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Tag Archives: Brian Zoubek
BDN Interview – Brian Zoubek is ready for a big senior season
We continue with our pre season player interviews today. Brian Zoubek is going into his senior season and he wants to close his career out by being the best he can be -
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ACC Basketball 2009-10 Season Preview
Official practice sessions for the 2009-10 college basketball season will commence in less than 10 days. Excitement throughout the Atlantic Coast Conference is palpable so it is time to preview the ACC. The Duke Blue Devils will win the ACC in 2009-10. Wait, wait a second…before all the Carolina fans howl with indignation, insist the Tar Heels will still rule the roost in the ACC, and label the author as a complete Duke Homer; remember that Duke won the ACC last season. That's right, the ACC Champion is the team which wins the tournament, not the team which finishes the regular season with the best record. Carolina fans, worldwide, consistently choose to ignore this small fact.
But, for the record, this article is my prediction on how the teams will be aligned at the end of the regular season. What? Howl the Carolina faithful once again, you are switching between apples and oranges, discussing last year’s ACC Tournament one paragraph, this year’s regular season the next, that's inconsistent, you can't do that. But of course I can, this is the Internet and it is my article, so I make the rules.
Anyway, on to the predictions: when March 11, 2010, arrives: Duke, Carolina, Maryland, and Clemson will have earned a first round bye at the ACC Tournament in Greensboro. What's that sound? More indignant howling, but this time it is coming from Atlanta. Sorry, Yellow Jackets faithful, but Paul Hewitt will find a way to lose despite the formidable talent he has recruited to play in Atlanta. He has consistently accomplished less with more in the past so why should this season be any different?
However, the two teams best positioned to crash the first round bye party in Greensboro are Florida State and Georgia Tech.
This is how the standings will look at the end of the regular season:
1. Duke
2. North Carolina
3. Maryland
4. Clemson
5. Florida State
6. Georgia Tech
7. Wake Forest
8. Boston College
9. Virginia Tech
10. Virginia
11. Miami
12. N.C. State
Here are some thoughts on the league’s projected top six teams in 2009-10:
Duke – Coach Krzyzewski will be sending a lot of experience onto the court this season and that experience coupled with some young talent will give the Blue Devils the edge. Kyle Singler (70), Jon Scheyer (68), Lance Thomas (62), Nolan Smith (22), and Brian Zoubek (21) are all upper classmen with a combined 243 starts. Experienced teams find a way to win in the college game. The transfer of Elliot Williams due to an illness in the family is unfortunate, but highly rated freshmen Mason Plumlee, Ryan Kelly, and Andre Dawkins along with returning sophomores Miles Plumlee and Olek Czyz provide Coach K with depth to augment experience. The last time Coach Krzyzewski was able to place this much talent and experience onto the court was when J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams were seniors.
North Carolina – despite losing Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Danny Green, and Bobby Frasor from last year’s National Championship team, the Tar Heels will still be a talented and dangerous team. Their frontcourt will be extremely tough with Deon Thompson, Ed Davis, Tyler Zeller, John Henson, and Travis Wear. Marcus Ginyard, Dexter Strickland, and Leslie McDonald will hold their own at the shooting guard position. However, Coach Roy Williams is missing the dominant point guard that has fueled his team in recent years. It isn’t a fatal flaw, but it is enough of a flaw to keep the Tar Heels out of the top spot.
Maryland - Greivis Vasquez is a legitimate preseason candidate for ACC Player-of-the-Year and Coach Gary Williams, who consistently accomplishes more with less, has an experienced supporting cast surrounding his star. Seniors Eric Hayes and Landon Milbourne are both double digit scorers, while freshmen James Padgett and Jordan Williams will provide the Terps size in the paint. The freshmen will have a learning curve at the beginning of the season, but Coach Williams will have the Terps hitting on all eight cylinders by the time ACC action commences in January. Vasquez and Hayes are arguable the best backcourt duo in the league.
Clemson – Trevor Booker suffered a minor foot injury over the summer and that is troubling, but I still like the Tigers to finish fourth to secure the last bye. Coach Oliver Purnell is building a solid program at Clemson and the best recruiting class in Clemson basketball history will provide Coach Purnell the pieces to execute his high tempo full court press defense. McDonald’s All-American power forward Milton Jennings is the most high profile recruit in the Purnell era, with shooting guard Noel Johnson and forward Devon Booker also being Top 75 recruits. Junior Demontez Stitt is a steady player at the critical point guard position, but he will be challenged for the starting role by sophomore Andre Young. Having two quality point guards on their roster is definitely an advantage for the Tigers.
