He had the spot, and either would've taken a charge or forced Butler to take a very awkward shot. But he slid in further, after Butler had already left his feet, to further "sell" the call to the official. That lack of space for Butler undoubtedly contributed to the position he had to put his leg/knee in. I understand what you're saying, but there's a fine line between taking charges and being a flop artist. Zoubek is on the other side of that line. And as much as I love college basketball, it's not the NBA. When I say he has little ability, I mean in the context of what a 7-1 guy has to do to succeed at the next level. In college basketball, he has a lot of value simply based on that size.
Zoubek got owned by Baylor's smaller forontcourt. They basically punked him around all game.....He's not physical, not a shot blocker, no offensive skill, nothing....you'll get solid rebounding numbers in college if you're 7'+, wouldnt waste a pick on him.
So what you're saying is that he abuses the exploits of CB... the officials don't call it a block... blame the officials, not him. If he's a flopper, then he's a flopper. I don't see how one flopper can be so much more blatant than another flopper. We're all hypocrites on this board for blaming Utah's flopping, but we have 3-4 floppers on the Rockets that do it a lot too. You can't justify someone for flopping any less than another flopper. It's really not the floppers faults either. It's the NCAA's and NBA's fault for not improving their officiating.
Got news for ya bro, every NBA player pushes in the back to get rebounds, or they pull on jerseys/shorts. The only ones that don't are rookies and guards who shy away from contact.
Agreed 100%. People around here tend to forget that we have possibly the #1 flopper in the league (Scola), if not, he is definitely in the top 3. If the ref's stop calling it, people will stop doing it, thus cleaning up the game.
WOW...lots of hate for a late 2nd rd pick at best lol. Dude looks like a 14th-15th guy/D-Leaguer but being a 7 footer will keep him in the league for a while.
The dude has ZERO offensive skills or athletic ability. He was getting burned by a 6'8 forward who luckily for him couldn't make his shots. He won't be able to draw charges inside the semi circle. He's a tall Bum. Best of luck to him as a Farm equipment salesman.
Darko is head and heels above this guy. Darko can shoot and pass and has offensive abilities. He'll never earn his 2nd pick hype, but he is still definitely a contributing factor if he gets trust he has shown signs of that very often. His national team has him as a first option and he averages like 18-11 for them and leads them to wins with offensive defensive presence. He probably unfortunately won't find his niche here in the league, not bc of skill and capability, bc jsut the right team, situation, and opportunity. Zoubek is nothing like him, he is as the OP said a specialist energy guy. He seems to be unselfish and know this, so he could come in, use his size, get boards and energy and thats about it, not a first round pick to anyone's measure, but maybe a 2nd round or undrafted FA worht a look
I do blame the officials, as anyone who knows me on this board will certainly attest. But the players and coaches who overlook the integrity of the game to try and exploit a loophole deserve criticism, too. As moes said, Duke perfected playing dirty and getting away with it. People love to act like Duke is only hated because they're "good" - but they're hardly the Yankees. Before last night, they had three championships, none since 2001 and not even a Final Four since 2004. They're good, but they're no more (and in some ways, less) of a powerhouse than North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, UCLA, etc. Yet, the hate toward Duke is much greater. There's a reason for that, and the style of play is a big factor.
Wow bro looked when I joined, you can't judge me by my user name, I just liked the saying that Bill Worrell used. Anyyyyways sorry let me elaborate. Zoubek is just a big uncoordinated, slow big with absolutely no offensive ability and fouls to get more than half of his offensive boards but the refs give special treatment to players that have Duke on their jersey(see the Baylor game and the Butler game) His defensive game consists of standing there and flopping, that is it. He has absolutely no vertical so he is not a shot blocker and barely can get off his feet to contest shots. He literally does not know how to set a legal screen, I think I counted 10 times he set a moving pick in the Baylor game. He flops every chance he gets and he will absolutely be destroyed if he goes to the NBA. Bottom line is he would be better trying out to be part of the cast of jersey shore.
So you hate physical play? I didn't see how they were dirty when they were playing last night.... did they intentionally try to hurt players on Butler...? I don't know what your definition of dirty is... but you must not like the Rockets if you think Duke is dirty.... the Rockets are dirtier than even Duke is. Nobody is saying Duke is hated because they're good... They were the better team last night... and it showed. The fact that people are upset because the cinderella story didn't come true or because they hold grudges on games that previously happened between Duke and a team they were rooting for is even more pathetic. If you have to play a certain way to win a championship, then so be it. I don't think you would mind if one of your teams played "dirty" to win a championship. If the Rockets were regarded as "dirty" in the NBA and they won a championship because of it, wouldn't you look past all the criticism?
I'm not holding a grudge, we literally got hosed by Duke and the refs and the majority of people around the world agree unless you are a Duke fan. That should be us celebrating the national title win last night not them.
Bitterness... Can you resort to anything else but blaming the refs? And how do you know the Baylor would have beat Butler?
That's called consistency. At least the players will know what to expect. When it's left to the referee's interpretation, you get situations like the NBA where Aaron Brooks will get hammered at the end of games without a call, while Allen Iverson could get breathed on wrong and he's on the line. What you're saying is that college refs have less room for bias and that's a good thing. You're 100% right. But lots of NBA players do the exact same thing, including a lot of rockets. Jeffries is a slide in artist. There's no malice in it. Do you honestly think Zoubek was trying to injure Butler?