Florida State – the Seminoles are young and their youth will probably keep them out of the league’s top four, however, Coach Leonard Hamilton does have talent, size and depth on his roster. Some projected starting line-ups indicate the Seminoles could start one junior, three sophomores and a freshman. Sophomores Solomon Alabi and Chris Singleton are solid frontcourt players, while freshman guard Michael Snaer is highly rated and expected to break into the starting line-up. Derwin Kitchen, Ryan Reid and Xavier Gibson all contribute to FSU’s depth. The Seminoles will definitely miss Toney Douglas, but they will still be a force to be reckoned with in the ACC.
Georgia Tech - the buzz in Atlanta is all about incoming freshman Derrick Favors. Georgia Tech has great expectations for the McDonald’s All-American and #1 rated player in the nation. Add in 3rd Team All-ACC player, Gani Lawal, ACC All-Freshman Team player Iman Shumpert, and senior Zach Peabody, and the Ramblin’ Wreck are loaded with talent. The question is can Paul Hewitt mesh the young talent into a cohesive team? The outlook isn’t positive based on previous performance in Atlanta. Georgia Tech has underachieved over past five seasons and went 0-8 on the road in the ACC last year. Add in the loss of seniors Lewis Clinch and Alade Aminu and this season looks to be a steep uphill battle for the Yellow Jackets.
Wake Forest, Boston College, and Virginia Tech make up the rest of the ACC’s muddy middle, while Virginia, Miami, and N.C. State are projected to reside in the cellar. It’ll be a long season (actually basketball season always seems to fly by) with many hotly contested games, but in the end this season should play out similar to many past seasons over the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference with Duke and North Carolina fighting it out for the top spot in the standings and another year of bragging rights. Figuratively speaking, my money is on the Blue Devils.
2009-10 Duke Basketball Player Profile – Brian Zoubek
During the 2008-09 season, Brian Zoubek stepped up during several games and demonstrated he could be a key contributor for the Blue Devils. When Duke defeated Texas, 74-69, in the second round of the NCAA tournament, Coach Krzyzewski stated, in his post game comments, "I thought Zoubek did a great job on Pittman when he came in, which neutralized him."
One of Zoubek's best performances was during the ACC Championship game against Florida State, when the Blue Devils defeated the Seminoles 79-69. Coach Krzyzewski said, "...the last time we played Florida State, Brian did a great job on Alabi. We just told him to be ready. We're going to use you, and he came through." The last time Coach K was referring to was 12 days earlier when Duke defeated Florida State 84-81. Zoubek played 19 minutes in the game. "I thought Brian had his best game. He was a physical presence - I thought he played like a veteran tonight."
In an early season win over Xavier, Zoubek scored nine points, grabbed five rebounds, and blocked four shots in 18 minutes of action. He recorded a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds against Loyola, and was impressive in Duke’s 85-44 dismantling of Maryland by scoring nine points and grabbing nine rebounds in 18 minutes.
With season averages of 11.9 minutes, 4.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, and .6 blocks per game, Zoubek obviously wasn't a stat stuffer, but he was a zealous player who relished his role and took advantage of every opportunity to contribute on the court. As a senior, Zoubek will attempt to build on last season’s key performances and be a consistent physical presence. He has proven he can provide quality minutes now he needs to prove he can be a factor in every game.
Delivering passes out of the high post and altering opponent’s shots with his physical presence were two strengths last season. While Zoubek only blocked shots at a rate of just over one every two games, he caused many more shots to be altered. He also excelled at the free throw line by making 82.8 percent of his attempts. One key to Zoubek increasing his scoring average will be to increase the number of trips he takes to the line. While 82.8 percent is very solid, Zoubek only attempted 29 free throws.
Zoubek arrived at Duke as the #25 ranked player in the high school class of 2006, according to RSCI compiled rankings, however his development into an ACC quality post player has been hampered by injuries. On July 9, 2009, between his freshman and sophomore seasons, Zoubek suffered a fifth metatarsal fracture in his left foot that required surgery. He re-injured the foot in early January 2008, which resulted in a second surgery at the end of the season that required extensive rehabilitation over the summer and prevented Brian from focusing on basketball specific workouts prior to his junior season.
This past summer Zoubek has been healthy so it is a realistic assumption he has been focusing on improving specific skill sets and will enter his senior season in the best shape, from a basketball skills perspective, of his career. At the Greater North Carolina Pro-Am event this summer, Zoubek participated in a couple of games scoring 15 and 16 points.
With only three recruited guards on this season’s roster, Duke will be playing a larger line-up out of necessity. Kyle Singler will be playing on the wing after spending his first two seasons as a post player. Brian Zoubek will be competing with Lance Thomas, Miles and Mason Plumlee, and Ryan Kelly, for frontcourt playing time. The competition should be fierce but a now healthy and experienced Zoubek is expected to be a factor in the post for the Blue Devils. He will see an increase in minutes on the court and Duke fans will see Box Scores with bigger numbers in Zoubek’s row.
The 2009-10 season will be Zoubek’s last as a Blue Devil and everyone can be assured the 7 footer is going to make the most out of every opportunity to influence the outcome of games and contribute to Duke advancing deep into the NCAA tournament.
N.C. Pro Am Report – Duke freshman Mason Plumlee leads team to semi finals
The North Carolina Pro Am is winding down and Mason Plumlee and Team Duhon take to the court today at 3:00 in the semi finals. While Plumlee is the last Dukie standing on a winning team, his teammates are likely to be added to rosters which is common practice in this event.
Team Duhon won last evenings nightcap 69-60 over to advance to today's semi final. Mason Plumlee led all scorers with 20 points to go with a bushel of rebounds. He was aided by South Carolina bound Lakeem Jackson who tallied 15. Jackson was his teammate at Christ School in Arden, North Carolina.
Rising high school senior and UNC bound Reggie Bullock had perhaps his best games (played twice) on Friday. Bullock looked smooth and added 14 points for the winner.
Brian Zoubek scored 16 points for the losers and his teammate Olek Czyz went for 3 points. Zoubek is averaging 15.5 in his two games played.
Miles Plumlee has gained some weight in the off season and he scored 12 points to go with 9 rebounds. His team lost and Miles had several points missed where he didn't finish or the ball rimmed out. He finished 6 of 15 from the field.
Team Navy took out Team Starkey 71-67 where a comeback effort sparked by Reggie Bullock [19 points] fell short. Duke freshman to be Ryan Kelly added 15 points on 6 of 13 shooting from the field and 4 rebounds. Jerry Stackhouse added just 6 points in the loss.
On the other side, John Wall added 15 points and looked really good coming off a sensational effort the evening before. Wall looks to be an inch taller and has put on significant muscle or added size since I last saw him play.
We'll break down the players overall play in the tournament on out message board on Monday. Also, we'll have a very nice photo gallery in the coming week. All photos of Duke players may be purchased from Rick Crank.
NC Pro Am Report – Zoubek and Czyz make their debut
Two Duke players made their NC Pro Am debut on the last night of regularly scheduled games. Brian Zoubek and Olek Czyz took to the court for Dreamworks to face Mason Plumlee and Team Duhon, a team atop the standings with just one loss.
Olek Czyz has returned back to Durham from his native country Poland, where he played for their national team while still mending from off season surgery. Czyz, referred to as O.C. last year brought the house down with his dunking ability, but his first night back wasn't as fruitful as years past.
Czyz played about ten minutes scoring 2 points grabbing a single rebound and making one steal. Not the stat line he'd hope for, especially when you add the five fouls. It seemed like the PA announcer was calling Olek's number every minute or so.
Czyz played in the game which followed as well, but we do not have a full report on that game, nor the late evening nightcap where Miles Plumlee competed.
Brian Zoubek put up some solid numbers despite have three walks called on him. Zoubs didn't play in the second half, making his numbers stand out even more. The seven footer didn't miss a shot from the field on his way to 10 points, but he did miss from the charity stripe going 0-2 including an air ball. Zoubs added 5 rebounds.
Team Duhon was without a coach and ten players deep, so they seemingly decided on equal playing time. This meant that Mason Plumlee played sparingly compared to games before. Plumlee scored 6 points on 2 of 4 shooting and was 2 of 4 from the line. He had just 2 rebounds and a steal in about 19 minutes of play.
It is worth noting that Plumlee was accompanied by former Christ School teammate Lakeem Jackson [South Carolina] who wound up with 8 points. Reggie Bullock [UNC 2010] was a non factor not scratching from the field for the losing team. UNC's Justin Watts led his team in scoring with 14 points.
The Dukies went at each other hard early in the game but played sparingly as opposed to other evenings.
The play offs start this evening and teams must win to continue into Saturday.
Today's schedule -
6:00pm – PJTucker vs Hendricks
7:00pm – Team Navy vs Starkey
8:00pm – Lucky 7 2 vs E-net
9:00pm – Duhon vs Dreamworks
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